Where we learned to torture -- from Maoist China

The NYT details how the US developed its torture methodologies. We took a program called "SERE" that was used to instruct military personnel on how to resist Korean and Vietnamese torture. We then inverted the methods to create our own torture program:

Doing Unto Others as They Did Unto Us - New York Times

...SERE methods are classified, but the program's principles are known. It sought to recreate the brutal conditions American prisoners of war experienced in Korea and Vietnam, where Communist interrogators forced false confessions from some detainees, and broke the spirits of many more, through Pavlovian and other conditioning. Prolonged isolation, sleep deprivation, painful body positions and punitive control over life's most intimate functions produced overwhelming stress in these prisoners. Stress led in turn to despair, uncontrollable anxiety and a collapse of self-esteem. Sometimes hallucinations and delusions ensued. Prisoners who had been through this treatment became pliable and craved companionship, easing the way for captors to obtain the 'confessions' they sought.

It's very American to learn from the best, and Maoist China drew on thousands of years of experience with torture. Our refined techniques are a credit to a long line of historic torturers. The next step will be to define a career path for the most capable torturers, perhaps one that leads to a cabinet level position and a presidential "Medal of Honor". Perhaps someone who will head the "Ministry of Comfort"?

PS. Where's Margaret Atwood these days?

The story of a man who couldn't read

Jacques Demers, a famed figure in hockey and in Quebec, recently revealed he cannot read. Actually, he co-authored a book about it. Reading of his achievements, and his ability to apparently conceal his disability, I wonder if he has some specific neurologic cause of his reading inability - beyond his limited educaton and traumatic childhood. It would be interesting to know of his children have had problems. The NYT article is well written and tells a remarkable tale.

What if the EU and UN declare Bush and Cheney to be international criminals?

Bush, Cheney and their administration probably violated a number of international laws in their outsourced torture operation. Now the investigations are underway.

Spain Looks Into C.I.A.'s Handling of Detainees - New York Times:

...Last week, related investigations were started by the European Union and the Council of Europe to look into reports of secret C.I.A. jails for terrorism suspects in Eastern Europe.

An inquiry seems likely by the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture, Manfred Nowak. Last week he said that if reports of the C.I.A.'s activities proved correct, then the agency was engaged in a 'systematic practice of enforced disappearance.'...

Wouldn't it be "funny" if Bush and Cheney were found to be war criminals, and could not travel to Europe for fear of arrest?

Unlikely of course. They're merely doing what most tyrants do, and the UN is full of tyrants. Most European nations have similar episodes of shame in their recent history. Still, it's good to know at least one investigation is proceeding.

The neoprene back wrap and other parts of John's acute back pain recipe

Most mortals have more than a few flaws in their design. By middle-age you know most of them. Among mine is a bad back, a familial disorder that first manifested 25 years ago when I body surfed into the shore of Huntington beach.

So beyond my mere medical experience, I have twenty years of personal experience with (mostly) non-neurological bad backs (the kind where something tears, there's bleeding, scarring and lots of muscle pain). As in drop to the floor and lie there trying to figure out how to reach the phone. Which is why I'll pass on some hard won knowledge today, with the canes at my side. Don't follow this advice without the approval of your physician; your back may differ. You might even have a serious medical problem, though most bad backs are like mine.

Here is what works for me, It's also pretty much what's in the current guidelines:

1. Cold packs. The miracle innovation here is the TRU-FIT Ice/Heat Back Wrap w/ Gel Pack. Stick a cold pack in it (you're supposed to use the cold packs designed for humans, not the frost-bite inducing packs for picnic units). Wear it. Rotate pack every 1-2 hours, so you need 3 packs. For me 2-3 days of continuous use is important. Diabetics and elderly need to be careful of cold damage. There is a weight related problem with cold packs. Fat is a great insulator (that's one of the reasons we deposit fat under our skin). The more fat you have, the less effective the cold pack is; it becomes harder to cool the deep tissues and restrict incoming blood flow. One might be tempted to use the picnic coolers (colder stuff), but you run the risk of necrosing superficial tissue, visit to the ICU, death, etc. America seriously does need a pill for obesity; I wouldn't mind one myself.

