New torture photos from Abu Ghraib are ‘old news’

BBC – In pictures: New Abu Ghraib images

Boing Boing – New Abu Ghraib torture photos from Aus. TV report: torrents: (NSFW: contains taxpayer-funded nudity, sexual acts, and explicit violence)

CNN – U.S. slams ‘prisoner abuse’ leak: The United States has criticized the release of grisly images by an Australian television network, which shows apparent detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. American officials have said the pictures should not have been released, with Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman telling The Associated Press their airing “could only further inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence in the world.”

1. Yes. It is the photos of the action, not the actions themselves that can only further inflame and possibly incite unnecessary violence in the world. After all, these photos and videos were designed for a select and restricted audience….

Bloggerheads – Abu Ghraib: Why You Should Care: Why do these photos exist? Before the Nazis started gassing Jews and other ‘undesirables’, they shot them. In large numbers. But bullets were expensive and manpower cost money. The Nazis also found that this practice had a distinctly negative effect on the troops doing the shooting. That’s why they got high-tech and used selected prisoners to do most of the dirty work. Fast forward to the 21st century. Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq. Thanks to the wonders of technology, soldiers operating under the direction of the CIA (and British intelligence operatives) could torture a few detainees and show the results to many as a softener.

2. Did you catch that important bit? And. British. Intelligence. Operatives. We were there. Gaining intelligence via torture. Again.

3. Boy, that Lynddie England gets around, doesn’t she? A clever girl, too. She and her chums managed to get all of this done without senior officers being any the wiser. That this happened under an administration that has (with media support, no less) defended the use of torture, campaigned for powers to use more torture, and then boldly stated that they “don’t do torture” should worry you not a jot.

4. There’s worse – far worse – to come…

Salon.com – (15 July 2004) – Hersh: Children sodomized at Abu Ghraib, on tape: “Debating about it, ummm … Some of the worst things that happened you don’t know about, okay? Videos, um, there are women there. Some of you may have read that they were passing letters out, communications out to their men. This is at Abu Ghraib … The women were passing messages out saying ‘Please come and kill me, because of what’s happened’ and basically what happened is that those women who were arrested with young boys, children in cases that have been recorded. The boys were sodomized with the cameras rolling. And the worst above all of that is the soundtrack of the boys shrieking that your government has. They are in total terror. It’s going to come out.”

5. This is how we’re fighting the war on terror, folks. Share the message with a friend today.

6. And finally…. a word on glorification. Because it is wrong to justify, promote or even tolerate morally repugnant acts of terror.

UPDATE – ACLU – New Abu Ghraib Photos Confirm Need for Independent Counsel: “We continue to see undeniable evidence that abuse and torture has been widespread and systematic, yet high level government officials have not been held accountable for creating the policies that led to these atrocities,” said Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. “We need to look up the chain of military command, because when the rule of law is not followed all of our personal freedoms are threatened. President Bush should appoint an independent counsel to uncover the full truth about the extent of the abuse and who is ultimately responsible.”

UPDATE – Boing Boing – Salon.com releases still more Abu Ghraib torture photos








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Catching up with Stewart Lee and Stephen Green

Guardian – ‘Christian Voice is outside, praying for our souls … ‘

Media Watch Watch – Stephen Green “apoplectic” at JS:TO grant








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Quick show-off on numbers

Yesterday BlogCode launched with 156 blogs in the database. 24 hours later, there are 502. A good first day.

:o)

UPDATE – We made it into Yahoo’s live database in 24 hours, Google’s in 32.








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Sorry it’s late

I was busy.

Elmer Season

For those who have been on Mars these past few days

For those who have been on Mars for over 50 years

UPDATE – Liberal Common Sense – Extreme Peppering

UPDATE – A video for you… Hunting Chrashers.








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Interesting matches on BlogCode

When StoryCode.com first launched, we watched early matches with great interest. We were on the lookout for the quality matches and the quirky ones (one of the most interesting early matches was Animal Farm and A Christmas Carol).

So, today, I’m keeping a close eye on new and existing entries on BlogCode (and also making notes of any duplicate entries for manual correction while we work on the duplication-prevention issue).

This is one of the best matches I’ve seen so far…
Take a look at how closely the Impeach Bush Coalition matches with BlairWatch.

That’s a little bit spooky, that is.

Drop me a line if you see/notice anything interesting yourself

Also, you may have spotted a few references to ‘evil twins’ on other blogs. This is my fault. When sending word out to Alpha-testers, I had this to say:

Once we have a rich enough database, you stand a very good chance of locating your evil twin… because the chances are he/she runs a very similar weblog to your own, only from a very different viewpoint.

In other words, the database allows a very good chance of finding someone who blogs/writes in much the same way you do, with the only thing that differs significantly being your political view(s).

Looking at the recommendations for Bloggerheads.com a few days ago, my best candidate for my Evil Twin looked to be that Guido fellow, and this still appears to be the case.

New on my recommendations list is a blog I’d not seen previously… Balrog. There’s lots to read there, but what really caught my eye was this post on free speech highlighting the difference between these two Google Image searches:

Google worldwide
Google in China

PS – Happy Valentines Day. Those who hold a special place in my heart may wish to get in touch today for a sneak-preview of something wonderful.








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BlogCode

OK folks, here it is… the Big Shiny New Thing I’ve been promising:

BlogCode.com – the weblog directory and recommendation tool

Blogcode.com is an initiative of StoryCode, the book-comparison project in which I have been proud to play a small role. The idea for BlogCode was cooked up by myself and Steve Johnston, and made real largely thanks to the excellent work of StoryCode’s lead developer Chris Russell.

