OpEdNews - Diary: KILLERS IN THE CLASSROOM

"During a heated debate in a class I teach on social justice, several US Marines who had done tours in Iraq told me that they had "sacrificed" by "serving" in Iraq so that I could enjoy the freedom to teach in the USA. Parroting their master's slogan about "fighting over there so we don't have to fight over here", these students proudly proclaimed that they terrorized and killed defenseless Iraqis."

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DIANE'S NEWS CLIPS begins here :)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> Submitted by: http://jablankfort@earthlink.net KILLERS IN THE CLASSROOM By Dr. June Scorza Terpstra

2.15.07 http://informationclearinghouse.info -- During a heated debate in a class I teach on social justice, several US Marines who had done tours in Iraq told me that they had "sacrificed" by "serving" in Iraq so that I could enjoy the freedom to teach in the USA. Parroting their master's slogan about "fighting over there so we don't have to fight over here", these students proudly proclaimed that they terrorized and killed defenseless Iraqis. They intimated that their Arab victims are nothing more to them than collateral damage, incidental to their receipt of some money and an education. A room full of students listened as a US Marine told of the invasion of Baghdad and Falluja and how he killed innocent Iraqis at a check point. He called them "collateral damage" and said he had followed the "rules". A Muslim-American student in front of him said "I could slap you but then you would kill me". A young female Muslim student gasped "I am a freshman; I never thought to hear of this in a class. I feel sick, like I will pass out." I knew in that moment that this was what the future of teaching about justice would include: teaching war criminals who sit glaring at me with hatred for daring to speak the truth of their atrocities and who, if paid to, would disappear, torture and kill me. I wondered that night how long I really have in this so called "free" country to teach my students and to be with my children and grandchildren. The American military and mercenary soldiers who "sacrificed" their lives did not do so for the teacher's freedom to teach the truth about the so-called war on terror, or any of US history for that matter. They sacrificed their lives, limbs and sanity for money, some education and the thrills of the violence for which they are socially bred. Sacrificing for the "bling and booty" in Iraq or Afghanistan, The Philippines, Grenada, Central America, Mexico, Somalia, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any of the other numerous wars and invasions spanning US history as an entity and beginning with their foundational practice of killing the Indians and stealing their land. Many of the classes that I teach now include students who "served" in the US military and security corporations. There are also many students who intend to join the US military upon completion of a degree because with the degree they get a bigger "sign on" bonus of ten to fifty thousand dollars. Their position is supported by many of the student body, who, vegetating according to the American Plan, believe they should "support their troops". The excuses that they give for joining or intending to join the US military terrorist training camps are first and foremost motivated by a desire for money. One student proudly said that he is willing to kill for money, a better standard of living and an education. Another student, who had done two tours of duty to the Empire in Iraq, justified killing and torture, citing the importance of staying on top as the world's number one super power so that his family could have the highest standard of living and unlimited access to the world's oil supplies. KEEP READING, IT GETS BETTER >> http://snipurl.com/1agom _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://www.inthesetimes.com

Guards in Guantánamo have borrowed interrogation techniques from training meant to inoculate U.S. soldiers from torture. INTERROGATIONS BEHIND BARBED WIRE Who's to blame for America's new torture techniques? ... By Mischa Gaus Excerpt: The government now pins responsibility for the "dirty bomb" plot on Binyam Mohamed, a detainee at Guantánamo and one of three prisoners who made statements under duress connecting Padilla to al-Qaeda's leadership. After being captured in Pakistan, Mohamed was rendered to Morocco at the behest of the United States. Moroccan jailors elicited the information about Padilla at the tip of a razor blade, sunk repeatedly into Mohamed's genitals, according to his attorney, Clive Stafford Smith. Mohamed's case may one day be heard in the new $125 million Guantánamo tribunal building, future home of the administration's quasi-courts. It's a legal environment plastic enough to permit hearsay and evidence derived from torture, so long as it's "reliable" and in the "interest of justice," in the words of the Military Commissions Act passed by Congress last September. .....................snip....................... Padilla's lawyers call his treatment "outrageous." He was housed in a nine-foot by seven-foot cell, the window of which was taped to prevent natural light from entering. The cell was furnished with a steel platform for a bed, had no clock, and darkness and temperature were controlled externally. Noxious smells seeped in, and adjoining cell doors were electronically opened and closed, disrupting his sleep. What most terrifies Padilla, according to the psychiatrists' reports, is the Bush administration's final trump card. If the civilian trial proves unsatisfactory, the administration has reserved the right to again declare Padilla an enemy combatant and return him to the brig. The Bush administration seemingly claims the right to subject detainees to whatever it sees fit. In 2005, when he was head of Guantánamo's medical system, Capt. John Edmondson, a physician, announced that due to the conditions of the detainees' incarceration, their competency could not be assumed-and thus medical interventions could be delivered without their consent. ....................snip..................... Regardless of who is or isn't responsible for drugging detainees, the information gained from doing so is not well regarded by intelligence professionals. But the Bush administration has a record of ignoring career intelligence officers. In a 2002 memo written to justify torture in overseas interrogations, former Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee argued that drugging should be included in the roster of techniques available to interrogators. And while that memo was repudiated, Guantánamo attorneys maintain that their clients are being drugged. .......................snip................... "Once torture starts, it begins very quickly to proliferate," says McCoy, the historian. "The techniques become increasingly brutal. Whether it's Algiers in 1957 or Afghanistan in 2002-in every instance we have, it proliferates out of control." .......................snip................... In court filings, Padilla's lawyers describe him as a "piece of furniture" - a man objectified and dehumanized by the U.S. government; a government that is relentlessly focused on extracting information, regardless of its utility or its veracity, from him and hundreds of others. At any cost. Full article: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3019 _________________________________

