Ocelopotamus

News, culture, and politics. Not necessarily in that order.

Ocelopotamus header image 4

Entries Tagged as 'Torture'

Guantanamo, False Imprisonment, and the Human Rights Toggle Switch

June 27th, 2008 · Comments Off on Guantanamo, False Imprisonment, and the Human Rights Toggle Switch · Human Rights, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Terrorism, TESK, Torture

This story is about a week old at this point, but it goes in the “things everyone should know” category. One of the most common talking points from right-wing pundits, especially on Fox News, is that whatever happens to the people in Guantanamo Bay is okay because all those prisoners are really bad guys — […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Condi Must Go

April 16th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Activism, Human Rights, Law, Politics, Torture, Video

I’ll say this for Condoleeza Rice — she does an outstanding job of making the case against herself. Watch her effectively prosecute herself on video:   Read this diary for context. Visit CondiMustGo.com for more info and to sign the online petition.  

[Read more →]

Tags:

Best. Protest. Ever.

November 22nd, 2007 · 2 Comments · Activism, Culture, Human Rights, News, Politics, Torture, TV, Video

Brilliant. Just brilliant. Watch Abu Gonzales get completely pwned by some students.   Today I’m thankful that, despite the best efforts of Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, and the rest of their horde, there are still young people in the world who are able to pierce the veil of truthiness and do stuff like […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Roundup: Flight of the Humpback Edition

November 19th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Flight of the Humpback Edition · Apple, Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Feminism, Fiction, Film, History, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Journalism, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, Politics, Religion, Software, Tech, The Economy, Stupid, Torture

Markos from Daily Kos has a new gig writing opinion pieces for Newsweek, and he’s been in rare form with his first couple of efforts. From this week’s column: “In his first Inaugural Address, Ronald Reagan remarked that ‘government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.’ While the quip has provided […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Roundup: Monkey in the Bathroom Edition

November 6th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Activism, Apple, Blogs, Comics, Culture, Essays, Food, Heroes, History, Human Rights, Journalism, Labor, LGBT, Macintosh, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Religion, Roundup, Science Fiction, Spirituality, Tech, Terrorism, Torture, TV, Vegetarian & Vegan

I can’t scrape together enough time at the moment to do OcPot’s usual painstakingly well-rounded roundup — I’m seeing The Waterboys at the Park West tonight, woo-hoo! — but I wanted to get some of these links up before they fossilized. So here’s a charmingly slapdash, quick-and-dirty roundup. In ripped fishnet and high heels. The […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Standard Bearers from the Past

October 12th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Books, Culture, History, Human Rights, Lit, Meta, News, Politics, Science Fiction, Torture

So yeah, I haven’t really tended to be one of those fancy-schmancy bloggers who manage to blog about things on the same actual day they happen. My schedule tends to keep me careening along in panic for several days at a go, and then I manage to steal a few hours to spit out a […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Trailer for Rendition, with Meryl Streep, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Reese Witherspoon

September 10th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Comics, Culture, Film, Human Rights, Media, News, Politics, Torture, Video

Via Towleroad, the trailer for the new movie Rendition, scheduled for release October 19 in the US.   I’m not usually one for movies that get the “thriller” label, but the political dimension to this one — and the quality of the cast — make it look like an early standout among fall releases. There’s […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Roundup: Ronald Reagan Memorial Bridge Edition

August 9th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Activism, Apple, Comics, Culture, Human Rights, Infrastructure, Journalism, LGBT, Lit, Macintosh, Media, Nature, News, Poetry, Politics, Religion, Roundup, Science, Tech, Torture

This is brilliant. Peter Smith at the Huffington Post has a proposal for renaming the new I-35W bridge in Minneapolis that will replace the one that collapsed: “For a while there, back when the Republicans held the White House and both houses of Congress, they were naming things after Ronald Reagan everywhere. Airports. Aircraft carriers. […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Roundup: Pottymouth Jar Edition

May 22nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Apple, Blogs, Business, Comics, Culture, Foreign Policy, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Macintosh, Music, News, Politics, Religion, Tech, Terrorism, Torture

It’s the foreign policy, stupid: This great post at Crooks and Liars takes apart the simplistic and unhelpful notion that terrorists “hate us for our freedoms.” As Michael Scheuer, former station chief of the CIA’s Osama Bin Laden task force, says: “The fundamental flaw in our thinking about Bin Laden is that ‘Muslims hate and […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Roundup: The Bitch Is Back Edition

May 11th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: The Bitch Is Back Edition · Apple, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Doctor Who, Health, Healthcare Crisis, Human Rights, LGBT, Media, Music, New Wave, News, Peace, Pet Food, Politics, Science Fiction, Tech, Torture, TV

[Read more →]

Tags:

News Roundup: Supreme Court, Python,
and Gromit Edition

April 2nd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Advertising, Apple, Blogs, Business, Climate Change, Comedy, Culture, Film, Fringe, Health, Human Rights, iTunes, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, Neo-Futurists, News, Politics, Supreme Court, Torture, Travel, TV

The Supreme Court rules that the EPA has the authority — and the responsibility — to regulate greenhouse gases. Carl Pope of The Sierra Club says: “Today’s ruling is a watershed moment in the fight against global warming … The ruling is a total rejection of the Bush administration’s refusal to use its existing authority […]

[Read more →]

Tags:

Last Week’s Three Best Video Kerfuffles

March 26th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Climate Change, Culture, Film, Human Rights, Media, News, Politics, Torture, TV

I don’t know what was in the air last week, but it was a banner week for jaw-dropping altercations, smackdowns and ruckuses (should that be ruckae?) caught on video. Here are the three that made a biggest impression on me. 1. Boxer vs. Inhofe vs. Gore. Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe is one of those guys […]

[Read more →]

Tags: