Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-05 Thread D. Mindock

Mike, Keith,

  I'd like to add my 2 cents.


 Hello Mike Weaver

NOT TRUE!

 True.
True is correct. Ken Lay had a bunch of goons flown down to storm the 
recount going on. The
recounters were scared so badly, they stopped the counting. Gore had picked 
up 400 plus votes
in a short time and was on his way to winning in Florida when the counting 
was halted through fear
and intimidation. Those 400 something votes never were added into the 
official tally.

The court gave him the first one.  He stole the 2nd one ;-)
The next one?  Even I'm beginning to wonder.

FWIW I think Reagan beat Carter w/o chicanery at the ballot box.
Reagan had those people being held hostage to continue to be held until
after the proper time. It made him look like someone who get things done.
Carter was a good president overall, far better than Reagan.

 You miss the point. There's no need to cheat if the whole charade is
 a shell game anyway.

Keith, you're right. We need to clean up the entire election process. Right
now all we get are corporate wolves who say nice pleasant things, but do 
terrible things
once in the Oval Office.

I'm not arguing that we're lurching towards a coporatocracy - we are,
but I'm not throwing in the towel yet.

 You're IN a corporatocracy. But that's no reason to throw in the towel 
 either.
Oh yeah, deep now and getting deeper every day. We are moving to a police
state where we're all to be good orderly consumers but totally impotent as 
far as influencing
the government in Wash DC. Congress now is acting like a deer in the 
headlights
of an oncoming semi-trailer truck, totally frozen into inaction wrt removing 
the
ogre in the Oval Office. It has three more years to wreak havoc on the 
world,
a very dismal thought indeed.

I think there is hope yet, but we'll see.

 Of course there's hope, perhaps more now than ever before. Look it in
 the face, no need to rose-tint it, you might find more hope there
 than you think.
Hope is always present. BushCo would like to kill hope, since hopeful
people tend to resist its insane policies.

I agree the left (I prefer Progessives but then I still consider myself
a musuem quality Liberal) has been hapless of late.  But I don't think
all is lost.
If nothing else we are certainly energized as we haven't been since the
60's.
Yeah, more and more are becoming disgusted with the Bush regime. Now
only if we can get the zombie-like Congress to do something.

One thing we need to learn is that the perfect is the enemy of the good.

Bush is perfect. He never has made a mistake. Ask him. And he is the enemy 
of
the good, all the way. So you are correct.

 Can you explain to me how that applies to domestic opposition to US 
 torture.

Some Americans do believe in torture, probably the 32% that like Bush. But
most don't. It definitely isn't something any major religion would back. 
However,
 I think most people though don't really
understand the idea that the ends do not justify the means and so they are
ambivalent about the idea of torture. And this perhaps causes foggy
thinking on the issue.
   I think that the Bush No Child Left Behind policy
will cause further decline in critical thinking here in the USA. This is of
course what the would-be dictators, like Bush, love. School here is all 
about
learning enough to get a nice job. It is deplorable, but true. Myself,
I think learning to use one's brain fluidly is important to live a high
quality life in all of its potentialities. (Learning job skills comes in a 
distant
second.) Bush's program causes a reduction in free thinking and teachers
are concerned about the students doing well on the Bush imposed tests.
Students are taught to be orderly and not be disruptive. They are being
set up to be orderly consumers.


 Or how it applies to the shambles of Progressive opposition during
 the last 30 years.
Liberals have not been effective. Reagan somehow made the word liberal into
a put-down. True Progressives are people like Kucinich and Feingold and the
late Paul Wellstone. Kerry is not progressive anything and not even a 
Liberal.
It is really not a questions of labels though. The real thing is personal 
integrity
and moral fortitude to go against what's popular and do the right action. 
Since
politics is the art of compromise, politicians can easily slip up and 
compromise
their own integrity. It happens with sickening regularity.

 It's a noble attempt to stick a band-aid over it.

 I said I wasn't belittling your efforts, and you know it's true. But
 please don't evade the issue and then chuck stuff like this at me.
 Stop trying to paint me as negative while you squirm to get off the
 hook.

