Greg's View of Todays News - 02/22/2010

• Sleep deprivation 'justified in combat' | Herald Sun

  tags: press, torture, war, sleep, deprivation

  • - post by gnaylor

  • CHANGES to Australian law against torture should not stop army intelligence officers using methods like sleep deprivation to gain information in the field, federal parliament has been told.
    

    Liberal MP Luke Simpkins, a former army officer, said putting pressure on detainees to divulge information quickly was part of combat.

    Mr Simpkins said sleep deprivation could cause sufficient disorientation for information to start flowing within 24 hours.

    • - post by gnaylor

• Californian City Residents Now Have To Pay For 911 Calls

  tags: press, 000, medical, emergency, 911, stupid

  • 
  • Tracy residents will now have to pay every time they call 9-1-1 for a medical emergency.
    
    But there are a couple of options. Residents can pay a $48 voluntary fee for the year which allows them to call 9-1-1 as many times as necessary.
    
    Or, there's the option of not signing up for the annual fee. Instead, they will be charged $300 if they make a call for help.
    • - post by gnaylor

• US Called Civilian Slaughter OK

  tags: press, bush, usa, torture, cop-out

  • Former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo argued that President George W. Bush’s commander-in-chief powers were so sweeping that he could willfully order the massacre of civilians, yet Yoo’s culpability in Bush administration abuses was deemed “poor judgment,” not a violation of “professional standards.”
  • Waterboarding and some of the other measures, such as slamming detainees against walls and depriving them of sleep, have long been considered acts of torture and have been treated as war crimes in other circumstances. However, Yoo – working closely with Bush administration officials – claimed that the techniques did not violate U.S. criminal laws and international treaties forbidding torture.

• Circumcision - The kindest cut

  tags: press, circumcision, STD

  • CIRCUMCISION is making a comeback as a new generation of parents arm themselves with medical research to justify their decision.
  • Dr Dilley said parents were asking for circumcision because they thought it would benefit their child – "to look like dad", be more hygienic and reduce risk of disease
  • ... it reduces the incidence of urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, penile cancer and penile inflammatory disorders, as well as being more hygienic.
  • It has also been shown to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer in female partners.
    

    "At birth it's a very simple, safe procedure that gives immediate benefit through infancy and continues through life," he said.