Welcome back to Part Two (Part One) of “Torture now apart of America’s history.” In my opinion the media has not done a relatively good job in covering and bringing this issue out in the open. I still do random questions to people that I know and ask them about torture being a part of America’s policies now or ask them about their own rights as American citizens. It’s sad to say that must of them do not even know their own rights. Those rights are getting lessen each waking hour that Bush holds office. I hope by reading this blog you will be more informed on the issues surrounding your rights and the legislations that are being passed down in Washington.

CNN and MSNBC did a pretty good job on covering these issues. CNN did not have a whole segment but Wolf Blitzer and Jack Cafferty did cover this. MSNBC has Keith Olbermann who covered this in his weekly program. So with that said, here is a clip of that episode and hopefully by watching it, you will have a greater understanding of what is happening to your rights and to this country!
See the video here

U.S. policies have surely changed over the last couple of decades in terms of America’s policies towards the treatment of prisoners and its OWN citizens. Yes, American citizens! The days of the U.S. condemning and prosecuting officials that practice torturing techniques like waterboarding during WWII is now over. Our own government now justifies that this is acceptable along with many of techniques such as beating someone to near collapse. And I want to remind you that if you say “well I’m not a terrorist, why should I care about other people being torture?” Let me remind you that by the recent ratification of Bill S 3930, President Bush can now claim anyone an “illegal combatant” and drag them off the street and conduct torture on that person.

One example of the blatant lies by the U.S. government is lying is that early this year they denied having secret prisons where the torturing was taking place. At Abu Ghraib Major General Antonia Taguba wrote a report that became public stating:

“Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees; pouring cold water on naked detainees; beating detainees with a broom handle and a chair; threatening male detainees with rape; allowing a military police guard to stitch the wound of a detainee who was injured after being slammed against the wall in his cell; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broom stick, and using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees with threats of attack, and in one instance actually biting a detainee.”

You can read the full Taguba Report here.

The Washington Post has posted a copy of the “Torture Memo” and I encourage everyone to read it to see what this administration has done. It is formally known as “Re: Standards of Conduct for Interrogation under 18 U.S.C. 2340-2340A,” from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel for Alberto R. Gonzales, counsel to President Bush.”

What are your thoughts on the issue of torture? Has Bush gone too far with his abuse of powers? Have we as American citizens done a poor job in letting him go this far?

Since this blog is for the diversity of the world and because I have not posted this type of topic before, I thought it would be interesting to share this story. Looking at the picture, you probably think that the child on the right is adopted. Well, if you guessed that, you are wrong. Actually, they are both from the same parents not to mention they are twins.

With all the differences some societies create to try to distinguish one race from another, who we are genetically is all the same (99%). According to the Human Genome Project, there are about 35,000 genes that make us who we are. Only about 10 of those genes plays a role in determining skin color. Mother and father Kylie Hodgson and Remi Horder are themselves mixed race which increased the odds of the two twins’ different skin colors. So what are the odds of this happening– a million to one!

Celbrating the diversity of the world we live in may the children and their parents live happily!
Read more of this story here.

Just a quick note on this issue. I am truly happy to see that this man got what he deserves. The judge in this case could have not said it better when he stated to Mr. Skilling that “his crimes have imposed on hundreds if not thousands a life sentence of poverty.” It seems both congress and big business will do just about anything to get rich all at the expense of middle class America. The remaining assets, which total about $60 million, will be liquidated. It’s unfortunate that only $45 million will be set-aside for the victims of the corrupted leadership of Enron. Hopefully, the families can breath a little easier knowing that this man is getting what he deserves! 24 years and 4 months!

The witch-hunt has begun against the American population as the radical Bush Administration puts use to its unlawful legislations. Lawyer Lynne Stewart was sentenced 28 months and her translator Yousry who was used in court proceedings was sentenced 20 months. Since 2000, Ms. Stewart was the lawyer for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman who was convicted as being a terrorist. Ms. Stewart was convicted on conspiracy charges for violating a court agreement that strictly limited her prison meetings with Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman and banned her from sharing his statements with the outside world. In an interview Ms. Stewart said that she never expected to face such consequences for violating what she called “a regulation.” And “of course,” she said, “I certainly couldn’t predict the events of 9/11, which would make everyone in the world see anything done for a so-called or convicted terrorist in a different light.” Her translator Mohammed Yousry was convicted on conspiracy charges for his role in the ‘extra meetings.”

Now, was she just an overzealous lawyer trying to help her client or was she a 69 year old breast cancer U.S. citizen plotting terrorist attacks against the U.S. government? I’m sure Mohammed Yousry an Egyptian born citizen wishes now that he would have stayed back in Egypt rather then to have immigrated to this country. The saying “God bless America” is certainly not applicable to these unfortunate U.S. citizens.

Since the invasion of Iraq by the imperialist region of the Bush Administration, violence in Iraq has only further crippled the daily lives of Baghdad inhabitants. Stability and security were by far better off under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. Here is an account of one family’s fight for a better life.

Welcome back to part 3 (part 1, part 2) of my discussion on crime in America. Today, I will focus on some of the solutions that have been discussed by criminologist to help alleviate crime. The external environment that we are influenced by has drastically changed since the early 1990s. These changes include a shift in social policy reforms, economic opportunities, drug market and the escalation of violent crimes. As crimes continue to become worse, policy makers need to focus more attention on social issues rather then spreading propaganda, engaging in sexual crimes against minors and implementing laws to protect and benefit themselves. Below are just a few of my recommendations towards crime prevention.

Improving social policies to better assistance the poor. The argument has been made that the welfare program is not helping many lower-class families. Is this a reason many chose to turn to drugs and crime due to the inefficiency of the current welfare system? The welfare system must not encourage dependency but rather responsibility in that each welfare recipient is expected to give back in one way or another to the system. Also, greater emphasis must be paid to financially supporting lower class educational facilities in our poorest areas.

Increasing economic aid to poor communities. If the U.S. can spend 14-15% of its GDP on health care each year and still not covering 45 million of its citizens with some reasonable health care plan. I believe the U.S. can afford to enact policies that would give economic aid packages to local communities that are deemed financially handicapped.