How Kerry would have fought the war on terror

Salon.com Politics

A new report, 'Preserving Security and Democratic Freedoms in the War on Terrorism,' authored by Juliette Kayyem and Philip Heymann of Harvard University, pulls together the recommendations of a range of bi-partisan policy and security experts on 10 critical issues and the 'clear rules' they say are needed to reconcile 'critical democratic norms and security concerns around each.'

On coercive interrogations, the group says, 'The United States must comply with its treaty obligations not to engage in torture. Treaty obligations not to use cruel and inhuman techniques short of torture must also be obeyed unless there is a clear immediate threat to American lives that only coercion might stop; the president must approve this limited exception. Regularly permissible interrogation techniques consistent with the Convention Against Torture should be approved by the president and provided to Congress.' ...

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A reasonable balance -- that's what a Kerry administration would have brought. A balance one could bring to judgment day.

Voted for Bush? Then pray for a merciful God.

Salon.com Politics

The two prisoners extradited from Sweeden to Egypt in December 2001, at least one of whom was later cleared, claimed they were beaten and tortured with electric shocks to their genitals. The report also notes a harrowing treatment that may have been used in Uzbekistan -- one country the Bush administration has aligned itself with under the banner of the global war on terror.

Among the countries where prisoners have been sent by America is Uzbekistan, a close ally and a dictatorship whose secret police are notorious for their interrogation methods, including the alleged boiling of prisoners. The Gulfstream made at least seven trips to the Uzbek capital.

The details bolster claims by Craig Murray, the former British ambassador, that America has sent terrorist suspects from Afghanistan to Uzbekistan to be interrogated by torture.

In a memo, whose disclosure last month contributed to Murray's removal, he told Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, that the CIA station chief in Tashkent had 'readily acknowledged torture was deployed in obtaining intelligence'.

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We may never know the truth. Bush has surrounded himself by loyalists.

The allegations, however, are consistent with what has been admitted and with a series of allegations that came with supporting evidence.

Those who voted for Bush, voted for this. Many of them those voters believe in a vengeful God. They may have need of a merciful God.

Understanding Bush II: Dobson and homophobic america

James Dobson - The religious right's new kingmaker. By Michael Crowley

... no one helped Bush win more than Dr. James Dobson. Forget Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson ... Forget Ralph Reed, now enriching himself as a lobbyist-operative, leaving the Christian Coalition a shell of its former self. Forget Gary Bauer ... Dobson is now America's most influential evangelical leader, with a following reportedly greater than that of either Falwell or Robertson at his peak.

Dobson earned the title. He proselytized hard for Bush this last year, organizing huge stadium rallies and using his radio program to warn his 7 million American listeners that not to vote would be a sin. Dobson may have delivered Bush his victories in Ohio and Florida...

... An absolutist disgusted by the compromises of politics, he sneers at those who place "self-preservation and power ahead of moral principle." ... as the gay-marriage movement surged this year, Dobson's moral outrage over the direction of American culture went supernova, asserting in his recent book Marriage Under Fire that Western civilization hangs in the balance....

Dobson's clout emanates from Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs-based ministry he founded that is awesome in scope: publishing books and magazines, disseminating Dobson's weekly newspaper column to more than 500 papers, and airing radio shows—including Dobson's own—that reach people in 115 countries every week, from Japan to Botswana and in languages from Spanish to Zulu. The ministry receives so much mail it has its own ZIP code.

His rise began in 1977, when as an unknown pediatric psychologist in California he published Dare to Discipline, a denunciation of permissive parenting that tried to rehabilitate the practice of spanking. The book sold 2 million copies. Dobson then cranked out a string of follow-up Christian self-help books, with titles like Straight Talk to Men and What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women.

... In 1983 he established the Family Research Council as his political arm in Washington, although he had his friend Gary Bauer enter the Gomorrah of Washington so Dobson could concentrate on his ministry in Colorado. Then, in the late 1990s Dobson began to grow disenchanted with Republican leaders in Congress for not pushing the Christian social agenda harder. In the 2000 campaign his tepid support of Bush may have helped dampen turnout among evangelical voters, a disappointment Karl Rove dwelled on for four years.