 You say you've been out fighting all this time along with the huge
 number of Americans who are now and have ALWAYS been working as hard
 as we can. Happily accepted, but what efforts have you put into
 campaigning against US torture?
Personally, I have written my Congressional rep and Senators many times. 
They write
back saying they 

Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-04 Thread Keith Addison
Hey Randall,
its greed just greed and again greed and only greed!
Fritz

Maybe, but whose greed, exactly?

I'm not addressing this at anyone in particular...

This is a simple thing that's become woven into a hugely complicated 
situation, a matter of empire. As a result it's not only anything 
anymore, though the simple thing remains, which is that torture is 
evil, fullstop.

People can talk about war being necessary sometimes or even about 
holy wars, but you can't argue that torture is necessary sometimes 
or talk about holy torture unless you're voting for the return of 
the Inquisition.

Torture is not necessary under any circumstances, because all you 
need to do to break somebody's will is to keep them awake. That's 
torture too, but it always works. So why do people have to use brutal 
violence and such perversions as electric shocks to people's genitals?

You find these people in every society, people who'll run death camps 
if that's what's happening, whether passively as guards who are 
indeed probably just doing their job, enslaved people will do 
anything you want them to, or actively as torturers and killers, sick 
and twisted people who'll do it because they love it.

That doesn't have anything to do with greed. Every society has its 
psychopaths, they're a tiny minority, they do not define the society 
they're a part of, they don't define anything except themselves.

States employ torture, not humans unless they're sickos who get off 
on it. You know, people like Hannibal the Cannibal.

The US attempt to blame low-ranking cannon-fodder for Abu Ghraib etc 
is just a case of the true culprit throwing up a smokescreen, as 
usual. You'll always be able to find people who'll stoop to torture 
if you institutionalise torture, and then if it gets spotlighted you 
can use them as the fall guys.

Hakan's right, IMHO. Many people have commented that Americans just 
aren't interested in the torture issue, they're turning a blind eye 
while it goes on happening and spreads.

Pointing the finger, or a finger, at the UN is something you might do 
if you don't know much about John Bolton either - Americans are 
definitely to blame for him too, and he's there for one reason only, 
to kick the UN into a compliant shape. Please read this:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/15/usint12295.htm
Response to Criticism of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights 
(Human Rights Watch, 15-12-2005)

That's UN Ambassador John Bolton on US torture.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Bolton
John R. Bolton - SourceWatch

http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg60612.html
[Biofuel] Steamroller Bolton at the U.N.

http://www.counterpunch.org/barry03142005.html
Tom Barry: John Bolton's Baggage

Institutionalised torture is an abomination, it stains everybody with 
complicity in a nation that condones it or institutes it, unless they 
live under a totalitarian dictatorship.

It's said people get the government they deserve. There's a lot of 
meaning in that but it's not really true. The amount of say that most 
people have in their governments is only theirs on sufferance, those 
in a totalitarian state have no say, they're slaves. But people who 
had every say and every opportunity and who let it all slip away 
through sheer negligence get the government they deserve. In this 
current case, everybody else's problem is that the rest of us are 
getting that government too and we don't deserve it.

If you want to blame someone, blame this:

Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship.
-- William Blum - Rogue State, on how governments control their citizens
http://www.killinghope.org/

People get the newspapers they deserve too.

It's also said it's our imaginations that keep us human, the ability 
to live a thousand lives. So use it - put yourself and your feelings 
inside someone who's screaming themselves to death while mad 
torturers laugh and jeer and do everything they can to make it worse. 
See how much you can take even just trying to imagine it, let alone 
have it happen to you. Then make excuses, if you still want to. Try 
to put yourself inside one of the torturers too, see how only human 
it is. Like hell it is.

Stop talking about blame, dump all the finger-pointing and get it fixed.

Best

Keith


- Original Message -
From: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]Randall
To: mailto:biofuel@sustainablelists.orgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 3:19 PM
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

Hakan,

To answer your question:  No.  Your questions imply that ALL Americans have
proof about systematic and long-term torture, and quite simply I do not
believe that you have the evidence to support that assertion.  What other
countries have been reported to and are listed with Amnesty International as
having employed torture?Are you going to issue the same indictment of
the citizens of those countries as well?


Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-04 Thread Mike Weaver
Keith,

Much of what you say is true but to lump everyone here in the US 
together is not fair.  BushCo flat stole the last vote, and a HUGE group 
of us
USers (I hate the term American - it's as if Mexico and Canada don't 
exist) are now and have ALWAYS been working as hard as we can to fight 
his programs.
My business and my personal life are shaped by this struggle, as are the 
lives of my friends.  The opposition never went away in the States.

No one I know is in favor of torture, and if you follow the news in the 
US, even most of the Republicans are against it. This is a Bush Admin. 
thing, not an American
thing. 

Stop talking about blame, dump all the finger-pointing and get it fixed.

We are, and our numbers are growing each day!

-Mike

Keith Addison wrote:

Hey Randall,
its greed just greed and again greed and only greed!
Fritz



Maybe, but whose greed, exactly?

I'm not addressing this at anyone in particular...

This is a simple thing that's become woven into a hugely complicated 
situation, a matter of empire. As a result it's not only anything 
anymore, though the simple thing remains, which is that torture is 
evil, fullstop.

People can talk about war being necessary sometimes or even about 
holy wars, but you can't argue that torture is necessary sometimes 
or talk about holy torture unless you're voting for the return of 
the Inquisition.

Torture is not necessary under any circumstances, because all you 
need to do to break somebody's will is to keep them awake. That's 
torture too, but it always works. So why do people have to use brutal 
violence and such perversions as electric shocks to people's genitals?

You find these people in every society, people who'll run death camps 
if that's what's happening, whether passively as guards who are 
indeed probably just doing their job, enslaved people will do 
anything you want them to, or actively as torturers and killers, sick 
and twisted people who'll do it because they love it.

That doesn't have anything to do with greed. Every society has its 
psychopaths, they're a tiny minority, they do not define the society 
they're a part of, they don't define anything except themselves.

States employ torture, not humans unless they're sickos who get off 
on it. You know, people like Hannibal the Cannibal.

The US attempt to blame low-ranking cannon-fodder for Abu Ghraib etc 
is just a case of the true culprit throwing up a smokescreen, as 
usual. You'll always be able to find people who'll stoop to torture 
if you institutionalise torture, and then if it gets spotlighted you 
can use them as the fall guys.

Hakan's right, IMHO. Many people have commented that Americans just 
aren't interested in the torture issue, they're turning a blind eye 
while it goes on happening and spreads.

Pointing the finger, or a finger, at the UN is something you might do 
if you don't know much about John Bolton either - Americans are 
definitely to blame for him too, and he's there for one reason only, 
to kick the UN into a compliant shape. Please read this:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/12/15/usint12295.htm
Response to Criticism of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights 
(Human Rights Watch, 15-12-2005)

That's UN Ambassador John Bolton on US torture.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Bolton
John R. Bolton - SourceWatch

http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg60612.html
[Biofuel] Steamroller Bolton at the U.N.

http://www.counterpunch.org/barry03142005.html
Tom Barry: John Bolton's Baggage

Institutionalised torture is an abomination, it stains everybody with 
complicity in a nation that condones it or institutes it, unless they 
live under a totalitarian dictatorship.

It's said people get the government they deserve. There's a lot of 
meaning in that but it's not really true. The amount of say that most 
people have in their governments is only theirs on sufferance, those 
in a totalitarian state have no say, they're slaves. But people who 
had every say and every opportunity and who let it all slip away 
through sheer negligence get the government they deserve. In this 
current case, everybody else's problem is that the rest of us are 
getting that government too and we don't deserve it.

If you want to blame someone, blame this:

Propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship.
-- William Blum - Rogue State, on how governments control their citizens
http://www.killinghope.org/

People get the newspapers they deserve too.

It's also said it's our imaginations that keep us human, the ability 
to live a thousand lives. So use it - put yourself and your feelings 
inside someone who's screaming themselves to death while mad 
torturers laugh and jeer and do everything they can to make it worse. 
See how much you can take even just trying to imagine it, let alone 
have it happen to you. Then make excuses, if you still want to. Try 
to put yourself inside one of the torturers too, see how only 

Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-04 Thread Keith Addison
Hello Mike

Keith,

Much of what you say is true but to lump everyone here in the US
together is not fair.  BushCo flat stole the last vote,

And the one before, and the next one. But which president didn't? 
It's just a matter of degree of in-your-faceness. The Business Party 
wins every time.

