In 1952 Chester M. Southam, a researcher for the Sloan-Kettering Institute, injected Ohio State Prison inmates with live cancer cells. They prisoners weren’t told. Neither were the 300 women at the Sloan-Kettering Institute where other doctors performed their research.
Ten years later Chester was at it again. This time 22 elderly hospital patients got to make a contribution to cancer research. The administration of the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital tried to keep Chester’s research secret, but word got out and Dr. Southam was punished. He was put on probation for one year. Two years later he was elected Vice President of the American Cancer Society.
That was 50 years ago. You might be think that things have changed. They have.
”Research involving human subjects has become big business. Currently, more than 10,000 programs and an estimated 45,000 researchers conduct medical research on humans in the United States.” (The Prison as Laboratory by J.A. Talvi, InTheseTimes, Jan. 23, 2002)
And the Sloan-Kettering Institute, now called Memeorial Sloan Kettering, is rated as the #1 cancer hospital in the USA. Charity Watch gives it its highest rating, an A. Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that the heads of Charity Watch are salaried at $2 million/year. It’s the American Way. Business as usual.
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“As long as money is more important than health
life will be so cheap
people with money will regard it as worthless.”
Dartwill Aquila
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“America’s idea of what is torture is not the same as ours and does not appear to coincide with that of most civilised nations.” Mr. Justice Collins, high court British judge.
Torture has style. The torture techniques of every sadist, psychopath, institution and nation display characteristic patterns. The American brand of torture can be described in one word, soft. Soft doesn’t mean mild. On the contrary, the effects of soft torture are severe, but the pain is mostly mental and the methods leave no physical evidence. No traces of the torture can be seen by examining the victim.
Soft methods have allowed the perps to torture the definition of torture itself. Some of these nitwits with law degrees seem to believe that if it can’t be seen, it doesn’t exist. Discussing what can be considered torture diverts from the practice itself, but in reality is akin to asking if rape is love or not. Take isolation, supposedly the mildest form of torture, that some officials say should not be classified as such. Try spending 24 hours in a large empty closet before commenting. How about two weeks? Two months? Two years! After two days you’ll think a postage stamp is interesting reading. Or, interview any one of the 80,000 prisoners living in isolation in today’s stars-and-striped penal system.
Other methods of soft torture include
– constant strong light or complete darkness.
– extreme temperatures, long periods of very hot or very cold.
– audio irritation with constant loud music.
– audio deprivation with dead silence.
– stress positions putting internal pressure on muscles.
– sleep deprivation.
– extreme long periods of interrogations.
– causing fear using dogs or threats.
– forced nakedness.
– humiliation such as men put in women’s clothes and made to dance with each other.
– waterboarding.
– etc.
These are some samples. Being arrested and thrown in jail without knowing what you are accused of and not being allowed to contact the outside world and having no idea how long you are going to remain in jail is also a form of torture; a very familiar form experienced by all too many ”suspected terrorists” caught in the web of American injustice throughout the world.
Keep these victims in mind, those in the American prison system and those on American bases and those in the black sites in friendly torture-accommodating countries, the next time you hear a representative of the uncivilized Yankee nation speak of tyrants.
*
“Simple minds can be very creative at devising evil.”
Dartwill Aquila
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Gaza is flooded. Claims say that Israel caused the floods by releasing water from dams. Israel claims that the floods are due to natural weather conditions and add that they have no dams. They do however have an irrigation system with reservoirs capable of causing flooding. What’s true? I don’t know. I do know that Israel conducts a policy of genocide toward the Palestinians. This of course influences my judgment. But I don’t know. Just as I don’t know the authenticity of the following report that I picked off a site called Fig Trees and Vineyards
Maybe it’s true. Maybe it’s propaganda. It’s interesting. Maybe that’s enough.
