He’d been found guilty of the protracted crime of kidnapping, robbing, raping and shooting one woman – a 23-year-old by the name of Lisa Crider.

His victim’s last hours were spent facing the whole gamut of crimes, before she was finally put out of her misery when Hedrik shot her in the face.

Mental ability

Hedrik was guilty that’s for sure, but the sticking point was his penalty. There were doubts as to whether he was equipped to comprehend what execution meant, much less choose his method of dispatch.

You see, the convicted killer had to make the agonising toss-up between the relatively new lethal injection and the state’s established method – the electric chair.

The problem was that he had an IQ of 76, just six above the legal minimum, so what about the margin of error, stated his defence. Yet the argument didn’t wash and he was sent to Virginia’s electric chair on this day on 2006, aged 27.

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Americans die in Iraq from 'electrocution,' shocks reported by troops 'almost daily'

Among the seemingly innumerable scandal-worthy stories which have so marked the war in Iraq is one growing tragedy which has been largely ignored: shoddy electrical work by U.S. contractors at military bases leading to numerous electrical fires, troops receiving painful shocks, and even death by electrocution.

Can the government do anything right? My search continues.

U.S. soldiers face death and danger from shoddy electrical work at their bases in Iraq, raising further questions about a heavy reliance on private contractors, the New York Times reported on Friday.

The Pentagon knew about the problems but did little to address them until Ryan Maseth, a member of the elite Green Berets, was electrocuted in January while taking a shower, the newspaper said.

The Army says 13 soldiers have been electrocuted in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003 but the Times reported that internal documents show many injuries from shocks and losses from electrical fires.

As recently as June, an electrical fire destroyed 10 buildings at a base in Falluja, forcing Marines to ask for donations to replace their belongings, the paper said.

Congress and the Pentagon have started to investigate, it said, with Army officials this month ordering inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR, a Houston company that provides basic services to U.S. troops in Iraq.

Officials noted the U.S. government contracted out so much work in Iraq that companies like KBR were overwhelmed and some tasks were given to subcontractors who hired unskilled Iraqis paid a few dollars a day, the Times said.

Government officials in charge of contract oversight were also unable to keep up, allowing unsafe electrical work to go unchallenged, it said.

It is bad enough that there are people killing Americans with guns and bombs, is it really necessary for the troops to be threatened by American companies?

"I was very unlucky and it took me all three tries to put the earth where it should go along with the other wires. Three tries does quite a bit to the angle your hair stands up, it also determines how long it stays like that… I don’t think I’ve ever recovered hence the hair-do"

And so here is the first photo that was taken of me just after the above mentioned incident:

Pretty impressive aint it?

Right now for the "Now"...

I am still learning to blow dry my hair, surprising I know, so after a visit to the hair dresser this is how I shape up...

I am now fully evolved, below is my grandfather, isn't he sexy?

Anderson had been sentenced to death in America for assault and rape of a matron in Birmingham. He'd obviously tried to steel himself against his fate, but it came round sooner than he expected and his steely nerves gave way to jellied terror.

The 26-year-old handyman had to be assisted to the chair and the wardens then sensitively brought out the coffin – his bed for the rest of eternity. 'Have mercy Lord! I think I'm living to meet my fate' Anderson cried just before 2200 volts coursed through his body.

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It's late. My one hour nap that I started at 6pm actually lasted until 11:30pm, so now I'm wide awake. One of the great things about being up late is all the bad television you can watch, and no one is around to judge you. Tonight's selection is A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila.

I had already resigned myself to the fact that MTV is not what it once was. You know, when The Real World was good, Jenny McCarthy was on Singled Out, and MTV actually played videos.

I didn't realize how screwed up some of these shows have become. Tila, on tonight's very special episode, gives people a choice to prove their love for her:

1. Get a tattoo inspired by Tila, like her name, a shot glass, etc.
2. Get a piercing.
3. Walk across glass. Yes. Glass.
4. Sit in an electric chair and get zapped. And it's painful.

What? Seriously? My favorite is how one of the contestants was hesitant to get a tattoo, and Tila just rolled her eyes a bit. It cut to her "confessional" where she talked about how it made her nervous to trust the devotion of that contestant. She continued that not following through was lame of said contestant.

