David Johnston & Mark Mazzetti, "A Window Into C.I.A.'s Embrace of Secret Jails," in The New York Times, August 13, 2009, at p. A1. (Indictment of persons arranging for construction of C.I.A. secret torture prisons all over the world for their criminal frauds resulting in massive thefts of U.S. taxpayer dollars. "Deuce Martinez"? Xanadu?)
August 13, 2009 at 1:13 P.M. "Errors" inserted and corrected.
I cannot see my books on-line. One book is suppressed. No images can be posted at blogger. MSN groups is "closed," I am told. Harassment and obstructions to writing are continuous. I will continue to write. I will find multiple computers to post items on-line.
July 22, 2009 at 10:26 A.M. New "errors" inserted and corrected.
March 10, 2009 at 12:35 P.M. More "errors" inserted by protected New Jersey criminals. ("Does Senator Menendez Have Mafia Friends" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
March 1, 2009 at 4:38 P.M. I was obstructed twice when I tried to access MSN today. However, although I cannot reach MSN groups, I have begun a blog -- with images -- at MSN http://www.juan/ (I believe.) Slowly, gradually, with great difficulty because of the various harassment efforts being made, I will reproduce the contents of my group at this blog. I may create another group, also with images, at Yahoo -- perhaps "Yahoo Groups" will then "close."
If my group at MSN, Critique, still exists, I urge you to visit that site. A class action law suit has been filed against North Bergen, Union City, Weehawken, West New York and Guttenberg by four individuals and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 2007. A federal judge has allowed the law suit to proceed. Appeals are pending, but it is likely that the matters will be litigated in federal court. I believe plaintiffs will win a substantial settlement. These towns "do not hire enough minority candidates" for their Fire Departments or other positions. Tricia Tirella, "North Hudson to Appeal NAACP Suit, Hiring Freeze," in The North Bergen Reporter, March 1, 2009, p. 1. (Suggesting conspiracies to violate civil rights.) I am shocked that this item appeared in the "alleged" house organ of the political mob, The North Bergen Reporter. Next the Jersey Journal will actually begin to cover political corruption.
An "error" was inserted overnight in the foregoing paragraph. My response will be to focus on judicial sex lives and further allegations of corruption against New Jersey politicians and the state's disgraced judiciary. I have reason to believe and hope that several more class action law suits will be filed against these towns -- and Hudson County -- based on a pattern of racial and other forms of discrimination, theft of public funds, corruption and incompetence at the local prosecutor's office and among the tainted judges of New Jersey. New Jersey is still a national humiliation for the United States of America.
More than 500,000 children have been murdered -- so far -- by or as a result of the U.S. military actions in the Far East. As I write these words, I cannot be certain of whether I will be able to post them because of the harassment and censorship that I encounter, every day, in a country that proclaims the Constitutional protection of privacy and free speech. My e-mails are still compromised. Using the Internet is difficult. My books are suppressed, dissemination of my written work is made very difficult or prevented. I will continue to write, delighting in the creative opportunities offered by a free society -- even to tortured intellectuals and dissidents.
How can anyone in the world believe America's promise of freedom of speech, privacy, rights of conscience and dissent when critics (like me) are suppressed, silenced, harassed and subjected to great personal pressures for expressing "radical" views?
Attacks against this essay, harassment, deletion of letters, defacements and vandalism will be constant. I will do my best to defend this text and all of my other writings. I am unable to see my books online or to be certain whether they continue to exist as I wrote them. I cannot post images at my blogs nor can I be sure whether MSN Groups will continue to exist beyond February, 2009 or whether I can continue to protect my computer from one day to the next. I will do my best to keep writing. I cannot say how many essays have been damaged overnight. Renewal of my security system was a war since I found myself knocked off the Internet, repeatedly.
January 6, 2009 at 7:53 A.M. "errors" were inserted in the foregoing paragraph. I have now corrected them. My security system was briefly disabled last night. I cannot say how many essays have been vandalized.