My name is Rana. I have lived in the city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip all 21 years of my life. What is happening in Gaza is not fiction but a bitter reality, which we lack the means to defend ourselves against. In the last few days, an unusually powerful storm has flooded many areas, displacing hundreds of residents from their homes. Children are without shelter from the cold and rain. Entire neighbourhoods are sinking.
My family and I spent four days in darkness in below freezing weather: no electricity, no water and no heat. I was so cold, I couldn‘t leave my bed and the small comfort it and my blankets provided. The cold felt like it penetrated my bones. Yet, I am lucky. I witnessed many people as they became homeless, their children desperate for food and warmth.
Friends called to tell me about the flooding and freezing in their areas. I felt bad, unable to help.
Power lines are down and our streets are filled with raw sewage. Greenhouses have been destroyed, affecting farmers and reducing the already minimal food supply we Gazans are forced to survive on.
Making conditions worse, Israel opened two dams, releasing a torrent of water that inundated many homes. As their houses sank, some of my neighbours nearly drowned. Fortunately, rescue workers came to their aid.
All of this was not enough for Israel. Its soldiers have been shooting at civilians in the village of Khuza’a, to the east of my city. Unarmed residents, women and children, attempting to flee the flooded town, were driven back for fear of being shot.
Israel’s action, assisted by the world’s silence, increases our suffering. Where is the international law we hear so many people talk about but never implement? Where is the community that talks about justice and humanitarian support? If my people are prevented from obtaining the basic requirements of life at least we should speak up and raise our voices.
Another storm is expected to hit my vulnerable homeland next week, bringing with it more suffering and more homelessness. When will the world wake up and treat us like human beings?
Rana Alshami, Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip
*
“Truth sometimes comes to us.
Mostly, we must struggle to get to it.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
*
Fundamentalism is a young word, a little more than 100 years old, and growing. Although it still hasn’t consolidated its adult form, it has moved beyond the confines of religion. As its present character is under debate, I stipulate the sense I attach to it.
Fundamentalism is a strong mental structure of ideas not influenced by conflicting reality.
I do not agree with Albert Camus who saw it as ”philosophical suicide”, nor do I agree with the University of Edinburgh study that concluded, ”lower intelligence is most associated with higher levels of fundamentalism.” My experience indicates that a fundamentalistic structure of the mind can function independently of the intellectual capacity in general. Highly intelligent people, with good knowledge and proven analytical abilities, can develop a fundamental structure of ideas regardless of their powers of reasoning in other areas. Dostoyevsky captured the seeming paradox of a strong and weak intelligence occupying the same brain in the novel Crime and Punishment. The protagonist Raskolnikov offers brilliant insight into his sister’s situation, but thinks like a simpleton about his own. This is not unusual. On the contrary, we can find many genius-declared individuals housing embarrassingly stupid ideas. I even suspected myself of embracing a stupid idea once, but came to conclusion that the suspicions were stupid.
Fundamentalistic Democracy is a belief in a nonexistent democracy. Despite mounds of obvious evidence that no democracy exists, the democracy fundamentalists hold on to their belief with the tenacity of a Bible devotee opposing evolution.
The previous blog tells of Laura Poitras who speaks of a threat to privacy while fully aware of the extent of government surveillance on all citizens. What kind of privacy can be ”threatened” if we are spied upon by the government?
A more glaring example is provided by John Pilger, one of our times foremost journalists. I can’t recommend his recent article strongly enough, Why the Rise of Fascism is Again the Issue. You’ll miss acquiring a healthy dose of nourishing knowledge if you don’t read it.
One sentence however knocked me off my chair, ”As WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden have revealed, a surveillance and police state is usurping democracy.”
I’ll assume that was a sloppy sentence, but I’m pushing my assumption. Where is this democracy being usurped or threatened that so many intellectuals speak of?
Surely it’s not in the decisions of the government that constantly favor a little (wealthy) minority against the wishes of the vast majority. In their report “Testing Theories of American Politics” professors Gilens and Page analyzed 1,779 decisions of the US government and found that the general public have ”a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” On the other hand ”Economic elites and organized … business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy.”
