A Torturer’s Confession: Former Abu Ghraib Interrogator Speaks Out

http://democracynow.org - Eric Fair served as an interrogator in Iraq working as a military contractor for the private security firm CACI. He was stationed at the Abu Ghraib prison and in Fallujah in 2004. In a new memoir, Fair writes about feeling haunted by what he did, what he saw and what he heard in Iraq, from the beating of prisoners to witnessing the use of sleep deprivation, stress positions and isolation to break prisoners. The military described such actions as "enhanced interrogations," but Eric Fair uses another word—torture. He writes, "If God is on anyone’s side in Iraq, it’s not mine." (Part 2 is the next post below.)
Interview:
https://youtu.be/2oGh93UnxQg

Former Abu Ghraib Interrogator: Because of Trump & Cruz, Door Still "Wide Open" for U.S. to Torture

http://democracynow.org - As Republican presidential candidates promise to bring back the torture techniques used under the George W. Bush administration, we speak with one of the men who actually carried out these policies. Eric Fair served as an interrogator in Iraq working as a military contractor for the private security firm CACI. He was stationed at the Abu Ghraib prison and in Fallujah in 2004. His new book, "Consequence: A Memoir," has just been published. Interview: 
https://youtu.be/1t54JZNbkCI

Jane Sanders Visited A Controversial Immigrant Prison In Arizona. She Left Horrified.

Sanders tweeted that Arpaio admitted that “the temperature in the tents were up to 130 degrees in the summer” and that he removes meat from all of the prisoners’ meals. Arpaio, meanwhile, insisted that the conditions at Tent City are appropriate. “These are all convicted (inmates). They’re all doing their time,” he told Sanders, according to The Arizona Republic...
http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2016/03/15/3760249/jane-sanders-visits-arpaio-tent-city/

As Sanders Scored Primary Victories, Cable News Broadcasted a Prison Reality Show and Jesus Documentary

Cable news ignored primaries for three important states.
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/sanders-scored-primary-victories-cable-news-broadcasted-prison-reality-show-and-jesus

Atheism and virtuousness (Essay by Samuel Chan Sai Hay)

Without religion, how can one be good, or even want to be good? As an international student from Hong Kong studying in the U.S., I nd the previous statement offensive to nonbelievers. The theory that there is an incompatibility between morality and atheism is far too common and prevalent in the United States. In light of this, I would like to introduce Hong Kong as an an- swer to how atheism and morality can coexist and illustrate how an atheistic society can be as ethical as any other type of society. 

According to government docu- ments, about 50% of the city’s pop- ulation, which is approximately 3.5 million people, do not consider them- selves religious. In fact, as studies in recent years indicate, 77% of China’s population describe themselves as nonreligious people, while 47% con- sider themselves atheists. 

Hong Kong is often applauded as one of the most civilized, orderly and peaceful cities, having only a total of 11.95 crimes per 1,000 citizens, which is almost four times less than the num- ber in the heavily religious United States. And atheism does not necessar- ily spell violence or savagery. In 2014, Hong Kong only had 27 homicides, while New York City, which is also a city of 8 million people, had 333 homi- cides. The incarceration rate of Hong Kong also hit a record low in 2014, with only 123 people per 100,000 in prison, which is 125th in the world. Although nonreligious factors must not be over- looked, one can see that the degree of religiosity does not necessarily have direct links to a population’s savagery. That being said, one’s civility is actually subject to a collection of many other factors, such as education, rather than only religion. 

Hong Kong, despite, or perhaps because of, its nonreligiousness, also displays outstanding numbers in term of city safety, human development and sustainability. The list goes on, but it just proves that it is possible and real- istic for a largely atheistic society to be as moral, civilized and advanced as any other societies, no matter what their religiosities are.

https://ffrf.org/images/uploads/fttoday/2016/FT_April_2016.pdf

Inside the 'Fetal Assault Law' Sending Pregnant Women to Prison

Tennessee considers extending a horrific anti-pregnant woman law. 
http://www.alternet.org/inside-fetal-assault-law-sending-pregnant-people-prison

Week In The News: SCOTUS Nominee, Big Primaries, Russia Leaves Syria (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

