'Waterboarding is not torture', my mother in law says...

Waterboarding is defined as a form of torture that consists of immobilizing a person on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. Through forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences the process of drowning and is made to believe that death is imminent.

A few notes from Wikki on this 'enhanced interrogation technique': "Waterboarding has been used in interrogations at least as early as the Spanish Inquisition. It has been used for interrogation purposes, to obtain information, coerce confessions, punish, and intimidate. Today it is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts, politicians, war veterans,intelligence officials, military judges, and human rights organizations. Waterboarding gained recent attention and notoriety in the United States when the press reported that the CIA had used waterboarding in the interrogation of extrajudicial prisoners and that the Justice Department had authorized this procedure. The CIA has admitted waterboarding Al-Qaida suspects Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri."

It should be noted that 'W' did not instigate the practice of kidnapping terrorist suspects and flying them off for torture in exotic lands, neither Cheney. It was used by the Clinton Administration, yes, Hillary's husband Bill. According to insider and administration official Richard Clarke this procedure was developed by CIA officials in the mid-1990s who were trying to track down and dismantle militant Islamic organizations in the Middle East, particularly Al Qaeda. This one way ticket to torture was euphemistically called 'extraordinary renditions'.

Extraordinary renditions were operations to apprehend terrorists abroad, usually without the knowledge of and almost always without public acknowledgment of the host government…. The first time I proposed a snatch, in 1993, the White House Counsel, Lloyd Cutler, demanded a meeting with the President to explain how it violated international law. Clinton had seemed to be siding with Cutler until Al Gore belatedly joined the meeting, having just flown overnight from South Africa. Clinton recapped the arguments on both sides for Gore: Lloyd says this. Dick says that. Gore laughed and said, 'That's a no-brainer. Of course it's a violation of international law, that's why it's a covert action. The guy is a terrorist. Go grab his ass.'"

Mitt refused to disavow this form of 'enhanced interrogation' in his failed attempt to be commander in chief. Sadly, my mother in law and a number of others believe it is o.k. for us to waterboard. Us or them right? It is cleaner than other methods of torture as it leaves no bruises, maybe...

Here is one view of it by medical personnel:
"Dr. Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/N.Y.U. Program for Survivors of Torture, has treated "a number of people" who had been subjected to forms of near-asphyxiation, including waterboarding. An interview for The New Yorker states, "[He] argued that it was indeed torture, 'Some victims were still traumatized years later', he said. One patient couldn't take showers, and panicked when it rained. 'The fear of being killed is a terrifying experience,' he said." Keller also stated in his testimony before the Senate that "Water-boarding or mock drowning, where a prisoner is bound to an inclined board and water is poured over their face, inducing a terrifying fear of drowning clearly can result in immediate and long-term health consequences. As the prisoner gags and chokes, the terror of imminent death is pervasive, with all of the physiologic and psychological responses expected, including an intense stress response, manifested by tachycardia (rapid heart beat) and gasping for breath. There is a real risk of death from actually drowning or suffering a heart attack or damage to the lungs from inhalation of water. Long term effects include panic attacks, depression and PTSD. I remind you of the patient I described earlier who would panic and gasp for breath whenever it rained even years after his abuse."

To all of my friends and family who tell me about the 'rule of law' and to Sen. Hickman and other legislators where is your outrage over this state sponsored form of terrorism?

Coprolite is s*#t

I saw a sign like this recently and appreciated the humor. Coprolite for the uninitiated is fossilized dinosaur poop or for that matter any poop that has been fossilized. One of my favorite things to do is to visit the local rock shop, Rock Pick Legend , at 1017 South Main Street in Salt Lake. I went by there today and bought a polished sample for a family member. I like to give dinosaur poop to my friends and family.

They have a number of fine samples of coprolite that are cut and polished. Many other local rock specimens are found there from Utah and the intermountain area as well as other places in the world. Utah has an abundance of dinosaur poop and much of it is found between Moab and Lake Powell. It can be very small in size, almost BB, and so large it would be impossible for one man to lift in its petrified state, as big as a washing machine I have been told. Analysis of the poop by paleontologists can determine if the dinosaur was carnivorous or an herbivore. I have never seen one, but I understand some samples of coprolite have bone fragments encased and fossilized within the dung. If you don’t have anything to do and you find yourself on 10th South and Main in Salt Lake stop by and check out their petrified doodoo. You will not be disappointed.