[NEWSDISSECTOR] Senate Will Debate War on Saturday THE DECEPTIVE WAR DEBATE FORECLOSURES UP AS HOUSING CRUNCH NEARS KEITH OLBERMANN STAYS WITH MSNBC http://www.newsdissector.com/blog/2007/02/16/senate-will-debate-war-on-saturday/ _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://carolynbaker.org/ DYSTFUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT, DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY By Carolyn Baker It seems to me that Americans for at least the past seven years have been stricken with a collective trance such as I have never witnessed in this country in my lifetime. Psychologist, Paul Levy, in his superb article Spiritually Informed Political Activism speaks to the necessity of waking up from the spell and speaking the truth about the criminal insanity that is running our nation and our world. He takes this "waking up" many steps further by the end of his article, but for now, I'd like to address the questions: "Why such seemingly impenetrable denial in the American psyche these days? Why are some people almost incapable of awakening?" Continued: http://snipurl.com/1agmm _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://www.truthout.org Jay Bookman | White House Policy on Iran in Paralysis http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607L.shtml Jay Bookman writes, "Trying to make sense of the Bush administration's strategy toward Iran may be a fool's game, because it assumes a strategy exists in the first place. That doesn't seem the case. Statements and policies issued one day are contradicted the next, perhaps the result of internal White House struggles between hardline and more moderate factions who can't agree on a single approach." --- White House Is Reported to Be Linked to Prosecutor's Dismissal http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607C.shtml A United States attorney in Arkansas who was dismissed from his job last year by the Justice Department was ousted after Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, intervened on behalf of the man who replaced him. Ms. Miers, according to aides, phoned an aide to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, suggesting the appointment of J. Timothy Griffin, who was a political director for the Republican National Committee and a deputy to Karl Rove. --- Sam Pizzigati | House Protects Tax Loophole for Corporate Execs http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607LA.shtml "On Monday, in a unanimous vote, the House Ways and Means Committee killed a tax reform - already passed by the Senate - that would have ended the single most popular perk in executive-suite land: the loophole that, year after year, lets CEOs avoid paying taxes on multimillions of their paycheck dollars," writes Sam Pizzigati. --- Auditors: Billions Squandered in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607N.shtml About $10 billion has been squandered by the US government on Iraq reconstruction aid because of contractor overcharges and unsupported expenses, and federal investigators warned Thursday that significantly more taxpayer money is at risk. --- Amy Goodman | Freedom of Press Needs Shield Law http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607M.shtml "Josh Wolf, videographer and blogger, is now the journalist imprisoned longest in U.S. history for refusing to comply with a subpoena. He has been locked up in federal prison for close to six months, ... Freedom of the press means freeing journalists to do their work. Congress can ensure that by passing a federal shield law," writes Amy Goodman. --- Iraq Troop Boost Erodes Readiness, General Says http://snipurl.com/1ahyf --- Vladimir Putin Wants to Offer an Alternative to Washington http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607G.shtml Vladimir Putin had barely finished his indictment against American "unilateralism" in Munich before he left on state visits to the United States' preserve in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan. --- Senate Dems Call GOP Bluff, Iraq Vote Set for Saturday http://snipurl.com/1afsr --- Robert B. Reich | Balanced Budget Baloney http://snipurl.com/1ahyl --- Pelosi: Bush Lacks Power to Invade Iran http://snipurl.com/1afsl --- Paul Krugman | The Health Care Racket http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607O.shtml "If UnitedHealth can be shown to have broken the law - and let's just say that this company, which is America's second largest health insurer, has a reputation for playing even rougher than its competitors - by all means, let's see justice done. But the larger problem isn't the behavior of any individual company. It's the ugly incentives provided by a system in which giving care is punished, while denying it is rewarded," writes Paul Krugman. --- Senators Introduce Bill to Restrict Use of Cluster Munitions http://snipurl.com/1aft1 --- Appeals Court Refuses to Overturn US Army Medic's Detention http://snipurl.com/1ahwa --- Judge Limits New York Police Taping http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607T.shtml --- Great Andean Glacier "Will Melt to Nothing by 2012" http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607EA.shtml The principal glacier of the world's biggest tropical ice-cap could disappear within five years as a result of global warming, one of the world's leading glaciologists predicted yesterday. --- January Weather Hottest by Far http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/021607EB.shtml --- China Covers Up Detention of AIDS Doctor http://snipurl.com/1ahwr --- Italy to Try 25 CIA Agents, Others for Kidnapping http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607A.shtml An Italian judge Friday indicted 26 Americans and five Italians in the abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect on a Milan street in what would be the first criminal trial stemming from the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. --- Roger Morris | The Power and the Glory http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/021607F.shtml Roger Morris writes the second in his two-part series, "The Undertaker's Tally" following the career of Donald Rumsfeld. --- Democrats Push Economic Policy to Better Serve Poor, Middle Class http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121306H.shtml _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://www.guardian.co.uk Republicans Block Bill on U.S. Attorneys ... By LAURIE KELLMAN 2.16.07

