Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
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Tuesday, May. 11, 2004on "reality" and Reality
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�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
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--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
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"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
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Politics without principles,
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--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
So Jeri has obviously been rather traumatized by this series. Apparently, having her relationships with other Survivors exploited for television didn�t set very well with her. I believe her words last night were something along the lines of: �You�re using our lives for entertainment!� Um...eyah...isn�t that the whole concept of reality television?
It would also appear that �reality� series� often like to morph peoples� personalities in to fitting a stereotype or caricature. You know�sometimes, they�ll edit certain aspects of your behavior, your personality and your conversations so that it makes for an exciting story line. I think most of us realize this fact, but I can understand why someone on a reality show would be�well, perhaps surprised at how they come off on television. You know�once. So I can understand why Jeri might have been upset after her first Survivor-outing, since she was portrayed as �The Bitch.� But then why would she go on the All-Stars edition, only to whine and complain about the very things that drove her crazy after her first show?
Aside from Jeri�s histrionics, the finale was�well, kind of odd, in truth. Here are some of my thoughts:
~ Big Tom is just a crazy whack-job nut. Why does one of the few representatives of southern people on television have to come off as a complete idiot and crazy person?
~ Shii-Ann was right in her last speech � they�ve all stabbed at least one person in the back at least once and they just need to grow the fuck up and realize this was a game and shame on so many of them for trusting Boston Rob so completely (if they really did trust him so much. I don�t think they really trusted him or even felt all that betrayed. They all know what kind of game this is �they�re just full of sour grapes because they lost). I happen to pretty much love Lex and I feel bad that he was taken in by Rob�s promises, but get real dude. You�ve been here before. Trust Nobody�at least not entirely. And hey did you know that Lex lives in Santa Cruz?
~ Amber winning: I have little to say about this. Once it came down to her and Boston Rob, I knew she�d win because I figured nobody would vote for Rob (although almost half of them did vote for Rob). I do, however, think she let Rob do all of the dirty work for her throughout the season and if things had been different and they hadn�t fallen in love, she would have lied just as much and broken just as many alliances as he did. She just didn�t have to, because she rode on his coattails the whole way. Since Rob rocked in the challenges and really did just play the game better than everyone else, he really deserved to win. He just didn�t because he pissed too many people off. Of course, now they�re getting married so all the money stays in the family anyway.
~ I think Amber looks very odd in real life and with makeup on. I still don�t understand why she is constantly referred to as �beautiful Amber� or ultra-hot, but I must say she�s much cuter living out in the middle of nowhere with no makeup and next-to-no hygiene habits. For that matter, so is Boston Rob.
~ I have fondness for neither Amber nor Boston Rob. I thought they were both arrogant, manipulative jerks whom obviously nobody could trust. I�m sure that�s why they did well in this game.
~ Crazy-Susan has had an amazing amount of plastic surgery and yet still comes off like trailer-park-trash. Some things go deeper than the skin, Susan.
~ I predict that Rupert will be the winner of the extra $1 million being rewarded to the winner of the contest presently being run at cbs.com.
In other �reality� news: I kind of felt bad for Leah from the Real World team getting forced in to the Inferno�but not really. Because, even tough CT was an ass in the way he conveyed it all (that CT really seems like a complete asshole, I must say. Good thing he has that body or he�d never get a woman), the truth is that Leah was totally dead weight and inevitably would have slowed them down or not been able to finish their last mission and let�s face it � there�s a whole lotta money at stake here. So now it�s Coral�s turn to face the inferno, but she won the �Lifesaver� last night and so can choose someone to go in her place�I pick David, who is just shy of Leah when it comes to being dead weight on that team.
I do think that Road Rules is stupid for trying repeatedly to get rid of Catie, though. Catie is a firecracker and she keeps proving that she deserves to be there�and they keep shitting on her and trying to force her in to the inferno and, hopefully, home. Catie may be their weakest link, physically, but she�s not so weak that she�s gonna lose the whole thing for them...unless of course they keep pissing her off, in which case she may lose just to get back at them all. Cuz she�s like that.