'It has often been pointed out by political scientists that the US is 
basically a one-party state -- the business party, with two factions, 
Democrats and Republicans. Most of the population seems to agree. A 
very high percentage, sometimes passing 80%, believe that the 
government serves the few and the special interests, not the 
people. ... More serious political scientists in the mainstream 
describe the US not as a democracy but as a polyarchy: a system 
of elite decision and periodic public ratification. There is surely 
much truth to the conclusion of the leading American social 
philosopher of the 20th century, John Dewey, whose main work was on 
democracy, that until there is democratic control of the primary 
economic institutions, politics will be the shadow cast on society 
by big business.' - Noam Chomsky

That is hardly unique to the US.

and a HUGE group
of us
USers (I hate the term American - it's as if Mexico and Canada don't
exist)

We've discussed that before. But it's worldwide usage. I don't think 
it causes much confusion, Washington, Americans, North Americans, 
everybody understands that.

are now and have ALWAYS been working as hard as we can to fight
his programs.

Huge? You (collectively) were outmanoeuvred 30 years ago and you've 
hardly got a thing right since, you didn't see anything coming. You 
weren't even easy meat for Bushco, there wasn't any need to take any 
notice of you at all. The left or whatever you want to call it has 
been pathetic, and still is.

My business and my personal life are shaped by this struggle, as are the
lives of my friends.  The opposition never went away in the States.

No one I know is in favor of torture,

Of course they're not.

and if you follow the news in the
US, even most of the Republicans are against it. This is a Bush Admin.
thing, not an American
thing.

The School of the Americas, eg?

If all you want is to get things back the way they were before 
Bushco, then you're liable to have another Bushco ere long. 
Business-as-usual over the last 60 years is what has to go, not just 
Bushco. Particularly with foreign policy.

Stop talking about blame, dump all the finger-pointing and get it fixed.

We are, and our numbers are growing each day!

Good!

But, nationwide, what you see is silence, people looking the other 
way, compliance. Torture rates as a minor issue or a non-issue. Rice 
and Bolton et al can still deny that it happens and get away with it. 
After three and a half years! If you were a torture victim, you'd 
still be waiting patiently all this time would you? It's two years 
since congress was treated to three hours of slides and videos of US 
troops abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, yet your leaders can still 
deny it happens. Not exactly under a lot of pressure, are they?

There is no indication of meaningful action by the US government to 
remedy the situation and prevent further abuse. -- Amnesty 
International

Americans are waking up in large numbers, at long last, and maybe 
it's not even too late, but it hasn't reached the torture issue yet. 
You can still say nobody cares, and people do say that. Of course 
there are exceptions, there always are.

I'm not knocking you Mike, nor the efforts of any and all who oppose 
power and brute force, I'm sure you know that.

But I don't think you've made a dent in anything I said.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0106-26.htm
Published on Thursday, January 6, 2005 by New York Times
We Are All Torturers Now

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/050214fa_fact6
The New Yorker
Outsourcing Torture
The secret history of America's extraordinary rendition program
by JANE MAYER
Issue of 2005-02-14
On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, 
assured the world that torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand 
over people to countries that do torture.

And he's still there, eh?

Most Americans haven't got a clue what they look the other way at.

Best

Keith


-Mike

Keith Addison wrote:

 Hey Randall,
 its greed just greed and again greed and only greed!
 Fritz
 
 
 
 Maybe, but whose greed, exactly?
 
 I'm not addressing this at anyone in particular...
 
 This is a simple thing that's become woven into a hugely complicated
 situation, a matter of empire. As a result it's not only anything
 anymore, though the simple thing remains, which is that torture is
 evil, fullstop.
 
 People can talk about war being necessary sometimes or even about
 holy wars, but you can't argue that torture is necessary sometimes
 or talk about holy torture unless you're voting for the return of
 the Inquisition.
 
