They tortured the detainees to get claims of plots against the US. And then–even though the detainees insisted they had stopped planning against the US–they used intelligence about canceled or absurd plots to write scary memos so they could continue to use their illegal wiretap program.

I’m willing to accept that mechanical failure was to blame. I’m no longer willing to accept the pleadings of those who want to defend this action that it’s not technically a war. This may have happened in a training exercise in the same place over the Mediterranean, but we know that it happens during a war.

For so many weeks now we’ve been talking about the revolts, the people’s demonstrations – from Tunisia and Egypt to Bahrain, Iraq, Syria and Yemen as well as Libya. Much of the video footage we’ve had has been astonishing, raw rough images taken on cell phones and such, quickly uploaded and sent out to the world so we can witness – a demonstration, a brutal crackdown, a moment of victory. But in all of those videos – often taken at extreme risk to the creator – it’s often hard to really see the faces, the people who are turning the world upside down (or right side up perhaps?) They become the “protesters” or the “activists” or the “rebels” Even with their limitations they are so very important as they do bear witness.

Sarah’s videos do something else, something we can too easily miss. She brings us face to face with the individual people in those immense and wondrous crowds, she introduces us to their eyes and their voices, their children and their sorrow.

• Operation Stupid: the shock and awe phase.
• More bad news from Japan.
• T-Paw gets all official…almost.
• Drill baby, drill.
• Third time’s the charm for Angle?

In this time of government retrenchment, bombing people overseas is still considered thrifty.

Daniel Powter – Bad Day

The Real Bush Doctrine, of course, is the principle that once you are in power, you don’t actually have to give a tinker’s damn about what the public wants.

This week marks the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. A documentary on HBO tonight will remember the event, where 146 garment workers died in a fire at their factory. The managers of the factory had locked the doors to the exits, a typical tactic to force long workdays in a time before laws outlawing the practice. The Triangle Fire led directly to worker safety laws and the growth of the ILGWU garment worker’s union.

The one year anniversary of the Obama health law is March 23rd. While the law is not fully implemented, the indications from its first year are that it is falling far short of its goals and may not result in any increase in health insurance coverage, control of the costs or improvement in health in the U.S. Further, health insurance coverage is becoming less adequate while getting more expensive — unaffordable insurance will be the norm in America. The insurance industry needs to be removed from its role in health care if the United States is ever going to cover everyone in America. Improved Medicare for all in a single payer system is the only solution to the health care crisis.

In Bob Dylan Revealed, due out May 1st on DVD, director Joel Gilbert delves into the the phases of Dylan’s five decade career in a series of interviews with those close to the artist and those affected by him.