It was the gay-marriage debate that finally hurled Dobson into politics wholeheartedly. The subject of homosexuality seems to exert a special power over him, and he has devoted much idiosyncratic thought to it. When discussing gays he spares no detail, no matter how prurient...Dobson further contends that homosexuality, especially in such an early stage, can be "cured." His ministry runs a program called Love Won Out that seeks to convert "ex-gays" to heterosexuality....

To Dobson, gay marriage is a looming catastrophe of epic proportions. He has compared the recent steps toward gay marriage to Pearl Harbor and likens the battle against it to D-Day.

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Is reaction-formation the dominant pychopathology of the religious right? One wonders if Dobson fears that he might be gay -- or could at least lean that way.

Christian Exodus: The moral values agenda and states rights

Christian Exodus :: Come Out of Her, My People

ChristianExodus.org is coordinating the move of thousands of Christians to South Carolina for the express purpose of re-establishing Godly, constitutional government. It is evident that the U.S. Constitution has been abandoned under our current federal system, and the efforts of Christian activism to restore our Godly republic have proven futile over the past three decades. The time has come for Christians to withdraw our consent from the current federal government and re-introduce the Christian principles once so predominant in America to a sovereign State like South Carolina...

...Christians have actively tried to return the United States to their moral foundations for more than 30 years. We now have a "Christian" president, a "Christian" attorney general, and a Republican Congress and Supreme Court. Yet consider this:

* Abortion continues against the wishes of many States
* Sodomite marriage is now legal in Massachusetts (and coming soon to a neighborhood near you)
* Children who pray in public schools are subject to prosecution
* Our schools continue to teach the discredited theory of Darwinian evolution
* The Bible is still not welcome in schools except under unconstitutional FEDERAL guidelines
* The 10 Commandments remain banned from public display
* Sodomy is now legal AND celebrated as "diversity" rather than condemned as perversion
* Preaching Christianity will soon be outlawed as "hate speech"

Attempts at reform have proven futile. Future elections will not stop the above atrocities, but rather will exacerbate them and lead us down an even more deadly path.

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I find this web site fascinating. For one thing, it includes a very clear list of 8 critical demands, of which 2 involve sodomy, 3 are about church/state separation, and several imply unusual definitions of common words (such as "discredit", and "outlawed"). It's a good summary of the "moral values" agenda.

For another, I like the solution they espouse. I like the idea of states differentiating along cultural lines. If there are any rationalists left in South Carolina, they might want to consider moving to California, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, or Minnesota. If Hmong peoples can adapt to Minnesota winters, then so can South Carolinians. (If they move to Florida, on the other hand, maybe that state would tip to the rationalist side.)

I also enjoyed reading their plans. Anyone familiar with the history of Mormonism would recognize the outline of the original Mormon exodus and even echoes of early 20th century Zionism.

Phase One

The first move will commence when ChristianExodus.org reaches 12,000 members. Our research committee is currently selecting the first targeted city and county. We will encourage all 12,000 members toward this city and county. That number of activist migrants, when combined with the present Christian electorate, will enable us to win the city council, the county council, elected law enforcement positions, and elected judgeships. We will then be able to protect our God-given and constitutionally protected rights within our local community.

Initial goals:

1. 12,000 members by December 31, 2006.
2. Move thousands into South Carolina by October 31, 2008.
3. Work several local political campaigns in 2008...
4. Complete Phase One by end of 2008.

Additional Phases

Supplementary emigrations will begin with each new set of 12,000 members. In other words, the first 12,000 members will successfully execute Phase One. A second group of 12,000 members will then move to another city and county (Phase Two). Then the third set of 12,000 members will relocate to yet another city and county (Phase Three). ChristianExodus.org will continue this process until the General Assembly of the State is squarely in the hands of Christian Constitutionalists. It is possible that previously selected cities and counties may need to be reinforced with new members; therefore subsequent phases may also target previously chosen cities.

