MetaFilter posts tagged with confession

Fumiko's Confession

flatluigi — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:18:22 -0800

Fumiko's Confession - a short film animated completely by one person. (via)

Gathering intelligence vs. Manufacturing intelligence: the uses of torture

mecran01 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:55:10 -0800

Col. Steven Kleinman, interrogation specialist, was interviewed yesterday on NPR about the use of torture in Iraq: NPR: And these harsh interrogation methods had been used by the Soviets and the Chinese to get people to say things that weren't true? Kleinman:That's true. And it's not just harsh physically, but I think the element that was more persuasive was their ability to induce what is known as debility, depression and dread through emotional and psychological techniques that profoundly altered somebody's ability to answer questions truthfully even if they wanted to. It truly undermined their ability to recall, so therefore it would call into question its efficacy in an intelligence-based interrogation. [link] . Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind claims that the torture was not intended to gather intelligence, but to create it: The White House simply wouldn‘t take no for an answer and it went with another method. Torture was the method. “Get me a confession, I don‘t care how you do it.” And that bled all the way through the government, both on the CIA side and the Army side. It‘s extraordinary.[link] (via Hullabaloo) Interestingly, research into methods used by North Korea against U.S. soldiers omit discussing torture, because it wasn't necessary:
I have not included physical torture as a general category in this outline, despite the fact that many of our prisoners of war did en- counter physical torture and despite the fact that a few of the specific measures in the outline may involve physical pain. I have omitted tor- ture from the outline to emphasize that inflicting physical pain is not a necessary nor particularly effective method of inducing compliance. (1957) [link] Additional reading

So There

cjorgensen — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:03:13 -0800

Do you have something to say, but never had the chance to? Founded in late 1997 and originally published August 15th, 1998, So There has stood as a testament to your daily lives for over five years.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the plurality of clients was business administration majors

Afroblanco — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:45:02 -0800

Remember Laura K. Pahl, the girl who was famously humiliated for trying to buy a term paper over the internet? Perhaps she should have gone to a professional.

Torture is a blunt instrument

Kirth Gerson — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:37:18 -0800

Five myths about torture In a Washington Post column, Darius Rejali, author of Torture and Democracy, explains why five beliefs about torture are wrong. In a Harper's interview, he answers six questions. "Yes, torture does migrate, and there are some good examples of it both in American and French history. The basic idea here is that soldiers who get ahead torturing come back and take jobs as policemen, and private security, and they get ahead doing the same things they did in the army. And so torture comes home. Everyone knows waterboarding, but no one remembers that it was American soldiers coming back from the Philippines that introduced it to police in the early twentieth century." "The historical record is clear. Waterboarding is torture, and yes focusing on just waterboarding is a distraction. Waterboarding is serious, but only the tip of the iceberg. There have only been three documented cases of waterboarding, but the CIA has subjected at least 30 others to “enhanced interrogation” as Director Hayden says, so there are other kinds of techniques as well. And there are unaccounted prisoners last seen in US custody as well as secret prisons out there where these things continue to happen."

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bonaldi — Fri, 29 Oct 2004 13:44:42 -0800

He's back: Bin Laden has released a new tape, where he attacks Bush, claims responsibility for 9/11, backhandledly backs Kerry and warns Americans to take responsibility for safety to themselves. But is it all an elaborate double bluff to make sure Bush gets in (and OBL stays as safe as he is now)?

CSI helped him get away with murder ... but The Passion of the Christ made him confess.

blueshammer — Mon, 29 Mar 2004 13:31:21 -0800

CSI helped him get away with murder ... but The Passion of the Christ made him confess. When did real life jump the shark and become a bad postmodern novel?

Longest serial murder investigation in U.S. history comes to a close.

vito90 — Wed, 05 Nov 2003 11:57:12 -0800

"I killed so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight." With those chilling words, Gary Leon Ridgway (better known as the Green River Killer), plead guilty to the murder of 48 women. Previous discussion here...

negroplease — Fri, 06 Sep 2002 18:09:32 -0800

Central Park Rape Case Convictions in Question. Does the blogging community care? With daypop having technical difficulties, its hard to tell. Although, one voice expressed his opinion back in June before these current revelations. (question pondered at uppity negro)