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  • War Criminals?

    John Yoo, page 251

    Jay Bybee, page 255

    Steven Bradbury, page 258

    Michael Chertoff, Adam Ciongoli, John Ashcroft, page 259

    OPR Report On Torture Memos.

    Based on the results of our investigation, we concluded that former Deputy AAG John Yoo committed intentional professional misconduct when he violated his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice.

    We found that former AAG Jay Bybee committed professional misconduct when he acted in reckless disregard of his duty to exercise independent legal judgment and render thorough, objective, and candid legal advice.

    We did not fmd that the other Department officials involved in this matter committed professional misconduct in this matter.

    Sadly, this is a document that looks only at whether Office of Legal Counsel staff performed according to professional standards as lawyers. Whatever their “professional responsibilities,” it is clear from even my cursory look that these government officials were participating in the justification of torture.

    Notably absent are then-President Bush, Vice President Cheney, congressional leadership, CIA personnel, and members of the military who may have been complicit in our nation’s descent into barbarism in the name of their “war on terror.”

    (A tip of the hat to Andrew Sullivan.)

  • Blog Swarm on DADT

    I left a message on the HRC website. It took 30 seconds.

    [C]ontact the Human Rights Campaign on behalf of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

    OUR MESSAGE TO HRC IS SIMPLE:

    Publicly demand that President Obama take the lead in getting DADT repealed this year.

    1) That means the President needs to state publicly that he wants Congress to repeal DADT this year; and

    2) The President needs to take the lead in working with Congress to make sure the repeal happens.

    HRC Front Desk: (202) 628‑4160
    TTY: (202) 216‑1572
    Toll-Free: (800) 777‑4723

    HRC Web site comment page.
    General membership email at hrc: membership@hrc.org

    via Take Action on DADT — Join Our Blog Swarm: Call HRC Today — Towleroad, More than gay news. More gay men.

  • Today in Boston

    image

    via my G1 Android phone and the new WP app.

  • Watch: Obama Dances Around Same-Sex Marriage at Town Hall — Towleroad, More than gay news. More gay men

    [I]t makes sense for us to take a leadership role in ensuring that people are treated the same. —President Barack Obama, January 28, 2010

    (via Towleroad.)

    So, if a state’s laws say it is legal, and a couple’s church says it’s moral, and a same-sex couple gets married, why isn’t their marriage recognized by the federal government? And why aren’t you working to change that?

  • I’m very sad about this

    Early morning, Wednesday, 27 January

    Just in from Kathleen Bartholomew, Kage Baker’s sister and care giver:

    Kage’s doctor has informed us she has reached the end of useful treatment. The cancer has slowed, but not stopped. It has continued to spread at an unnatural speed through her brain, her lungs and — now — reappeared in her abdomen. It is probably a matter of a few weeks, at most.

    Kage has fought very hard, but this is just too aggressive and mean. She’s very, very tired now, and ready for her Long Sleep. She’s not afraid.

    We’ve been in a motel the last week or so, in order to complete her therapy. I’ll have her home in her own bedroom by the weekend, though, so end of life care can take place in more comfortable surroundings.

    via Green Man Review and John Scalzi.

    There are two intertwined sources of grief in this news.

    First, I love Kage Baker’s books, especially the Company novels.

    Second, my late friend Barbara and I read most of them together as they came out, and they were central to our recognition that we turned time and again to unorthodox time-travel books. (Other notable authors in that category are Kim Stanley Robinson and Connie Willis.)

    And now not only will I not be reading new Kage Baker novels with Barbara, I won’t be reading any at all. Barbara’s last weeks at home in hospice care were rich and filled with loving friends and family, and she simply never woke up from an afternoon nap. My prayers are with Kage, her sister, their family and friends, as she continues along the path we will all walk one day.

  • Marching band goodness

    OK Go — This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

  • On the visceral popularity of Avatar

    Sully becomes a stand-in for all of us—the post-industrial, post-blue collar office worker stuck in our civilized ways. We are effectively paralyzed too, chained to our desks and DSL lines, far from Eden, far from nature, far from the magical thinking of yore.

    via Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Avatar is about transformation.

  • I want one!

    Good morning, sir. Stephen Fry as my valet.

  • Conservatives destroying marriage

    Ed Gillespie, former counselor to President George W. Bush, whose wife Cathy has been friends with the Roves for 20 years, said: “It’s always sad to see a marriage end. These are two very good people, who came to a not-easy decision. But they care a lot about each other, and they love their son. And they’ll work through it.”

    No, working through it usually refers to what you do in order to stay married.

    via Karl Rove granted divorce in Texas — — POLITICO.com.

  • Season’s Greetings!

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You and Yours
    Original image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vintagehalloweencollector/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0