December 18th, 2007 · Comments Off
‘A 19th-century image shows federal troops employing several forms of torture. One man stood on a barrel for several hours; another carried a large log, his leg weighted with a ball and chain; a third was bound to a tree with his arms raised above his head; a fourth sat on the ground, tied.’
Boston Globe Ideas, Torture, American style. The surprising force behind torture: democracies:
“We think torture is mainly the province of dictators and juntas - the kind of thing that happens behind the iron doors of repressive regimes. In a democracy, with open courts and a free press, torture should be a relic. In the words of an American World War II poster, torture is “the method of the enemy.”
But a closer look at the modern history of torture suggests that exactly the opposite is true. Torture isn’t an alien force invading our democracy from the benighted realms of dictatorships. In fact, it is the democracies that have been the real innovators in 20th-century torture. Britain, France, and the United States were perfecting new forms of torture long before the CIA even existed. It might make Americans uncomfortable, but the modern repertoire of torture is mainly a democratic innovation.
In one instance after another, democracies developed new torture techniques, refined them, and then exported them to more authoritarian regimes. Americans didn’t just develop electric power; they invented the first electrotorture devices and used them in police stations from Arkansas to Seattle. Magneto torture, a technique favored by the Nazis involving a portable generator, was actually developed and spread by the French. Waterboarding and forced standing owe their wide use to the Americans and British.”
Tags: history,torture,usa
November 3rd, 2007 · Comments Off
Getting Waterboarded
“Kaj Larsen investigates the practice of waterboarding, an interrogation practice allegedly used by the U.S. government. Is it a legitimate technique or torture?”
Current: Getting Waterboarded
Tags: torture,video,war on terror,waterboarding
October 25th, 2007 · 1 Comment
Whatever it takes, hoort Jack zich zeggen.
Seizoen 6 was ronduit slecht. Desalniettemin begint in de eerste weken van het nieuwe jaar het 7e seizoen van de actieserie 24. De eerste aflevering van de serie wordt door Fox op zondag 13 januari 2007 uitgezonden en is kort na uitzending in de VS ongetwijfeld weer via bittorrent te downloaden. De extended ‘Day 7′ trailer is nu al te bekijken.
Wederom een slechte trailer, maar zoveel lijkt wel duidelijk, seizoen 7 gaat over torture. Lees in dat verband dan ook Whatever it takes. The politics of the man behind “24.” en Interrogators Fought ‘Battle of Wits’.
Tags: 24,torture,tv,video
February 13th, 2007 · Comments Off
The New Yorker: “Since September 11th, depictions of torture have become much more common on American television. Before the attacks, fewer than four acts of torture appeared on prime-time television each year, according to Human Rights First, a nonprofit organization. Now there are more than a hundred, and, as David Danzig, a project director at Human Rights First, noted, “the torturers have changed. It used to be almost exclusively the villains who tortured. Today, torture is often perpetrated by the heroes.””
Tags: 24,de horror,human rights,terrorism,torture,tv,usa
February 6th, 2007 · Comments Off
Suzanne G. Cusick: “The very idea that music could be an instrument of torture confronts us with a novel—and disturbing—perspective on contemporary musicality in the United States.” (via)
Tags: military,music,torture,usa
March 23rd, 2006 · Comments Off
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“Hoewel de directe effecten op de economie - denk aan extra consumptie in de horeca - klein zijn, kunnen goede prestaties op het veld indirect wel degelijk een economie stimuleren.”
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“Van alle Amsterdamse fietsen die worden gestolen, wordt na intensieve controles 0,68 procent teruggevonden. Preventie tegen diefstal helpt echter wel.”
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“In the new show, Chef is brainwashed by the “Super Adventure Club” - thought to be a veiled reference to Scientology.”
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“Flickr Backup is a utility that allows you to download the pictures you have uploaded to Flickr back down to your computer for personal backup or restore.”
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“American’s increasing acceptance of religious diversity doesn’t extend to those who don’t believe in a god, according to a national survey by researchers in the University of Minnesota’s department of sociology.”
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“A new jet engine design able to fly seven times the speed of sound is to be test fired over Australia on Friday.”
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“So this will be around for a few years. What happens if YOU die?”
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“Sir, you dropped something! is one of the entries of Positive Alarm, an open call to designers to send statements, products and projects that turn something negative into a positive message or solution.”
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“It is a recent shot of a snowflake that’s been sitting in chemist Tryggvi Emilsson’s desk for 27 years, locked in a drop of that miracle of modern chemistry we call superglue. “
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“London, Paris and New York are dying – the 21st century belongs to the fertile chaos of the third-world metropolis. Rana Dasgupta heralds the arrival of an alternative vision of modernity”
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“It is difficult to think about torture honestly.”
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Howto: second life
Tags: amsterdam,art,atheism,aviation,back up,bikes,crime,economics,engineering,flickr,isaach hayes,photography,religion,science,scientology,second life,south park,torture,urban,usa,waste,world cup
