Bradley Manning, the 22-year-old U.S. Army Private accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, has never been convicted of that crime, nor of any other crime. Despite that, he has been detained at the U.S. Marine brig in Quantico, Virginia for five months — and for two months before that in a military jail in Kuwait — under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture. Interviews with several people directly familiar with the conditions of Manning’s detention, ultimately including a Quantico brig official (Lt. Brian Villiard) who confirmed much of what they conveyed, establishes that the accused leaker is subjected to detention conditions likely to create long-term psychological injuries.
Since his arrest in May, Manning has been a model detainee, without any episodes of violence or disciplinary problems. He nonetheless was declared from the start to be a “Maximum Custody Detainee,” the highest and most repressive level of military detention, which then became the basis for the series of inhumane measures imposed on him.
From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement. For 23 out of 24 hours every day — for seven straight months and counting — he sits completely alone in his cell. Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he’s barred even from exercising and is under constant surveillance to enforce those restrictions. For reasons that appear completely punitive, he’s being denied many of the most basic attributes of civilized imprisonment, including even a pillow or sheets for his bed (he is not and never has been on suicide watch). For the one hour per day when he is freed from this isolation, he is barred from accessing any news or current events programs. Lt. Villiard protested that the conditions are not “like jail movies where someone gets thrown into the hole,” but confirmed that he is in solitary confinement, entirely alone in his cell except for the one hour per day he is taken out.
The next time Rafael Ubeda wants an Egg McMuffin, hopefully he’ll make sure the safety on his gun is on.
Ubeda was hospitalized Tuesday after he inadvertently shot himself in the leg as he was ordering breakfast at a McDonald’s in the Florida Keys.
Police said the 44-year-old from Tavernier didn’t realize he was shot, and left the fast food restaurant after the manager asked him to leave.
The McDonald’s employees called police and Ubeda was stopped by deputies a few minutes after the shot was fired. When a deputy spotted blood on Ubeda’s leg, he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Police said they won’t charge Ubeda since the weapon wasn’t knowingly fired. Ubeda no doubt learned his gun safety lesson anyway.
It’s a bit frightening that someone like this can own a gun. At least he shot himself instead of someone else.
As Cynical-C says, “Right side of the argument, wrong side of the sanity.”
WASHINGTON – A conservative Loudoun County lawmaker says controversial airport pat-downs by the Transportation Security Administration are part of a “wide-scale homosexual agenda.”
Eugene Delgaudio, a Republican representing Sterling on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, made the comments in a widely distributed e-mail sent in his capacity as president of the conservative nonprofit Public Advocate of the United States.
In the e-mail — reported by WUSA9 — Delgaudio also says the TSA’s non-discrimination hiring policy is “the federal employee’s version of the Gay Bill of Special rights.”
“That means the next TSA official that gives you an enhanced pat-down could be a practicing homosexual secretly getting pleasure from your submission,” he wrote.
Focus on the Family has an entire website dedicated to what retailers are “Christmas-friendly” — that is, retailers who say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.”
Does Focus on the Family not realize there are multiple religions and holidays in America? There’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, the Winter Solstice, and the New Year. What’s the problem with wishing people a general happy holiday season, instead of just one specific day that not everyone celebrates? There’s nothing sinister behind it, even if they want that to be true to fuel their persecution complex.
Seems to me that people who think this is a big deal are being self-centered and don’t want to think about anyone besides themselves.
A wall holding back 80 acres of sludge from a coal plant in central Tennessee broke this week, spilling more than 500 million gallons of waste into the surrounding area.
he sludge, a byproduct of ash from coal combustion, was contained at a retention site at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s power plant in Kingston, about 40 miles east of Knoxville, agency officials said.
The retention wall breached early Monday, sending the sludge downhill and damaging 15 homes. All the residents were evacuated, and three homes were deemed uninhabitable, a TVA spokesman told CNN….
TVA spokesman Gil Francis told CNN that up to 400 acres of land had been coated by the sludge, a bigger area than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
An expensive mistake that has cost many families their homes and land. They better be generously compensated — though there is probably no monetary compensation that can make up for losing their homes like this. It’s frustrating that people have to suffer for the mistake of a corporation.
Sorry, I was channeling Palin. Seriously though, Powell endorsed Obama, and I thought he did a good job summing up why I’m bothered by McCain’s recent campaign tactics:
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