Pure Beauty

This animation explores the same idea musically, visually, and mathematically. It is hypnotic as fuck. Be sure to check out all the variations on the right, especially the hand crank version. I wish I could spend a semester studying it. via unfogged.

Virginia Slims ad

Virginia Slims ad
Originally uploaded by rob helpychalk.

Hey look, I'm not blogging torture! In fact, I'm grading homework!

A student submitted this as a part of a "find a logical fallacy in the media" exercise. It just struck me as especially appalling.


Update: Oh yeah, this ad is available at the tobaccodocuments site.

Another victim in the war on terror

Read Majikthise on the case of Adama Bah an 18 year old who faces deportation back to Guinea, where she faces female genital mutilation, on unsubstantiated charges that she is a potential suicide bomber.

Detailed Teach-in Poster

Detailed Teach-in Poster
Originally uploaded by rob helpychalk.

Using the military tribunals against journalists

One sign that new government powers go to far is when they are used to attack journalists. Here is an example of that happening in the war on terror.

Sami al-Haj is a cameraman for Al-Jazeera who has been held for five years in Guantanamo without being charged. He was picked up on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan while covering the war there. The Pentagon maintains he carried money for Chechen rebels and has worked for Al Quada, but the evidence for these claims is secret. Mr. al-Haj's lawyer (who cannot attend his hearings) maintains that the US holding him to get information about Al-Jazeera, which they consider to be an enemy organization. (Remember the still-unconfirmed reports that Bush wanted to bomb Al-Jazeera?) While in custody, al-Haj has been subject to beatings, stress positions, and denial of medical care. No one can say whether the charges against al-Haj have any merit, nor will we be able to until he is given a fair, public trail. He has a wife and a son who was one year old when he wsa arrested. The son, Muhammad, is now six. Here is al-Haj's page at the Committee to Protect Journalists.

If I get the chance, I will also try to write up the case of Bilal Hussein. There is one thing I can say about Hussein right away: If an American reporter, embedded with American troops, were captured by insurgent forces, would you want her to be treated the way we are treating Hussein?

Cases like these are what led Reporters without Borders to lower the United States' rating for freedom of the press nine places, to 53rd, on a par with Croatia, Botswana, and Tonga.

Fuck You, John McHugh

A colleague of mine, Bill Olsen, contacted the office of our representative John McHugh, about his vote for the Military Commissions Act (MCA). Bill got a letter which tried to explain the vote, which Bill forwarded to the SOC listserv.

The most remarkable thing about Rep. McHugh's letter is that it does not even mention the most appalling aspect of the MCA, the end of habeas corpus. He also does not talk about the President's unlimited ability to declare anyone an enemy combatant, or the incredible loss of rights American citizens suffer when they are moved to enemy combatant status. Finally, he does not talk the fact that US citizens who are accused of being alien enemy combatants have no way to challenge that finding.

Here is a little of what he does say. After thanking Bill for his concern, giving some history of the MCA he says.

The Court in Hamdan decided that Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions – an article that many assumed only applied to regular armies–applies to terrorist organizations, like al Qaeda. As a result of this decision, our brave personnel in the military and other national security agencies are faced with an unpredictable legal landscape because the meaning of certain elements of Common Article 3 are vague.

How did article 3 suddenly become vaguer? The military has been able to comply with Common Article 3 conflicts more pitched and bloody than this. What has changed?

Over the course of several months, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings and briefings on standards of military commissions and tribunals, as well as the administration's recommendations. Subsequently, legislative measures were crafted to provide a comprehensive statutory structure for military commissions that will allow for the fair and effective prosecution of captured members of al Qaeda and other unlawful enemy combatants.

Did you notice the presumption of guilt here? The people on trail are assumed to be members of Al Quada, this despite the fact that large numbers of people who have survived the military commissions process have turned out to be completely innocent, picked up on little or no substantial evidence. The presumption of guilt is one of the most powerful rhetorical tools the administration has been using. We are constantly assured that the people in Gitmo are "the worst of the worst," when in fact we have no reason to think this is true, and the whole process eviscerating the courts is set up to keep up from ever learning if this is true. Ok, here's some more McHugh

The suggestion that the Military Commissions Act condones torture or that the legislation implicitly permits, "enhanced torture techniques" is absolutely false and contradicts the very language in the bill. First, it is illegal under U.S. law to torture – this was true before and it will remain true. Moreover, the measure makes torture a war crime that can result in the death penalty. This means that under the War Crimes Act, any U.S. personnel that engages in torture will be subject to prosecution for committing a war crime. Additionally, in the context of military commissions, a statement obtained through torture is not admissible.

