Why “Torture Doesn’t Work” Doesn’t Work: Dealing with “Zero Dark Thirty”

By Steven Jonas MD MPH - 01.13.13

I have visited this major blot upon the US escutcheon a number of times over the past five years (1-3). (Why there are so many blots one could visit and re-visit is a topic for another time.) One would have thought that it was dead and buried, along with the Cheney-Bush regime. In 2005 Bush himself had actually said that torture would not be included in the US armamentarium for dealing with enemies, perceived and real, (not a policy endorsed by the arch torture-facilitator Cheney), and...

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2012: “Are You Serious?” Awards

By Conn Hallinan - 01.13.13

Every year Dispatches From The edge gives awards to news stories and newsmakers that fall under the category of “Are you serious?” Here are the awards for 2012.

Dr. Strangelove Award to Lord John Gilbert, former UK defense minister in Tony Blair’s government, for a “solution” to stopping terrorist infiltration from Pakistan to Afghanistan: Nuke ‘em.   Baron Gilbert proposes using Enhanced Radiation Reduced Blasts—informally known as “neutron bombs”—to seal off the border. According to Gilbert, “If we told them [terrorists] that...

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Looking Back More Than a Century from 2113

By Loren Adams - 01.13.13

The year 2003 was the most significant milestone in Twenty-First Century world history. The United States, under the highly controversial presidency of George W. Bush, assumed a unilateral stance for international relations which led to the unjustified attack on Iraq in March of that year.

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Who Should Government Serve? And Why Should We Even Have to Ask? Part I

By Mickey Walker - 01.13.13

A friend and brilliant writer and author, Dr. Steve Jonas sent me a piece recently about how David Koch says that Hurricane Sandy victims should not be funded by the federal government for any of their costs in cleanup, restoration of power, sewer, etc., etc.  David Koch says Hurricane Sandy victims can pay for their own disaster cleanup and restoration costs....

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OBAMA’S TEAM IS STILL FULL OF FRAIDY-CATS | They suggest delivering a lump of coal to seniors this Christmas

By Loren Adams - 12.23.12

The Obama administration is now setting its sights on coming to an agreement (ANY agreement) to forestall the so-called “fiscal cliff.” The White House is sending out signals its “willingness” to appease Republicans by whittling away at Medicare. Obama’s people would allow raising the eligibility age to 67, saving the government nothing but costing seniors billions (if not many lives as a consequence).

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WHO ARE THE ENGLISH THESE DAYS?

By Michael Faulkner - 12.23.12

There has always been some confusion about national identity and citizenship in the United Kingdom.  According to the constitution, the people of the U. K. are not citizens of any state, but subjects of Her Majesty the Queen, though as a necessary adjustment to post-absolutist reality, they are referred to as U.K citizens. The official designation of the U.K. is: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Great Britain as distinct from the U.K. includes England, Scotland...

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