The Gilens and Page report tell us in no uncertain terms the the US is not a democracy. Those with a ”statistically non-significant impact upon public policy” have known this for years and codified it in the expression Money talks, bullshit walks. A substantial section of the fundamentalistic democracy intellectuals however continue to warn us about threats to democracy — where no democracy exists. As with fundamentalists in general, arguments contradicting their belief make no impact on their strong mental structure of ideas. Reasoning with them is as effective as blowing smoke on the stomach of a patient with a ruptured appendix.
A political system where candidates are financed by big money to get into office, supported by by big money (lobbying) while in office and given posh jobs working for big money after leaving their office… Democracy?
The largest prison population on the planet… Democracy?
Guantanamo… Democracy?
Initiation of wars… Democracy?
Inadequate, ineffective and horribly expensive medical care… Democracy?
Crushing the skulls of children, ripping apart the bodies of parents and burning grandparents with hellfire missiles in sovereign countries in order to kill suspected militants… Democracy?
Holding people in prisons and in isolation, denying them all rights, even the right to know what they are accused of, and torturing them… Democracy?
Taking from the struggling many to give to the wealthy few… Democracy?
Lying, spreading hate and provoking conflicts… Democracy?
Supporting, supplying and protecting a campaign of genocide against Palestinians… Democracy?
Spying on the citizens… Democracy?
Where, oh where, is this democracy that the fundamentalists speak of? Remember, trying to reason with a fundamentalist is the equivalent of trying to revive a dead cat with the smell of fish.
And give a round of applause to the rulers of the American ”democracy” for their achievement of creating so many fundamentalists.
*
“It’s not true that politicians always lie.
Sometimes they don’t speak at all.”
Dartwill Aquila
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The Perfect Propaganda Prostitute Prize.
Who’s Who in the World of the Word Whores.
Academic Assholes’ Asinine Assumptions.
The title of this post was chosen from three candidates. Don’t take them seriously! I don’t. They’re mental toys to dangle in front of my wobbly sanity, which, btw, doesn’t care what happens to it. Who needs sanity in a crazy world? Gimme my toys, keep the fucking world.
“If the USA is a democracy, Guantanamo is a luxury hotel.” DA*
My sanity is threatened because a celebrated intellectual doesn’t seem to own the common sense of a paper towel. Listen to Laura Poitras in her acceptance speech for the Academy Award given for her documentary film Citizenfour:
“The disclosures that Edward Snowden revealed don’t only expose a threat to our privacy but to our democracy itself.”
Snowdon didn’t expose a threat to our privacy, he revealed that we don’t have privacy. What doesn’t exist cannot be threatened. This goes for democracy as well. Without “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches” (4th Amendment to the Constitution of the USA) democracy has no foundation and cannot stand. The democratic freedoms and rights are prerequisites for democracy. No freedoms, no democracy. That’s as basic as it gets. If we can’t speak freely, in private without government agencies listening to what we say, all talk of democracy is a “mockeracy.”
“If the USA is a democracy, whores are love advisors.” DA
Unreasonable searches means searching without reason, that is to say, without suspicion of crime. Poitras knew about the surveillance of the government/NSA at least as early as 2012 when she interviewed and made a short documentary about William Binney, who worked for 23 years as a technical leader at NSA. He spoke of the Stellar Wind project which mines communications of e-mail correspondence, telephone conversations, financial transactions and internet activity of ALL American citizens. Snowden provided the physical evidence backing Binney’s claims. Where is the privacy or democracy that Poitras warns us about?
“If the USA is a democracy, wolves are vegetarians.” DA
Even before Binney, Thomas Tamm, in The NYT in 2008, exposed Stellar Wind as part of the President’s Surveillance Program. Bush crowned the program with official approval shortly after September 2001 and then expanded and refined the info-gathering apparatus. So has Obama. Before Tamm, in 2005, the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy caused major waves and rocked the yachts in the harbor of the judicial community. And now in 2015 Laura Poitras discovers that our non-existent privacy—and democracy—is threatened.