The process of awakening to one's political reality is painful and enlightening. I am still a believer in the values of the American Constitution. I am accurately described as an expert in the legal system and political structures of American society who -- foolishly and for too long -- accepted the pronouncements of authority figures, such as elected officials, judges, supreme courts, or academia concerning the workings of power in the United States. The reality of tainted power and corruption in U.S. politics and law cannot be imagined in American academia. Other countries are less surprised than we are by recent revelations concerning torture of U.S. detainess and massive corruption as well as legal incompetence in America.
The experiences of the past twenty years have taught me a new view of law -- especially the last ten of those years, which have followed upon my severing of all formal ties with the legal hierarchy. I now aim to make use of my free speech rights to advocate for social justice. As a result, I have learned that much of America's legal system is a cruel lie for the vast majority of persons who are victimized by that system.
In a society guaranteeing my rights to freedom of speech and privacy, I have spent hours today fighting government-protected hackers and obstructions to reach my sites and attempt to communicate. My writings are censored or suppressed. I am relegated to silence and oblivion, after the destruction of vital personal and commercial relationships. Insults and threats are a minor matter.
No course of cyberwarfare taking place at the center stage of public attention -- brought to the notice of the authorities, PUBLICLY -- can continue (for years) without the cooperation of those very same corrupt public officials who are obviously facilitating the harassment and censorship. This much is clear and difficult to deny.
My literary work is routinely defaced, altered, suppressed, plagiarized. Even at my own expense, my book will not be sent to online booksellers. "Silence, exile and cunning" are the options for dissident writers. James Joyce illustrated his own wisdom by a relentless perseverence in writing his banned masterpiece, Ulysses. Whatever we are able to do to fight unjust power, we must do. However we are able to resist domination, we must resist and persevere in this legal struggle, demonstrating a commitment to the same due process of law that is betrayed by those entrusted with protecting the ideal of limiting state power through law. ("Stuart Rabner and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" and "Maurice J. Gallipoli and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
The choice today is between Guevara's violent revolution against or besides Chomsky's advocacy in the public square and King's non-violent opposition. I fall into the Chomsky-King category of "resistance-fighter, dissident, trouble-maker" or insult of your choice. Feel free to call me whatever you like. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
"The role of the media in contemporary politics forces us to ask what kind of a world and what kind of society we want to live in, and in particular in what sense of democracy do we want this to be a democratic society? ... One conception of democracy has it that a democratic society is one in which the public has the means to participate in some meaningful way in the management of their own affairs and the means of information are open and free. If you look up democracy in the dictionary you'll get a definition something like that."
Noam Chomsky goes on to explain:
"An alternative conception of democracy is that the public must be barred from managing their own affairs and the means of information must be kept narrowly and rigidly controlled. That may sound like an odd conception of democracy, but it's important to understand that it is the prevailing [American] conception." (pp. 5-6.)
"We are here to instruct you," I was told. Criminal violations of rights are said to be "for your own good." Recourse to the legal system is (usually) an absurd waste of time. The criminal in this instance is the legal system of America's most corrupt jurisdiction, New Jersey. Hypocrisy and cynicism are naked and visible in these daily encounters with America's protected government terrorists. What can Palestinians or others in the world believe about America's intentions or sincerity when it comes to questions of human rights and freedom of expression anywhere in the world? Not very much.
Secretary of State Clinton must be encountering these questions and issues during her visit to Egypt. I write this comment and revisions on March 2, 2009. I hope that persons in that country are aware of -- or witnesses -- to my daily experience of harassment and censorship at the hands of New Jersey officials and Cubanazo thugs. Will we pronounce speeches concerning freedom of speech when we deny that freedom to so many individuals in this country? Mr. Rabner, when will I receive the records and reports prepared by Tuchin and Riccioli or N.J.'s other torturers? Soon? Each day that the cover-up of these atrocities continues is a renewal of the tortures and a further disgrace for your tribunal and yourself. Does this concern you, Mr. Rabner? Will you remain apathetic and silent before such horror?
