http://philthompson.net News and opinion Sat, 05 Jul 2008 01:48:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Today the New York Times reveals that the "enhanced interrogation techniques" used at Uncle Sam's gulag in Guantánamo were "copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners." The article continues: The 1957 article ... http://philthompson.net/2008/07/02/china-inspired-interrogations/ In The American Conservative, Daniel Larison quotes the New York Times: In recent days, more than 7,000 Obama supporters have organized on a social networking site on Mr. Obama’s own campaign Web site. They are calling on Mr. Obama to reverse his decision to endorse legislation supported by President Bush to ... http://philthompson.net/2008/07/02/reverse-that-reversal/ From the American Conservative Defense Alliance “Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” — President Ronald Reagan One… Conservatives believe that war is a “last option” that should only be initiated when there is a direct and imminent threat to the United States. Iran ... http://philthompson.net/2008/07/02/ten-reasons-oppose-iran-war-2/ Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake and former Rep. Bob Barr, Libertarian presidential candidate, discuss why the FISA bill is succeeding. http://philthompson.net/2008/07/02/why-is-there-a-pro-spying-consensus-in-congress/ Justin Webb, the BBC's North America editor, writes: The most interesting aspect of the latest Seymour Hersh warning that the Bush administration is gearing up for a fight in Iran (or over Iran) was this claim about a meeting Defence Secretary Robert Gates had with Democratic Senators: "Gates warned of the consequences ... http://philthompson.net/2008/07/01/defense-secretary-robert-gates-if-we-go-to-war-against-iran-our-grandchildren-will-be-fighting-jihadists-in-america/ Today at boston.com: President Bush has headlined a fund-raising event to help John McCain finance his campaign to succeed him, but most of the big-money backers who helped reelect Bush in 2004 haven't pulled out their checkbooks for McCain - or asked their friends to chip in either. Of the 548 leaders ... http://philthompson.net/2008/07/01/bush-base-have-yet-to-rush-to-donate-to-mccain/ Ars Technica has an article about the leaked "wishlist" that the Recording Industry Asssociation of America submitted to the US government back in March of this year listing what they wish to see as a part of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The list includes such gems as forced filtering ... http://philthompson.net/2008/07/01/copyright-law-wishlist-would-grant-unprecedented-sweeping-powers/ Seymour Hersh is the investigative reporter who broke the My Lai and Abu Ghraib stories. Now, in this month's The New Yorker magazine, Hersh talks about the Bush administration's covert activities in Iran. All the more shocking for the non-sensational way he presents the information, he reveals that we have ... http://philthompson.net/2008/06/30/preparing-the-battlefield/ It turns out the ideal vice presidential candidate for Sen. John McCain is the same person as the ideal vice presidential candidate for Sen. Barack Obama, according to a sophisticated online survey based on technology developed at MIT. Mr. Ideal? Colin Powell, a former U.S. Army general and former secretary ... http://philthompson.net/2008/06/30/algorithm-determines-ideal-vp/ In this month's The National Interest: SENATOR JOHN McCain (R-AZ) may describe himself as a “realistic idealist,” but this formulation does little to paper over the very real schism among Republicans (and conservatives in general) about the future direction of U.S. foreign policy. McCain has assembled a diverse group of advisors ... http://philthompson.net/2008/06/30/mccain-choice/