You know...when I look back on this stuff one day, when I�m old and gray, I will have no idea what the fuck this is about and who these people are.
Speaking of asses, though � how �bout that Mike? Man, he was an a-hole last night. See, his little girlfriend Kendal was supposed to go to the Inferno for the Road Rules team. He didn�t want her to, of course, because if you go to the inferno and lose, you go home. She told him she wouldn�t go (she had the Lifesaver and could have chosen to save herself). Well then, when everything was on the line and she had to make a decision, she decided to go to the Inferno anyway. Mike flipped his nut completely because she had lied to him.
Gee...overreact much? I mean, he completely freaked the fuck out! Not exactly a stable character, that Mike...this isn�t the first time he�s flipped out like that on national television, either. And then the stupid (but very sweet) girl took him back after she had won the Inferno competition and he apparently apologized.
Oh, the things we put up with when we�re young.
So aside from watching reality television, I didn�t do much this past weekend. John came down and we went for 6 mile walks on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Um...that was pretty much it; aside from cooking, cleaning and fornicating. I am going up to see him in Santa Cruz this coming weekend and I am very much looking forward to it. Since we�ve had such lovely weather lately, we�re going to spend the day riding up the coast on his bike. Yee-ha!
~~~
I hardly think that nobody doing anything about Iraqi prisoners being tortured for over a year is the fault of the Red Cross...
Top News
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Red Cross Faces Pressure in Abuse Scandal
GENEVA (AP) - The international Red Cross has been buffeted by demands that it drop its policy of confidentiality in dealing with prisoners in Iraq but says its quiet approach is the best protection for victims of war. . .
The report indicated the abuse went on for more than a year during which the Red Cross repeatedly complained in private, raising the question of whether the agency could have been more effective had it gone public with its findings. . .
The Red Cross report, published in the Wall Street Journal, was a summary of its various attempts in person and in writing from March to November 2003 to get U.S. officials to stop abuses.
Those earlier interventions by the Red Cross far preceded the Pentagon's decision to investigate after a low-ranking U.S. soldier stepped forward in January.
The Red Cross said it wanted to keep the report confidential because it saw U.S. officials making progress in responding to their complaints. . .
Pierre Kraehenbuehl, ICRC director of operations, said last Friday that the neutral agency almost always uses confidential discussions because they achieve results and allow the ICRC to maintain access where it feels most needed - to the prisoners in warfare.
``It is important that someone comes into these places of detention and tries to work concretely on improving their situation and not leaving them to face such a situation alone,'' he added.
[Antonella Notari, chief spokeswoman of the International Committee of the Red Cross] said that all the focus on Iraq has diverted attention from the ICRC's visits to 460,000 detainees in more than 70 countries last year, and they wouldn't be possible without confidentiality.
She said she was reminded of the importance of those visits last week by Souha Bechara, a Lebanese women who was imprisoned for 10 years in southern Lebanon and regarded Red Cross visits as a lifeline.
Bechara was detained starting in 1988 after attempting to kill Gen. Antoine Lahd, commander of Israeli-backed militia in southern Lebanon. She was freed under a deal in which France gave her residency.
Bechara, 37 and now living in Geneva, told the AP that she spent six years in solitary confinement before the Red Cross gained access to her camp.
``In our cells we didn't have water, we didn't have toilets, we just had buckets for our needs,'' she said. ``There were no beds. There were mattresses on the floor, but they were always damp. There was no contact with your family. You were completely cut off from the outside.''
That changed when the ICRC came in and financed improvements to the camp, Bechara said. . .and [they were] based on confidential talks with the Israelis, not public denunciations. . .