The events in Gaza over the past week resulted in Israel firing upon medics, UN personnel, humanitarian aid workers, children in a UN school and others, including food suppliers. Protests against these terrible actions have erupted in countries all over the world. The global community's call for a cease fire -- for halting attacks on hospitals and volunteers with emergency supplies -- were ignored by Israel. Compare Taghreed El-Khodary, "In a Hospital Pain, Despair and Defiance," in The New York Times, January 9, 2009, at p. A21 with Ethan Bronner, "Aid Groups Rebuke Israel Over Conditions in Gaza," in The New York Times, January 9, 2009, at p. A1. I believe this disdain for world opinion was a mistake by Israel.
My posting of images from this conflict and my opinions may have caused some "officials" in New Jersey to obstruct my access to MSN groups, use of images, increased defacements of my writings, and resulted in other attacks against me and my work. I am unable to access MSN groups. ("Deborah T. Poritz and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" and "Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey.")
August 13, 2009 at 1:24 P.M. "Errors" inserted in the foregoing paragraph since my previous review of this essay have now been corrected. We must expect that they will be reinserted by New Jersey's cybercriminals. The goal of these tactics is to maximize frustration effects in order to discourage criticisms of government officials in Trenton. Hence, continuing denials of publication opportunities and suppressions of written works (by me) in America.
March 20, 2009 at 12:25 P.M. new "errors" and defacements of essays today. I will do my best to correct essays damaged by New Jersey's protected mafiosos.
The world-wide call upon Israel (Hamas was included in the resolution to convey an impression of fairness) to stop the bombings of civilians -- after several days of pounding a defenseless civilian population -- were greeted with indifference. Israeli air raids continue. The U.S. "abstained." Otherwise, this UN resolution was unanimous because it reflected the opinion of the global community concerning the "terrorism" of these policies in Gaza that were a response, allegedly, to terrorism.
When people questioning one's ethics engage in public criminality, when men and women wearing (also defecating upon) judicial robes in New Jersey participate in a cover-up of ATROCITY, one's only recourse is laughter and persistence in struggle. Right to know laws and open file policies, ethics and discovery rules are flagrantly violated by persons commenting on my ethics, as New Jersey's semi-illiterate "judges" evaluate my competence and intelligence.
I wonder whether any of my former debating partners at The Philosophy Cafe were members of the bar in New Jersey or elsewhere? Care to return to the joust? I am always available for a rematch, if you care for one. Stuart? Anne Milgram? Debbie? OAE? I will be delighted to debate these issues on-line with your chosen representative. No, I thought not.
The U.S. legal system and Constitutional protections, especially, are increasingly reserved for the affluent sectors of society, like high quality health care and education at elite institutions. The U.S. has now legalized torture, while raining death and destruction upon well over ONE MILLION persons, most of whom -- including the young man whose picture adorns this essay and whose image has been blocked by hackers -- have absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. My experiences of torture at the hands of monsters with medical and legal training places me in very good company. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "What is it like to be tortured?")
" ... these documents chillingly underscore the mundane banality with which cruelty and torture became official policy of the United States Department of Defense."
For example:
"Over fifty-four days, beginning in late 2002, al-Qahtani was interrogated for eighteen hours each day, denied anything more than four hours' sleep per night, threatened with dogs, stripped naked, hooded, forced to wear women's underwear on his head, humiliated sexually by female interrogators, subjected to extreme heat and cold and loud noises, doused with cold water, and injected with intravenous fluid and not allowed to go to the bathroom so that he urinated on himself" -- similar violations at the hands of Argentinian torturers, no doubt trained by the CIA, are recounted by Jacobo Timmerman -- "The account has been public for some time, but Sands brings it to life, using it as a kind of drumbeat of reality throughout the book by closing nearly every chapter with a short excerpt from the log."
New York Review of Books, p. 20. ("What is it like to be tortured?")
Where are the reports and all records prepared by Tuchin and Riccioli, Mr. Rabner? Is "solicitation" of ethics grievances against a politically targeted attorney "ethical," John? (Compare "Sybil R. Moses and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" with "Deborah T. Poritz and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
"A narrowly pragmatic ethos guided practically all actors. The real arguments were for the most part not about whether coercive tactics were legally or morally acceptable, but about whether they worked."
