I think this post is mostly filler...

I figure I better throw this in as some kind of break between the last and the next, otherwise I'll be accused of being too negative. And so...



(Blame The Poor Man)

Tell us again how noble the USA is...

The Black Sites - A rare look inside the C.I.A.’s secret interrogation program

Confidentiality may be particularly stringent in this case. Congressional and other Washington sources familiar with the report said that it harshly criticized the C.I.A.’s practices. One of the sources said that the Red Cross described the agency’s detention and interrogation methods as tantamount to torture, and declared that American officials responsible for the abusive treatment could have committed serious crimes. The source said the report warned that these officials may have committed “grave breaches” of the Geneva Conventions, and may have violated the U.S. Torture Act, which Congress passed in 1994. The conclusions of the Red Cross, which is known for its credibility and caution, could have potentially devastating legal ramifications.
[...]
The C.I.A.’s interrogation program is remarkable for its mechanistic aura. “It’s one of the most sophisticated, refined programs of torture ever,” an outside expert familiar with the protocol said. “At every stage, there was a rigid attention to detail. Procedure was adhered to almost to the letter. There was top-down quality control, and such a set routine that you get to the point where you know what each detainee is going to say, because you’ve heard it before. It was almost automated. People were utterly dehumanized. People fell apart. It was the intentional and systematic infliction of great suffering masquerading as a legal process. It is just chilling.”
[...]
According to sources familiar with interrogation techniques, the hanging position is designed, in part, to prevent detainees from being able to sleep. The former C.I.A. officer, who is knowledgeable about the interrogation program, explained that “sleep deprivation works. Your electrolyte balance changes. You lose all balance and ability to think rationally. Stuff comes out.” Sleep deprivation has been recognized as an effective form of coercion since the Middle Ages, when it was called tormentum insomniae. It was also recognized for decades in the United States as an illegal form of torture. An American Bar Association report, published in 1930, which was cited in a later U.S. Supreme Court decision, said, “It has been known since 1500 at least that deprivation of sleep is the most effective torture and certain to produce any confession desired.

Under President Bush’s new executive order, C.I.A. detainees must receive the “basic necessities of life, including adequate food and water, shelter from the elements, necessary clothing, protection from extremes of heat and cold, and essential medical care.” Sleep, according to the order, is not among the basic necessities.

In addition to keeping a prisoner awake, the simple act of remaining upright can over time cause significant pain. McCoy, the historian, noted that “longtime standing” was a common K.G.B. interrogation technique. In his 2006 book, “A Question of Torture,” he writes that the Soviets found that making a victim stand for eighteen to twenty-four hours can produce “excruciating pain, as ankles double in size, skin becomes tense and intensely painful, blisters erupt oozing watery serum, heart rates soar, kidneys shut down, and delusions deepen.”

Words fucking fail me. I will have no sympathy for the Americans killed in the next terrorist attack - by re-electing this criminal administration, Americans - the average Joe Anybody American - have made themselves culpable to torture as an instrument of state policy. Everybody who thinks it was okay to bomb Hiroshima or drop bombs on Berlin should understand precisely why American civilians have no claim to innocence from their government's actions anymore, regardless of which assholes decide to commit the next act of mass murder.

The poodle bites back

UK to ask US to free residents from Guantanamo:

Britain, in a change of policy, has said it would ask the United States to release from Guantanamo Bay five men who were legally resident in Britain before they were detained but were not British nationals.

The decision by new Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government marks a departure from the policy of former Prime Minister Tony Blair's government, which generally held that it was not obliged to seek the release of Guantanamo inmates who had lived in Britain but were not nationals.

It's almost as if Gordon Brown, leader of a sovereign democracy, is putting the wishes of his people before those of the Bush Administration. Is this legal?

But remember - it's all a conspiracy

Extreme weather breaks records in '07:

The world experienced a series of record-breaking weather events in early 2007, from flooding in Asia to heatwaves in Europe and snowfall in South Africa, the United Nations weather agency said.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said global land surface temperatures in January and April were likely the warmest since records began in 1880, at more than 1 degree Celsius higher than average for those months.

There have also been severe monsoon floods across South Asia, abnormally heavy rains in northern Europe, China, Sudan, Mozambique and Uruguay, extreme heatwaves in southeastern Europe and Russia, and unusual snowfall in South Africa and South America this year, the WMO said.

Now, you must remember that any scientists mentioning "climate change" are doing so so they can get their hands on those sweet, sweet research grants, and there is absolutely no evidence to support these wild accusations.

And you'd be a fool and a Communist to say otherwise...

Getting away with terrorism in the UK

Nuclear Explosions (Prohibition and Inspections) Act 1998:

1. - (1) Any person who knowingly causes a nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.

"I had no idea that would happen, officer. I swear, I was just trying to get all my plutonium in one place for storage purposes."

Immigrating to New Zealand - some links

For those interested in further research on immigrating to New Zealand:

The first place to look is here - Immigration New Zealand.

It's possible to get a working holiday in New Zealand - for visitors from the Excited Snakes, this boils down to:

* be at least 18 and not more than 30 years old
* hold a return ticket, or sufficient funds to purchase such a ticket
* have a minimum of NZ$4,200 available funds to meet your living costs while you’re here

Plus some miscellaneous administrative requirements - drug dealers, terrorists and street mimes may have a problem.

For permanent immigration, you can join family here, bring a business here or invest a couple of million, or study here. For skilled migrants, you can work here towards residence or qualify as a skilled migrant. If you're interested in the last category, you may also want to take a look at the immediate skill shortage list or long term skill shortage list. Or you can be an Australian.

As regards New Zealand itself, there's always the official line and the unofficial line.

Hope that helps.

On insufferably smug SF authors

Charlie Stross, late March 2007:

At the same time, some random gamers in places like the Swedish Foreign Ministry or the French Nazi Party decide they can get some free publicity by staking out some territory and figuratively mooning the straights. Exploding pigs, flying lutefisk, and other whackiness ensues.

And then the tidal wave of mass media awareness arrives, complete with the usual foaming mess of sewage, uprooted trees, and general crap turned out by the tabloid press and cheap news channels as they try to spew one lurid scenario after another through the playground. "It encourages pedophiles! Or terrorists! Kids get into Whizzumajig and fail their college exams! Users get hair in their palms and go blind! Ban Whizzumajigs now, before it steals our precious bodily fluid!"

This is followed by the most desperately attention-hungry members of the political class picking up the stupidest articles written by the most misguided members of the fourth estate, and proposing legislation so jaw-droppingly idiotic that their sane colleagues usually strangle it in the cradle. (See also: the internet, blogs and social network software, YouTube, MP3s, and probably papyrus back in Ancient Egypt. So has it ever been ...)

And now, that Titan of Journalism, the Murdoch empire:

In SL people create their own characters, known as avatars, and live an alternative life, buying goods, real estate and living in a community of more than eight million people from across the world. They go about their lives, attending concerts and seminars, building businesses and socialising.

On the darker side, there are also weapons armouries in SL where people can get access to guns, including automatic weapons and AK47s. Searches of the SL website show there are three jihadi terrorists registered and two elite jihadist terrorist groups.

Once these groups take up residence in SL, it is easy to start spreading propaganda, recruiting and instructing like minds on how to start terrorist cells and carry out jihad.

One radical group, called Second Life Liberation Army, has been responsible for some computer-coded atomic bombings of virtual world stores in the past six months.

More details on Charlie's diary.

The very worst thing about this is that we don't dare annoy Stross even if he is an insufferable know-it-all. It's a bad idea to piss off the man voted Most Likely To Evolve Into A Posthuman Weak Deity-Like Entity.