Distinct phases enable members to commit to move when they feel most comfortable. Some folks are ready to go today, and others will want to see some success before committing. The pioneers of Phase One will demonstrate the success of ChristianExodus.org's strategy, and provide a model for others to follow. Won't you join us in Phase One today?

Intermediate goals:

1. Complete multiple phases by end of 2013.
2. Overwhelmingly affect the state elections of 2014.
3. Institute constitutional reforms returning proper autonomy to the State by 2016 regardless of illegal edicts from Washington, D.C.

Employment

ChristianExodus.org understands that an important concern to our membership will be employment in our destination state. To help our members find employment, we will establish an employment service within our organization. ChristianExodus.org will recruit employers to hire our members as they emigrate. Different programs and incentives are currently being evaluated in the hope that we'll be able to find desired employment for all members who need help. Once launched, check our Employment page occasionally for updates and new opportunities.

There are hints of socialists leanings in the employment program, but that can hardly be avoided. I hope they succeed -- as long as emmigration from their communities is protected. The biggest issue is the same one that afflicts other cults -- laws protecting the rights of children.

Update: They will, of course, relearn the lessons of the Puritans. One's grandchildren regress to the mean. They lack the devotion of their grandparents.

Rolling Stone interviews seven very unhappy retired generals ...

Shrillblog: Seven Retired Generals Are Shrill!

Basic summary on the occupation of Iraq:

1. Rumsfeld is an idiot.
2. Bush is little better.
3. We are screwed.
4. Cut and run is a consideration.

Learning to ride for free

The New York Times > Business > Your Money > On the Contrary: Open Season on Others' Ideas

There have always been free riders in various walks of life. But the digital revolution and the rise of networked computers have brought us to the brink of a halcyon age for those who want something for nothing. Intellectual property is the new currency, and it appears that free riders have hit the jackpot. Their time is at hand, and we'd better deal with it.

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This is fascinating. There's a nerd ethos that one is obligated to return free-rider gifts with donations. My more technical blogs and my web site are donations of that nature. I hadn't, however, thought this out further -- though I now dimly recall similar discussions in 'Whole Earth Magazine' durings its second golden age (early 90s, the first golden age for WEM was the 70s).

Not that this article is perfect. Drugs are costly in the US and cheaper elsewhere for many reasons -- free riding on development costs is probably not the most significant reason. Fragmented purchasing, direct to consumer marketing and even US liability behaviors are probably bigger factors.

NYT tackles some of the big pharma questions

The New York Times > Business > Dangerous Data: Despite Warnings, Drug Giant Took Long Path to Vioxx Recall

But a detailed reconstruction of Merck's handling of Vioxx, based on interviews and internal company documents, suggests that actions the company took - and did not take - soon after the drug's safety was questioned may have affected the health of potentially thousands of patients, as well as the company's financial health and reputation.

The review also raises broader questions about an entire class of relatively new painkillers, called COX-2 inhibitors; about how drugs are tested; and about how aggressively the federal Food and Drug Administration monitors the safety of medications once they are in the marketplace...

...Five times as many patients taking Vioxx had heart attacks as those taking naproxen.

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In a separate NYT article there's a discussion about lowering the cost of drug development by changing how innovation is funded in the US.

These are big questions, the NYT deserves credit for tackling them. Is it just my imagination, or are they doing more of these research-intensive pieces lately?

The most interesting question is how intimate the relationship between the FDA and manufacturers has become. How many key people move between the FDA and manufacturing? How do key donations affect legislators? Eliott Spitzer must be watching closely.

PS. A fivefold relative increase in MI risk is an enormous increase. It's curious that such a large effect didn't emerge earlier. Is there something about patients who can't tolerate NSAIDS (and thus end up on Vioxx) that makes them also prone to MI?

