Friday, 29 April 2011

The ongoing release of another large collection of classified documents by WikiLeaks concerning Guatanamo detainees creates a new set of challenges and opportunities for the detainees’ attorneys. But the government says the attorneys cannot discuss those matters in the public domain, even though anyone else can.
Attorney David Remes petitioned a court yesterday to release him from all such restrictions regarding publicly available WikiLeaks documents. His petition (pdf) was posted by Ben Wittes of Lawfare blog.
It was also reported by Scott Shane in the New York Times today, and discussed by Marcy Wheeler at EmptyWheel.
The petition argues that not only are continuing controls on publicly available information futile, they are unjust. That is, they inhibit the attorney’s ability to act in the best interests of his clients by correcting errors or identifying exculpatory factors.
A response by the government will follow.
Steven Aftergood @'Secrecy News'

Word cloud and Word document for 2011 White Paper on National Defense

White Paper National Defense 2011
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Twitter Ordered to Hand Over Personal Details of UK Politician’s Account

DJ echochorus - How I Ended This Summer Mix

Tracklist:
01 relapxych.0 – city nightlight II
02 relapxych.0 – ripples on the surface of time
03 bvdub – different place
04 bvdub – nothing you can say
05 skyscraper – shaping the sky
06 cv313 – beyond the clouds
07 bvdub – i knew you then
08 hallucinator – hallucinator
09 the orb – baghdad batteries
10 bvdub – a silent reign
11 bvdub – isolation’s embrace

DOWNLOAD
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Thursday, 28 April 2011

Guantanamo's Child Soldiers

Policy Files: Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble Eagle

OEF ONE SCF

This 47-page document, published on March 28, 2002, "provides instructions and guidance on the classification of information involved in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble Eagle," the former being "the war on terrorism outside the United States," and the latter referring to "US military operations in support of homeland defense and civil support to federal, state and local agencies in the United States." As such, it provides exhaustive lists of what the classification procedures are for a vast range of eventualities.

Download the PDF file

@'WikiLeaks'

charlieconnelly Charlie Connelly

I refuse to accept this wedding is a 'fairytale' until the Archbishop of Canterbury is eaten by a wolf wearing a lace cap and shawl.

ROFL!!!

AdamBienkov Adam Bienkov

Sleeping rough before protesting against the govt: illegal and wrong. Sleeping rough before bowing your head to the Royals: a patriotic duty

WikiLeaks: The Guantánamo files database

The Mark of Cain (A documentary by Alix Lambert about the culture of Russian prison tattoos)

The Mark of Cain documents the fading art form and language of Russian criminal tattoos, formerly a forbidden topic in Russia. The now vanishing practice is seen as reflecting the transition of the broader Russian society. Filmed in some of Russia;s most notorious prisons, including the fabled White Swan, the interviews with prisoners, guards, and criminologists reveal the secret language of The Zone and The Code of Thieve.
The prisoners of the Stalinist Gulag, or "Zone," as it is called, developed a complex social structure (documented as early as the 1920s) that incorporated highly symbolic tattooing as a mark of rank. The existence of these inmates at prisons and forced labor camps was treated by the state as a deeply-kept secret. In the 1990s, Russia's prison population exploded, with overcrowding among the worst in the world. Some estimates suggest that in the last generation over thirty million of Russia's inmates have had tattoos even though the process is illegal inside Russian prisons.
The Mark of Cain examines every aspect of the tattooing, from the actual creation of the tattoo ink, interviews with the tattooers and soberly looks at the double-edged sword of prison tattoos. In many ways, they were needed to survive brutal Russian prisons, but mark the prisoner for life, which complicates any readmission to normal society they may have. Tattoos expressly identify what the convict has been convicted of, how many prisons he;s been in and what kind of criminal he is. Tattoos, essentially, tell you everything you need to know about that person without ever asking. Each tattoo represents a variety of things; cupolas on churches represent the number of convictions a convict has, epaulets tattooed on shoulders represent the rank of the individual in the crime world and so on and so forth.
The unflinching look at the Russian prison system is slowly woven into the film. Cells meant to hold 15 hold 35 to 45 men. Drug resistant tuberculosis runs rampant through the prison populations and prisoners are served three meals a day of watery slop. There are allegations of brutality by the guards. As these men deal with pestilence, violence and grossly substandard living conditions, the prison guards and administration put on a talent show.
The film served as source material for David Cronenberg's 2007 dramatic movie, Eastern Promises. He commented, "This is a very courageous documentary on the tattooing subculture in Russian prisons. I don't know how it ever got made, but it's beautiful, scary, and heartbreaking."
(Wiki)
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Saw this when it was on SBS many years ago. Starting at 11:47 check out the work of Aleksander Borisov, one of the most amazing tattooists ever...