All Life Is Problem Solving

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy Dick Cheney keeps repeating his claims that “enhanced interrogation techniques” including waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and others were effective in that they provided vital information, kept Americans safe, and saved many thousands of lives. He does this even while he continues to ignore the […]

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”By Definition, if it was authorized by the president it did not violate our obligations under the convention against torture.“ Condoleeza Rice, responding to a question about waterboarding, 04/27/09. ”Article I, Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and […]

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One of the hardest things about decision making is distancing yourself enough from the alternative you prefer, to look at its possible side effects, or unintended consequences, and then compare it against other alternatives with both their intended and unintended consequences. The Obama Administration decided to subsidize the big banks, while also allowing them to […]

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It’s been nearly 43 years since a liberal Democrat named Arlen Specter chose to become a Republican after successfully running on the Republican ticket for Philadelphia District Attorney. It’s been a long road, as the Party that gave him a chance to build a substantial legacy in the Senate became increasingly the home of intolerant […]

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(From http://www.obamamites.com) At his first 100 days news conference this evening, President Obama received the following question from Jake Tapper of ABC News: “Thank you, Mr. President. You’ve said in the past that waterboarding, in your opinion, is torture. Torture is a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions. Do you believe that the […]

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Today I have but three questions to ask of the defenders of “enhanced interrogation techniques,” or “torture” as the opponents of using these techniques would prefer to call them.

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In a recent Newsweek column, after pointing out both the immorality and illegality of the Bush Administration’s use of torture on prisoners, Howard Feinman asked: ”What is Obama’s explanation for not strictly applying the law, American and international? It’s not moral, it’s practical: We need to move on; we have bigger, more urgent issues to […]

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The Obama Administration worries about the consequences of taking over the big banks, re-structuring them, and then, once they’re “cleaned up,” re-privatizing them. They’re afraid of giving Republican charges of socialism credibility, and they’re afraid of possible consequences for the International Financial system if the big banks have to go through this process. So they’ve […]

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I had hoped to blog a bit about a KM issue today, but so much is going on in Washington relating to the issue of accountability for the torturers, that I can’t really leave it alone. In my last post, I pointed out that the President’s decision to refrain from seeking prosecutions of the officials […]

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President Obama has now released the Justice Department “torture memos,” providing legal opinions approving the use of interrogation procedures that many other observers and legal authorities view as clear instances of torture. In releasing the memos, the President has implemented his commitment to transparency in Government. But, at the same time, in asserting that his […]

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