It Should NEVER Have Happened

Yesterday the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the Committee Study of the Central Intelligence Agency's Detention and Interrogation Program. It is being commonly referred to as the CIA Torture Report. I honestly lack the words to express my disappointment in the conduct engaged in by people representing our government. I wanted to title this along the lines that we were better than that. When you read the report it is clear we were not. If there is a difference between the United States, Cuba, Syria, Iran, North Korea, and a few other nations it is this. We have come forward and openly admitted what we have done. We have gone before the world community and acknowledged our violations of treaties and our own laws. The other countries mentioned continue to deny they utilize torture. Simply acknowledging our transgressions is not enough. We must pledge to ourselves first and then to the world community- NEVER AGAIN. We have a moral ideal we did not live up to. We can and we must do better. Make no mistake I understand the context in which this was done. We were attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001. Over 3,000 of our citizens were murdered. We reacted. We lost sight of what separates us from almost every other country on earth. Our willingness to follow the rule of law even when others don't. Many, even now, are saying they don't care how we got the information. They don't care who we tortured or how. They don't seem to care that a government agency lied to them, to Congress and to the President. We didn't live up to our ideals. We should have and we need to. We cannot expect those who disagree with us and intend us harm to follow the rules of war when we don't. What those who are willing to tolerate and perhaps even encourage the use of torture by the United States Government fail to appreciate is the following. Torture is illegal and considered a war crime. It is banned by the Geneva Conventions, a United Nations Convention against torture ratified with the support of President Ronald Reagan and by Title 18, Part 1, Chapter 113C of the U.S. Code.

The issues go deeper. CIA officials lied about who they had in custody. They lied about what they were doing. They destroyed evidence. They tortured two of their own informants. At least 20% of those held were held wrongfully. The actions were called enhanced interrogation techniques. They were in fact torture. The acts ultimately lead to zero actionable intelligence. The information we received prior to the use of torture proved to be sufficient to capture Osama bin Laden and foil terror plots. Why is that? I don't know how you would react if you were tortured but I can tell you what I would do. I would tell you anything to get you to stop. I would make up anything you wanted to hear. Telling the truth doesn't get torture to stop because they always think you know more. So you just keep talking. Say whatever it takes to get them to stop. The United States Senate has one resident expert on torture. One Senator knows first hand how torture works and the toll it takes on the person being tortured. Senator McCain was tortured as a prisoner of war. He has repeatedly spoke out condemning the use of torture. His fellow senators need to listen to his comments. Set their opinions to the side and listen to someone who know torture on a personal level.

The bottom line for me is simple. We entered into treaties and signed the Geneva Conventions which outlaw torture. It should NEVER be a practice used by any representative of the United States Government. There is never a time or circumstance when the use of torture is appropriate. We weren't better than that, we should have been. We lost sight of our moral compass. We need to reclaim the high moral ground and lead the world correctly not as a torturing bully.

Tumbling Fun

Carol and I left Tybee Island on Saturday morning for several reasons but the number one reason was that our granddaughter Audrey had a tumbling competition in Canton on Sunday. It would be our only opportunity to see her compete while we are in Illinois.

I hope I can do this part of the story the way it deserves to be told. Audrey has often been a very shy young lady. We went to a T-ball game a couple of years ago and she was having a real problem going out in front of the crowd to hit the ball and run the bases. I went out and ran the bases with her to provide some moral support. Her parents have always done the right thing and encouraged her to participate but never in a way that added to her stress. She started T-ball so she had to finish. Good lesson, finish what you start. If she never wants to play ball again that's okay. She tried. Her Mom and Dad told us this year she wanted to be on the traveling tumbling team for All That Dance and More in Mt. Sterling. We were surprised but knew she enjoyed tumbling and was good. Sunday's competition was her second meet. We have pictures and with some explanation they will be shared. In an effort to encourage Audrey's younger sister Johnnie she assisted me by taking some of the pictures. I must also give credit to Audrey's Mom, Mandie who set up the camera so the pictures Johnnie and I took would turn out.

This is Audrey's Dad, our son John, posing for a picture taken by Johnnie.

This is my assistant photographer Johnnie Lynn.

Johnnie Lynn took this picture of Carol and I.

Audrey and her coach right before her tumbling routine.

This is one of her tumbling passes.

This is Audrey and her coach following her tumbling pass. When you have a child participating in an event this is the way you want the coach to encourage the child. I cannot say enough nice things about how the two young ladies who coach this team conduct themselves. They are consistently positive in their interactions with the children. They praise what the kids do right and explain to them the areas they need to work on. It is not done in a critical manner but to encourage them to do the best they can.

Audrey's coach posing for a picture taken by Johnnie.

This is Audrey on the awards dais with her 5th place medal. She was in a tough group of 8 year old girls. Had she been in the second group her score would have put her in 2nd place.

I forgot to rotate this before blogging and I don't want to go back and do so now. This is our granddaughter Audrey with her 5th place medal. We are so proud of her and thrilled with her accomplishments.