A Supreme Court nominee this week, and instant battle lines. No go, no hearings, says the Republican Senate. It’s your job, says the President. We’ll see. In primaries, Clinton and Trump go big. Trump warns of “riots” if he doesn’t get the nomination. We’ve got tough hearings on Flint’s water. Prison time for a young American in North Korea. A subway shutdown in the nation’s capital. An NFL V.P. links football and brain injury. And John Kerry calls the ISIS killing “genocide.” This hour On Point, our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2016/03/18/scotus-primary-election-2016-clinton-trump-sanders

Florida Cuts Ties With Private Prison Company That Abused Kids For Decades

Private prison corporations, including the notorious GEO Group and the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), rake in money by requiring states to guarantee that they pay for 90 to 99 percent of the beds, which gives states the incentive to lock up more people. At the same time, the corporations try to minimize costs by under-funding and under-staffing their facilities, leading to poor management and little oversight. That concern for the company’s bottom line sets the stage for a wide range of abuses to occur...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/03/18/3761410/ysi-gets-the-boot-in-florida/

Richard Dreyfuss On Life And Bernie Madoff (Tom Ashbrook, On Point)

Bernie Madoff was the biggest swindler with the biggest Ponzi scheme in American history. Now he’s in prison but back in the public eye in a new made-for-TV drama, played by one of the longest-running marquee names in Hollywood. Actor Richard Dreyfuss made his name as the star of “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus” and more. Now he’s Madoff. And with us. This hour On Point, actor Richard Dreyfuss on a life in film, and the Bernie Madoff story. — Tom Ashbrook
Interview:
http://onpoint.wbur.org/2016/02/04/richard-dreyfuss-bernie-madoff-miniseries

Russian Faces Up to Year in Prison for Denying Existence of God

Russia's Investigative Committee — the equivalent of the FBI — charged Krasnov with "offending believers' feelings," which was criminalized in Russia after a notorious performance by punk band Pussy Riot in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior in February 2012. Two band members were jailed in 2012 for performing an anti-Vladimir Putin song at the cathedral...
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russian-faces-year-prison-denying-existence-god-n530111

CEO Behind West Virginia's Historic Chemical Spill Gets 1 Month In Prison | ThinkProgress

“This defendant is hardly a criminal,” U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston said after handing down the sentence, according to Ward. “I stand by that statement.”
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/02/17/3750629/west-virginia-chemical-spill-sentence/

Here's what the Michigan State Congress was doing instead of solving Flint's water crisis.

Michigan Republicans Pass Bill Making Sodomy A Felony

Republicans in the Michigan Senate have passed a bill making oral or anal sex between consenting adults a felony punishable by 15 years in prison.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2016/02/michigan-republicans-pass-bill-making-sodomy-a-felony/

Part 2: Seth Freed Wessler on Uncovering the Deaths of Dozens at Privatized Immigrant-Only Jails

A shocking new investigation about private prisons has revealed dozens of men have died in disturbing circumstances inside these facilities in recent years. We continue our conversation with journalist Seth Freed Wessler, who spent more than two years fighting in and out of court to obtain more than 9,000 pages of medical records that private prison contractors had submitted to the Bureau of Prisons.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/PvMKWy3XMwQ

Grand Jury Indicts Leader Behind Planned Parenthood Sting Videos

Center for Medical Progress CEO David Daleiden and activist Sandra Merritt each face a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Daleiden also faces a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/center-for-medical-progress-indicted

How The Flint Water Crisis Could Send An Entire Generation To Prison

I talked to a 15-year-old [who] could name eight people — without thinking about it — who had been shot...
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/22/3741585/flint-juvenile-justice-catastrophe/

Iran Releasing 5 American Detainees; America Releasing 7 Iranians

The release, originally reported by Iranian state media, has been confirmed by U.S. officials. Iran is also releasing a fifth American detainee, separate from the exchange...
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/16/463293941/iran-says-its-releasing-four-iranian-american-detainees-in-prison-swap

Tim DeChristopher on Bundy Takeover: Gov't is More Afraid of Civil Disobedience Than Armed Militias

The armed occupation of a federally owned wildlife outpost in remote Oregon has entered its second week. A self-styled right-wing antigovernment militia calling itself the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in support of two ranchers sentenced to prison for setting fires that burned federal land. Leaders of the occupation include Ammon and Ryan Bundy, the sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who refused to pay decades’ worth of cattle grazing fees, prompting a standoff with federal rangers in 2014 in Nevada, during which an armed militia rallied to his support. A recent piece by the website Waging Nonviolence compares the federal government’s handling of the Bundy case and that of Tim DeChristopher, a climate activist who spent 21 months in federal custody for posing as a bidder in 2008 to prevent oil and gas drilling on thousands of acres of land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management in his home state of Utah. DeChristopher joins us to discuss.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/kO2SN5WddYk

