Tag Archives: power

Did Waterboarding Prevent Terrorism Attacks?

In the wake of the release of the CIA torture memos, the Obama Administration already has its hands full with critics on the left who want senior Bush Administration officials prosecuted for the use of harsh interrogation techniques like water boarding. But thanks to former Vice President Dick Cheney, it has to deal with a different line of attack from the right. The growing chorus claims the Administration selectively chose which CIA memos to declassify, deliberately holding back documents that show “the success of the effort…specifically what we gained as a result of this activity,” as Cheney put it in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity Monday.

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What the World Will Look Like by 2050

A Brief History of the Future: A Brave and Controversial Look at the Twenty-First Century By Jacques Attali Arcade Publishing; 312 pages The Gist: Imagine a world where pirates run amok, blowing themselves up in European city centers; where wars are ignited over lack of drinking water; where a global face-off between Islam and Christianity makes World War II look like a water-balloon fight. According to economist and political scientist Jacques Attali, that is what the future has in store for us by 2025. In the belief that past experiences are indicative future events, Attali combs through the history of human kind, all the way back to Homo Habilis, separating the past into nine distinct periods to isolate “what is possible, what changes and what is unvarying” and applies those trends to the coming century

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Thai anti-government protesters picket summit

Hundreds of anti-government protesters amassed outside a hotel hosting a major Asian summit as they continued their demand Friday for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to step down. Some of the protesters and police engaged in shoving and shouting matches outside the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel in the beach resort city of Pattaya. But the demonstrations have been without incident otherwise.

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Vermont House passes same-sex marriage bill

The Vermont House on Thursday passed a same-sex marriage bill by 95-52, which is not enough of a margin to override a veto promised by the governor. The vote came late in the day after five hours of debate before a crowded chamber, said the group Vermont Freedom To Marry, in a posting on its Web site. “It’s a testament to the power of telling our stories,” said Beth Robinson, a spokeswoman for the group

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G-20 Site: "A Cesspool, Bubbling With the Foul Products of Decomposition"

If you were looking for monuments to global trade, you could do worse than the site in east London playing host to the G-20 summit this week. To the south of the ExCel conference center, where the meeting will take place, lie the vast Royal Victoria docks, built on marshland in 1855 to accommodate the biggest ships of the day and boost the city’s capacity for maritime trade.

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