Board index › Topical Discussion › Politics, Philosophy, and Religion

Terror Suspect Claims Torture by Americans

Page 1 of 2 [ 22 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

Previous topic | Next topic

JonnyBGoode
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Mar 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 820
Location: Long Beach, CA

15 May 2007, 4:52 pm

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272492,00.html

Quote:
An accused enemy combatant held at Guantanamo Bay told a military hearing he was physically as well as mentally tortured there by having to read a newsletter full of 'crap,' being forced to use unscented deodorant and shampoo and having to play sports with a ball that would not bounce.


Oh, the humanities! :cry:

:roll:



eipsa
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 119

15 May 2007, 5:09 pm

JonnyBGoode wrote:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,272492,00.html

Quote:
An accused enemy combatant held at Guantanamo Bay told a military hearing he was physically as well as mentally tortured there by having to read a newsletter full of 'crap,' being forced to use unscented deodorant and shampoo and having to play sports with a ball that would not bounce.


Oh, the humanities! :cry:

:roll:


well, foxnews is not exactly known for being unbiased! I'd like to find out what was the real story behind. Possibly he's just gone nuts from being in isolation for too long or something (highly likely).



jimservo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,964
Location: Philadelphia Suburbs

15 May 2007, 6:43 pm

al-Qaida tells it's recruits (they have actual manuals) that are told specifically to allege torture. Which is wonderful since then people who are actually torture are mixed in which people falsely claiming torture to a gullible press.

This guy wasn't tortured though.



JonnyBGoode
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Mar 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 820
Location: Long Beach, CA

15 May 2007, 6:58 pm

eipsa wrote:
well, foxnews is not exactly known for being unbiased!

oh.... and other news sources are? :roll: :lol:



Griff
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Nov 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,312

15 May 2007, 7:01 pm

JonnyBGoode wrote:
eipsa wrote:
well, foxnews is not exactly known for being unbiased!

oh.... and other news sources are? :roll: :lol:
CNN and MSNBC tend to be pretty accurate. Accuracy does have the side-effect of liberal bias, though.



JonnyBGoode
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Mar 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 820
Location: Long Beach, CA

15 May 2007, 7:11 pm

So ... being "unbiased" makes you liberally biased? 8O

(And personally, I don't think I'll ever be able to trust a damn thing CNN ever reports again, not since they admitted not reporting Saddam's atrocities, just to stay on his good side and remain in Iraq.)



jimservo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,964
Location: Philadelphia Suburbs

15 May 2007, 7:24 pm

Griff wrote:
CNN and MSNBC tend to be pretty accurate. Accuracy does have the side-effect of liberal bias, though.


Explain, please.



Griff
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Nov 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,312

15 May 2007, 7:50 pm

JonnyBGoode wrote:
So ... being "unbiased" makes you liberally biased? 8O
When you ask me a question, I don't tell you something between the truth and a lie in order to avoid bias. If the news were reported accurately and fully, liberals would be the greater beneficiaries.

Quote:
(And personally, I don't think I'll ever be able to trust a damn thing CNN ever reports again, not since they admitted not reporting Saddam's atrocities, just to stay on his good side and remain in Iraq.)
For the curious, here is the actual letter and several reflections on the topic from a multitude of sources:

http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/cnnexec.htm



Griff
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Nov 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,312

15 May 2007, 7:52 pm

jimservo wrote:
Griff wrote:
CNN and MSNBC tend to be pretty accurate. Accuracy does have the side-effect of liberal bias, though.


Explain, please.
Again, I don't tell you something between the truth and a lie in order to avoid "bias." I tell the truth, as fully and objectively as I can. It's gotten me into more trouble than you can imagine. Honesty doesn't freaking pay.



jimservo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,964
Location: Philadelphia Suburbs

15 May 2007, 8:11 pm

Griff wrote:
Again, I don't tell you something between the truth and a lie in order to avoid "bias." I tell the truth, as fully and objectively as I can. It's gotten me into more trouble than you can imagine. Honesty doesn't freaking pay.


Okay, so then are you arguing that a liberal-bias equals the truth, and a conservative-bias equals lying? I don't want to put words in your mouth.

Let me try to pose specific examples, Fox has news programs and Fox has opinion shows (the same way with CNN and MSNBC). Do you believe that right-leaning Fox's news shows (I actually specifically think of one show: Special Report with Brite Hume, more then any other) are lying, or essentially lying in choice of it's stories and/or do you think on Fox's opinion shows do you believe their hosts are lying or rather perhaps just plain wrong?

ADDENDUM: I also very much believe that journalists should be honest and fact-based, and perhaps not coincidently, watch very little television news.



Griff
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Nov 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,312

15 May 2007, 8:40 pm

jimservo wrote:
Okay, so then are you arguing that a liberal-bias equals the truth, and a conservative-bias equals lying?
No. I was saying that accuracy tends to have a liberal bias.

Quote:
I don't want to put words in your mouth.
You just did.