2. Canes. $22 at Walgreens. Swear by them. Good for getting off the floor and making it possible to ambulate fast. When you need to cough, you need the cane. I use two for 2 days typically, then 1 for a week or so.

3. Meds: tylenol and ibuprofen alternating for 2-3 days then as needed. Vicodin (tylenol + hydrocodone) if you have it is very valuable for the awful first night, but no more than 1-2 days of use. You need the Vicodin on hand; when this kind of back attack hits a trip to the doctor is inconceivable (way too much pain). By the time one can travel the Vicodin is no longer needed. I used to prescribe Flexeryl to patients and I suspect it works, but I don't use it myself.

4. Sleep: on a carpeted floor, maybe with one of those very thin inflatable outdoor camping mats. Not the inflatable beds, the mats used by serious hard core hikers. Keep extra cold packs in a nearby insulated container. Also meds, water bottle and, for men, a .. ummm ..."receptacle". You don't want to have to get up if you can help it!

5. Ambulation and exercise. There are religious wars around this; extension exercises are most popular now. I do whatever doesn't hurt too much and I walk as much as I can. I skate to relieve back pain, which is insane. However, if one can avoid falling, this works very well after day 3-4. A gym elliptical exercise machine is far safer and works in a similar fashion.
I start the gym, cane at my side, on day 3. Climbing stairs often works well for me, if the decent hurts a down elevator is handy. Basically if it hurts, I do something else.

Usually by day 5-7 I can do a fair bit of exercise. I don't run ever, but biking and skating can work. It if hurts I don't do it.

6. Course? Awful for about 12-24 hours. Bad for another day. By day 5-7, if no re-injury, feeling almost well. It takes 6 weeks to have a reasonably solid back. I try to avoid heavy lifting for 2-3 months but often do it earlier (heavy for me is 80lbs, I'm a wimp). If I'm exercising properly I've never hurt my back when lifting fairly heavy items properly (straight back lift). Sitting, on the other hand, is really tough on a back. I have an Aeron chair at work (legacy of startup days) and in the acute phase I lie on the ground part of the day, ambulate often, and do phone conferences while walking.

7. Prevention? It's all weight control and exercise, and a some basic back hygeine. Sitting is bad but unavoidable. Don't push things, even light things, bent over. I knew I was due for this episode because family obligations have messed up my exercise regimen. Weight training and stretching and aerobic non-impact. Running is a very bad idea for most bad backs.

The only new prevention thing I'm going to add is using the gel pack early when I've done something dumb -- before my back "goes out" in a big way. I'm hoping early action with ice, healing activity, and careful exercise will avert major ruptures.

Update 8/1/2010: Things got much tricker later. I changed my mind on what works.

Smiting Dover - a test?

CNN.com - Robertson warns Pennsylvania voters of God's wrath - Nov 10, 2005

'I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city,' Robertson said on his daily television show broadcast from Virginia, 'The 700 Club.''And don't wonder why He hasn't helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I'm not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that's the case, don't ask for His help because he might not be there,' he said.

Mao retires. Idi Amin retires. Dover gets smited.

Robertson's theology is crude and annoying, but suppose God did smite Dover. Maybe God is looking for the few who would point out that this would be Evil. God would elevate us while Robertson fumed. You never know ...

More seriously, the fundamentalists seem nervous, almost panicky. Why? Except for Dover everything seems to be progressing smoothly. Perhaps they sense a building backlash that I don't see?