3 Anger-Inducing Charts About Kids and Prison

Does the justice system think white kids are more redeemable than black kids?
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/01/disturbing-data-behind-juvenile-life-without-parole

After 28 Years in Prison, Man Falsely Convicted in Botched Investigation to Walk Free

Democracynow.org - A Denver, Colorado, man has spent 28 years in prison based on a dream—and it wasn’t his. Now he could soon be free. In 1989, Clarence Moses-EL, who is African-American, was sentenced to 48 years in prison after a woman said she dreamed he was the man who raped and beat her in the dark. The victim said she was raped in her apartment after a night out drinking at a party. She was beaten so badly during the attack that she suffered broken facial bones and lost the use of one eye. Initially, the victim named three men she had been drinking with as her possible attackers—none of them was Clarence Moses-EL. But police never investigated any of those men, because, a day and a half later, the victim said she had a dream that Moses-EL was the one who raped her. Moses-EL has always maintained his innocence. But the police threw out a rape kit and any possible evidence, like bed sheets and her clothes. This summer, another man confessed to the attack, yet Moses-EL remained in prison. Now a judge has lifted his conviction, but Moses-EL still remains in jail. He could be freed as early as Tuesday, when a bond hearing has been set. The District Attorney’s Office has not yet said if they will attempt to retry him for the crime. We speak with Colorado Independent editor Susan Greene, who has long covered the story, and with Moses-EL’s attorney, Gail Johnson.
Interview:
https://youtu.be/0CXtTS8klPU

"A Question Of Truth" by Old Fart Rants

Donald Trump is a bigger threat to America than ISIS is, and he's doing more to promote recruits to radical Islam than anyone else in the world. He's proposed a total shutdown on all Muslims entering the United States until our leaders figure out what the hell is going on. Well let me explain it to you Donald - it's actually very simple. The problem is religion. We have billions of people living in the 21st century believing Bronze Age fairy tales are real who are more than happy to go to war against anybody who believes different fairy tales than theirs. It all boils down to a question of truth. Remember when Republicans like George Bush and Sarah Palin said that our invasion of Iraq was "God's work."

Remember how we killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims and displaced millions more, all based on lies from Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld? And since you constantly tout your opposition to that war Donald, you of all people should understand why they hate us. Anyone who thinks “they hate us for our freedom” is an idiot. And finally Donald, now that I've explained to you what the hell is going on, and since you like over the top ideas, here's what we do about it. We have Islam and Christianity, or any other religion that's interested, appoint a supreme spokesperson they see as closest to their god. We have them go to the World Court in the Hague, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth on their own holy book, sit on the witness stand, and invoke their god to make a personal appearance like he used to do in their holy books thousands of years ago but stopped for some reason.

If there ever was a time that god needed to show up it's now, so I doubt any real god would snub such an invitation. Each supreme spokesperson will have 20 minutes to have their god show up in person, prove that he created the universe and is still in charge of all of it at all times, and give clear instructions, rules and regulations on how the whole of humanity should live. Whichever spokesperson accomplishes this feat wins, and their religion will be installed as the only religion on the planet. If no spokesperson can accomplish this then all religion will be abolished around the world - people can still believe crazy crap if they want, but no more organized religion – no more tax exemptions for churches, no more influence by any religious beliefs on any governments or laws will be tolerated, and anybody who claims religious beliefs as facts, such as living in god's grace, or having a wonderful afterlife, or wiping out the infidels will be thrown in prison for life for fraud. There you go Donald - that's the root problem and the solution.

And this shouldn’t bother you a bit since you’re only faking being a Christian to get votes. You've heard me say many times that religion rots the mind and is a cancer on society. Religion is a road block to scientific and social progress, and is the number one reason for hatred and conflict - and we're observing that in real time right now. Anyone who can't see that now is a fool. As I said at the top of the video, it's all about truth. If you agree that the definition of truth is that which can be proven to be true, then there is no truth in religion - any religion. Religion, all religions are nothing but a pack of lies. Religion has to go, the sooner the better...
https://youtu.be/81-PuQSBQJI