Has anyone seen my sanity. It was here a few minutes ago. I think. Oh well, anyone who finds it can keep it, if they can explain why the USA should be considered a democracy.
“If the USA is a democracy, torture is the preferred treatment of all prisoners.” DA
“If the USA is a democracy, politicians never lie.” DA
“If the USA is a democracy, the Mafia is a charity organization.” DA
“If the USA is a democracy, a woman in Nigeria is going to give me her dead husband’s millions.” DA
“If the USA is a democracy, L. Poitras is the illegitimate child of B. Obama.” DA
* DA stands for Dartwill Aquila whose sanity is also threatened.
*
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“I lay my words in your ear
like an egg
for your thruth-seeking thoughts
to attack, penetrate and fertilize
so that we may birth
eternal truths
fresh with new beauty.”
Dartwill Aquila
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(Short version)
The billionaires hire millionaires and support them to administer the flow of money into the treasure chests of the billionaires.
(Extended version)
The billionaires (1%) hire (with campaign funds) millionaires (to be Members of Congress) and support them (with lobby bribes and perks) to administer (pass laws and rules) the flow of money (taxes and subsidies) into the treasure chests (wealth) of the billionaires (corporation owners.)
Although they claim to be exceptional, they are not. On the contrary, this structure of government and society seems to be the norm throughout the world. America is exceptional merely in its wealth, strength and leading position. All diminishing.
Danger, danger! Dying dinosaurs can be extremely destructive.
*
“The millionaire Members of Congress form a four-part choir
—Senators, Representatives, Republicans and Democrats—
to sing
(with impressive harmony considering their whiny voices):
“Democracy, democracy and democracy, Hallelujah!”
over and over again.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
*
Look at your torn and burned child
screaming with such unquestionable agony
the air grows stale with shame.
The child’s pain is amplified within you
tearing at your soul
while you search for a flaw in your helplessness
to do something
anything.
You pray so hard your heart sends shock waves
crashing at the doors of heaven.
Please, please, relieve the suffering of my child.
I’ll do anything.
ANYTHING.
Suddenly your prayers are answered.
Silence vibrates throughout the universe
echoing in the halls of eternity.
Death
goes through the rooms of your life
destroying happiness, hopes, promises …
Love.
Soft touches, sweet words, priceless smiles
lie broken on the bloody ground
like garbage.
This is not the only child
not the only drone.
Sometimes death comes quickly
without screams and agony.
Sometimes a mother, a grandfather, a sister…
Sometimes death can be bribed
with an arm, a deformed leg,
vision.
Carry the screams of this child in your memory.
They can protect you
from the propaganda terror
of the true terrorists
who speak of torn and murdered children
as collateral damage.
May mercy find your soul.
*
“The difference between the emperor’s new clothes and the president’s
is not fashion,
but the difficulty in getting a child’s opinion.”
Dartwill Aquila
*
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The progressive priests of propaganda typically criticizes the government to sing its glory. The rulers are deserving of criticism, but they are the good-guys, send them your trust!
I’m going to deal with one of these progressive priests.
Alan Hart titles his article in ICH (Feb. 21, 2015):
How To Defeat Perverted And Violent Islamic Fundamentalism
Repeated in the first sentence he awards ”Perverted And Violent Islamic Fundamentalism” its own acronym PVIF and then uses it eight times in the article.
Let’s take that title again a little differently.
How To Defeat Perverted And Violent Christian Fundamentalism (PVCF).
Although more than many PVCF soldiers and mercenaries can be documented from the Vietnam war and all the wars and conflicts up to the present ones, don’t expect to see this phrase applied.
Or…
How To Defeat Perverted And Violent Zionist Fundamentalism (PVZF).
Neither will this variation ever be used despite its suitability.
What about….
How To Defeat Perverted And Violent Congressional Fundamentalism.
