Stump Lane
in the dirt since history began

In a tactic apparently designed to offset all evidence to the contrary,
“Senators from both sides of the aisle competed on Monday to extol the humane treatment of detainees whom they said they saw on a weekend trip to the military detention center at Guantánamo Bay”–the senators traveled to Guantánamo for the day on Sunday “‘to see for ourselves what all the so-called fuss is about down there,’ as Mr. Bunning [Republican, Kentucky] put it.” [As the New York Times reports this morning.]

Ignoring a steadily mounting pile of evidence, from interviews with detainees to reports on the systematic violation of medical
information used in interrogation in the New England Journal of Medicine to the
International Committee of the Red Cross report, leaked after their June 2004 visit to the
prison camp, the senators, in their wisdom, oppose closing the center.

Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon): “I feel very good” about the detainees’ treatment.”

Ben Nelson (Democrat, Nebraska): Ditto.

Jim Bunning (Republican, Kentucky): some detainees “even have air-conditioning and semiprivate showers.”

Michael D. Crapo (Republican, Idaho): soldiers and sailors at the camp “get more abuse from the detainees than they give to the detainees.”

The jocular positions taken by these senators indicate one of two things: (1) a mindboggling ignorance of current events and a total lack of attention to the presentation of evidence regarding torture at the prison camp; or (2) a deliberate rhetorical/media strategy to offset the negative impact that recent coverage in the media has produced in the constituency.

Space Ring Could Shade Earth and Stop Global Warming

A wild idea to combat global warming suggests creating an artificial ring of small particles or spacecrafts around Earth to shade the tropics and moderate climate extremes.

Fascinating, no? I figured it would come to this. I always had an idea that we could come up with something to adapt ourselves, (at least the richest among us,) to survive no matter how much we shit in our nest. I was imagining more along the line of underground farms, desalination plants for drinking water and protective glass pedestrian tubes but this sounds much cooler.

The price tag for a ‘Space Ring’ is “$6 trillion to $200 trillion for the particle approach.” An alternate approach, employing “tiny spacecraft” would cost only “$500 billion tops.”

Cha-ching! [Rolling slot machine cartoon eyes come up dollar signs.] Maybe the promise of enormous government contracts will inspire more people to take global warming more ‘seriously.’

The New York Times reported this morning that “[a] divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that local governments may seize people’s homes and businesses against their will for private development….As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.”

“‘Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random,’ [Justice Sandra Day] O’Connor wrote. ‘The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms.’”

Text of the Fifth Amendment, which was in question in today’s ruling: “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Ah, The U.S. Supreme Court, making it easier for money to make money. Is today’s ruling the “due process of law” that the Constitution speaks of, a process that has now in fact deprived a group of CT citizens of their life (one couple had lived in their home for over 50 years), liberty (stripped of their right to resist seizure of their private property), and their property? Can a riverfront hotel, health club, and offices really be deemed “public use”?

Remember back before 9-11 when all was well in the USA and we were all fat, dumb and happy? Well this is what was on a certain someone’s mind back in 1999:

One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.. ..My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.. ..If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency. –Our Fearless Leader, Why George Went To War

Read again the Downing Street Documents. Are they fake? Or not? The Rude Pundit, as always, has an imcomparable and priceless take on it.

More:
They Died So Republicans Could Take the Senate
Dave Zweifel: We’ve seen enough to impeach Bush

http://www.stumplane.us/

The torture definition is now here.

The buzz is that ‘Osama’ is in Iran now.

Representative Curt Weldon (R-PA), a terrorism expert by virtue of having authored the book, Countdown to Terror: The Top-Secret Information That Could Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack on America and How the CIA Has Ignored It, has told the CIA that an Iranian source for his book “Ali” reports that Bin Laden has traveled to Iran ‘repeatedly’.

“I gave the CIA hits [sic] over the past five months that he was there twice, and I also told them two years ago he was in a small town in a southern part of Iran called Ladiz, 10km inside the border with Pakistan in Baluchistan,” he said.

But the CIA isn’t so sure.

But Bill Murray, the former CIA station chief in Paris, told US newspapers he met four times with “Ali” in Paris and that the source’s information was not credible.

Weldon countered that he received a letter from the CIA last year which ended with: “We welcome further information from Ali.”

Ali is not a credible source.
We welcome further information from Ali.

This isn’t another case of “Curveball” developing, is it? Ali is not really credible in terms of the hunt for Bin Laden to bring him to justice, but, he may be useful when it comes time to “fixing the intelligence” for our next military political adventure in Iran.

Let’s just hope this isn’t the case, and that we are following all credible leads with the goal of capturing Bin Laden and bringing him to justice for his crimes.

‘Blockquotes’ above are from this article: Arab-muslim terrorist ‘in and out’ of Iran

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Nothing original here, just quotes.

