Tales of the Heliosphere

There's one good thing to say about the President's decision to close Guantanamo Bay's prison for war criminals. Candidate Obama campaigned on the promise that he would close the facility. Ordering the closure fulfills a central promise of his campaign.

But closing Guantanamo is meaningless because the detainees have to be held somewhere. The significant decisions yet to come are how the detainees will be tried and what kind of access they will have to America's court system. Also, what will be done with those who belong to Al Qaeda but who end up not being tried in court because the evidence against them would not be admissible in court or is too secret to reveal publicly?

There is no need to close the facility. Guantanamo is as good a place as any to hold the detainees. It's better, in fact. Guantanamo has the advantage over any prison on the American mainland as being completely under the control of the United States military and it's in the middle of nowhere. Escape from there is nearly impossible. The facility is not the hell hole that common knowledge would have us believe.

The Boston Globe's Big Picture website did a tremendous service in December 2008, when it published a set of pictures showing the conditions at the prison. (Here.) It's eye opening.

Photo number 8 shows a stencil written on concrete of the word Mecca, in Arabic, and an arrow pointing to Islam's holy city. The better for inmates to pray. O, the humanity!

Photo number 9 shows a literacy instructor preparing for a lesson. The instructor is at the facility as part of a US Government program "to improve educational opportunities for the detainees." O, the humanity!

Photo number 13 shows a beautiful gold-embossed Koran that belongs to a detainee. O, the humanity!

Photo number 14 shows a detainee exercising outside during his 12 hours of outdoor recreation per day. O, the humanity!

Photo number 20 shows a copy of a Harry Potter novel in Arabic, one of 7,500 books in the circulating library available to detainees. Apparently, Harry Potter books are especially popular among the inmates. O, the humanity!

Photo number 26 shows a group of detainees praying, 27 shows a beautiful prayer rug owned by one of the inmates, and 29 shows a sign telling American guards to be quiet during prayer time. O, the humanity!

On the other hand, maybe putting the detainees among the general population of the type of violent criminals who populate maximum security prisons in the United States is just the punishment the detainees deserve. It worked for Jeffrey Dahmer. (Here.) O, the humanity!

-tdr

Labels: America, International, Politics, War on Jihad

Move along. All cultures are equal. Nothing to see here. From a press release of Amnesty International USA.

Child of 13 stoned to death in Somalia

"Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was accused of adultery, but sources told Amnesty International that she had in fact been raped by three men, and had attempted to report this rape to the al-Shabab militia who control Kismayo. It was this act that resulted in her being accused of adultery and detained. None of men she accused of rape were arrested.

"She was detained by militia of the Kismayo authorities, a coalition of Al-shabab and clan militias. During this time, she was reportedly extremely distressed, with some individuals stating she had become mentally unstable.

"Amnesty International has campaigned to end the use of the punishment of stoning, calling it gruesome and horrific. This killing of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow demonstrates the cruelty and the inherent discrimination against women of this punishment." (Here.)

To say nothing of the society that allows it and the religion that endorses it.

-tdr

Labels: Ethics, International, Islam

Fear of global warming has led governments around the world to push biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels. It's a policy that results in farmers devoting farmland to growing food for machines instead of food for people. Not surprisingly that policy appears to be more harmful than helpful.

"The U.N. food agency yesterday called for a review of biofuel subsidies and policies, noting that they had contributed significantly to rising food prices and the hunger in poor countries."

The United Nations report confirms the findings of an earlier intergovernmental report.

"In an assessment released this summer, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development concluded that government support of biofuel production in member countries was hugely expensive and 'had a limited impact on reducing greenhouse gases and improving energy security.' It did have 'a significant impact on world crop prices' by helping to raise them, the report said." (Here.)

Imagine that. Less food production results in higher food prices, which leads to hunger among poor people. On the other hand, maybe that's the goal. More hunger could result in fewer people and fewer people is better for the environment, people being a cancer on the Earth and all. (Here.) You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs.

-tdr

Labels: Environment, Ethics, Food, International

Today on a continent far, far to the south, a conflict is developing between Peru and Chile over the origin of the potato.

"Peruvian agronomists, historians and diplomats are chafing at an assertion by Marigen Hornkohl, Chile's agriculture minister, who said recently, 'Few people know that 99 percent of the world's potatoes have some type of genetic link to potatoes from Chile.'

"Peru, where the potato is a source of national pride, could not let such a comment pass.

"'Obviously the world has known for centuries that the potato is from Peru and that the Peruvian potato saved Europe from hunger,' Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcma Belaunde told reporters here last week. 'The entire world knows this.'" (Here.)

Not a word in the story about the origin of the Irish potatoes that did so well in the 19th Century.

If war breaks out, invest in the company that manufactures these high tech potato guns: (claytonbailey.com here.)

-tdr

Labels: Food, International, War