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Friday News and Open Thread

By Alexa

Not exactly news to NION, or our psychologist editors, but very good to see this story getting some play in the traditional media.

Psychologists protest against involvement in torture:
Over 400 psychologists in the United States are currently withholding dues to the American Psychological Association over it's failure to explicitly condemn all forms of torture.

Recently, the American Psychological Association (APA) passed a new resolution reaffirming its position against torture as defined in Article l of the United Nations Declaration and Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Still however, APA members may take part military interrogations, as long as they do not involved techniques such as waterboarding, sexual humiliation, rape, beating etc.

[...]

As a result of the murky interpretation, 400 members of the APA, which is the professional association for psychologists in the USA, are refusing to pay dues while the APA still allows psychologists to participate in torture.

APA members are now being balloted on a new resolution opposed to psychologists being involved with torture.

Be it resolved that psychologists may not work in settings where persons are held outside of, or in violation of, either International Law (e.g., the UN Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions) or the US Constitution (where appropriate), unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights.

(Read the full text of 2008 APA Petition Resolution Ballot here.)

A New Age of Torture by Deepak Tripathi

The recent appearance of Dr Aafia Siddiqi in a New York court (August 5, 2008) has brought another disturbing episode in the 'war on terror' of President George W. Bush to light. According to a  lawyer acting for Dr Siddiqui, an American-educated scientist of Pakistani origin, her client was brought to New York after spending several years in US custody at an unknown place, thought to be the Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

While in detention, she suffered 'horrendous physical and psychological torture'. The American authorities claimed that they captured Dr Siddiqui only in July 2008, accusing her of attacking US military officers and being an Al-Qaeda operative. These charges have been dismissed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The Military Commission Trials, So Far by Joanne Mariner

To date, the commissions have prosecuted only two people: a driver and a former kangaroo-skinner. Both were clearly not dangerous terrorists, at least in the view of the people charged with deciding their fates, and both received light sentences.

The Neocons Do Georgia: Humanity's Greatest Enemy? by Paul Craig Roberts

America will never recover from the shame and dishonor heaped upon her by the neoconned Bush Regime.

The success of the neocon propaganda has been so great that the opposition party has not lifted a finger to rein in the Bush Regime's criminal actions. Even Obama, who promises "change" is too intimidated by the neocon's success in brainwashing the American population to do what his supporters hoped he would do and lead us out of the shame in which the neoconned Bush Regime has imprisoned us.

This about sums up the pessimistic state in which I existed prior to the go-ahead given by the Bush Regime to its puppet in Georgia to ethnically cleanse South Ossetia of Russians in order to defuse the separatist movement. The American media, aka, the Ministry of Lies and Deceit, again accommodated the criminal Bush Regime and proclaimed "Russian invasion" to cover up the ethnic cleansing of Russians in South Ossetia by the Georgian military assault.

The Shape of Cuba's Reforms by Saul Landau and Nelson Valdés

Fidel taught Cubans to understand their entitlements, which meant they had the right to expect the state to meet these rights. Younger generations, however, don't seem to recognize the State's severe material limitations, nor are they impressed by Cuba's egalitarian distribution of its less than sufficient wealth. They complain because the government doesn't meet their childhood expectations. Cuban television rebroadcasts shows like Desperate Housewives, so Cubans see Americans with plasma TVs; not daily scenes of road rage and Americans going postal. TV and visiting Americans throw extravagant consumerism in the face of some Cubans,

Raul has talked about educating people to Cuba's real possibilities and about decentralizing to increase efficiency and accountability. Raul - meaning the majority inside the Party apparatus -- also called for diverse opinions inside the Party to address what many perceived as a paucity of dialogue. Communist Party leaders understand the need to build a sensible socialism.

The United States remains a constant security threat, which places limits on their imaginations. Indeed, Bush's aggressive, impulsive shadow will loom until January 2009. Cuban leaders will move slowly, prudently and with grassroots participation. They don't want to provide any excuse for a Bush "surprise."

Full post as published by Never In Our Names on August 22, 2008 (boomark / email).