U.S. Military Prisoner Abuse Update

Two must-read posts at Crooked Timber, here and here. Henry has it right: "At this stage, anyone who’s sticking to the “few bad apples” story is delusional, lying or both." I'm literally shaking from an unholy combination of outrage, fear, disgust, and sadness.

Now that's funny

Real screen shot

National Day of Action on Darfur

Today, September 21, 2005, has been designated by the Save Darfur Coalition as a National Day of Action on Darfur. There is a current recognized genocide several times the magnitude of Rwanda happening right now, and almost nothing is being done about it. When's the last time you read about Darfur in the news? Reports estimate the number dead at 400,000. Another 2.5 million have been driven from their home by violence. And the atrocities run much deeper than that. Rape of women and children is commonplace. Here is a picture drawn by a child, and his description of it (courtesy of Human Rights Watch): Mahmoud, Age 13 Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here? Mahmoud: These men in green are taking the women and the girls. Human Rights Watch: What are they doing? Mahmoud: They are forcing them to be wife. Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here? Mahmoud: The houses are on fire. Human Rights Watch: What’s happening here? Mahmoud: This is an Antonov. This is a helicopter. These here, at the bottom of the page, these are dead people. Lots more pictures at the link above. This is the most terrible thing happening on Earth, and the lack of a strong international response is appalling. The first step is to know what is happening.

Houston is in my thoughts

I was in town for Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. I hope that Rita isn't too bad. Many, many of my friends, many of whom read this blog, are in Houston, and in my thoughts today.

More from Texas

This story is pretty disgusting. (Registration required, unfortunately. If you like, use donjoe@aol.com and donjoe1, courtesy of bugmenot.) A prison inmate says he was raped every day for eighteen months, and that his requests for help were ignored. I don't get this part:

Attorneys for the prison officials said Johnson wanted to be placed in a "safekeeping" area for vulnerable inmates only because some of his love interests were there. They also said Johnson's letters were inconsistent, sometimes saying he needed help and other times saying he feared what could happen to him.

So wait, is needing help inconsistent with fearing what might happen? Weird journalism, here. At any rate, a sickening story. The inmate in question is gay. You'd better believe this is a gay rights issue, and that things would've been different if he hadn't been gay.

Another quick link

Doctor to attempt face transplant

Google Wi-Fi

Apparently, Google is thinking about moving into wireless internet services. Interesting. How will it work? Where will it serve? Can they offer it with just ads? Or what will it cost? Google does interesting stuff. Let's keep watching this one.