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CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

theguardian.com

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Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#31
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be highly political on Facebook. From my experience, people just don't care.

Do it in reality

That's honestly the most realistic approach. I make a conscious effort not to follow politics nowadays, too much negativity, but doing so online seems to always cause folks to fly into defensive mode. In person less so. Facial cues, maybe?

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#32
post #8

The value systems of the people running this must be severely distorted. Can't torture at home so let's fly people to some dictatorship to get it done there. I guess it's the same mindset that caused a democratically elected president in Iran to be overthrown and replaced by a dictator in order to save freedom and democracy.

"Can't torture at home so let's fly people to some dictatorship to get it done there."

People are tortured in the US all the time. All the time.

Ordinary prisons are well-known example, where one can be subject to solitary confinement, denial of medical care, subjection to temperature extremes, beatings, and rape so common that it's the subject of the most common prison-related jokes.

Military recruits are often tortured to "toughen them up", as punishment, or ostensibly to prepare them for possible torture at the hands of "The Enemy".

Hazings at colleges and universities are often effectively torture.

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#33
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn’t say it’s their value system, rather it’s a result of the enormous pressure they face. Torture should only be used as a last resort, and when there’s no other hope of getting information that is needed ASAP.

It's the value system. Either you follow the laws and values of your country always or you don't. You can't protect values by violating them.

Easy to say, but in the real world there is a conflict between values and results. Values don’t need protection, they are intangible. In the end what you are protecting is people.

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#34
post #8

The value systems of the people running this must be severely distorted. Can't torture at home so let's fly people to some dictatorship to get it done there. I guess it's the same mindset that caused a democratically elected president in Iran to be overthrown and replaced by a dictator in order to save freedom and democracy.

I wouldn’t say it’s their value system, rather it’s a result of the enormous pressure they face. Torture should only be used as a last resort, and when there’s no other hope of getting information that is needed ASAP.

Torture doesn't provide any valuable intelligence results for those doing the torturing, we're not living in "24", the TV series. I know for sure that if I were to be tortured I'd be ready to recognize even the killing of the biblical character Abel if those doing the torturing would ask that from me, and I guess I'm not the only person so predisposed.

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#35
post #8

The value systems of the people running this must be severely distorted. Can't torture at home so let's fly people to some dictatorship to get it done there. I guess it's the same mindset that caused a democratically elected president in Iran to be overthrown and replaced by a dictator in order to save freedom and democracy.

"Can't torture at home so let's fly people to some dictatorship to get it done there." People are tortured in the US all the time. All the time. Ordinary prisons are well-known example, where one can be subject to solitary confinement, denial of medical care, subjection to temperature extremes, beatings, and rape so common that it's the subject of the most common prison-related jokes. Military recruits are often tort…

[deleted]

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#36
post #8

The value systems of the people running this must be severely distorted. Can't torture at home so let's fly people to some dictatorship to get it done there. I guess it's the same mindset that caused a democratically elected president in Iran to be overthrown and replaced by a dictator in order to save freedom and democracy.

I suspect "I don't make the rules, I just enforce them" is the general way to get good people to go along with the government's schemes.

One of my passengers got 'ordinarily-renditioned' [0] to the county jail. They let her go after a few hours, when the city cops found someone else who actually matched the description of the petty beer thief they were looking for.

[0] http://www.taxiwars.org/2017/10/ordinary-rendition-public-se...

Last month I learned (via facebook) that another of my passengers got arrested (outstanding warrant - he'd missed a court date 2.5 years ago), and is suffering in jail. He's a diabetic, and has to submit to the time-release insulin injection they think he needs or they send him to solitary... I think time-release insulin is probably quite harmful when combined with the jail's starvation diet.

It seems to only take a handful of people to start a government-racket. Thereafter they seem to basically keep themselves going, and it takes acts of heroism to shut them down.

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#37
post #20
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We live in an age where "Muslim ban" sounds like appropriate policy to about half the population. In Democracy the people get the government they deserve. Guess we really don't deserve human rights and habeus corpus. So speak up. Educate your fellow citizens as to why these issues are important. Break through their media bubble/snowglobe and have multiple meaningful conversations that go deeper than the talking poi…

>So speak up. Educate your fellow citizens as to why these issues are important. Break through their media bubble/snowglobe and have multiple meaningful conversations that go deeper than the talking points spewed out by media personalities. Have you ever actually gotten that to work? Have you personally ever changed a single persons mind? Not trying to be facetious, but I'm incredulous.