Quote:
Let me try to pose specific examples, Fox has news programs and Fox has opinion shows (the same way with CNN and MSNBC). Do you believe that right-leaning Fox's news shows (I actually specifically think of one show: Special Report with Brite Hume, more then any other) are lying, or essentially lying in choice of it's stories and/or do you think on Fox's opinion shows do you believe their hosts are lying or rather perhaps just plain wrong?
I've actually never heard of Brite Hume, so I really couldn't say. The last time I tuned into Fox News for more than a minute was a few hours after the Virginia Tech massacre. Their coverage of it was very insensitive and exploitative. I eventually got disgusted and turned it back to ABC News.

Quote:
ADDENDUM: I also very much believe that journalists should be honest and fact-based, and perhaps not coincidently, watch very little television news.
I'm thinking of just cancelling my service, actually, but sometimes I leave ABC News on for a while.



headphase
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 709
Location: NC, USA

15 May 2007, 10:23 pm

JonnyBGoode wrote:
eipsa wrote:
well, foxnews is not exactly known for being unbiased!

oh.... and other news sources are? :roll: :lol:

Other news sources don't have "Fair and Balanced" as their doctrine



jimservo
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 11 Jun 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,964
Location: Philadelphia Suburbs

15 May 2007, 10:51 pm

headphase wrote:
Other news sources don't have "Fair and Balanced" as their doctrine


They should dump it. However other news sources claim they are objective, which they are not (to different degrees).

Griff wrote:
No. I was saying that accuracy tends to have a liberal bias.


What is accuracy and why would accuracy have a liberal bias? More basically, what do you mean by liberal?

Griff wrote:
You just did.


Forgive me, I wasn't precise enough in my wording. I was attempting to infer what you meant, apparently incorrectly.

Griff wrote:
I've actually never heard of Brite Hume, so I really couldn't say.


He is a former correspondent for ABC News, and long ago was a writer for the radical Ramparts magazine, but has shifted right politically and joined Fox as it's lead anchor for it's 6-7PM news broadcast and easily most informing show. Although to be honest I haven't watched it much at all in more then a year. I get most of my news online since I have access to newspapers, online journals, ect...

Griff wrote:
he last time I tuned into Fox News for more than a minute was a few hours after the Virginia Tech massacre. Their coverage of it was very insensitive and exploitative.


It's possible. The cable news, although not exclusively, are so driven to get content they attempted to do things like get on the scene reporting from people who were had been injured. I thought it was inappropriate as well, although Fox was not alone, left-leaning MSNBC, and CNN also engaged in the practice. Another major issue is highly speculative reporting based on few facts. Also, that evening, experts with highly questionable opinions showed up on each network. I seem to recall the most offensive to my tastes were on Larry King Live.



skafather84
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 20 Mar 2006
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,848
Location: New Orleans, LA

16 May 2007, 2:32 pm

not reported by fox news: they also took away photos of his daughter, gave him the wrong prescription strength glasses and didn't allow him recreation a lot of times.



Griff
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Nov 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,312

16 May 2007, 4:10 pm

jimservo wrote:
headphase wrote:
Other news sources don't have "Fair and Balanced" as their doctrine


They should dump it. However other news sources claim they are objective, which they are not (to different degrees).
Man, I completely agree with this statement. Any news agency's report is going to be based upon their subjective understanding of matters. They may be completely convinced that what they're saying is objectively true, but it happens to be the case that their perception is going to be colored by their own preconceptions and political leanings.

Quote:
Griff wrote:
No. I was saying that accuracy tends to have a liberal bias.


What is accuracy and why would accuracy have a liberal bias? More basically, what do you mean by liberal?
My views are based on information that I am completely convinced is accurate and reasoning that I earnestly believe is sound. My views have a propensity for being liberal, so reporting that I hold to be accurate is likely to favor the political left.

Quote:
Forgive me, I wasn't precise enough in my wording. I was attempting to infer what you meant, apparently incorrectly.
Oh, excuse me. I took it the wrong way. I understand.

Quote:
Griff wrote:
he last time I tuned into Fox News for more than a minute was a few hours after the Virginia Tech massacre. Their coverage of it was very insensitive and exploitative.


It's possible. The cable news, although not exclusively, are so driven to get content they attempted to do things like get on the scene reporting from people who were had been injured. I thought it was inappropriate as well, although Fox was not alone, left-leaning MSNBC, and CNN also engaged in the practice.
Well, yes, and NBC was a bit off-base in showing the attacker's video. The fellow had obviously been subject to abuse by his peers, but the manner in which he chose to vent was tasteless and inappropriate. Fox, however, was pretty tasteless in making a dramatization of the events mere hours after the killings, complete with slow-mo cut scenes. They openly used it as entertainment fodder, and it disgusted me a great deal. They used the scene of a horrible catastrophe as a hollywood set.

Quote:
Another major issue is highly speculative reporting based on few facts. Also, that evening, experts with highly questionable opinions showed up on each network. I seem to recall the most offensive to my tastes were on Larry King Live.
Larry King is still alive??? That guy was a geriatric case when I was a toddler!



Griff
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Nov 2006
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,312

16 May 2007, 4:15 pm

skafather84 wrote:
not reported by fox news: they also took away photos of his daughter, gave him the wrong prescription strength glasses and didn't allow him recreation a lot of times.
Well, yeah. It's a military prison, and the guy is probably an innocent civilian who's never endured the slightest hardship since the day he was born.