Geoff Arnold's Blog

Terry poses a rhetorical question that should be repeated.

So, torture mongers and apologists explain that torture (according to the sources they choose to believe) works.
They also say that because it works, and it saves lives, we need to use it.
We are also told that it is only used when the case is so strong that it justifies the moral quandaries of little things like breaking the law and violating the norms of the civilised world and the principles we used to hold countries like the USSR and PRC accountable for, because such things were evil.
It is further explained that because such careful decisions are made those who engage in torture can always depend on the courts to vindicate them. They will just explain that it was needful, they were certain the guy had the info, he gave it up, and lives were saved.
The, inevitable, result, so they say, is the jury will acquit.
Given all of those things; one wonders why the CIA felt it had to destroy the evidence, and commit a completely different crime, not one against people but against the rule of law.

I’ve been reading – and listening to – one of my favourite poems: Robert Hunter‘s “Flight of The Marie Helena”. I got a cassette copy back in 1985, when it first came out, and played it so often that the tape wore out. Fortunately I found an MP3 version a few months ago. ((But if it were re-released, I’d buy a copy in a heartbeat.)) I love the strange and gently surrealistic journey that Hunter invites us on…

The Marie Helena glides upon
the bright white ocean of
our second day.
Everyone aboard her is
a stowaway. There were
no tickets for the passage.

… and the way he returns to the real world:

After a week’s unfolding
many things have changed.
It is time now to
change them back again.
It is still true, in spite of
the flight of the Marie Helena,
still true, that it rarely,
very rarely, rains in dreams.

Mmmm. That was a good way of putting the world on hold for 37:30. Of course, the world may have something to say about that!

Tossing my wristwatch
into the snapping sea,
my timepiece is returned by an
indignant wave, rewound.

Indeed.

Exhibit A:

NEW YORK – Girls swept a prestigious high school science competition for the first time Monday, winning top prizes of $100,000 scholarships for their work on potential tuberculosis cures and bone growth in zebrafish.
It was the first time girls had ever won the grand prizes in both the team and individual divisions of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

Exhibit B (From Melissa at Shakesville):

Almost exactly one year ago to the day, I wrote about the Discovery Channel Store’s curious gender segregation—and, this morning, I got an email from Shaker Mariah complaining of the same thing. In other words, another year passes, and it’s still Same Shit, Different Day.
[…]
The first five items offered for girls ages 8-12 are:
~ Rainbow In My Room
~ Discovery Sew Fun Sewing Machine
~ Discovery Pink Slide and Text Messengers (“Chat with your friends wirelessly and transmit text messages up to 15′ away.”)
~ Discovery Diamond Dust Microscope
~ Discovery Fashion Design Studio
What a “Fashion Design Studio” has to do with science is something I cannot explain to you.

Click through to see the difference between the boys‘ and girls‘ microscopes.
OK, I know that the Discovery Channel is a symptom, not a cause. For all of their noble rhetoric, they’re just another entertainment company with a retail operation that’s trying to make a buck from cheap Chinese imports with bling. But it’s still frustrating.