Total Confusion

The good news for everyone is that I have no problem telling embarrassing stories about myself. On Saturday we got up at 4:00 a.m. in Georgia, got dressed and started the drive north to Illinois. We got here about 7 p.m. dropped the dog off at the house and headed to Budde's for a beer and a great pizza. Finally hit the bed about 10:30 p.m. Jeremy is staying here and he has 3 dogs. They weren't accustomed to having anyone else in the house so they barked every time we moved during the night. Lily hadn't adjusted to the time change so when 5:00 a.m. rolled around here she was ready to get up. So it was a short night of sleep. We grocery shopped on Sunday morning, went to Audrey's tumbling meet in the afternoon and back to Budde's for a tenderloin and beer in the evening. Finally off to bed about 11:00 p.m. I was just totally exhausted. This is where the story gets stupid, or at least I do.

Sometime around 3:00 a.m. one of Jeremy's dogs comes in our bedroom. I got up and chased him out of the room and closed the door. I thought as long as I was up I would take the opportunity to use the bathroom. I closed the bedroom door and the room is pitch black. I reach to my left feeling for the bathroom door. I can't find the door handle. I open the bedroom door a crack and try to use the little bit of light coming in to locate the door handle. No luck. I reach left again and grab onto a handle and pull. It is a bi-fold door opening. In my head I'm wondering what the hell is going on. We don't have a bi-fold door on our bathroom. I shut the door, feel for the bedroom door in front of me. I reach left again apparently thinking that I will be able to grab a different door handle. When the bi-fold door opens again I determine that I don't know where the bathroom is and I don't have to pee that bad. I go back to bed and lay down trying to figure out where the bathroom is and why I can't find it. The answer was rather simple. On Tybee Island our bathroom is to the left of my side of the bed. In Illinois the bathroom door is straight ahead from the foot of the bed. So the bathroom I was looking for in my sleepy state was about 1,000 miles east of where I was standing. I had been opening the closet door in Illinois. Carol was thankful that I was at least awake enough not to pee in the closet.

Tis The Season

From time to time things happen on Tybee Island that you just have to share. This is an incident that happened at Benny's on Friday night. I wish I could have made this up but it wouldn't be as funny if I had.

Friday night was the annual Christmas bush lighting on Tybee Island. Most places have a Christmas tree. We have a bush. When I heard the folks at Benny's talking about lighting the Christmas bush many inappropriate comments came to mind. Those of you who know me personally are aware of many things I normally would have said. In a show of remarkable restraint I said nothing. For those of you who wonder here is a picture of the bush.

The Christmas bush is worthy of a comment or two. I will begin by saying our bush is classy. Many bushes have crabs. If you look closely our bush has lobsters. Classy!!! Near many (about half) bushes there are balls. Usually just a couple. Our bush has lots of balls. Beach balls actually. Multi colored balls. That's us. Lobsters and colorful balls. But that isn't what this story is about. Here is the real story.

Two of the bartenders were off duty but in the bar having a pre bush lighting adult beverage. Both of the ladies, Wanda and Joann have digital cameras and were going to go down the street to take some pictures of the bush lighting. One of the patrons, we'll call him Mark, because that is his name asked how they were going to get a good picture since it was dark out. In stories you change the names to protect the innocent. Mark didn't get his name changed so figure it out. Wanda told him that it didn't matter because they could use Photoshop to fix any problems with the pictures. It lead to this classic exchange.

Mark: "Do you remember that gal I dated recently?"

Patron 1: "Do you mean the fat one?"

Mark: "No not her."

Wanda: "Was it the one with no teeth?"

Mark: (In a somewhat dejected tone.) "No not that one either."

Patron 2: "Was it the skinny boney one?"

Mark: "Yeah, that's her. She was really thin."

Wanda: "Wasn't she the one who stole your money?"

Mark: (In an even more dejected tone.) "Yeah, that's her. She didn't look anything like her picture on the dating web site. Can you do that with Photoshop?"

Mark, instead of asking about Photoshop directly, has decided to unintentionally drag us through his recent dating history. My initial thought was that he should try a different dating site. The more I thought about it though it occurred to me he has almost hit the redneck dating daily double. If the skinny girl or the fat girl had been toothless he would have doubled his score. In a bit of bad luck, had the skinny gal been toothless since she stole his money she would have scored a rare redneck trifecta. If there is a lesson to be learned here I wonder if it might be this. Don't beat around the Christmas bush when you have a question, just get directly to what you want to know. Additionally, it appears that internet dating is a questionable endeavor.