For the record, I'm ok with teaching Intelligent Design in the schools. Barring some new Nobel-prize winning discoveries it wouldn't be part of the science curriculum, but we could call it 'Intelligent Design'. We'd need a curriculum of course, and an evaluation program. I'd recommend gathering one representative of every ID group on each, from Scientologists to Satanists, Animists (10,000 representatives) to Catholics (only one representative of course), Buddhists to Baptists, Muslims to Mormons, Wiccans to Hindus (4,000 representatives) in a great assembly. All would gather in massive venue, probably the Roman Colliseum. When they agreed upon a curriculum the Intelligent Design course would begin.

Face your future grandchildren: support the Bingaman amendment

When your grandchildren asked you what you did when the US entered its dark era, don't you want to be able to look them in the eyes and say you did all you could?

Read this and follow the link to contact your Senator:

Body and Soul: Round Two

The contract you sign when you insert a SONY CD in your PC and click on 'agree'

The "EULA" is a legally binding contract. You sign it when you click on "agree" when installing software, or after you inser a SONY CD into your PC or Mac. SONY's EULA is 3000 words of unreadable legalese. The EFF has helfpully translated it:

EFF: DeepLinks

...# You must install any and all updates, or else lose the music on your computer. The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update. No more holding out on those hobble-ware downgrades masquerading as updates.

# Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to 'enforce their rights' against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this 'self help' crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.

# The EULA says Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00. That's right, no matter what happens, you can't even get back what you paid for the CD.

# If you file for bankruptcy, you have to delete all the music on your computer. Seriously.

SONY is now best known as the company that installs software on PCs and Macs that covertly breaks the operating system. It is now the funnel for some nasty viruses and worms.

I'm ready to start funding Russian hackers who's job it is to crack SONY's DRM and pillage their music. I wouldn't actually use the music (that's illegal), I'd just send them charitable donations. After all, they are doing yeoman's work.

Comment spam: moderated comments and identity management

I get more comments on my 'tech blog' than on this rants and thoughts blog, but in both cases I'm getting comment spam that bypasses Blogger/Google's filters. I suspect the spammers are using humans to defeat the image recognition test, and automation to do everything else. Fast typists with practice can probably generate a transaction every 1-2 seconds that way.

I've activated moderation, so comments will be delayed. Currently only persons registered on blogger can comment, and even those will be moderated. Annoying. It would be helpful if Blogger would recognize other identity management systems, but these are murky and difficult waters.

Identity management will be a big deal in the next 15 years, from medical records to software services to media access to biometric payment. The fight to own a person's identity will be huge. Happily our wise and benevolent leaders will thoughtfully consider all options, listen to the advice of the the loyal and disloyal alike, and make reasoned and just decisions.

My blogs -- what I read

Bloglines | jfaughnan's Blogs

Aetiology: Discussing causes, origins, evolution, and implications of disease and other phenomena.

Aetiology: An interesting blog for health professionals.

Pre-morning in America? The Dover creationists are dismissed

Randy Kelly (aka Norm Coleman II) is a landslide loser in the St. Paul mayoral race solely because of his decision to ally with Bush against his electorate. Across the nation the forces of reason win a striking victory (even as Kansas slides backwards - again):

Evolution Slate Outpolls Rivals - New York Times

All eight members up for re-election to the Pennsylvania school board that had been sued for introducing the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in biology class were swept out of office yesterday by a slate of challengers who campaigned against the intelligent design policy.

Yeah, it's too early to look for daylight, but we have to celebrate what little we get. The Dover federal case will still be decided, but if the judge decides against "Creationism as science" then the case will not be appealed.

France is weird -- the lawless areas

America is scary and weird. France, however, is also very peculiar:

French Lessons

... The French equivalents of New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward lie in 300 or more "zones de non-droit" (lawless areas), which sparked the national rioting. These are areas in the immigrant suburbs of Paris and other large cities where the police do not go as a matter of policy. They have instead for years established checkpoints on the perimeter of these islands of soulless high-rises and then let the inhabitants fend for themselves.

