Saturday, April 09, 2005
AMERICA, THE FASCIST STATE
Records Give Voice to Guantanamo Detainees
By PETE YOST and MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON - In a development the Bush administration had hoped to avoid, the stories of about 60 detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base have spilled out in court papers.
A U.S. college-educated detainee asks plaintively in one: "Is it possible to see the evidence in order to refute it?"
In another transcript, the unidentified president of a U.S. military tribunal bursts out: "I don't care about international law. I don't want to hear the words 'international law' again. We are not concerned with international law."
Expressing defiance in some instances and stoic acceptance of their fate in others, the once-nameless and still-largely faceless detainees appeared last year before tribunals that, after quick reviews, declared they were unlawful enemy combatants who could be held indefinitely.
The government is holding about 550 terrorism suspects at the Navy base in Cuba. An additional 214 have been released since the prison opened in January 2002 — some into the custody of their home governments, others freed outright.
Little information about them has been released through official channels. But stories of 60 or more are spelled out in detail in thousands of pages of transcripts filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, where lawsuits challenging their detentions have been filed.
Omar Rajab Amin, a Kuwaiti who graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1992, wanted to see the evidence. The tribunal president — the de facto judge for the proceeding — said he could review only unclassified evidence.
Some of the exchanges grew heated.
"You are not the master of the Earth, sir," Saifullah Paracha, a Pakistani businessman, told a tribunal president.
Feroz Ali Abbasi was ejected from his September hearing because he repeatedly challenged the legality of his detention.
"I have the right to speak," Abbasi said.
"No, you don't," the tribunal president replied.
The tribunal found Abbasi to have been "deeply involved" in the al-Qaida terror network. Yet four months later, the government released him, saying his home country of Britain would keep an eye on him.
The Guantanamo detainees come from about 40 countries and were picked up mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The administration designate them as enemy combatants.
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled last June that the detainees may challenge their imprisonment. The Pentagon responded nine days later by creating the tribunals and pushing through reviews of everyone at Guantanamo by year's end.
A military spokeswoman, Navy Capt. Beci Brenton, said Friday the Pentagon believes the tribunals allow for the review under the court ruling and that each detainee received "a fair opportunity to contest their detention."
Administration officials contend the prisoners are not entitled to the internationally accepted legal protections given prisoners of war.
In the filings, some detainees seemed stunned by the speed of the process.
"How long will it take before you decide the results of this tribunal?" one asked.
"We should have a decision today," the tribunal president replied.
The tribunals brought out previously unknown information regarding the war on terror.
In one proceeding, the government identified detainee Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif Al Dosari as an al-Qaida recruiter who persuaded six Yemeni-Americans in suburban Buffalo, N.Y., to join the terrorist group.
The tribunal also disclosed that Dosari had been questioned by Saudi Arabian authorities about the Khobar Towers bombing in 1996 that killed 19 members of the U.S. Air Force.
Several detainees told the three-member tribunals they had been mistreated or tortured. They complained about the evidence, too.
"You believe anyone that gives you any information," said detainee Mohammed Mohammed Hassen, who was arrested in Pakistan. "What if that person made a mistake? Maybe that person looked at me and confused me with someone else."
The unclassified evidence against Hassen, 24, was that a senior al-Qaida lieutenant had identified his picture as that of someone he might have seen in Afghanistan.
The tribunals also had access to classified evidence that the detainees were not allowed to see, a key reason a federal judge said in January there were constitutional problems with the tribunals. An appeals court is considering that issue.
___
On the Net:
Documents from court proceedings for many of the detainees are available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/detainees/list.htmlSaturday, April 09, 2005
FINGERPOINTING THE BUTTERLIES AWAY
Monarch Butterfly Population Down 75 Percent
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- The population of Monarch butterflies has suffered a drastic decline, but Mexico -- where deforestation has long devastated Monarch wintering grounds -- is now blaming the United States and Canada.
Mexico's Environment Department said on Wednesday that 75 percent fewer Monarch butterflies have appeared in 2004 compared to previous years.
It blamed cold weather and intensive farming -- including genetically modified crops -- in areas of the United States and Canada where the butterflies spend the summer and reproduce.
In past years, Mexico acknowledged the butterflies were affected by illegal logging of the central Mexico fir forests that make up the winter nesting grounds.
Activists and researchers suggested Mexico may be trying to offload some of the blame, after its own highly-publicized efforts to stop illegal logging ran up against often violent resistance from logging gangs.
``This is an incomplete and tendentious report, that seeks to put all the blame on other countries which do share responsibility,'' said Homero Aridjis, whose Group of 100 environmental organization has long opposed illegal logging.
The Mexican government said the decline was due to a number of factors, including an unusually cold summer in the United States and a high mortality rate for the butterflies in Mexico in 2003 due to cold, wet conditions.
``It is clear that the migratory phenomenon of the Monarch Butterfly ... is not at risk,'' the Environment Department said. ``This is a species with a great capacity for recovering from die-offs.''
However, the announcement focused almost exclusively on events in the United States and Canada, including ``industrial agriculture that displaced breeding and feeding grounds,'' ``the use of herbicides and loss of habitat,'' and the planting of genetically modified crops not used in Mexico.
The government claimed Mexican forests ``are healthy or in full recovery,'' and that logging had been completely eradicated in the butterfly reserves, statements disputed by activists like Aridjis, who say illegal logging is a huge problem.
``The main problem is the illegal loggers,'' Aridjis said. ``If nothing is done, looking at it pessimistically, we're going to see fewer and fewer butterflies.''