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republicans blocked a bill Thursday that would curb the Justice Department's power to fire and replace federal prosecutors. Democrats had sought to give the courts a role in the appointments of U.S. attorneys, to GOP opposition. The objection by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to the proposal was long anticipated. So Democrats used the occasion to complain anew about the firings of at least seven prosecutors, some without cause, under a little-known part of the Patriot Act. Democrats say Attorney General Alberto Gonzales used the law to get around the Senate confirmation process and install Republican allies. .....................snip....................... Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that if the Justice Department does not provide detailed performance reports on the fired prosecutors, the Senate Judiciary Committee would subpoena them. .....................snip....................... Gonzales has said that he intends to submit the name of every newly installed prosecutor to the Senate for confirmation. Democrats contend that prosecutors were forced to resign to make way for Republicans' political allies and that the White House slipped the provision into the Patriot Act to permit such indefinite appointments. [snip] http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6418467,00.html _________________________________ Excerpted from: http://www.rockymountainnews.com COCOA BEANS, SUGAR - THAT"S IT ... By Janet Forgrieve Pure 'single-bean' chocolate bars bloom from hobby into growing Denver business

Single-bean chocolate makers are at the beginning of a growing trend. Single-bean chocolates, also called single-origin, are made with beans sourced from one place, which could be a single country, or even a single plantation. While taste is important, the purported health benefits are also proving to be a big selling point, reported Rocky Mountain News. Full Story : http://snipurl.com/1ae03 _________________________________ Space Weather News ... http://spaceweather.com

MIRA VARIABLE: 400 light years from Earth, a red giant named Mira has swelled larger than the orbit of Mars. The pulsating star is now at maximum brightness and can be seen with the naked eye after sunset. Brightness: 2nd magnitude, similar to the stars of the Big Dipper. Take a look, you may be seeing the future. Our own Sun could become a Mira-variable when it evolves to red gianthood five billion years from now. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps and more information. _________________________________ http://www.whatdoesitmean.com | http://rawstory.com | http://www.howstuffworks.com _________________________________ ++++ Lost and found photos I found a few photos the other day when I was out walking the dogs. Someone had dropped them in the street. This isn't the first time I've found someone else's photos. And I'm sure you've found photographs, too. Found photographs have always fascinated me. I always want to know more about the people in them. And I always wonder how the photos were lost. I'm not alone. At today's Cool Site, you can see a collection of lost or abandoned photographs. Some are funny and others are sad. But they're all interesting. There are over 600 on the site, more than enough to keep you occupied for a while! TO VISIT TODAY'S COOL SITE, GO HERE: http://www.moderna.org/lookatme Be sure to listen to me Monday through Friday. Use my map to find me near you http://www.komando.com/listen/index.aspx _________________________________ eHEALTHY NEWS The Next Statin Scam: Preventing Strokes - Even if statin drugs prevent strokes from recurring, you'll still die earlier from other causes. http://snipurl.com/1adsj ----- Is Raw Milk Consumption Growing in America? - Many believe in the health value of raw milk so much that they are willing to break the law to obtain it. http://snipurl.com/1adsk ----- The Best Car Commercial You Ever Saw - It's not animated, it's not CGI -- these cars really are flying through the air. This is an absolutely amazing must-see commercial. http://snipurl.com/1adsm _________________________________ VIDEO: Lewis Black End Of Year [Mature Language] 5:08 Lewis Black makes fun of Bush again in this hilarious end-of-the-year performance. http://www.planetvids.com/html/Lewis-Black-End-Of-Year.html _________________________________ NationalGeographic.com http://lava.nationalgeographic.com/pod/ _________________________________ NASA Astronomy picture of the day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html _________________________________ Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together. ~ Carl Zwanzig _________________________________ Link to: Diane's News Clips http://www.opednews.com/author/author2300.html?entry=diary