Deaths of Innocent Men in U.S. Custody during the "War on Terror."

from Mark Crispin Miller's blog/newsletter:



Over one hundred prisoners have died in suspicious circumstances in U.S. custody during the "war on terror." "Taxi to the Dark Side" takes an in-depth look at one case: an Afghan taxi driver called Dilawar, who was considered an honest and kind man by the people of his rustic village.

So when he was detained by the U.S military one afternoon, after picking up three passengers, denizens wondered why this man was randomly chosen to be held in prison, and, especially, without trial?

Five days after his arrest Dilawar died in his Bagram prison cell. Hisdeath came within a week of another death of a detainee at Bagram. The conclusion, with autopsy evidence, was that the former taxi driver and the detainee who passed away before him, had died due to sustained injuries inflicted at the prison by U.S. soldiers....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4603066186176011479&hl=en

The International Literary Quarterly

Here it is. Peter Robertson's new e-journal, its first issue featuring:


Lydia Davis
Daniel Gunn
W.N. Herbert
Robert Alan Jamieson
Gabriel Josipovici
Suzanne Jill Levine
Laura Marney
Carol Novack
Thalia Pandiri
George Szirtes


The International Literary Quarterly

How to listen to Haydn and Mozart. - By Erik Tarloff - Slate Magazine

How to listen to Haydn and Mozart. - By Erik Tarloff - Slate Magazine

Religion is bad for your health

From ATHEISTS AGNOSTICS SKEPTICS & HUMANISTS ON MYSPACE


According to the United Nations' Human Development Report (2005) countries like Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom (among the least religious societies on earth) show the highest levels of life expectancy, adult literacy, per capita income, educational attainment, gender equality as well as the lowest homicide rates and infant mortality. The 50 worst tend to also be the most religious. Meanwhile the U.S., (with its high level of religious adherents distinct from any western democracy) is also burdened with high rates of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy, STD infection and infant mortality. (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005//)(http://moses.creighton.edu/JRS/pdf/2005-11.pdf)

Drop F Bombs on the Publishing Industry

From my Mad Hatter friend Paul Toth at his new blog, droptheblom:



Drop F Bombs on the Publishing Industry

VIDEO COLLAB - Video by Orin Buck, Poetry by Yours Truly, Music by LV Beethoven

I posted a link to the Video, but we have to obtain synchronization copyright permission to use a portion of a recording of Beethoven's Ninth before we can show the video to the general public. So -- if you want a private viewing, email nettlesomenell at yahoo, and she'll send you the link.

Jane Austen fan submits her work anonymously to publishers... and receives a dozen rejections | the Daily Mail

Jane Austen fan submits her work anonymously to publishers... and receives a dozen rejections | the Daily Mail



See also: this clever video created by Mad Hatter Paul Toth:

THE FALL OF THE PUBLISHING EMPIRE

or --- if that link doesn't work:

THE FALL OF THE PUBLISHING EMPIRE

Bush Seeks to Ban Marriage Between Fictitious Gay Characters

Bush Seeks to Ban Marriage Between Fictitious Gay Characters
Harry Potter Revelation Prompts President’s Move

By Andy Borowitz


Just days after “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling revealed that the popular professor character Albus Dumbledore was gay, President George W. Bush told the nation that he would seek a ban on fictitious gay weddings.

In a nationally televised address last night, Mr. Bush said that he devote the rest of his term in office to obtaining a constitutional amendment banning marriage between fictitious gay characters.

“In order to protect the sanctity of marriage in the real world, we must first protect the sanctity of marriage in fiction,” Mr. Bush said. “This is the most pressing goal of my Administration – even more important than bombing Iran.”

While the president’s address was for the most part consistent with his earlier statements on gay marriage, it was uncharacteristic in that it demonstrated an awareness of books.

And in attacking the Mr. Dumbledore’s right to wed, Mr. Bush may have raised the ire of one of the most militant constituencies in the U.S.: Harry Potter fans.

Jude Ralston, 34, one of over 5,000 Potter devotees who dressed as Dumbledore to protest the president’s speech outside the White House last night, said that Mr. Bush could be playing with fire: “Harry Potter fans take these things very seriously, and we don’t have anything else going on in our lives.”

As for Dumbledore’s gayness, Mr. Ralston said that he had overlooked obvious clues the first time he read the books: “I, like, totally missed that scene in the airport bathroom.”

Elsewhere, a national survey of slutty nurses shows that they are undecided about what to go as for Halloween.