Torture and Mayhem

The Mysterious Torture Jet: This story about a jet owned by a Red Sox executive that has apparently been used for secret flights, abductions, ‘renditionings‘ and expulsions, transport of VIPs under the radar screen, and many trips in and out of Guantanamo, and which recently had its markings changed when private plane-watchers began logging its trail, appeared a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have seen no follow up. Anyone heard anything new?

More Intrigue in the Kazemi Torture-Murder Case: Today Canadian PM Paul Martin acknowledged that he knew Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi had been brutally tortured and murdered by Iranian authorities two years ago for daring to photograph a protest demonstration in Teheran. But this information was withheld so that the doctor who could refute the Iranian assertions that her fatal head wound was caused by ‘a fall’ (that was the official Iranian court ruling), could safely sneak out of Iran and not face a similar fate himself. That has now happened and the details of the torture are gruesome, even by Iranian standards. It is now likely that the Iranian ambassador to Canada will be expelled and Canada will cut off diplomatic relations with the barbaric government of that country.

Civilized world we live in, eh?

US Conservative says Bush is No Conservative: An interesting speech by conservative historian John Lukacs argues that Bush, Reagan and other neocons are not true conservatives, and have abandoned basic conservative principles in favour of lazy, psychopathic imperialism and dangerous populist nationalism. Interesting reading.

US One-Way ‘Free’ Trade Policy Draws Global Reprisals: Canada, the EU and six other countries this week launched countervailing duties against US goods in protest against continuing US non-compliance with the WTO ruling that the Byrd Amendment violated ‘free’ trade agreements. Under the Amendment, the US has illegally imposed billions of dollars in phony ‘anti-dumping’ duties against goods from all its trading partners and paid over the proceeds to the industry oligopolies supposedly hurt by the dumping actions. Watch this one — it signals the end of NAFTA and the demise of ‘free’ trade.

Nothing is ever as it seems.

Apologies to those upset by yesterday’s April Fools’ post.

The graphic is, of course, from Hugh Macleod.