October 2007 archive

Walking down Lexington Avenue in the 20s with my teenaged niece, it was in the mid-80’s, a homeless man jumped in front of us and yelled out with a fierce look on his face “HOMELESS!”  Not missing a beat, I shouted back “SAGITTARIUS!”  He looked bewildered and walked away.  My niece thought I was cool.

Some time in the 80’s, if I recall correctly, they changed the commitment laws, folks couldn’t be forced into mental institutions any more, so many were released.  I remember the Big Apple when the streets were lined with homeless people, sure not all of them were mentally ill, but plenty were.

Senior year in high school, in the midwest, I volunteered for a summer as a candy striper at the county mental institution — I was put to work with the occupational therapists in the chronic ward.

I read some of the case histories, people who were mentally retarded being put away and after long years they became psychotic as well.  One day during the summer they had a fire drill — I got separated from the staff and ended up milling about with the folks from the locked ward — none of them made me feel threatened, on the contrary, being among them I felt as though I were the odd woman out, and perhaps I should start babbling and carrying on as the normal thing to do.

what’s the point in trying to fit in? is there a point?

The indispensable Laura Rozen quotes Intelligence Online, which says the targets were Korean SCUD missile parts: 

In attacking Dair el Zor in Syria on Sept. 6, the Israeli air force wasn’t targeting a nuclear site but rather one of the main arms depots in the country.

  Dair el Zor houses a huge underground base where the Syrian army stores the long and medium-range missiles it mostly buys from Iran and North Korea. The attack by the Israeli air force coincided with the arrival of a stock of parts for Syria’s 200 Scud B and 60 Scud C weapons.

  The parts were shipped from North Korea aboard a container ship flying the Panamanian flag. The U.S. Navy wanted to board the ship in Morocco’s territorial waters but Rabat vetoed the operation. The parts were loaded aboard six trucks in the Syrian port of Tartus on Sept. 3 and took three days to reach Dair el Zor. The trucks and their loads were destroyed the moment they arrived at the underground base. A unit of military police that escorted the convoy was also wiped out in the attack.

The really interesting part is below the fold:

Christopher Columbus:

The Christian Crusades had ended in 1291, the Black Death had been deliberately blamed on innocent Jews who said what their Christian torturers forced them to, that they poisoned water wells, causing the Black Death. Of course, the real cause was in the stomachs of fleas, not planetary alignment, earthquakes, or God’s Judgment. Nonetheless, the extermination of European Jews began in 1348 again, along with a key notorious origin of Manifest Destiny.

This is an OPEN THREAD. Here are four stories in the news at 4 o’clock to get you started.
Three things cause sorrow to flee: water, green trees, and a beautiful face.

1. In an effort to evade his eventual war crimes trial, George W. Bush today said his “government does not torture people! You know, we stick to U.S. law and our international obligations.” Bush noted he has “highly trained professionals questioning these extremists and terrorists!” Adding, “by the way, we have gotten information from these high-value detainees that have helped protect you!” So shut up already, ixnay onway ayingsay eway orturetay. Bush blamed his torture policies on Congress, saying “the techniques that we use have been fully disclosed to appropriate members of the United States Congress”. He claimed to be protecting Americans from “further attack”.

   Bush was facing backlash over a secret memo condoning torture by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ Justice Department, which was covered in yesterday’s Four at Four. The memo sanctioned the use of head slapping and simulated drowning. According to TPMmuckraker, Reps. John Conyers (D-MI) chair and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) of the House Judiciary committee has demanded the release of secret legal opinions from 2005 and 2006 condoning the use of ‘enhanced interrogation’.

   The New York Times reports that debate in Congress erupted on techniques used by the C.I.A. Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), Senate Intelligence Committee chair, sent a sternly worded letter to acting attorney general Peter Keisler, requesting “copies of all opinions on interrogation since 2004.” Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Senate Judiciary Committee chair, said the Bush administration had “reinstated a secret regime by, in essence, reinterpreting the law in secret.” Leahy promised that Michael Mukasey, the nominee for attorney general, would be questioned about his views on interrogation. I’m sure Mukasey will not be forthcoming and the Democrats will still approve him.

2. In the ‘Envoy to Myanmar Briefs the U.N.‘, Warren Hoge and Seth Mydans of The New York Times reports, “Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today that the use of force to put down peaceful protests in Myanmar was ‘abhorrent and unacceptable’ and that the government of the country must release those it has arrested and start a dialogue with political opponents. Mr. Ban made his remarks to the Security Council before his special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, reported on his four-day emergency trip to the country this week.”

   James Orr of The Guardian reports that “Mr. Gambari was ‘cautiously optimistic’ that the regime’s leader, General Than Shwe was ready to hold talks with the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.”

   “Of great concern to the United Nations and the international community are the continuing and disturbing reports of abuses being committed by security and non-uniformed elements, particularly at night during curfew, including raids on private homes, beatings, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances,” [Mr. Gambari] told the security council.

   He added that there were unconfirmed reports that the number of casualties during the protests had been “much higher than the dozen people reported killed by the government”.

There’s more news below the fold.

1. The Amazon is ablaze with the worst fires in a decade.

2. Today’s “Guns of Greed” — an overview of Blackwater and mercenary news.

Plus, there’s a bonus story today about kickin’ back and taking like easy in the smaller cities of Italy. So get your boarding pass and fly off to below the fold…