February 14, 2005 article from The New Yorker magazine Outsourcing Torture concerning “extraordinary renditioning” which dates back to 2002 the involvement of Uzbekistan.
Outsourcing Torture

Craig Murray, the former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, told me that “the U.S. accepts quite a lot of intelligence from the Uzbeks” that has been extracted from suspects who have been tortured. This information was, he said, “largely rubbish.” He said he knew of “at least three” instances where the U.S. had rendered suspected militants from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan. Although Murray does not know the fate of the three men, he said, “They almost certainly would have been tortured.” In Uzbekistan, he said, “partial boiling of a hand or an arm is quite common.” He also knew of two cases in which prisoners had been boiled to death.

In 2002, Murray, concerned that America was complicit with such a regime, asked his deputy to discuss the problem with the C.I.A.’s station chief in Tashkent. He said that the station chief did not dispute that intelligence was being obtained under torture. But the C.I.A. did not consider this a problem. “There was no reason to think they were perturbed,” Murray told me.

January 20, 2005
Inaugural Address by President George W. Bush

All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you. (Applause.)

Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are, the future leaders of your free country.

The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.”

The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side. (Applause.)

Article from June 13, an account of the events in Uzbekistan of May 13, 2005. Uzbek protesters ran gantlet of death

The interviews corroborate estimates from human-rights groups that put the death toll in the hundreds–far more than the figure of 173 announced by the Uzbek government. Moreover, accounts from survivors cast strong doubt on the government’s contention that most of those killed were armed Islamic insurgents bent on the overthrow of Uzbekistan’s president, Islam Karimov.

.. ..

Despite the sporadic bursts of gunfire on the plaza, protesters chose to stay. Several survivors said rumors began swirling through the crowd that Karimov was flying to Andijan. Believing he was coming to listen to their grievances, they thought the opportunity to confront him justified the risk.

Karimov did fly to Andijan, but only to oversee the crisis. He never spoke to demonstrators.

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First was the “Downing Street Memo,” now this. Bliar and OFL just got done lying about this last week. The dead body of the truth isn’t even cold yet.

Ministers were told of need for Gulf war ‘excuse’

The briefing paper, for participants at a meeting of Blair’s inner circle on July 23, 2002, said that since regime change was illegal it was “necessary to create the conditions” which would make it legal.

Is there no Deep Throat for US? Or is the “press” just too afraid to ask?

UPDATE: here is a link to the actual memo text: Cabinet Office paper: Conditions for military action

From Exxon Mobile’s Guiding Principles

Exxon Mobil Corporation is committed to being the world’s premier petroleum and petrochemical company. To that end, we must continuously achieve superior financial and operating results while adhering to the highest standards of business conduct. These unwavering expectations provide the foundation for our commitments to those with whom we interact[.]

Exxon Mobile has fallen into a common trap. They have limited themselves in their mission statement. The mission statement, or in EM’s case, their statement of Guiding Principles is the first place everyone in the organization looks for guidance in making strategic decisions on a daily basis. They haven’t expressed the scope of their business in the broadest terms possible. For example, a recording company who’s mission was to be the ‘premier cassette tape company,’ and acted that way, would have probably missed the boat when the rest of the industry went to Compact Disks. Whereas, if their mission had been to be the premier ‘musical entertainment company’ they would have been constantly open to new innovations that could enhance their business. So when EM strives to be “the world’s premier petroleum and petrochemical company” they are really limiting the possibilities for the company to adapt to changing conditions in the market.

The effects of this dilemma become evident when we see them desperately fighting to remain relevant in a changing world. Revealed: how oil giant influenced Bush

In briefing papers given before meetings to the US under-secretary of state, Paula Dobriansky, between 2001 and 2004, the administration is found thanking Exxon executives for the company’s “active involvement” in helping to determine climate change policy, and also seeking its advice on what climate change policies the company might find acceptable.

Exxon Mobile must rethink their mission before it is too late. Being “the world’s premier petroleum and petrochemical company” is a goal from a bygone era. Looking forward, they need to take the broader view and get back to their core values: to “lead the way in making Earth uninhabitable (while continuing to achieve superior financial and operating results.)”

With a renewed commitment to succeeding in the “making Earth uninhabitable” business it will no longer matter if Science tries to stop them from pursuing their mission by causing the breakdown of fossil fuels into hydrocarbons and releasing them into the atmosphere, to change the Earth’s climate over time.

In order to “continue to achieve superior financial and operating results” right up until the end of the world, EM has a couple of options:

1. Bring about Earth’s destruction rapidly by leveraging the cash they currently have on hand due to the record breaking profits they traditionally experience when there are high gasoline prices. With these resources they might procure several of the ‘loose nukes’ from the former Soviet countries to create a doomsday machine that would make Dr. Strangelove proud.
2. Adopt a method similar to their current strategy whereby the consuming public gladly pays for their eventual demise. This might take some R&D in the short term. Perhaps they can develop an alchemical process that, while converting base metals into gold, releases undetectable but poisonous byproducts directly into the water supply. You know, something like that.

Once these adjustments are made, EM will no longer need to compromise “superior financial results” with expenditures to gain favor in the halls of government. They need only call in one last favor to buy some time..

OFL ‘needs to know more’ about global warming
“We need to know more about it,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to solve when you know more about it.”