**
Oh and while we�re on the subject of the Red Cross� reports about this abuse�see the Smoking Gun website for this lovely story and its accompanying documents:
February report describes brutal U.S. interrogation tactics
May 10 - A Red Cross report contends that mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners was widespread and not just "individual acts" as repeatedly claimed by President George Bush. Noting that various "methods of physical and psychological coercion" used by military officials were "tantamount to torture," the International Committee of the Red Cross concluded that many detainees had been deprived of their liberty in violation of the Geneva Conventions. As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the 24-page ICRC report--which was provided in February to U.S. commanders--concludes that the harsh tactics were directed at Iraqis thought to have an intelligence value. As seen in the [provided] excerpts, the Red Cross report details the interrogation methods used in facilities like the notorious Abu Ghraib prison, where military intelligence officers plied their trade. The ICRC document also describes conditions at Baghdad International Airport, where more than 100 "high value detainees" (think playing card faces) are held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day.
**
BUSH ADMINISTRATION MISLEADING ON PRISONER ABUSE In an attempt to quell growing international controversy last week, President Bush expressed outrage at the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. He told Arab television that he thinks "this is a serious matter" and that "we will fully investigate" (1). However, the President has yet to answer why no action was taken to deal with the problem in the last six months �when the Administration was repeatedly warned of "widespread" abuse (2).
Specifically, The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered a confidential report to the White House earlier this year which "concluded that abuse of prisoners in Iraq in custody of U.S. military intelligence was widespread and in some cases 'tantamount to torture" (3). It also charged coalition forces with "serious violations" of the Geneva Conventions governing treatment of prisoners of war violations that may have been encouraged by Bush's "pre-war decision that the Geneva Conventions didn't apply" to detainees (4). The Red Cross said it had been aware of the situation in Abu Ghraib and "repeatedly asked the U.S. authorities to take corrective action," but were rebuffed (5).
Even top Administration officials were asking the White House to address the situation earlier, but were ignored. The Washington Post reported that "Secretary of State Colin L. Powell urged action in several White House meetings that included Rumsfeld" (6). Similarly, Coalition Provisional Authority chief Paul Bremer "repeatedly raised the issue of prison conditions as early as last fall - both in one-on-one meetings with Rumsfeld and other administration leaders, and in group meetings with the President's inner circle on national security" (7). But "the Pentagon repeatedly failed to act" (8). At the same time, the Red Cross was told by intelligence officials that the abuse it witnessed was just "part of the process" (9).
Sources:
1. President Bush Meets with Al Arabiya Television on Wednesday, 05/05/2004
2. "Red Cross Found Widespread Abuse Of Iraqi Prisoners", Wall Street Journal, 05/07/2004
3. ibid
4. "Pentagon intelligence chief appears before Senate panel", Fox News, 05/11/2004
5. "Red Cross says it repeatedly warned about jail", Reuters, 05/06/2004
6. "Bush Privately Chides Rumsfeld", Washington Post, 05/06/2004
7. "Bush Apologizes for Abuse of Prisoners", Washington Post, 05/07/2004
8. "Bush Privately Chides Rumsfeld", Washington Post, 05/06/2004
9. "Red Cross Was Told Iraq Abuse 'Part of the Process", Reuters, 05/10/2004
Visit Misleader.org for more about Bush Administration distortion
**
So hey � do ya�ll remember my ranting and raving for weeks last year about treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay? Anyone else sensing a trend here? When an administration publicly declares itself immune to the dictates of the Geneva Convention and fights to exclude itself from the International Criminal Court (a permanent international institution dedicated to trying cases of genocide and other crimes against humanity), why are we then all surprised that this shit is happening? �Isolated incidents� my ass�
~~~
Word of the Day for Tuesday May 11, 2004
conflagration kon-fluh-GRAY-shuhn, noun:
1. A large and destructive fire; a general burning.
2. Something like a conflagration; conflict; war.
~~~
��we agreed that we�re getting along really well and there�s no real reason to stop doing what we�re doing. We get a little nookie every once in a while and since neither one of us are seeing anyone else there�s no problem.�
- - from food, food and more FOOD
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