Also, a fight broke out between two of the guys, which resulted in a head-butt and a thrown punch that cracked the jaw of one of the contestants. The person who committed the acts of violence was immediately removed from the house. The injured contestant was taken to the hospital. Tila came downstairs later, not knowing what had happened. Upon finding out the news, she broke down crying and, of course, made it all about her. Everyone was hovering around her, petting her hair, while she weeped about how she couldn't believe they did this over her and how guilty she felt, etc. It was bizarre.

When the guy got back from the hospital, with a plate in his jaw, he brought her a teddy bear. Tila's commentary? How it was awesome that he brought HER a teddy bear home from the hospital. "It shows how much he's dedicated to ME." Nothing about him. Nothing about her being glad he's okay, etc. Just going on about the teddy bear and her usual rap about how she needs someone who will always think of her first no matter what. His jaw. Was broken.

Another contestant was called "fickle" and "untrustworthy" because they couldn't say they were in love with her already.

I think I'll show Patrick I care by getting a tattoo, while walking over glass. And if one of you could break my jaw so I could buy a gift for him, it would be most appreciated.  Thank you, Tila, for showing me how one truly expresses love.

And thank you, MTV. Thank you.

A highly decorated Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth died a painful death in Iraq this year. He died not on the battlefield. He died in what should have been one of the safest spots in Iraq: on a U.S. base, in his bathroom.

The water pump was not properly grounded, and when he turned on the shower, a jolt of electricity shot through his body and electrocuted him January 2.

The next day, Cheryl Harris was informed of his death. A mother of three sons serving in Iraq, she had feared such news might come one day.

"I did ask exactly, 'How did Ryan die? What happened to him?' And he had told me that Ryan was electrocuted," she said.

Her reaction was disbelief. "I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted ... in the shower," she said.

Maseth, 24, was not the first. At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in since the start of the war in 2003, according to military and government officials. mom describe horror, heartbreak over son's electrocution »

In fact, the Army issued a bulletin in 2004 warning that electrocution was "growing at an alarming rate." It said five soldiers died that year by electrocution, with improper grounding the likely culprit in each case.

The Army bulletin detailed one soldier's death in a shower -- eerily similar to Maseth's case -- that said he was found "lying on a shower room floor with burn marks on his body."

Maseth's mother says the Army was not immediately forthcoming with details about her son's death.

At one point, she says, the Army told her he had a small appliance with him in the shower on his base, a former palace complex near the Baghdad airport.

"It just created so much doubt, and I know Ryan, I know Ryan, I know how he was trained, I know that he would not have been in a shower with a small appliance and electrocuted himself," she said.

The Army refused to answer CNN's questions about the case, citing pending litigation by Maseth's family.

Maseth's mother says she pressed the military for answers, eventually uncovering more details about her son's electrocution. The surging current left burn marks across his body, even singeing his hair. Army reports show that he probably suffered a long, painful death.

Fellow soldiers had to break down the door to help, said Patrick Cavanaugh, an attorney for Maseth's parents.

"When they kicked down the door, they smelled burning hair, and they rushed over, saw Sgt. Maseth lying there unconscious, and one of the rescuers himself was shocked electrically and sustained a fairly good jolt because the water and the pipes were still electrified," Cavanaugh said.

Army documents obtained by CNN show that U.S.-paid contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) inspected the building and found serious electrical problems a full 11 months before Maseth was electrocuted.

KBR noted "several safety issues concerning the improper grounding of electrical devices." But KBR's contract did not cover "fixing potential hazards." It covered repairing items only after they broke down.

Only after Maseth died did the Army issue an emergency order for KBR to finally fix the electrical problems, and that order was carried out soon thereafter.

In an internal e-mail obtained by CNN, a Navy captain admits that the Army should have known "the extent of the severity of the electrical problems." The e-mail then says the reason the Army did not know was because KBR's inspections were never reviewed by a "qualified government employee."

Larraine McGee is the mother of Sgt. Christopher Everett, another soldier electrocuted in Iraq.

"The impression I got was that this was the first time that it had happened," McGee said.

Her son was cleaning a Humvee on his Iraqi base with a power washer that was not properly grounded in 2005.

"I thought Chris was the first and that because of that, they were going to correct the problem, and it wasn't going to happen again," she said.