 Torture is not necessary under any circumstances, because all you
 need to do 

Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-04 Thread Mike Weaver
NOT TRUE!  The court gave him the first one.  He stole the 2nd one ;-)
The next one?  Even I'm beginning to wonder.

FWIW I think Reagan beat Carter w/o chicanery at the ballot box.

I'm not arguing that we're lurching towards a coporatocracy - we are, 
but I'm not throwing in the towel yet.

I think there is hope yet, but we'll see.

I agree the left (I prefer Progessives but then I still consider myself 
a musuem quality Liberal) has been hapless of late.  But I don't think 
all is lost.
If nothing else we are certainly energized as we haven't been since the 
60's.

One thing we need to learn is that the perfect is the enemy of the good.



Keith Addison wrote:

Hello Mike

  

Keith,

Much of what you say is true but to lump everyone here in the US
together is not fair.  BushCo flat stole the last vote,



And the one before, and the next one. But which president didn't? 
It's just a matter of degree of in-your-faceness. The Business Party 
wins every time.

'It has often been pointed out by political scientists that the US is 
basically a one-party state -- the business party, with two factions, 
Democrats and Republicans. Most of the population seems to agree. A 
very high percentage, sometimes passing 80%, believe that the 
government serves the few and the special interests, not the 
people. ... More serious political scientists in the mainstream 
describe the US not as a democracy but as a polyarchy: a system 
of elite decision and periodic public ratification. There is surely 
much truth to the conclusion of the leading American social 
philosopher of the 20th century, John Dewey, whose main work was on 
democracy, that until there is democratic control of the primary 
economic institutions, politics will be the shadow cast on society 
by big business.' - Noam Chomsky

That is hardly unique to the US.

  

and a HUGE group
of us
USers (I hate the term American - it's as if Mexico and Canada don't
exist)



We've discussed that before. But it's worldwide usage. I don't think 
it causes much confusion, Washington, Americans, North Americans, 
everybody understands that.

  

are now and have ALWAYS been working as hard as we can to fight
his programs.



Huge? You (collectively) were outmanoeuvred 30 years ago and you've 
hardly got a thing right since, you didn't see anything coming. You 
weren't even easy meat for Bushco, there wasn't any need to take any 
notice of you at all. The left or whatever you want to call it has 
been pathetic, and still is.

  

My business and my personal life are shaped by this struggle, as are the
lives of my friends.  The opposition never went away in the States.

No one I know is in favor of torture,



Of course they're not.

  

and if you follow the news in the
US, even most of the Republicans are against it. This is a Bush Admin.
thing, not an American
thing.



The School of the Americas, eg?

If all you want is to get things back the way they were before 
Bushco, then you're liable to have another Bushco ere long. 
Business-as-usual over the last 60 years is what has to go, not just 
Bushco. Particularly with foreign policy.

  

Stop talking about blame, dump all the finger-pointing and get it fixed.

We are, and our numbers are growing each day!



Good!

But, nationwide, what you see is silence, people looking the other 
way, compliance. Torture rates as a minor issue or a non-issue. Rice 
and Bolton et al can still deny that it happens and get away with it. 
After three and a half years! If you were a torture victim, you'd 
still be waiting patiently all this time would you? It's two years 
since congress was treated to three hours of slides and videos of US 
troops abusing prisoners at Abu Ghraib, yet your leaders can still 
deny it happens. Not exactly under a lot of pressure, are they?

There is no indication of meaningful action by the US government to 
remedy the situation and prevent further abuse. -- Amnesty 
International

Americans are waking up in large numbers, at long last, and maybe 
it's not even too late, but it hasn't reached the torture issue yet. 
You can still say nobody cares, and people do say that. Of course 
there are exceptions, there always are.

I'm not knocking you Mike, nor the efforts of any and all who oppose 
power and brute force, I'm sure you know that.

But I don't think you've made a dent in anything I said.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0106-26.htm
Published on Thursday, January 6, 2005 by New York Times
We Are All Torturers Now

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/050214fa_fact6
The New Yorker
Outsourcing Torture
The secret history of America's extraordinary rendition program
by JANE MAYER
Issue of 2005-02-14
  

On January 27th, President Bush, in an interview with the Times, 
assured the world that torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand 
over people to countries that do torture.