They don't work, long term. In fact, such "get tough" tactics are counter-productive. They will create life-long and determined enemies for oppressors. If they did work, they would still be immoral, unconstitutional or even evil.
"Some, specifically those in the FBI, felt strongly that they were counterproductive, and that building rapport through non-coercive questioning was the only way to gain credible intelligence from captives."
New York Review of Books, p. 22.
Professor Sands, like me, is a "naive idealistic type" of legal thinker who actually believes that it is the government lawyer's responsibility, particularly, to be the guardian of legality. It is not simply an error, but a "crime against humanity" to commit atrocities in order to produce conduct that can be labeled as "unethical" or "uncooperative" in order to then justify the further commission of heinous criminality against a victim, as demonstrated by the Nuremberg judges rejecting concentration camp guards' defenses or the rationalizations of Nazi judges. ("'The Reader': A Movie Review.")
Diana's policy of "therapeutic theft" is unusual. Did you share in the loot, Terry? Did both of you have sex with Marilyn? Was she under hypnosis? Unconscious? Is that therapy?
How does a Jew become Mengele, Terry? ("Crimes Against Humanity in New Jersey" and "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.") Have we forgotten about Dr. Mengele?
Mr. Eric Holder, President-elect Obama's nominee for the position of United States Attorney General has placed his position pertaining to this torture controversy -- (presumably) also against enslavement or secret unwilling use of persons as experimental animals -- on the record:
"Our government authorized the use of secret electronic surveillance against American citizens, secretly detained American citizens without due process of law" -- What is meant by "detained"? -- "denied the writ of habeas corpus to hundreds of accused enemy combatants and authorized procedures [abominations] that violate both international law and the United States Constitution. ... We owe the American people a reckoning."
New York Review of Books, p. 24. (Spacing may be affected in this essay by New Jersey's hackers.)
There will be a day of reckoning, Ms. Poritz. Were you really "covering up" for Mr. Norcross, Peter Harvey, Esq.? Is there any public official in New Jersey who is not corrupt? Was there a sexual relationship between Ms. Poritz and Diana Lisa Riccioli?
For America, the current economic crisis is worsened by nearly universal hatred for the policies of the Bush administration and our so-called "hypocrisy" and "cruelty." The most significant headline in any recent newspaper may have been misunderstood by many people. I suggest that you study, carefully, this item: Keith Bradsher, "China Losing Taste for Debt From the U.S.," in The New York Times, January 8, 2009, at p. A1. Do you know anybody with $800 BILLION to spare in order for the U.S. government to function next year?
Posted originally with this essay is the picture of a man carrying a dead five year-old "dangerous member of Hamas" out of a building destroyed by Israeli jets -- jets supplied by U.S. taxpayers. Casualties and injuries resulting from the Israeli intervention are now listed in the thousands. Is this "proportional" to the damage suffered by Israel? (Take another look at the item concerning China's reluctance to lend the U.S. money.)
Where did you perfect your torture skills, Terry? Who were your first victims? Palestinians? African-Americans? Latinos?
An issue not explored in the discussions I have seen and read is whether these C.I.A.-style torture tactics were used against politically selected American citizens, secretly, well before 9/11. My experiences date from 1988 to 2009. There is a wealth of evidence to suggest that America's incarcerated men and women have been subjected to such tortures, also secretly. These inmates, as well as former inmates, must be entitled to sue for damages not only against government agencies, but also against individual corrupt, incompetent, unlicensed and fraudulent so-called psychiatric professionals, therapists, or alleged "physicians" of the caliber of Terry Tuchin or Diana Lisa Riccioli, allegedly, along with many others.
"Would you have helped Kitty Genovese?" "Why U.S. Courts Must Not Condone Torture," and "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meanings of Prison."