Yes, very much so with some individuals. I have friends and family across the political spectrum and we regularly talk about the issues of the day (always in person, social media is a horrible platform for this). I've had success educating individuals about issues like net neutrality, gun rights, gay marriage, climate change, and environmental regulation to the point that they completely changed their views to at least neutral. They've changed my views on issues as well.

I've also talked people out of supporting outrageous statements or made them question their own beliefs (rural relatives in South Dakota who loved talking about their lack of income tax now openly question why SD gets so much more government tax money than neighbouring MN etc).

That said, the point isn't to be "win", it's to have a dialogue, share ideas, and break out of the "us vs them" mentality.

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#38
post #20
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We live in an age where "Muslim ban" sounds like appropriate policy to about half the population. In Democracy the people get the government they deserve. Guess we really don't deserve human rights and habeus corpus. So speak up. Educate your fellow citizens as to why these issues are important. Break through their media bubble/snowglobe and have multiple meaningful conversations that go deeper than the talking poi…

>So speak up. Educate your fellow citizens as to why these issues are important. Break through their media bubble/snowglobe and have multiple meaningful conversations that go deeper than the talking points spewed out by media personalities. Have you ever actually gotten that to work? Have you personally ever changed a single persons mind? Not trying to be facetious, but I'm incredulous.

> Have you ever actually gotten that to work? Have you personally ever changed a single persons mind?

It is extremely hard and works only with people not entirely webbed into "alternative media". I managed to get only one attendant of a Nazi march to rethink his views. In three years. Conspiracy theories are hard to break out of, especially for those without a job and doing nothing but watch "freemen of the land", "europe will be islamized" or "the hooton plan is real" (hooton plan = nazi nutjob theory that "the elite" wants to extinguish the Germans by having them breed with "weaker races") videos all day.

The rest, well... beating them like Spencer isn't exactly the most moral way either, but forcing them back into their caves at least keeps them off the streets. I don't want Nazis openly marching with torches on the streets.

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#39
post #26
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We live in an age where "Muslim ban" sounds like appropriate policy to about half the population. In Democracy the people get the government they deserve. Guess we really don't deserve human rights and habeus corpus. So speak up. Educate your fellow citizens as to why these issues are important. Break through their media bubble/snowglobe and have multiple meaningful conversations that go deeper than the talking poi…

I used to be highly political on Facebook. From my experience, people just don't care.

Same experience here. I stopped it almost completely a couple of months ago when the authorities from my country (EU and NATO member, mind you) have started fining people for their anti-Government FB posts. The stated reasons were that those posts were inciting people to violence, but the police never revealed the posts' contents so there's no way to actually know when one can become liable for posting an anti-Government message, I mean "lets get the Government down!" can be seen as inciting people (and a new proposed law even mentions potential prison time for the same kind of FB posts). No way I risk going through that hassle for no real benefits, as people have very rarely changed their mind based on others' FB messages.

Re: CIA rendition flights from rustic North Carolina called to account by citizens

#40
post #20
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We live in an age where "Muslim ban" sounds like appropriate policy to about half the population. In Democracy the people get the government they deserve. Guess we really don't deserve human rights and habeus corpus. So speak up. Educate your fellow citizens as to why these issues are important. Break through their media bubble/snowglobe and have multiple meaningful conversations that go deeper than the talking poi…

>So speak up. Educate your fellow citizens as to why these issues are important. Break through their media bubble/snowglobe and have multiple meaningful conversations that go deeper than the talking points spewed out by media personalities. Have you ever actually gotten that to work? Have you personally ever changed a single persons mind? Not trying to be facetious, but I'm incredulous.

That’s kind of a disrespectful way to deal with someone, going in with the idea their mind needs to be changed. Nothing productive comes from telling someone they’re wrong.

I’ve found the most movement comes with frank and respectful exchange of ideas. I’ve moved a little as a result, and I’ve seen others move a bit too. Sometimes that movement has come simply from recognizing the other party isn’t as insane as common rhetoric would paint them.

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