Now can we have war crimes prosecutions?

The American Civil Liberties Union has released previously classified excerpts of a government report on harsh interrogation techniques used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. These previously unreported pages detail repeated use of “abusive” behavior, even to the point of prisoner deaths.

The documents, obtained by the ACLU under a Freedom of Information Act request, contain a report by Vice Admiral Albert T. Church, who was tapped to conduct a comprehensive review of Defense Department interrogation operations. Church specifically calls out interrogations at Bagram Air base in Afghanistan as “clearly abusive, and clearly not in keeping with any approved interrogation policy or guidance.”

I know this is what we all surmised, but to see it in print ….

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On this, the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth, we celebrate the 61 percent of Americans who either do not accept or have no opinion about evolution.

We celebrate the Brazilian priest who floated out to sea in a chair held aloft by hundreds of helium party balloons.

We celebrate the New York bird hunter who grabbed his loaded gun by the muzzle and started swinging it angrily at his dog, only to have it shoot him dead when it struck the ground instead.

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@Mistress Cynica: Beefcake?  You want beefcake?  Here you go:

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I am really, really enjoying this.

Stormy Surges

Vitter Reelection Hopes Sag as Daniels Comes on Strong
NEW ORLEANS, LA.- February  10, 2009 – Today, in an online poll conducted by the Baton Rouge Business Report, potential candidate for senate Stormy Daniels surged to a strong second place finish against incumbent Louisiana Junior Senator David Vitter.  The final numbers were Senator Vitter 39%, Stormy Daniels 32%, and Baton Rouge businessman Jim Bernhard 28%.

Even more surprising than the early strength showed by Daniels  were the anemic numbers of the incumbent, embattled Louisiana Junior Senator David Vitter , who polled under 40%.  Zach Hudson, a spokesman for DraftStormy, said he is encouraged by the numbers.

Good thing Dick Cheney didn’t get hold of one of these while he was in power:

Jinguan Auto, a popular Chinese ambulance manufacturer, has developed a rolling execution studio. Convicts are strapped to a power sliding stretcher that extends out of the rear of the bus as it’s allegedly “too brutal” to haul people on board for their final cocktail. The executions are broadcast to local law enforcement authorities to make sure they are conducted up to code.

Too brutal?

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Bye Brett.

55 A.D.: Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus — you know him as I, Claudius — dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome, to be succeeded by Nero.

1812: Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry signs into law a redistricting bill, giving rise to the term “gerrymander”.

1861: The House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.

1902: Police assault universal-suffrage demonstrators in Brussels, not giving rise to the term “Brussels sprouts”.

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