Don't go as a "matter of policy"? Good lord. Is this true?

Saint Paul's revenge: a traitorous mayor expelled

Wow. When I voted in the Democratic Caucuses for Chris Coleman, I didn't think he'd win. I never dreamt he'd win 70% to 30% over Randy Kelly -- the faux-democrat incumbent. It probably helped that John Kerry campaigned for Chris Coleman, including a personal appearance in Saint Paul. It also helped that Norm Coleman (unrelated republican senator) campaigned for Randy Kelly, and Randy received lots of exurban and out of state campaign donations.

Was Kelly a bad mayor? Not awful, but not great. I wasn't impressed with his priorities; his focus was on his donors more than parks, bike trails, schools, etc. He'd have been reelected though -- except he campaigned hard (not merely endorsed) for George Bush. He was elected as a democrat. The last democratic mayor we had became a Republican senator. To put it mildly, this makes a mayor come across as more than a bit untrustworthy. It was obvious Kelly was looking for a sweet job and lots of money down the line.

Lack of trust. Mediocre policies. Campaigning for one of the worst presidents in the history of the republic. More than enough reason to trounce Kelly. I just can't believe we did it. Emphases and comments mine.

Many Incumbent Mayors Easily Win Re-election - New York Times

Incumbent mayors won easily yesterday in Atlanta, Boston and Houston. But in St. Paul, Randy Kelly became the city's first incumbent mayor in more than 30 years to lose a re-election campaign.

Polls suggested that Mr. Kelly's endorsement of President Bush last fall was a factor in his loss to a fellow Democrat, Chris Coleman, by 70 percent to 30 percent.

"I have never seen anything quite like this," Lawrence Jacobs, director of the University of Minnesota Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, said about what he called a firestorm over the endorsement.

A poll conducted by Mr. Jacobs found that more than half of likely voters in the city said Mr. Kelly's endorsement would influence their votes. Most of those respondents said it would lead them to vote for Mr. Coleman, a former City Council member.

Mr. Jacobs said the results were especially surprising , as more than half of the likely voters surveyed said they thought that the city was heading in the right direction.

PS. My wife points out that Kelly outspent Coleman by a very wide margin. Kelly's coffers were well stocked with non-resident donors. Apparently there's a limit to what such donations can do.

Kansas education board unites physics and metaphysics

Kansas, home of American fundamentalism, has again moved to put creationism into the "science" curriculum. Interestingly, to do so they had to redefine science:

Kansas education board downplays evolution - Science - MSNBC.com

In addition, the board rewrote the definition of science, so that it is no longer limited to the search for natural explanations of phenomena.

The Kansas board of education has rolled science back to the days of natural philosophy, when explanations for the world were drawn from the Baconian world of empiricism, but also from alchemy, astrology, and sorcery. An odd thing for Christian fundamentalists to do, but I guess no measure is too extreme for such a just cause. I suppose this means Satanism is now a branch of science. Will Caltech start offering a PhD in post-Satanical studies?

I raise a toast to George Bush and the wonderous state of Kansas; between you and al Qaeda we may delay the Singularity by a year or two ... (a delay which I quite favor by the way).

Kansas will not be the laughingstock of the world -- despite the fears of the minority board members. The world long ago stopped finding anything at all amusing about America. This will cause more chills than laughs.

SONY responds to the revelation they are criminal hackers

SONY digital music covertly installed cracker-class software on the PCs of unsuspecting customers. They probably broke a half-dozen laws around the world and they violated every customer relationship tenet you can imagine.

Fortunately their division president had an informed response.

Did he commit sepuku in the old SONY tradition? No, this is the new SONY:

Good Morning Silicon Valley: Quoted

Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?'
-- Thomas Hesse, President of Sony's Global Digital Business, explains the Sony BMG compromise to us stupid consumers.

The earthquakers you now feel are SONY's founders spinning in their graves.

SONY is an ex-parrot.