Well, there might be some technical sense in which these things are true, but for all practical purposes they are not. The law explicitly says that evidence gained by “coercion” is allowed. ((3(949a)(C))., see Karl Schonberg’s analysis here.) The other important fact is that the administration still gets to decide what counts as torture. And they have already told us that they aren’t going to count anything as torture. The practical upshot is clearly that the Military Commissions Act allows the government to waterboard a confession out of you, and then use that as evidence against you in your trail.

McHugh’s defense of his vote is feeble. Vote the jackass out of office.

the poster for our teach-in

teach-in
Originally uploaded by rob helpychalk.

Thanks to Cathy and the poster committee for the design of this and the button below!

Save our Constitution Button Design

button
Originally uploaded by rob helpychalk.

I will soon be distributing buttons like this for our campus civil liberties group, Save our Constitution. Big fun!

The program for next week's teach-in

The Constitution, Human Rights, and the War on Terrorism
A Teach-in Sponsored by Save Our Constitution (SOC)

November 3, 2006 from 12:00 to 4:00 PM
St. Lawrence University
Winston Room, Student Center


Schedule of Events


Welcome Remarks
Noon: Natalia Singer (Department of English)

The Military Commissions Act
12:10: Eve Stoddard (Department of Global Studies)

12:25 - 1:10 -- Panel 1 -- Erosion of the Constitution, Moderator: Eve Stoddard
Panelists: Steve Horwitz (Department of Economics, Associate Dean of First Year Program), Jon Cardinal (President of the Thelomathesian Society). Discussion to follow.

1:15 - 2:15 -- Panel 2 -- Torture and International Law, Moderator: Rob Loftis
Panelists: Karl Schonberg (Department of Government), Rob Loftis (Department of Philosophy), Armina Omerika (Department of History). Discussion to follow.

2:20 - 3:15 -- Panel 3 -- Language, Rhetoric, Politics of Fear, Moderator: Gus diZerega
Panelists: John Collins (Department of Global Studies), Gus diZerega (Department of Government), Laura Rediehs (Department of Philosophy). Discussion to follow.

3:20 - 4:00 -- Wrap-up -- What You Can Do, Moderators: Natalia Singer and Jon Cardinal
Remarks from: Sal Cania and Somdeep Sen (Amnesty International), Dennis Morreale (the ACLU initiative), Julia Warn (SLU Republicans), Mihnea Tudoreanu (SLU Democrats), Carol Kissam on voter registration, Oxfam, Armina Omerika (Facebook), other student and community groups.

Save Our Constitution Mission Statement

We are deeply concerned about the assaults on the U.S. Constitution, a document animated by the highest ideals of human freedom. The Constitution has survived a Civil War, two World Wars, and the Cold War. In war and in peace, generations of Americans of all backgrounds have struggled (and in many cases died) to defend it, improve it, and extend its protections to all.

Although September 11, 2001 was a traumatic event, we do not want future historians to say that the events of that day sparked the end of constitutional democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law in this country. In the interest of avoiding such an outcome, we feel a profound call to stand up now and strengthen our defense of democratic principles. To this end we are organizing teach-ins and other events to alert the public to these threats and to facilitate discussion about how to save our Constitution at a time when it is under unprecedented attack.

Waterboarding: It's not just for the Khymer Rouge!

The Vice President stopped hedging a couple days ago and simply admitted that the US practices waterboarding. Cheney was being interviewed on a right wing talk show on WDAY in North Dakota, when he called the acceptability of waterboarding "a no-brainer." The story has been weirdly absent from the big mainstream media, but the transcript of the interview is just right here on the whitehouse website, and an article is here at the a group called the McClatchy Newspapers and in a small piece in the North Country's own Watertown Daily Times. .

Coincidentally, we also have some nice new graphics today showing just what waterboarding is. David Corn has an interview up with Jonah Blank an anthropologist and journalist who has returned from Cambodia with pictures of the waterboarding apparatus used by the Khymer Rouge as a part of one of the great genocides of the 20th century. Here it is.


Here is how it is used

Blank emphasizes in the interview that the Khymer Rouge did not use waterboarding to extract information. They did it to extract confessions for show trials before their victim was ritually killed. Bottom line: "They-- like so many brutal regimes--made waterboarding one of their primary tools for a simple reason: it is one of the most viciously effective forms of torture ever devised." Check the whole story out.

The McClatchy papers also have a nice graphic explaining how waterboarding is done.



And one more thing: A taxonomy of torture techniques from Slate.

hat tips to majikthise, and Bart Harloe and Ken Gould on the SOC listserv.

More Resources on Absentee Voting

Check it out, NY residents. If you are planing to vote absentee in your home district, you need to apply for a ballot by Tuesday, October 31st

I'm going to start collecting information on absentee voting on this site, beginning with the states that SLU students come from. I'm just quickly scanning the homepages for the Secretaries of State, so corrections are encouraged.