When she learned of Maseth's electrocution, she was stunned.

"It makes me very angry, because there is no reason for this to be going on," said McGee.

The electrocution of soldiers is prompting anger in Washington.

"How did this happen?" asked Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Waxman has called for an investigation. "Why wasn't it corrected when we had the first signs that people were dying from electrocutions?"

In a statement to CNN, the U.S. Department of Defense said it "considers this to be a serious issue and has referred it to the DoD Inspector General's office for action."

The Defense Department said that there are nearly 40,000 structures and housing units in the Iraqi theater and that "we believe there was adequate oversight of the KBR contractors."

"In the past 12 months, KBR performed over 2 million service or work order repairs across the theater," the Defense Department said.

It went on to say that the Pentagon has "no information" that personnel with Defense Contract Management Agency, which handles the KBR contract, was aware of the 2004 Army bulletin or that they "failed to take appropriate action in response to unsafe conditions brought to our attention."

The Defense Department inspector general's office said it could not comment on the new investigation at this time.

KBR declined a CNN interview, but in an e-mail the company said it found "no evidence of a link between the work it has been tasked to perform and the reported electrocutions."

The Defense Contract Management Agency declined to answer CNN's questions.

Harris says she will continue to fight to make sure other soldiers don't die similar deaths.
"I'm not going to sit around quietly," she said. "I want the answers surrounding Ryan's death -- the accountability. And even further, I want to make sure that our troops are taken care of that are left on the ground ... [so] they don't have to wake up and worry about taking a shower and electrocution."

Original article found @ http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/soldier.electrocutions/index.html

http://www.inplacenews.com

Chills multiplying

Necking two tots of whiskey before he met his maker, Spenkelink was Florida’s first execution since the penalty was resumed in 1976 and the second in the US.

But, chillingly, all may not have been as it appeared. He had resisted his sentence throughout, never more so than in those last few hours leading up to his death.

Halperin reported that there were rumours Spenkelink was beaten into submission and gagged before being dragged to the chair. Indeed other sources went even further, touting that the criminal was dead before he even hit the chair. Such was the powerful intensity surrounding the damaging and ever-multiplying claims that, posthumously, Spenkelink was exhumed for another autopsy.

Lost control

Some reports state that he was convicted of murdering an accompanying hitchhiker who'd forced an incensed Spenkelink to commit a sexual act on him at gunpoint, before playing Russian roulette. But a transcript of an appeal makes no mention of these, instead basing the killing on the fact that the hitchhiker had, in fact, pocketed Spenkelink’s money.

Whatever the motive, Spenkelink took a gun to the hitchhiker’s head and blew a bullet into the left side of his brain before firing another shot into his back in self defence apparently.

However, prosecution reports state that there were gunpowder residues on the motel room’s pillow, which indicate the hitchhiker’s head was on it at the time of death – hardly a struggle.

He then made for a fast getaway with another mate, but they were apprehended soon after and accused of murder. Spenkelink was found guilty and sentenced to death. However, his lawyer said that he’d been offered a plea bargain – second-degree murder would have earned him life. But he flatly refused and was to pay for the decision with his life.

Electrifying

In a moment of profundity, Spenkelink is said to have accurately observed that ‘Capital punishment means those without capital get the punishment’ and with that he was alleged to have died of a broken neck from being beaten up, before he was placed on the chair and given three fatal shocks to his system.

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note the wires running in and out.

what this means is that you have to be very careful showering, otherwise you get a little zap. not enough to hurt you, or even really enough to feel if you aren't expecting it.  it's really just enough to wake you up in the morning or relax the nerves at night.

This movie is a remake of an older movie titled the same but from 1957. I have never seen the original one but I liked this one a lot. It had a lot of action but not too much (my eyes did not hurt trying to follow the movement). Usually when I hear the word "western" I think boring. There are exceptions and this movie was one of them! There are some scenes in the movie that might make you cry, some that might make you mad, and some that might even make you laugh. 3:10 to Yuma has a little something in it for everyone! I give this movie 4 stars!

Below I have listed background info for the movie (and a trailer - provided by youtube.com).