Blogcode.com, not unlike its parent site Storycode.com, is designed to provide reading recommendations based on aspects such as style, delivery and content. We have, however, taken great care to make the coding process specific to weblogs, but universal enough to cover the typical aspects of most weblogs.

The result is a blog directory that lets you find blogs similar to the one(s) you enjoy, without limiting yourself to subject-based searches on Technorati or endless journeys through blogroll after blogroll.

Basically, it provides anyone who enjoys weblogs with a fast-track to similar reading experiences. It will also be useful to bloggers themselves, by helping them to attract a suitable readership and/or helping them to find other bloggers that they may wish to network with.

Take the excellent weblog Chicken Yoghurt as an example; over the past year or so I’ve found myself linking to what this blogger writes about on more key issues than any other blogger, as we have similar views and similar writing styles.

It took months – years, even – to establish this relationship and the synchronicity between our weblogs, but BlogCode established an 84% match within minutes:
Recommendations for Bloggerheads

How the system works

– The reader of any given blog evaluates that weblog at BlogCode.com

– 27 metrics allow for intuitive response via the use of sliders

– One code/evaluation is enough to kick things off, but the more people who code a weblog, the more reliable this collaborative evaluation becomes

– These 27 metrics intersect in what can best be described as a sphere; and where any given weblog is in this sphere is determined by the combined gravitational forces of all metrics

– Other blogs that are closest in proximity to this weblog within this imaginary 3-dimensional space are judged to be a good match (the strength of which is determined by a simple percentage… anything over 80% is a bloody good match)

How it can be used

As a reader: If you discover a blog that you love, you simply look it up at BlogCode to find others like it (and if that blog isn’t in the database, you simply create an entry and code it)

As a blogger: You can use BlogCode to find other people to network with and/or beef up your blogroll – there’s even a special tool available via the site that allows you to display a feed of current matches on your weblog (kind of like a miniature dynamic blogroll).

Beta-testing begins now

So, go forth, play, do and enjoy. Remember; the more blogs we have in the system and the more evaluations we have of each weblog, the better the system works.

:o)

Warm and fuzzy feelings of gratitude go out to all those who chipped in on the Alpha-testing and – in doing so – helped to build our initial weblog database:

Nick Barlow
BigDaddyMerk
Beau Bo D’Or
Toby Bryans
Chicken Yoghurt
Clive
Alan Connor
CuriousHamster
Dave
DoctorVee
D-Notice
Carl Eve
Peter Gasston
Guy Gooberman
Irritant
Jez
Martin Lloyd
MatGB
Shane McCracken
Annie Mole
Rachel North
Nosemonkey
Poons
Ringverse
Scaryduck
Andrew Seal
TalkPolitics
Dave Weeden
Wibbler
Tim Worstall
Richard Wilson








Posted in BlogCode, Teh Interwebs | 21 Comments

FCO still trying to gag Murray

Craig Murray – Murder in Samarkand: The FCO prepares for legal action

Craig Murray – Declaration and Publication: The Stagg Letter and The Final Rejoinder








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Big Shiny New Thing

Working like mad to make it happen by this afternoon, folks… we’re adding a special Very Useful Tool before we go BETA.








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Has David Cameron signed EDM 1088 yet?

No, he hasn’t. Because he’s all mouth and no trousers.

PS – The transformation is now complete; Brown is Blair.








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Support the troops! Again!

When reading this editorial, keep in mind that Sun editor Rebekah Wade (remarkably) holds the same line as Downing Street on the July 7 bombings – i.e. that our misadventure in Iraq did nothing to bring this tragedy to our shores…

The Scum – Time for calm: The disturbing video of British soldiers attacking Iraqi teenagers emerges at a dangerous time for relations between Muslims and the rest of our community. Tensions are high following the Danish cartoons row, the mock suicide bomber at a London demo, and the activities of Abu Hamza. There can be no excuse for the actions of the soldiers. Even though they were under grenade attack they should have shown restraint. Now their mistake could cause a reaction among Muslims here. Plainly, it is time for everyone to demonstrate that great strength of British character – a cool head. Muslims will remember there was little backlash against them after last year’s London bombings. Britons realise only a tiny majority of Muslims are terrorists. Just as only a tiny minority of Muslims dress as suicide bombers or carry placards urging beheadings. Just as only a tiny minority of British soldiers are bullies. Our troops have been heroes in bringing freedom to Iraq, and The Sun will continue to support them. It is unfortunate that at this moment Yorkshire imam Hamid Ali stirs up more trouble by describing the 7/7 attacks as “good”. Most Muslims will judge Hamid Ali to be a bigger idiot than the soldiers who lost control in Iraq. He doesn’t even have the excuse of having dodged a grenade. If he can find “good” in the bloody murder of 52 people – men, women, Muslims and Christians – then he is seriously deranged. The world envies Britain’s stable society. We can keep it that way… So long as everyone – of all faiths and beliefs – remembers that hate only begets hate. Violence only begets violence.

Violence only begets violence you say? So what the hell were we supposed to expect after beating, bombing, shooting, torturing innocent Iraqis… and what role do you think the Iraq adventure plays in combating terror?

Support the troops, you say? By throwing them to the wolves when they behave predictably when mired in a culture of abuse and lawlessness created by their government?

Fuck off, Wade. You’re a traitor, a liar, a hypocrite, and far more dangerous than any Muslim extremist.

Related:
Chicken Yoghurt – The case for the Defence Secretary
CuriousHamster – John Reid’s Amazing Phychic Powers
Bloggerheads – Abuse of Iraqis by British troops: naming the bad apples
Bloggerheads – Tony Blair provokes terrorism








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