Congressional war funding has killed more people than all the terrorists and fundamentalists in the world combined. The term also fits tailor-made to these politicians who, perverted by lobby money, believe fundamentally in the exceptionality of the USA and its right to employ violence anywhere.
“If we have to use force, it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation.” Madeleine Albright
Hart’s title phrase is a cheap variation of a war cliché that’s been in circulation for 1000s of years. The enemy is a monster. We are the good guys, whether Imperial Roman legions, knights in shining armor, Conquistadors of the Lord or our brave troops. Millions of people in the Middle East alone have terms equivalent to violent perverts to describe the Americans and their allies who invade, bomb, shock-and-awe, destroy, rape, imprison, torture, maim and murder 10s and 100s of 1000s of people year after year.
Balancing his monster PVIFs Hart describes the good-guy invaders as “American-led Western foreign policy”. This is the exact and only phrase used (four times) to describe the aggressors role in the wars, occupation and illegal bombings in the Muslim world.
No, Dorothy, I’m not making this up. Perverted violent fundamentalism against Foreign policy. This, the foreign policy, is the cause of PVIF together with “The corruption, authoritarianism and repression of most if not all Arab and other Muslim regimes. In most cases they are regimes supported/endorsed by American-led Western foreign policy.”
Once again Hart pounds away at the We-good-guys them monsters theme. Pointing out that they are subject to corruption, authoritarianism and repression implies (not subtlety) that we, the good-guys, are not. Yeh, right!
Members of Congress are flooded with money, favors and perks from lobbyists and would never have become Members of Congress without heavy financial support, but this is not corruption. It’s simply the (exceptional) American way. Authoritarianism! Don’t be ridiculous! This article states both directly and indirectly that America is a democracy. Hart may believe that paying millionaire Members of Congress handsomely to take from the majority of the people and give to a tiny group of billionaires is democracy, but a lot of people think otherwise. And what sort of perverted mind has the arrogance to refer to other regimes as repressive when it itself has the largest prison population in the world and torture sites everywhere? If hypocrisy were a crime, these people would be serving life sentences.
There’s more, but I think (hope) you see what I mean by the progressive priests of propaganda. They criticize small flaws, abstractions and what is already common knowledge while diverting attention from core issues and praising the rulers and the system.
I’ll conclude with pointing out that Hart doesn’t have a clue about how to defeat the supposed monsters despite the title of the article. He even admits this himself. He starts off claiming that “one thing above all others must happen.” Western leaders must open their minds to the fact that their “foreign policy” doesn’t work. He’s trying to tell us that the leaders aren’t aware that their foreign policy (violent aggression) causes violent resistance. In the last paragraph his says categorically that he hasn’t “the smallest amount of hope that Western leaders will have the good sense” to open their minds.
The substance of Hart’s entire article (besides glorifying America) is one big IF. If the leaders had good sense, they wouldn’t be facing such resistance.
“IF, if,” my grandmother used to shout at us, “If I had balls I’d be your grandfather.”
*
“The coward argues bravely for the bully’s demands.”
Dartwill Aquila
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The WTF-bird is perched on the edge looking at the light.
She can hear the birdbrains on the ground
shouting, squabbling, screaming, yelling, howling, clamoring, complaining, explaining…
Chief Bibi is coming to the big nest.
No one, not a single birdbrain, talks about the virtual coup, the break in the rules.
Chief Bibi was invited over the head, and without the consent, of chief BO. This is unheard of. Only chiefs get to decide what chiefs come to the big nest. That’s the same in flocks all over the world. And now, when a subordinate birdbrain makes a chief’s decision, BO, the chief, says nothing, and all the birdbrains talk of everything except the break in the rules of government.
The WTF-bird looks toward the light
and shits on them
while she thinks,
”Maybe BO isn’t really the chief?”
*
“Diversion is the hellfire missile of psyops.”
Dartwill Aquila
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System Humanity 