This video from the USA is called Matt Lauer Corners Bush on Torture.
From British daily The Morning Star:
(Thursday 07 August 2008)
CHINA‘S people will be overjoyed to know that US President George W Bush is championing a free media, free assembly and trade union rights in their country.
It’s not every day that you can count on an 18 carat gold-plated war criminal to speak out for other people’s freedom
Do those responsible for a million deaths in Iraq, countless more in Afghanistan and a global network of torture facilities realise how hollow their rhetoric sounds to all but the most sycophantic?
Of course not, because the views of the rest of the world don’t count in the “free” US media, which is dominated by the rich and powerful and reflects their interests and opinions.
TV networks such as Fox are notorious for their disregard for facts. They pump out tendentious propaganda at top volume in a bid to intimidate other news outlets. And it works.
That’s why so many US people believe lies about Saddam Hussein being linked to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks, Iraq having weapons of mass destruction and Barack Obama being linked to Islamist extremism.
And it’s why US news programme presenter Dan Rather, who previously had a reputation for honesty and integrity, admitted that he had fallen in line with US war psychosis before the invasion of Iraq because he feared for his job if he challenged White House lies.
If Mr Bush is so keen on trade union rights, he could start at home with notorious anti-union firm Wal-Mart.
Human Rights Watch researcher Carol Pier said last year that Wal-Mart workers have “virtually no chance to organise because they’re up against unfair US labour laws and a giant company that will do just about anything to keep unions out.”
See also here.
End Psychologists’ Role in State Torture: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
Thu August 7, 2008
U.S. segregates violent Iraqi prisoners in crates
WASHINGTON (CNN) — The U.S. military is segregating violent Iraqi prisoners in wooden crates that in some cases are not much bigger than the prisoners.
The military released photos of what it calls “segregation boxes” used in Iraq.
Three grainy black-and-white photos show the rudimentary structures of wood and mesh. Some of the boxes are as small as 3 feet by 3 feet by 6 feet tall, according to military officials. There was no image released of a box that size.
The average Iraqi male is 5 feet 6 inches tall, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health. That leaves little room for a prisoner to move once placed inside. See how a man might fit in the crate »
The photos were made public after a blogger filed a Freedom of Information Act request in 2005.
The military said the boxes are humane and are checked every 15 minutes. It said detainees, who stand inside the boxes, are isolated for no more than 12 hours at a time.
“Someone in a segregation box is actually observed more than those anywhere else,” said Maj. Neal Fisher, a spokesman for Task Force 134, the Marine unit in charge of detainees. “Their care and custody does not change simply because they are in segregation.” Video Watch why the boxes raise human rights concerns »
A prisoner has never fallen ill or died because of being held in a segregation box, Fisher said.
Human rights advocates say little is known about how the military treats prisoners inside these boxes.
“There are concerns that they could be used in places where the detainees are enclosed in extremely hot conditions. It is important to know whether or not detainees are provided with food,” said Jennifer Daskel of Human Rights Watch.
Detainees are given food and water while they are in the boxes, Fisher said.
The United States’ handling of detainees has been a concern since the abuses at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison came to light. Conditions have improved for the 20,000 detainees, but life is tough behind the wire. Hundreds are still considered to be Al Qaeda loyalists.
The United States has been releasing prisoners in what Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell calls a “dramatic reduction” of the detainee population under U.S. control.
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The United States has released 10,000 prisoners and hopes to release more. In addition to thousands of Iraqis freed, 20 foreign fighters were returned to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
“We are able to capture threats to the Iraqi government and the population, detain them, rehabilitate them and, 99 times out of 100, release them,” Morrell said. “We’ve made remarkable progress there. And I would just say it looks as though the glidepath is on continuing to reduce the population because of the success we’re having within these camps.”
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IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: HUNDREDS OF WORKERS HELD IN RAID
“They’re creating their own terrorism by going after workers.”
LABOR: 2D WALKOUT AT BOEING IN 3 YEARS
“If the company wants to talk, they have my number. . . . They can reach me on the picket line.”
POLICE VIOLENCE: ACTIVISTS ASK CONGRESS TO INVESTIGATE INGLEWOOD POLICE KILLINGS
Civil rights activists alarmed by the fourth officer-involved fatal shooting in Inglewood since May called Monday for congressional and local inquiries into the use-of-force policies of the Inglewood Police Department.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-inglewood2-2008sep02,0,1684436.story
POVERTY: NY POVERTY GAP WIDENS
New York’s gap between rich and poor, already the highest of any state, grew from the previous year.
RACIST VIOLENCE: FBI HAS BROUGHT NO RACIST MURDERERS TO TRIAL
”Are they waiting on everybody to die? What else do you need?”
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Cold-Killings.html?_r=1&oref=login
SCHOOLS: BOYCOTT PROTESTS EDUCATIONAL APARTHEID
“It is totally separate and totally unequal. . . . The children of the rich get a different education than the children of the poor. We continue to fight that battle every way we can.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090403398.html
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