Re: RE: @Matt Bryant

No, I can't say *exactly* how many times he was woken, however quoting from the New Statesman:

"At night, Manning is stripped to his underwear and has to sleep under blankets that he says give him carpet burn. He is usually woken several times throughout the night by guards."

Now are you saying that the New Statesman Magazine is just another "bleater"?

You claim that "I think you'll find the logs were made available to the prosecution", yet despite searching, I can't find any factual basis for this and, in any case, why would the *prosecution* want to see the logs? It's is the *defence* who need them!

What I have found, however, is that "A Freedom of Information Act request for documents on accused whistleblower to WikiLeaks Pfc. Bradley Manning’s treatment at Quantico Marine brig, filed by POLITICO, reveals on multiple occasions Manning was recommended for removal from “prevention of injury” (POI) status by psychiatrists and psychologists but was not removed."

http://my.firedoglake.com/kgosztola/2011/07/14/quantico-brig-staff-mostly-ignored-recommendations-medical-staff-made-on-bradley-manning/

So medical officers and doctors said that Manning wasn't a suicide risk, yet those who were holding him decided to keep him on that status anyway.

Oh and as regards "If his vision was that bad without glasses he would never have been accepted for service!" a little bit of searching has found that bad eyesight does not preclude someone from joining the US Army as long as their *corrected* vision with glasses passes the required standard. But let me guess, you don't need glasses, because if you did you'd understand what it's like to have everything more than a short distance in front of you rendered as a vague blur.

And finally as for "HIS ACTIONS PUT HIM WHERE HE IS NOW", might I remind you of the principle of presumption of innocence?

Oh deary, deary me, Matt Bryant.

Please do a little more thinking before going off on another of your little tirades.

There is a *big* difference between the "we were only obeying orders when we tortured detainess" defence and the "we were following the Rules of Engagement, honest!" defence.

Trying to equate the two to justify the US Military's exoneration of the Apache helicopter crew for murdering innocent people (including those trying to assist the killed and wounded who were clearly *not* a threat) is simply ridiculous.

Ah...

... so you mean: "WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!"

@Wombling_Free

The Liberator was the DSV 2 built by "The System"

(Yes, that's my anorak!)

@alexh20

"How *dare* these plebs think that they should have a say in the decision making process? They should enjoy the Bread and Circuses of the Dole and X-Factor and not worry their little heads about things that are above them...!"

Yes, writing to your MP might (depending on who they are) get a response, but why should it be necessary when all you want to say is "I agree with this"? Just because the web makes creating a petition and getting people to sign it easier doesn't make it any less valid than one signed by people in the street.

Of course the fact is that many Ministers like Simon Burns are so arrogant that they don't think they have to listen to the general public in the first place, so whatever sort of petition you raise, it will still be ignored.

@Billa Bong

I notice that your post above has three Upvotes, so that's three people who are basically agreeing with "Wot 'e said".

So please allow me to be the voice of dissent (or "Not wot 'e said") as I Downvote you.

Re: RE: Only following orders?

So the US Military investigates the actions of the US Military and one part of the US Military decides that the other part of the US Military hasn't committed a war crime!

I hope that Manning's lawyers are sharper than you in spotting a blatant conflict of interest.

@jake

Please can you try to comprehend the difference between the selective breeding of plants and animals to reinforce (or remove) traits that are already present in that species and using recombinant DNA techniques to splice in gene sequences from entirely unrelated species.

Re: "Being a dominatrix is, er, an acquired skill?"

Most definitely. Regrettably, due to the influence of bad films, bad TV and bad fiction, many "working ladies" seem to have the idea that all you need to do is put on a corset and a pair of thigh boots and stamp around shouting and hitting someone with a whip.

The actual professional ladies (many of whom are customers of mine!) deride these people for their lack of competence and also for them bringing the whole idea of Safe, Sane and Consensual Domination into disrepute.

What it's like now...

I stopped taking a stall at Erotica back in 2003 and I've never regretted it.

The organisers are simply interested in how much money they can get from stall holders and punters and they long ago priced almost all the niche suppliers out of exhibiting. Now what you have is a cross between a glorified Ann Summers shop and totally irrelevant stalls eg tooth-whitening products made an appearance again!

Oh and next year's show is going to be held in the smaller National Hall instead of Olympia 2 because there are simply no longer enough people willing to pay the exhorbitant prices that Erotica are asking and the owners of Olympia won't let them make the aisles any larger. (If you went up to the gallery level and looked down you could see huge areas of empty carpet which, in long-ago years would have been filled with stalls).

@AC

Oh dear, I suggest you re-read my post (especially that last part in brackets) with your Irony Detector switched on!

Selective breeding...

... != Genetic Modification.

@Matt Bryant

Are you suicidal? No? Ok.

(Waits 15 minutes...)

Are you suicidal now? No? Ok.

(Waits another 15 minutes...)

Are you suicidal yet?

(Waits another 15 minutes...)

Now imagine keeping that up for a day, two days, three days...

If you weren't suicidal at the start, you'd sure as hell be thinking about it after a few days.

This is the voice...

... of the Mysterons. We know that you can hear us Earthmen.

Cease sending your spy probes to our planet or face our revenge!

Da-da dah da-da-da dum!

"a solution in search of a problem."

That's what they said about the laser...!

@kain preacher

Since McKinnon didn't cause the deaths of hundreds in the US, the question is irrelevant.

The Americans are being completely ridiculous, exaggerating the cost of fixing their own security holes so they can parlay that into charges under a law that are only justified if they make stupid claims on how much "damage" was caused and the demanding to extradite McKinnon to cover their own backsides based on a one-sided treaty that should be thrown out by our Government.

Anything else is just smoke and mirrors.

And...

... what are the Village People doing there? (Apart from seemingly encouraging a flash mob performance of YMCA...!)

@Chad H.

Ah, but you've got to remember that in the US you can vote for the Right Wing Party or the *REALLY* Right Wing Party, so anyone who even slightly drifts towards the centre is, by some weird sort of fuzzy logic, at least a Socialist if not an out and out Left Wing Pinko Commie!

@Alister

Yep, The Cardinal of the Kremlin. (It was called Fan Dance, although probably not in reference to Sally Rand's classic act! ;-) )

"how could they tell this one wasn't from the real BofA?"

Because it *was* a pretty accurate summary of the aims of every big bank!

@Yawn

"game that allows players to engage in gratuitous acts of violence against attention seeking Members of Parliament."

Now there's an idea...!