As of my first draft of this essay, I have been unable to see a celebrated film based on the life of "Che" Guevara. I was told that every showing of the movie in a single movie theater in New York is sold out. Mr. Benicio del Toro has received all kinds of international awards. Mysteriously, no Oscar nomination has yet appeared.
I have been reading and studying seriously the books of radicals -- who were less naive than I have been -- about the realities of American law and power. Among those radicals is a physician with an ambiguous life-story who was driven to take up arms only when he concluded that rational persuasion is impossible in a corrupt legal system or political order, much like the young Cuban lawyer sentenced to prison for insurrection in 1953. (See "Fidel Castro's 'History Will Absolve Me.'") It now appears that "Che" will be showing in more theaters. I hope to see it soon. ("'Che': A Movie Review.")
Power in late capitalist societies seeks domination through monopolization of the intellectual and juridical conversation of a society by a process of illegitimate exclusion. Take a look at The Rules of Evidence in American Federal Courts and concepts of "relevance" as against "prejudicial effect":
"The balance between the oligarchic dictatorship and the pressure of the people must be upset. The dictatorship constantly tries to function without resorting to force. Being obliged to appear without disguise, that is to say, in its true aspect as a violent dictatorship of the reactionary classes, will contribute to its unmasking," Che writes, "and this will deepen the struggle to such an extent that it will not be able to turn back. The resolute beginning of long-range armed action depends on how the people's forces fulfill their function, which amounts to the task of forcing a decision on the dictatorship -- to draw back or to unleash the struggle."
Che Guevara Speaks, p. 82. (See Duncan Kennedy's "Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy.")
I am opposed to violent struggle -- disagreeing with Che -- because I favor peaceful advocacy and resistance. I ask you to consider whether U.S. policies of torture make peaceful, reasoned opposition less likely and violent reactions more likely: Will U.S. and Israeli actions make future terrorism inevitable? Who will be the victims of that future terrorism? Mr. Rumsfeld? Mr. Cheney? Mr. Bush? Is it more likely that victims will come, disproportionately, from the ranks of blue collar workers -- like police officers and firefighters in New York -- who have nothing to do with these torture policies? Would you prefer bombs or philosophical/legal arguments from the "Wretched of the Earth"? A "University of America" forum on-line would be beneficial to U.S. interests.
"These policies have deeply harmed America's image as a nation of laws and may make it impossible to bring dangerous men to real justice. The report said the interrogation techniques were ineffective, despite the administration's repeated claims to the contrary."
The New York Times, 12-18-08, p. A42.
Pictured with this essay at Critique, is a victim of the Gaza military action by Israel. An identical image displaying an Israeli child victimized by Hamas bombings further proves my point concerning the need for a negotiated peaceful resolution of the conflict. Does saying this make me a "naive idealist"? Unrealistic? Utopian? "A fool," according to New Jersey? What is the alternative to reasoned debate and discussion? Removing a letter from one of my words? For further analysis, see:
David Cole, "What to Do About the Torturers?," The New York Review of Books, January 15, 2009, p. 20.
Marcia Angell, "Drug Companies and Doctors," The New York Review of Books, January 15, 2009, p. 8.
Taghreed El-Khodary, "Hospital Fills Up Mainly With Civilians," The New York Times, January 5, 2009, p. A1.
"The Torture Report," (Editorial) The New York Times, December 18, 2008, p. A42.
"The Right to a Day in Court," (Editorial) The New York Times, December 24, 2008, p. A24.
"More Privacy Online," (Editorial) The New York Times, December 24, 2008, p. A24.
Tariq Ali & David Barsamian, Conversations With Tariq Ali: Speaking of Empire and Resistance (New York: Free Press, 2005) ("We can see this Orientalist exotica at work ...")
Adam Cohen, "Four Decades After Milgram We're Still Willing to Inflict Pain," The New York Times, December 29, 2008, p. A24. (Confirmation of human fondness for sanctioned cruelty.)
Noam Chomsky, Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda (New York: Open Media, 1997).
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Che Guevara Speaks (New York: Pathfinder, 1967).
Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage, 1979).
Phillipe Sands, Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values (New York: MacMillan, 2008).