Plot (provided by none other than imbd.com):

"Rancher Dan Evans heads into Bisbee to clear up issues concerning the sake of his land when he witnesses the closing events of a stagecoach robbery led by famed outlaw Ben Wade. Shortly thereafter, Wade is captured by the law in Bisbee and Evans finds himself one of the escorts who will take Wade to the 3:10 to Yuma train in Contention for the reward of $200. Evans's effort to take Wade to the station is in part an effort to save his land but also part of an inner battle to determine whether he can be more than just a naive rancher in the eyes of his impetuous and gunslinging son William Evans. The transport to Contention is hazardous and filled with ambushes by Indians, pursuits by Wade's vengeful gang and Wade's own conniving and surreptitious demeanor that makes the ride all the more intense." Written by: commanderblue

MPAA Rating: R (for violence and some language)

Genre: Western, Crime, Drama

Starring: Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, also featuring: Peter Fonda, Ben Foster, and Alan Tudyk

The no-bid contractors show their worth once more in Iraq. DillonX cuts right to the chase with his http://youtube.com comment:

DillonX (6 hours ago)

Look, we must all understand something -- Halliburton is there, not to help our troops, but to make BILLIONS.And they've now moved their headquarters overseas so it would likely be hard to get a judgment against them.

Lawyers for a former Conroe woman who says she was raped by co-workers while employed by a Halliburton Co. subsidiary in Iraq in 2005 told a federal judge in Houston Wednesday they believe her case should be settled by a public trial and not a private arbitration process.

But attorneys for Halliburton and its former subsidiary, KBR Inc., argued the woman signed a contract that binds her to settle all claims — including sexual assault allegations — against her former employer through arbitration.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison was expected to make a ruling at a later date.
KBR Rape

War profiteering by tax dodge
KBR, the largest private contractor for the Pentagon in Iraq, has two shell companies in the Caymans, that, for bookkeeping purposes, employ about 10,500 Americans in Iraq. Because the companies are offshore, neither KBR nor the workers must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, allowing the company and its workers to avoid paying about $100 million a year, according to Globe reporter Farah Stockman.
KBR Tax Dodger

KBR Electrocuting Troops

But eh, it's a good source of story ideas.

   Generally, I hate the thought of putting anyone to death. Whether it is the worst criminal in the world or my next-door neighbor, the death penalty is a very serious and very extreme punishment and should only be employed in extreme situations.

   However, with even more despise, I hate the thought of people killing in cold blood. Furthermore, with maximum despise, I hate the thought of people hurting, raping, and/or sexually molesting young, defenseless children.

   If the death penalty is called for in cases such as those of murderers and serial killers like Ted Bundy, Albert Fish, and John Wayne Gacy, then it should, as well, be called for in the cases of those who victimize children with violent acts of rape and sexual abuse.

   John Wayne Gacy is known for raping and murdering thirty-three boys and young men between the ages of fourteen to twenty-one years old. He was sentenced to twenty-one consecutive life sentences and twelve death sentences.

   Albert Hamilton Fish was a torture murderer, pedophile, serial killer, and cannibal that targeted children. Fish confessed to three murders and two attempted murders. "He boasted that he had "had children in every state," putting the figure at around 100, although it is not clear whether he was talking about molestation or cannibalization." (www.wikipedia.com) Fish was executed by way of electricution.

   The infamous Theodore "Ted" Bundy was responsible for thirty known rape/murders in which the victims were females as young as fifteen years old. He was electrocuted as a result of sentencing.

   In review, you see that these sexually violent killers, all targeting minors, were put to death, and deservingly so. But what would have happened if the victims in these cases were raped and/or sexually assualted, then their lives spared? Would this really have been any better of a scenario?

   Studies indicate that victims of violent sexual crimes can develop countless long-term psychological and sociological issues as a direct result. Among the areas effected are social life, personal confidence, and family life, just to name a few. Certainly not to detract from the seriousness of murder; enduring long-term suffering can't be much better than dying. What makes this scenario worse? When the child is unable to speak and defend his/herself.

   Helpless, defenseless children as the victims of sexually violent crimes will unquestionably suffer for the rest of their time. In the previous sentence, I do not use the phrase "rest of their lives" because I hardly think that a lifespan accompanied by this suffering is any kind of life. The child is murdered in all aspects except the physical one.