And he's still there, eh?

Most Americans haven't got a clue what they look the other way 

Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-04 Thread Keith Addison
Hello Mike Weaver

NOT TRUE!

True.

The court gave him the first one.  He stole the 2nd one ;-)
The next one?  Even I'm beginning to wonder.

FWIW I think Reagan beat Carter w/o chicanery at the ballot box.

You miss the point. There's no need to cheat if the whole charade is 
a shell game anyway.

I'm not arguing that we're lurching towards a coporatocracy - we are,
but I'm not throwing in the towel yet.

You're IN a corporatocracy. But that's no reason to throw in the towel either.

I think there is hope yet, but we'll see.

Of course there's hope, perhaps more now than ever before. Look it in 
the face, no need to rose-tint it, you might find more hope there 
than you think.

I agree the left (I prefer Progessives but then I still consider myself
a musuem quality Liberal) has been hapless of late.  But I don't think
all is lost.
If nothing else we are certainly energized as we haven't been since the
60's.

One thing we need to learn is that the perfect is the enemy of the good.

Can you explain to me how that applies to domestic opposition to US torture.

Or how it applies to the shambles of Progressive opposition during 
the last 30 years.

It's a noble attempt to stick a band-aid over it.

I said I wasn't belittling your efforts, and you know it's true. But 
please don't evade the issue and then chuck stuff like this at me. 
Stop trying to paint me as negative while you squirm to get off the 
hook.

You say you've been out fighting all this time along with the huge 
number of Americans who are now and have ALWAYS been working as hard 
as we can. Happily accepted, but what efforts have you put into 
campaigning against US torture?

Insert from previous:

 It's also said it's our imaginations that keep us human, the ability
 to live a thousand lives. So use it - put yourself and your feelings
 inside someone who's screaming themselves to death while mad
 torturers laugh and jeer and do everything they can to make it worse.
 See how much you can take even just trying to imagine it, let alone
 have it happen to you. Then make excuses, if you still want to. Try
 to put yourself inside one of the torturers too, see how only human
 it is. Like hell it is.

Did you try it Mike, and you're still prevaricating?

Why am I having to re-focus you on the topic? Twice now.

 But, nationwide, what you see is silence, people looking the other
 way, compliance. Torture rates as a minor issue or a non-issue.

 http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0106-26.htm
 Published on Thursday, January 6, 2005 by New York Times
 We Are All Torturers Now

Namaste

Keith


Keith Addison wrote:

 Hello Mike
 
 
 
 Keith,
 
 Much of what you say is true but to lump everyone here in the US
 together is not fair.  BushCo flat stole the last vote,
 
 
 
 And the one before, and the next one. But which president didn't?
 It's just a matter of degree of in-your-faceness. The Business Party
 wins every time.
 
 'It has often been pointed out by political scientists that the US is
 basically a one-party state -- the business party, with two factions,
 Democrats and Republicans. Most of the population seems to agree. A
 very high percentage, sometimes passing 80%, believe that the
 government serves the few and the special interests, not the
 people. ... More serious political scientists in the mainstream
 describe the US not as a democracy but as a polyarchy: a system
 of elite decision and periodic public ratification. There is surely
 much truth to the conclusion of the leading American social
 philosopher of the 20th century, John Dewey, whose main work was on
 democracy, that until there is democratic control of the primary
 economic institutions, politics will be the shadow cast on society
 by big business.' - Noam Chomsky
 
 That is hardly unique to the US.
 
 
 
 and a HUGE group
 of us
 USers (I hate the term American - it's as if Mexico and Canada don't
 exist)
 
 
 
 We've discussed that before. But it's worldwide usage. I don't think
 it causes much confusion, Washington, Americans, North Americans,
 everybody understands that.
 
 
 
 are now and have ALWAYS been working as hard as we can to fight
 his programs.
 
 
 
 Huge? You (collectively) were outmanoeuvred 30 years ago and you've
 hardly got a thing right since, you didn't see anything coming. You
 weren't even easy meat for Bushco, there wasn't any need to take any
 notice of you at all. The left or whatever you want to call it has
 been pathetic, and still is.
 
