Who Should Get Their Comeuppance in 2015? How Will You Make It So?

By spocko, on January 2nd, 2015%

So I’m reading year-end news wrap-ups and I’m thinking, “I want to see some of these sick bastards get their comeuppance next year!”

I’m tired of reading these phrases, “Nobody was fired for…” “Nobody has been prosecuted for…” or “None of the perpetrators are in jail for…” and of course, “Technically it was legal.”

Who do you want to see get their comeuppance? Are you doing anything now to make that happen? If it happens, would you be satisfied, or would you want more? I didn’t say justice, but comeuppance. (I like the word, I used to challenge a friend of mine to use it, which was hard since he wrote mostly about CAD/CAM products.)

In 2015 I want to see photos of perp-walks and hear about sentences that fit the crimes. I want to read about a high-level person going to jail because his abused underlings rolled on him and the prosecutor needed a bigger fish to fry. I want to read stories about the people and systems that weren’t subverted with the right amount of lying, lawyering, lobbying and lucre.

I also crave the old-timey ripple effect of justice. When justice is . . . → Read More: Who Should Get Their Comeuppance in 2015? How Will You Make It So?

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Here’s What The Media Isn’t Talking About, the Immorality of Torture

By spocko, on December 10th, 2014%

I’ve been on the “torture beat” for a long time. It makes me a real drag at dinner parties, so I decided to move those conversations out to the web and to the media.

So much of the current discussion in the media about torture is focusing on, “Does it work?” There is little focus on, “Is it right?”

People in the media are looking at the legality, but not the morality. Discussing morality makes the mainstream media uncomfortable. To help them out, I’ve been suggesting they talk to Dr. Rebecca Gordon, a philosophy professor at University of San Francisco, who wrote this book:

Mainstreaming Torture: Ethical Approaches in the Post – 9/11 United States.

(It got great reviews from Torture Magazine! Seriously, there is a Torture Magazine.)

Here she is on Fox News 2 KTVU last night.

This morning she was on the Majority Report with Sam Seder. (Audio link.She starts at 30 minutes in.)

Because she has a depth of knowledge she can talk about the legal and political issues around torture, but especially the moral issues. We need to talk about that. The moral condemnation of acts of torture is not a given today.

Bill O’Reilly thinks . . . → Read More: Here’s What The Media Isn’t Talking About, the Immorality of Torture

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@ubisoft Video Game @splintercell Lets You Torture Gitmo Prisoners For Fun!

By spocko, on August 26th, 2013%

Did you ever notice that when Americans talk about torture they are always in the power position? They always see themselves as the person deciding whether or not to torture someone? They never put themselves in the shoes of the person being tortured. They never consider that they might be wrongfully held and tortured. – Interrobang, writer, Canadian, brilliant friend

I’ve played violent video games. I’d killed billions of pixels (most look like monsters, but not all). I’ve watched violent movies and TV. I’ve seen thousands of simulated murders. I don’t think playing the games or watching the movies makes me more apt to pick up a gun and go on a shooting spree. (I can’t speak for everyone though, considering this: 8-Year-Old Shot and Killed Caregiver After Playing Grand Theft Auto. I wonder what games or shows other kids were playing or watching before they shot people? What if they were playing Super Mario Bros or watching Barney?)

I’ve also seen torture used in TV and movies. Remember 24? Kiefer Sutherland was always saying, “There is no time!” and “We have no other choice!” Torture was a convenient shortcut to the next plot point. The people tortured were . . . → Read More: @ubisoft Video Game @splintercell Lets You Torture Gitmo Prisoners For Fun!

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