In some widely publicized laboratory experiments, Monarch butterfly caterpillars did die after eating milkweed coated with genetically modified corn pollen. In its own studies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said there probably is little risk to butterflies.
While acknowledging that U.S. and Canada factors played a role in the butterflies' problems, one researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity said Mexico was trying to put a spin on the research results.
The announcement was based on a report of total nesting ground areas prepared by Mexican government agencies, the World Wildlife Fund, and Mexican and U.S. researchers.
Researchers measured the area covered by butterflies, a fairly accurate indicator since they tend to literally blanket forest areas in dense orange-and-black clumps.
The government called the conclusions preliminary, based on reports from 12 of the 22 nesting grounds, and said they would have to be confirmed with further study.
The annual arrival of butterflies from across North America to winter in Mexico -- where they stay from October to late March -- is an aesthetic and scientific wonder.
The butterflies have proved remarkably resistant to both natural and manmade threats. In 2001, driving rain and bitter cold killed millions, leading scientists to speculate that migrating populations would be seriously depleted in 2002. To their surprise, anywhere from 200 million to more than 500 million monarchs returned that year -- twice as many as some predicted.Wednesday, April 06, 2005
LOOK, UP IN THE SKY!
Pope Reborn as Superhero in Comic
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Pope John Paul II is being reborn in a Colombian comic book as a superhero battling evil with an anti-Devil cape and special chastity pants.
The first episode of the "Incredible Popeman" is about to go on sale in Colombia and shows the late Polish pontiff meeting comic book legends such as Batman and Superman to learn how to use superpowers to battle Satan.
"The pope was a real-life superhero, of flesh and blood," said Colombian artist Rodolfo Leon, a non-practicing Catholic who has been working on the comic book for about a year.
Like any self-respecting superhero, the Incredible Popeman has a battery of special equipment. Along with his yellow cape and green chastity pants, the muscular super-pontiff wields a faith staff with a cross on top and carries holy water and communion wine.
In the comic book, the pope dies and is reborn with superpowers beyond the infallibility Catholic doctrine gave him on Earth.
Leon said he was saddened by the death Saturday of John Paul II, whom he admired. The artist worried some people might be offended by such a revered figure becoming a comic book hero, but said the reception so far has been good.
Apart from predominantly Catholic Colombia, the book will be sold in Poland and publishers in Mexico, Canada and the United States have expressed interest, Leon said.
He also plans to produce Incredible Popeman action dolls.
"He isn't John Paul II any more," Leon said. "From now on, he's the Incredible Popeman."
"green chastity pants"???
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
HOW TO COACH A REBELLIOUS TEEN
Top Ten Ways To Coach A Rebellious Teen
1. It is not them, it is the behaviour.
This is not about shifting responsibility or negating their involvement in
the act, it is merely making sure that when you talk to a rebellious teen
you come from this place. By blaming them and not the behaviour all you
serve to do is confirm what they think about themselves, i.e. they are no
good and hence they will act out that role. Communicate with them from a
place of I love you but I do not like it when you do this etc: etc:
2. They are still just children.
Whatever we may think (or they might think) our teens are still children
and we still have responsibility to support them. Do not abandon your teen
they need you now more than ever.
3. All behaviour is learnt.
Our teens learn their behaviour somewhere! Take a good look at how you
react to things how you view the world and your attitudes. Are you the
best role model you can be? Can some of their behaviour be linked to
yours?
4. What gap are they filling?
It is my opinion that all rebellious teams (and offending teens for that
instance) are attempting to fulfil a need that is not present in their
life, or they are trying to express a driving value that is not showing up
for them. What gap is your teen trying to fill? What do they need more of
in their life? How can you help them achieve that
5. All they have done is made a different choice.
It is all too easy to brand a rebellious teen or offender as being bad. It
would be just as easy to see them as somebody who has made a different
choice, a different choice to you perhaps. Help them understand this and
look at the reasons this choice was so appealing. How can you support them
to make a different choice in the future, one that will serve them better?
6. Shift their perspective.
This is quite risky but worth its weight in gold if you can successfully
pull it off. When discussing their behaviour get their side first, then
ask them what other perspectives there could be, how would others see this
situation. Let your teen pick the characters, make suggestions, (like what
may I think, what would you best mate or sister think?) Play with four or
five different perspectives. Then ask your teen which one they prefer -
which perspectives suit them best, which would they like to adopt and why.
7. What do they want?
Here is a biggie, something in their life is not the way they want it -
hence the behaviour. So ask them the big question "What do you want?"
Don't be judgemental, just listen. Let you teen talk, how many of us can
remember being listened to as a teen.
8. Change the Why to How
When our teens exhibit behaviour that we do not like, we generally ask,
"Why did you do that?" This immediately gets the teen on the defensive and
ready for battle. Instead ask questions such as, "I want to understand
this, can you tell me how doing that made you feel?" Your teen is caught
off guard and has to answer! It is likely that they will reveal a gem.
9. Just a Habit.
Let your teen know that their behaviour is just a habit and like a habit
can be broken. What a relief this will be, they are not wrong, not the
worse thing ever, they just have a habit and may even enjoy the challenge
of trying to break it.
10. Get yourself out the way.
This is not about you, it is about them! This will be the hardest thing to
muster. Listen without judgement. Only talk when you have something
constructive to say that will support your teen and move them forward.
Always ask yourself, "Why Am I Talking?"
Rescue your relationship and learn how to support your teen now.