 
 
 My business and my personal life are shaped by this struggle, as are the
 lives of my friends.  The opposition never went away in the States.
 
 No one I know is in favor of torture,
 
 
 
 Of course they're not.
 
 
 
 and if you follow the news in the
 US, even most of the Republicans are against it. This is a Bush Admin.
 thing, not an American
 thing.
 
 
 
 The School of the Americas, eg?
 
 If all you want is to get things back the way they were before
 Bushco, then you're liable to have another Bushco 

[Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-03 Thread Hakan Falk

US has not stopped torture, according to Amnesty

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=BreakingstoryId=1519912

Who belive that they stopped? It casts a shadow over all Americans, who
are responsible for their government. At least republicans are clearly to
identify with what's going on. This especially elected representatives,
who refuse to take a stand and stop their support of this administration.

Why is there so little public actions to get rid of the current government?
A massive rejection of its methods, would make them resign, but it is
no signs of it. No actions are the same as compliancy, Americans of
today, must have a very good understanding and sympathy for the
Germans in the 1930's. They only let it happen also.

Was Vietnam not enough, or should future generations have to feel
more guilt of their ancestors behavior.

Hakan 



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Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-03 Thread Randall
Hakan,

To answer your question:  No.  Your questions imply that ALL Americans have 
proof about systematic and long-term torture, and quite simply I do not 
believe that you have the evidence to support that assertion.  What other 
countries have been reported to and are listed with Amnesty International as 
having employed torture?Are you going to issue the same indictment of 
the citizens of those countries as well?

Aren't ALL member nations in the UN responsible for not forcing ALL 
countries to stop using torture?  Using your assertion, aren't the citizens 
of all those countries responsible as well?   Yes, I know it is easy to say 
that the US has a veto on the Security Council...but why not simply change 
the system??  Sitting back and just saying that they cannot is the same as 
the comparison to 1930's and 1940's Nazi Germany.

Simply having a vote does not imply responsibilty, much less confer the 
ability to force the action (or non-action) of a government.This does 
not excuse torture...but nor does it solve it either.   I believe you need 
to first figure out what makes humans CAPABLE of torture then you can 
address the REASONS that humans employ torture.


--Randall

___

 Heisenberg may have slept here 

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my 
xe.  --Abraham Lincoln

___

- Original Message - 
From: Hakan Falk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 1:19 PM
Subject: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?



 US has not stopped torture, according to Amnesty

 http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=BreakingstoryId=1519912

 Who belive that they stopped? It casts a shadow over all Americans, who
 are responsible for their government. At least republicans are clearly to
 identify with what's going on. This especially elected representatives,
 who refuse to take a stand and stop their support of this administration.

 Why is there so little public actions to get rid of the current 
 government?
 A massive rejection of its methods, would make them resign, but it is
 no signs of it. No actions are the same as compliancy, Americans of
 today, must have a very good understanding and sympathy for the
 Germans in the 1930's. They only let it happen also.

 Was Vietnam not enough, or should future generations have to feel
 more guilt of their ancestors behavior.

 Hakan



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 http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html

 Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 
 messages):
 http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
 


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Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-03 Thread Hakan Falk

Randall,

US have already proved that they do not want to give up the veto
in UN. This also means that they can veto any change that are
suggested for UN. So it is the old story about what comes first.

Yes, there are some other countries that apply torture, most of
them are countries that US does not want to be compared with and
some of them South Americans that US support and where CIA
have proved to be training the military. To be fair, we must also
mention China, where US have no influence at all.

Yes, I am saying the same about those countries, but unfortunately
torture is an internal matter and used to keep their own population
under control. Are you suggesting that this is the case in US, it
becomes even more worrisome than I thought.

So what you say is, as long as ALL Americans are not aware of
their country's methods, the rest is absolved from taking actions
and are kept in line by torture as other countries.

I never thought that you had such a risky and dangerous environment
in US. It has changed very much the last few years that I did not
visit.

Hakan


At 21:19 03/05/2006, you wrote:
Hakan,

To answer your question:  No.  Your questions imply that ALL Americans have
proof about systematic and long-term torture, and quite simply I do not
believe that you have the evidence to support that assertion.  What other
countries have been reported to and are listed with Amnesty International as
having employed torture?Are you going to issue the same indictment of
the citizens of those countries as well?