New York. Instructions, Application Form
Deadline to apply for ballots: Tuesday, October 31st
Postmark deadline for the ballot itself: Monday, November 6^th

Vermont, General instructions Application form
Deadline ot request a ballot: the day before the election

Vote411.org, from the League of Women Voters has a good list of links, including links to state elections pages.

Information on Absentee Voting

MTV's rock the vote has a list of webpages where you can get information about absentee voting in your state. Unfortuntately, their page doesn't load right, so I am reprinting it here. We will be promoting this information as at SLU as a part of our Save Our Constitution actions.

Alabama (800) 274-VOTE http://www.sos.state.al.us/election

Alaska (907) 465-4611 http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ltgov/elections/

Arizona (877) 843-8683 http://www.sosaz.com/election/

Arkansas (501) 682-3526 http://www.sosweb.state.ar.us/elect.html

California (800) 345-VOTE http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections.htm

Colorado (303) 894-2200 http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/main1.htm

Connecticut (800) 540-3764 http://www.sots.state.ct.us/

Delaware (302) 739-4277 http://www.state.de.us/election/

District of
Columbia (202) 727-2525 http://www.dcboee.org/

Florida (850) 245-6200 http://election.dos.state.fl.us/

Georgia (404) 656-2871 http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/

Hawaii (808) 453-8683 http://www.state.hi.us/elections

Idaho (208) 334-2300 http://www.idsos.state.id.us

Illinois (217) 782-4141 http://www.elections.state.il.us

Indiana (317) 232-3939 http://www.in.gov/sos/elections

Iowa (888) 767-8683 http://www.sos.state.ia.us

Kansas (785) 796-4564 http://www.kssos.org/election/elewelc.html

Kentucky (502) 573-7100 http://www.kysos.com/index/main/elecdiv.asp

Louisiana (225) 342-4970 http://www.sec.state.la.us/elections/elections-index.htm

Maine (207) 642-7736 http://www.state.me.us/sos/cec/elec/elec.htm

Maryland (800) 222-VOTE http://www.elections.state.md.us/

Massachusetts (800) 462-VOTE http://www.state.ma.us/sec/ele/

Michigan (517) 373-2540 http://www.michigan.gov/sos

Minnesota (651) 215-1440 http://www.sos.state.mn.us/

Mississippi (800) 829-6786 http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/elections.asp

Missouri (573) 751-2301 http://www.sos.state.mo.us/elections/

Montana (406) 444-4732 http://sos.state.mt.us/css/index.asp

Nebraska (402) 471-3229 http://www.sos.state.ne.us/Elections/election.htm

Nevada (775) 684-5705 http://sos.state.nv.us/nvelection/

New Hampshire (603) 271-3242 http://www.state.nh.us/sos/electionsnew.htm

New Jersey (609) 292-3760 http://www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/electionshome.html

New Mexico (800) 477-3632 http://web.state.nm.us/elect.htm

New York (800) FOR-VOTE http://www.elections.state.ny.us/

North Carolina (919) 733-7173 http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/

North Dakota (800) 352-0867
ext. 8-4146 http://www.state.nd.us/sec/

Ohio (614) 466-2585 http://www.state.oh.us/sos/

Oklahoma (405) 521-2391 http://www.elections.state.ok.us/

Oregon (503) 986-1518 http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/elechp.htm

Pennsylvania (717) 787-5280 http://www.dos.state.pa.us/bcel/site/default.asp

Rhode Island (401) 222-2345 http://www.elections.state.ri.us/

South Carolina (803) 734-9060 http://www.state.sc.us/scsec/

South Dakota (605) 773-3537 http://www.state.sd.us/sos/sos.htm

Tennessee (615) 741-7956 http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election.htm

Texas (800) 252-VOTE http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/index.shtml

Utah (800) 995-VOTE http://elections.utah.gov/

Vermont (800) 439-8683 http://vermont-elections.org/soshome.htm

Virginia (804) 786-6551 http://www.sbe.state.va.us/

Washington (360) 586-0400 http://secstate.wa.gov/elections/

West Virginia (304) 558-6000 http://wvsos.com/elections/main.htm

Wisconsin (608) 266-8005 http://elections.state.wi.us/

Wyoming (307) 777-7378 http://soswy.state.wy.us/election/election.htm

Keith Olbermann on the Military Commissions Act

Here. "Your words are lies sir, lies that imperil us all."

Save Our Constitution! Ask Me How!

It looks like our local civil liberties group, Save Our Constitution, is going to be printing up buttons that say "Save our Constitution! Ask me how!" There has also been some discussion of how to respond if someone asks you how to save the Constitution.

The answer is simple, and I urge it on you the internet.

These are the lists of everyone in the House and Senate who voted for the Military Commissions Act of 2006. Don't vote for these bozos.

Govtrack presents the same information in more readable format, including a nifty map, here and here. Govtrack, btw, seems to be a nifty site.