   Those who prey on little children are nothing less than predacious psycopaths and neither do they serve, nor could they serve any good purpose on this earth. Just as murderers murder, sexually violent criminals murder, as well. Therefore, after being found guilty by a jury, those who commit such haness acts should most certainly face, as a possibility, the ultimate penalty, death.

   This is my opinion based on the facts. This and fifty cents will buy you a coke.

QUOTE: "We don't give our criminals much punishment, but we sure give 'em plenty of publicity."  ~Will Rogers

[embedded YouTube video; if you can't see it, click here]

In the new video for the All India Radio song, "Persist", Australian animator Lucy Dyson hauntingly tells the story of Topsy the Elephant, who was electrocuted by Thomas Edison on January 5, 1903. The death of Topsy, together with the deaths of a number of other animals and the invention of the electric chair, was part of Edison's propaganda campaign to discredit AC current by convincing the public that it was dangerous. Edison had developed a DC-based system to generate, transmit and use electricity. However, his former employee Nikola Tesla, backed by Westinghouse, went on to design an AC system that had significant technical advantages over DC (for example, AC can be transmitted for long distances with little power loss, while DC can be only transmitted a mile or so). The resulting competition between the two systems (known as the War of Currents) turned pretty nasty - not only was money at stake, but apparently it was also driven by a personal animosity between the two men. Edison filmed the death of Topsy ("Electrocuting an Elephant") and circulated it widely. Despite Edison's efforts, the advantages of AC won out and it was widely adopted, and that's why those of us in the northeast US get power from Niagara Falls and why we've learned to be careful with hairdryers around bathtubs. Topsy's fate seems to be in the zeitgeist; Brooklyn-based artist (and friend of z=z) Paul Davies created a piece on the elephant's sad end as well.

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I can assure you that electrocution applies to both death AND injury, and the former not only to a form of execution.

Back when I was in Iraq, we Marines lived in the barracks of former Iraqi soldiers on an Air Base. Inside the shower stall, we had a water heater installed. Literally inside. Now bored as I was, I personified this water heater, inspired by the large red light which shone brightly in the lightless stall, which reminded me of HAL from 2001: a space odyssey.

So a few days ago news emerged that an unfortunate Soldier was electrocuted to death in an Iraqi shower because of an improperly grounded water pump. I realize how bizarre this may be to the average American, bit this news doesn't surprise me. "The Shocker" as I called the water heater, routinely shocked me and many of my comrades as we were taking showers. It in fact was a method of artfulness to take a shower without being shocked by the Shocker, and we would hears hoots and arghs emanating down the hallways when some poor sap was careless or unfortunate enough to have this occur. Who knows, maybe some used the shock as a proxy for coffee, literally jolting themselves awake in the morning.

So I thought this might be interesting to read about, and for you to know some of what Marines out in Iraq not only live with, but expect.

story from cnn news

nataliebeth

How much more abuse of the law will it take before Congress gets their shit together and impeaches this whole administration? I really do get frustrated with them when this sort of article comes out. Since the stolen election this administration has done everything it could to prove just how much utter contempt they have for the American People, Congress and the rest of the world. I don't know that anyone is surprised by anything they attempt any more, but I am heartily sick of seeing this stuff. And I am heartily sick of a do nothing Congress.

We've known about the lies that led to Iraq for HOW long now? Is there anyone on this planet who doesn't know about this and is feeling anything but contempt for America right now? Do one thing right before his mad man gets out of office or stops the next election. Impeach the man, and impeach cheney. And while you are at it, fire everyone associated with them.

The exception claimed by Cheney’s counsel came in response to requests from congressional Democrats that David Addington, the vice-president’s chief of staff, testify about his involvement in the approval of interrogation tactics used at Guantanamo Bay.

Ruling out voluntary cooperation by Addington, Cheney lawyer Kathryn Wheelbarger said Cheney’s conduct is “not within the [congressional] committee’s power of inquiry”.

“Congress lacks the constitutional power to regulate by law what a vice-president communicates in the performance of the vice president’s official duties, or what a vice president recommends that a president communicate,” Wheelbarger wrote to senior aides on Capitol Hill.

The exception claimed by Cheney’s office recalls his attempt last year to evade rules for classified documents by deeming the vice-president’s office a hybrid branch of government - both executive and legislative.