Aren't ALL member nations in the UN responsible for not forcing ALL
countries to stop using torture?  Using your assertion, aren't the citizens
of all those countries responsible as well?   Yes, I know it is easy to say
that the US has a veto on the Security Council...but why not simply change
the system??  Sitting back and just saying that they cannot is the same as
the comparison to 1930's and 1940's Nazi Germany.

Simply having a vote does not imply responsibilty, much less confer the
ability to force the action (or non-action) of a government.This does
not excuse torture...but nor does it solve it either.   I believe you need
to first figure out what makes humans CAPABLE of torture then you can
address the REASONS that humans employ torture.


--Randall

___

 Heisenberg may have slept here 

If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my
xe.  --Abraham Lincoln

___

- Original Message -
From: Hakan Falk [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 1:19 PM
Subject: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?


 
  US has not stopped torture, according to Amnesty
 
  
 http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=BreakingstoryId=1519912
 
  Who belive that they stopped? It casts a shadow over all Americans, who
  are responsible for their government. At least republicans are clearly to
  identify with what's going on. This especially elected representatives,
  who refuse to take a stand and stop their support of this administration.
 
  Why is there so little public actions to get rid of the current
  government?
  A massive rejection of its methods, would make them resign, but it is
  no signs of it. No actions are the same as compliancy, Americans of
  today, must have a very good understanding and sympathy for the
  Germans in the 1930's. They only let it happen also.
 
  Was Vietnam not enough, or should future generations have to feel
  more guilt of their ancestors behavior.
 
  Hakan
 
 
 
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  messages):
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Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers or supporters of torture?

2006-05-03 Thread Fritz Friesinger



Hey Randall,
its greed just greed and again greed and only 
greed!
Fritz

  - Original Message - 
  From: 
  Randall 
  To: biofuel@sustainablelists.org 
  
  Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 3:19 
  PM
  Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Are Americans 
  torturers or supporters of torture?
  Hakan,To answer your question: No. Your 
  questions imply that ALL Americans have proof about systematic and 
  long-term torture, and quite simply I do not believe that you have the 
  evidence to support that assertion. What other countries have been 
  reported to and are listed with Amnesty International as having employed 
  torture? Are you going to issue the same indictment of 
  the citizens of those countries as well?Aren't ALL member nations 
  in the UN responsible for not forcing ALL countries to stop using 
  torture? Using your assertion, aren't the citizens of all those 
  countries responsible as well? Yes, I know it is easy to say 
  that the US has a veto on the Security Council...but why not simply change 
  the system?? Sitting back and just saying that they cannot is the 
  same as the comparison to 1930's and 1940's Nazi Germany.Simply 
  having a vote does not imply responsibilty, much less confer the ability 
  to force the action (or non-action) of a government. This 
  does not excuse torture...but nor does it solve it either. I 
  believe you need to first figure out what makes humans CAPABLE of torture 
  then you can address the REASONS that humans employ 
  torture.--Randall___ 
  Heisenberg may have slept here "If I had eight hours to chop 
  down a tree, I'd spend six sharpening my xe." --Abraham 
  Lincoln___- 
  Original Message - From: "Hakan Falk" [EMAIL PROTECTED]To: 
  Biofuel@sustainablelists.orgSent: 
  Wednesday, May 03, 2006 1:19 PMSubject: [Biofuel] Are Americans torturers 
  or supporters of torture? US has not stopped torture, 
  according to Amnesty http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=BreakingstoryId=1519912 
  Who belive that they stopped? It casts a shadow over all Americans, 
  who are responsible for their government. At least republicans are 
  clearly to identify with what's going on. This especially elected 
  representatives, who refuse to take a stand and stop their support of 
  this administration. Why is there so little public actions to 
  get rid of the current  government? A massive rejection of its 
  methods, would make them resign, but it is no signs of it. No actions 
  are the same as compliancy, Americans of today, must have a very good 
  understanding and sympathy for the Germans in the 1930's. They only 
  "let it happen" also. Was Vietnam not enough, or should future 
  generations have to feel more guilt of their ancestors 
  behavior. Hakan 
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