Once Again into the Fray

I've blogged in the past about gun control. I've received a mixed response. Some support and some criticism. I spent a good deal of today wondering about this post. What did I want to say? What point could I possibly make that would matter? I decided it wasn't important if it mattered to anyone but me. I will once again state tonight we have to do something. The number of guns, gun related deaths, the economic and social damage guns have created must be addressed. I'm tired of the stupid arguments. You know, "if guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns" and "from my cold, dead hands". Really? That's the best you can do. It seems to me our gutless politicians missed an opportunity after 20 school children were murdered at Sandy Hook. There are, as there are with every disaster, those who deny Sandy Hook even happened. The simple truth is that those people are retarded. Saying that makes me feel like I owe mentally challenged people an apology. The people who deny Sandy Hook are the reason many people should not be allowed to own guns. The problem isn't with American citizens or with our constitution. It is with the folks in Washington, D.C. that we elect to the House and Senate. They are no longer concerned with what needs to be done. They are only concerned with being reelected. Doing something about guns and gun violence would threaten their precious government position. Can't have that. They must keep that job. So, nothing is going to change except me.

Part of what bothered me today was the series of pictures I am posting below. My problem is that there have been so many shootings I can't remember which one cost this father his son. I just remember he was the only one in recent memory that stared into the camera and said it had to stop. No more! As a father I felt his pain. I understood his loss. I could picture myself in his shoes. My mouth saying the words he said. My anguish laid bare in every word. It is a loss I don't think I could bear.

I own guns. Yes, plural. Guns. The more I think about it the more I feel like I'm part of the problem. Would my life be complete if I didn't own a gun? Yes. Do I need one to protect my home and family? Not really. I wouldn't shoot anyone under any circumstance. Do I hunt? Not any more. Do I need a gun? No. So maybe Congress can't solve the problem. Maybe my actions will be nothing more than ill advised symbolism. I don't care. I can't continue to be part of the problem until I start being part of the solution. As for me and my house- we will be gun free. The insanity has to stop and it can't until we start to act.

Because It Feels Good

Why do people do what they do? In the simplest terms because it in some way benefits them. Perhaps it is a jaded view of mankind. In many ways harsh. In every day life in every way people do what they do because in some manner it suits their purpose at the time.

You and another person pull up to stop signs at an intersection at the same time. The law indicates you should yield to the car to your right. The person driving the car to your right waves for you to proceed even though the right of ways is technically theirs. What is the benefit to that person? It was a simple act of kindness and you could reasonably question if they received any benefits at all. In my jaded, harsh universe the benefit is clear. They performed a small act of kindness that realistically
cost them nothing. They get to sit in their car thinking that they are "nice". They get a feeling of satisfaction from their simple act. It, in that small way, was a benefit to them. It happens to each of us a thousand times a day. We act the way we act because it gives us something. We gain something. When we act in our own interest and it hurts someone else we feel bad. Well, at least we should. Those bad feelings are a benefit to us because they make us realize we don't like feeling that way.

There are lots of people out there who worry about doing good and going to heaven when they die. They worry about doing bad things and fear going to hell if they do wrong. It really doesn't matter. It seems to me this quote says it best.

  Isn't really that simple. We feel good when we do good things and we feel bad when we do bad things. Why not choose good? Why waste our time and effort worrying about the things that tend to divide us? We have a common humanity. We have a need to live together somehow in this world. At the end of the day kindness toward each other will do more to heal our differences than all the laws ever written. When we love our fellow man and realize none of us has an exclusive grasp on what is "true and just". None of us can claim to know the path to heaven if there is one. We have this life. We have now. What we do to make things better begins with kindness. If our fellow man is hungry we need to see that he is fed. If he is naked, that he is clothed. If he is sick, that he receives care. It doesn't (or shouldn't) matter if he is Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, white, black, red, yellow, brown, straight, gay, bisexual, republican, democrat, communist, socialist, or any of hundreds of other ways we separate ourselves into groups. We are, all of us, human. Deserving of the kindness of our fellow man. We need to do better. We can do better.

It starts with me. It starts with you, too. We can make a difference. One small step at a time. When we do good we feel better. When we feel better about ourselves we treat our fellow man better. Then our fellow man feels better and he does good. It is not like ripples in a pond that fade as they move away from the initial action. It is more like a fission reaction. One good act creates two. Two good acts create four. Four good acts create eight. Eight good acts create sixteen. Kindness, love and mercy create a place where more is possible. So, in a good way, go out and act in your own self interest. You can change the world, one kind act at a time.

Happy Man

Sometimes when you go shopping on the internet you find things you weren't looking for. Today I was looking for Tervis water glasses on Amazon. It was an attempt to look for a bargain where there wasn't one. Why in the hell is a plastic water cup almost $20.00? Anyway as you scroll down the page you come across this item.

This is the "Happy Man". You might reasonably wonder as I did what this item has to do with plastic water cups. The second question might be why his equipment seems so out of proportion to his body? Third, what the hell is this thing for? It is the Happy Man Bottle Stopper. Really? Show me more!!!!

Not to be too insensitive but I don't think I want to drink out of that or any other bottle the "Happy Man" has filled with his "stopper". What else do you suppose the inventors of this fabulous product brought to market?

It would be "Sir Perky Wine Corkscrew".

It is products like these that help me remember my slogan.

"When you make something idiot proof, someone, somewhere will develop a better idiot."