Insider trading in the US Senate

Marginal Revolution: Senatorial Privilege

Yes, apparently everyone does do it. Senators cheat.

In February we reported on a new study showing that the stock picks of Senators, as revealed in their financial disclosure forms, outperformed the market by a whopping 12 percent.  Insider trading anyone?  Although it's not clear whether any laws have been broken, Alan Ziobrowski, one of the study's authors says 'there is cheating going on, at a 99 percent level of confidence.'

The SEC looked at the study but, surprise, surprise, it seems that they are too busy going after Martha Stewart to have the time to look into evidence that our leaders are using their political power and influence for personal gain.  An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer notes slyly, 'the SEC may have little incentive to tangle with the Senate, given their relationship. Senators approve members of the SEC's governing body, as well as the agency's budget.'

Unfortunately the article is not yet published, it is forthcoming in the Journal of Financial and Quantiative Analysis...

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I wonder if they'll break this down by party. Shades of Hillary's pork bellies. Good thing no-one cares about this any more.

The end of the PAP smear?

Technology News: Health : Vaccines May Nearly End Cervical Cancer

If approved in a few years, as expected, the vaccine likely would be recommended for girls ages 10 to 12 in the United States and elsewhere. The study, to be reported Saturday in the journal The Lancet, is the second this month showing a vaccine's success against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, believed to cause most cervical cancers.

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There have been several trials, all promising.

We may have to wait for the current cohort to die off, but sometime in the nex 60 years we may see the end of the PAP smear. If we eliminate HPV cervical cancer there are better ways to spend health care energies than PAP smears.

A Feed aggregator for medical topics - Reider and Ross

Medlogs.com - The News Aggregator for Medical Topics

My esteemed colleague Jacob Reider has put together this news aggregator for medical topics. Jacob is quite brilliant and a hacker besides, so I ought to have expected this. I found it by accident though when I was testing Google's indexing of blogger. Google hadn't indexed my blog entry from November, but they did index this aggregator -- which in turn referenced the terms I was testing on.

Jacob has categorized my "Faughnan's Notes" blog as a medical blog. I'll have to try to put more healthcare related entries in it! In fact ithis blog largely politics and economics; Jacob probably stuck it in his collection because he has peculiar tastes.

I shall have to see if I can add this aggregator to my bloglines feeds.

PS. Google does seem to have done something major to their indices. They are now only a few weeks behind on indexing blogger and their "pages indexed" count has doubled. So maybe we SHOULDN'T think of shorting their stock!

Floresians: Homo erectus or homo sapiens?

The New York Times > Science > Miniature People Add Extra Pieces to Evolutionary Puzzle

There has been little evidence until now that Homo erectus long survived its younger cousins' arrival in the region. Modern humans probably exterminated the world's other archaic humans, the Neanderthals in Europe. Yet the little Floresians survived some 30,000 years into modern times, the only archaic human species known to have done so.

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First of all, I think Stepen Baxter should get special mention for making the Floresians seem inevitable.

Secondly, this article mentions in a rather off-handed way, that our ancestors slaughtered both Homo erectus and Neanderthal. I'd long assumed that was true (presumably we ate them), but I'd not realized it was now common wisdom. It's scary to think that, as nasty as we are now, we might once have been even worse.

Lastly, this is a great article. If the Floresians were Homo sapiens they are at once both less exotic and more fantastic. As to those who doubt that such odd looking creatures could be of the same species as us ... they need to compare a chihuahua to a Great Dane.

Life extension through supplements -- not likely to work

CNN.com - Study: Vitamin E may do more harm than good - Nov 10, 2004

People take large doses of vitamin E in the belief that it helps counter oxidation by unstable 'free radical' molecules, which damages cells and can accelerate aging and lead to heart disease and cancer.

Miller, who was surprised by the findings of the study, said there could be several ways the vitamin supplementation is damaging the body.