Reading this article from CommonDreams and seeing the sneer on cheney's face is so typical. I am very sure they do believe themselves above the law. And why not? No one has attempted to hold them accountable for anything even though the evidence is overwhelming. And when did they amend the Constitution to say this is a special legislative AND executive branch??? I don't recall voting on it. I don't recall Congress voting on it or even discussing it. So there is no such thing as a "hybrid office" for these felons to hide behind. And until and unless they do create this "hybrid office" David Addington doesn't have a leg to stand on, although he may pray he does...

I've never heard of a criminal yet who didn't act all indignant and claim they were innocent. Oh, I'll just bet this piece of work knows he can't do anything but delay, so what is he delaying for? It can't be the end of the bush's term. Could it be so that they can destroy any damning evidence? For although they could be found guilty of destruction of evidence, they couldn't be found guilty of any actual crimes without it, or could they? Of course, there is a lot of damning evidence already out there.

But the real story lies not in whether or not David Addington will weasel out of jail. Oh, no, the real story lies in what happened behind the scenes. I doubt we'll ever know it all. I'm not sure I want to know it all. But their perversion of the laws of this great nation deserve the worst punishments we can devise for the longest time possible. I consider them terrorists and would demand that they receive the same treatment as other terrorists.

But back to our story here... And that is alluded to in these few lines here:

However, Philippe Sands QC, law professor at University College, London, has agreed to appear in Washington and discuss the revelations in Torture Team, his new book on the consequences of the brutal tactics used at Guantanamo.

Excerpts from Torture Team were previewed exclusively by the Guardian earlier this month.

I just had to find out what this was about. So I did a google search for this article. And here is what I came up with:

Stress, hooding, noise, nudity, dogs

It was the young officials at Guantánamo who dreamed up a list of new aggressive interrogation techniques, inspired by Jack Bauer from the TV series, 24. But it was the politicians and lawyers in Washington who set the ball rolling. Philippe Sands follows the torture trail right to the top

# Philippe Sands
# The Guardian,
# Saturday April 19 2008

Philippe Sands QC uncovers details of interrogation techniques at Guantánamo Bay

On Tuesday, December 2 2002, Donald Rumsfeld signed a piece of paper that changed the course of history. That same day, President Bush signed a bill to put the Pentagon in funds for the next year. The US faced unprecedented challenges, Bush told a large and enthusiastic audience, and terror was one of them. The US would respond to these challenges, and it would do so in the "finest traditions of valour". And then he signed a large increase in the defence budget.

Elsewhere in the Pentagon, an event took place for which there was no comment, no fanfare. With a signature and a few scrawled words, Rumsfeld reneged on the tradition of valour to which Bush had referred. Principles for the conduct of interrogation, dating back more than a century to President Lincoln's famous instruction of 1863 that "military necessity does not admit of cruelty", were discarded. He approved new and aggressive interrogation techniques that would produce devastating consequences.

The document had been drafted a few days earlier by the general counsel at the Defence Department, William J Haynes II (known as Jim Haynes), Rumsfeld's most senior lawyer. The Haynes memo was addressed to Rumsfeld and copied to two colleagues: General Richard Myers, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the most senior military official in the US, and Doug Feith, under-secretary of defence for policy and number three at the department.

Attached to the memorandum were four short documents. The first was a legal opinion written by Lieutenant Colonel Diane Beaver, a staff judge advocate at Guantánamo. The second, a request for approval of new methods of interrogating detainees from Beaver's boss, Major General Mike Dunlavey, the army's head of interrogation at Guantánamo. The third was a memorandum on similar lines from General Tom Hill, commander of US Southern Command (Southcom, covering Central and South America). Last, and most important, was a list of 18 techniques of interrogation, set out in a three-page memorandum.

These techniques were new to the military. Category I comprised two techniques, yelling and deception. Category II included 12 techniques, aiming at humiliation and sensory deprivation, including stress positions, such as standing for a maximum of four hours; isolation; deprivation of light and sound; hooding; removal of religious and all other comfort items; removal of clothing; forced grooming, such as shaving of facial hair; and the use of individual phobias, such as fear of dogs, to induce stress.

Finally came Category III. These methods were to be used for only a very small percentage of detainees - the most uncooperative (said to be fewer than 3%) and exceptionally resistant individuals - and required approval by the commanding general at Guantánamo. In this category were four techniques: the use of "mild, non-injurious physical contact", such as grabbing, poking and light pushing; the use of scenarios designed to convince the detainee that death or severely painful consequences were imminent for him or his family; exposure to cold weather or water; and, finally, the use of a wet towel and dripping water to induce the misperception of suffocation. This last technique came to be known as water-boarding, described on a chat show by the vice-president, Dick Cheney, as a "dunk in the water" and a "no-brainer" if it could save lives.

Obviously this is a must read article. It mentions the account of detainee 063, or Mohammed al-Qahtani. I had to look that up too. I found the disturbing details of his detention and interrogation HERE: If you decide to read it, be aware it isn't pretty. It is disturbing to see how easily these Americans were able to use these techniques on another human being. I do not pretend to understand...

Back to the article from the Guardian though... I found this most enlightening:

Dunlavey told me that at the end of September a group of the most senior Washington lawyers visited Guantánamo, including David Addington, the vice president's lawyer, Gonzales and Haynes. "They brought ideas with them which had been given from sources in DC." When the new techniques were more or less finalised, Dunlavey needed them to be approved by Lieutenant Colonel Diane Beaver, his staff judge advocate in Guantánamo. "We had talked and talked, brainstormed, then we drew up a list," he said. The list was passed on to Diane Beaver."

According to the article, one of the most discussed influences advocating torture was the TV program 24 and the character Jack Bouer. I have to tell you that it makes me question the competence of the men and women who actually used this as a basis for their decisions. I mean, a TV show???

But can all this be justified by a TV program? I have to tell you that I find that so very hard to believe. Can these people NOT tell the difference between fantasy and reality? Just because life imitates fiction doesn't mean we should actually DO it! Don't these people believe in God? How do they reconcile what they have done with their belief in God? Are the laws of God suspended whenever it is expedient? Does going to confession make it all better? Cuz I have to tell you that I seriously doubt that is going to be good enough justification for God...

If YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY SOMETHING, YOU ALREADY KNOW YOU ARE WRONG!

All I do know is that no one is above the law in this country. I don't care who you are or who you THINK you are. Each and every person that owes their allegiance to our Flag is subject to our laws, including the president, vice president, and everyone of their staff. Being top dog doesn't give you a get out of jail free card, it doesn't give you immunity from prosecution either. Course, maybe they can buy justice... I hear it happens all the time.

I'm well aware of my adopted nation's long-time love affair with Claude Francois. He's a national icon, and is mpersonated here nearly to the degree that Elvis is in the U.S. Manboy once made me stand with him two hours in the rain to watch such a concert of 'Claude and the Claudettes'.

I've learned over the years that the French, in particular my Manboy, often harbour a passion for this man that transcends all bounds. I've learned that while the baker I am buying my bread from looks like a perfectly normal person, he may, hidden by the safety of the pasrty counter, actually be wearing pink furry gogo boots. When there are no customers to serve, he cranks up 'Alexandrine, Alexandra', and dances like a schoolgirl, holding his eyes shut tightly as he jump-kicks his chubby, short legs in the air, letting the fantasy have him while it may.

The guy has sold 70 million albums, no small feat for a French artist.

What I didn't know about Claude Francois, what no one saw fittingly important enough to tell me, after all the conversations I have participated in or been witness to about this man, is the way he died.

That missing piece of information was imparted to me last night, as the anchorman curtly detailed it, with his deadpan-news face after the highly emotional 'remembering Claude, weeping, and laying flowers on his grave segment'.

(Cue deadpan face/monotone voice)

"Claude Francois was electrocuted by a light bulb that he was trying to change while standing in his filled bathtub."

Everything I touch in my apartment today is giving me an electric shock. They started off really small, but now they're getting bigger and much more painful. I'm actually starting to see sparks with some of them.

I'm not even wearing socks, which is usually what causes such a thing. Even my lights and various other electrical appliances have been making a habit of flickering in and out. I've always been bothered by the ancient wiring in this building, but I'm starting to worry that it might be the death of me.

If I die from electrocution, avenge my death.

Meanwhile, speaking of Age of Electric, they kicked ass. Remember "Remote Control"? I think I'll try and find this CD if it still exists and I don't get killed by electricity before I get the chance.