While vitamin E in low doses is a powerful antioxidant, in higher doses its effects may promote oxidative damage, and may also overwhelm the body's natural antioxidants, he said.

Dr. Raymond Gibbons of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the evidence has been building against vitamin E supplements.

'Despite this ... I see many, many patients still taking vitamin E and I have to convince them not to,' he told a separate news conference.

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I think there's a sneaking suspicion that humans in wealthy nations probably make a pretty optimal use of key nutrients. The only dietary ways to extend life are likely to be calorie restriction and maybe fat restrictions. What helps in one regard may hurt in another. Disappointingly similar to medications, but unlikely to affect supplement sales.

Pfizer/Bextra joins Merck/Vioxx on the COX2 firing line

The New York Times > Business > New Study Links Pfizer's Bextra, Similar to Vioxx, to Heart Attacks

A weak retrospective study suggests Bextra is a disaster. If it were the only such study the appropriate action would be warning labels and more studies. However, in the context of Vioxx, this suggests Bextra should be withdrawn from the market. I'd be amazed if Bextra is on the market a month from now.

So what about Celebrex? It doesn't seem to be much safer on the stomach than well known NSAIDs. It's far more expensive. It's cousins look bad.

It's hard to believe any COX2 inhibitor is going to remain on the market in a year -- at least for their primary indications (arthritis, etc). They may turn out to be good drugs for other conditions where the risk/benefit ratio is better.

There are four interesting questions:

1. Did the pharmas cover up problems? Did they follow reporting requirements? What's their moral (if not legal) culpability if they aggressively market drugs about which their own scientists may have significant reservations?

2. What's with the pharmas anyway? They did a lot to suppress the release of worrisome data on SSRIs. Has the rise of patient-focused marketing completely corrupted the industry?

3. Was the FDA corrupt? It used to be a fairly reputable agency, but now it's run by Bush appointees. Their stated mission has been to be friendlier to the manufacturers and to accelerate drug development. Now we have the SSRI scandal, the Vioxx scandal, and the flu-vaccine scandal. Maybe Eliott Spitzer needs to litigate against the FDA?

4. Will Bush put in place a liability cap to save Merck?

Microsoft unchained

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal - Microsoft Buys 'Peace'

... When the Bush administration made its odious deal to let Microsoft off the legal hook in 2001, it was giving the company a free pass to do whatever it wishes in the future. Everyone understood this. Today, no one with any serious knowledge of the industry believes the company has changed its business practices in any meaningful way; a few modest noodlings at the edges don't even rise to the level of window dressing. Microsoft continues to run roughshod over its customers, 'partners' and competitors.

Nobody much cares, it seems. Journalists, taking a lead from governments, have moved onto other things. Microsoft counts on our short attention spans.

The European Union's helpful refusal to give the monopolist everything it wants may also run out of steam. Only in China is there a government with anything like the clout to stand up to Microsoft. Our government is in bed with a company that effectively wants to charge taxes in the rest of the world; as China's world economic standing rises, it surely will continue to regard that situation with some concern.

Linux and other open-source software remain the best hope for actual competition, in part because of China's moves to support it. Here again Microsoft is getting the U.S. government's assistance, via policy and inaction in dealing with a badly broken patent system. It's clear that Microsoft is getting ready to use patents to make life hard for the open source community.

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So the future of software depends on ... China. In particular , it depends on the security considerations of China's military rulers.

I've been overdosing on irony lately. This doesn't help.

It's nice, though, that someone remembers Bush's payback for Microsoft's support in 2000 [1]. I'd love to know how much money Microsoft funneled into Bush's reelection.

Microsoft's a very aggressive company that's played plenty dirty in the past. It's their unrestrained power, however, that has made them capitalism's shame. With adequate competition they'd probably play a somewhat positive role in the evolution of information technology. Heck, I do like Excel.

[1] Almost no-one, however, remembers the role Ziff-Davis played in Microsoft's ascent to power.

The countries I've visited

World66 visited countries

Here's the map I made:



create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide