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janvier 20, 2005

Gauche, droite au Québec

Un éditorial assez intéressant dans le Québécois Libre, un journal libertarien. L'éditorial parle de la gauche et de la droite au Québec d'un point de vue libertarien. Vous ne savez pas ce qu'est le libertarisme? C'est aussi expliqué dans l'éditorial.

Comme les gauchistes, ce que les conservateurs de droite ne comprennent pas, eux, c'est que la moralité ne s'impose pas et que les collectivités n'ont pas d'autre existence que dans l'esprit des individus qui croient y appartenir. Seuls des individus entièrement libres de leurs actes peuvent s'associer volontairement et défendre un « intérêt public » dans la sphère limitée de leur association. Pour le reste, il n'y a en effet que des utilités personnelles, puisque les collectivités ne pensent pas, ne ressentent rien et n'ont pas d'intérêt. Le prétendu intérêt public défendu par la droite ou la gauche collectivistes, ce n'est en fait que l'intérêt d'un petit groupe qui est imposé de force sur l'ensemble de la société.

Lire l'article du Québecois Libre.

Posted by gfk at 8:50 PM | Comments (0)

janvier 17, 2005

Bush/Cheney: 4 More wars!

Vous avez peut-être vu cette caricature du slogan de réelection de George W. Bush: 4 More Wars. Et bien, ce n'était pas très loin de la réalité, selon un article du New Yorker, l'administration Bush a bien l'intention de déclarer la guerre à l'Iran avant la fin de son mandat.

One Western diplomat told me that the Europeans believed they were in what he called a “lose-lose position” as long as the United States refuses to get involved [in the negociations with Iran]. “France, Germany, and the U.K. cannot succeed alone, and everybody knows it,” the diplomat said. “If the U.S. stays outside, we don’t have enough leverage, and our effort will collapse.” The alternative would be to go to the Security Council, but any resolution imposing sanctions would likely be vetoed by China or Russia, and then “the United Nations will be blamed and the Americans will say, ‘The only solution is to bomb.’”

[...]

In my interviews over the past two months, I was given a much harsher view. The hawks in the Administration believe that it will soon become clear that the Europeans’ negotiated approach cannot succeed, and that at that time the Administration will act. “We’re not dealing with a set of National Security Council option papers here,” the former high-level intelligence official told me. “They’ve already passed that wicket. It’s not if we’re going to do anything against Iran. They’re doing it.”

Lisez l'article complet sur le site du New Yorker.

Posted by gfk at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

janvier 15, 2005

Les interrogatoires et la torture

Un sujet pas très gai mais très important. Un article rédigé par un ancien agent de la Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) dans une édition déclassé de la revue Studies in Intelligence, publiée par l'agence, parle de ce sujet.

Cet article raconte l'histoire de Nguyen Tai, un agent haut gradé nord-vietnamien (communiste) lors de la guerre du Vietnam, qui a été capturé par l'armée sud-vietnamienne (capitaliste). Il a été torturé plus ou moins sans arrêt pendant 6 mois par l'armée sud-vietnamienne, et il n'a pourtant donné aucune information à ses tortionnaires. La seule information qu'ils ont obtenue de lui est son nom. Il a été ensuite transféré à la CIA qui a réussi à obtenir plus informations de cet individu sans jamais avoir recours à la violence.

Toutes les sociétés victimes de terrorisme ont des débats sur l'usage de la torture pour obtenir des informations des terroristes. Ces débats sont totalement inutiles, car non seulement la torture est une pratique barbare et moralement inacceptable, mais elle est surtout inutile. La victime de la torture se referme sur elle même et est prête à dire n'importe quel mensonge pour arrêter ses souffrances. La nature humaine fait qu'une personne a envi de se confier lorsque elle est en confiance. La meilleure manière de faire un interrogatoire est d'être sympathique à la personne intérogée, de devenir son ami. C'est un processus très long, mais c'est le seul qui fonctionne vraiment.

Posted by gfk at 9:42 PM | Comments (0)

janvier 3, 2005

Anderson Cooper's coverage of the Tsunami

In the recent days I watched Anderson Cooper on CNN and I must say that I'm really impressed by his talent for presenting information. I copied part of his transcripts from December 29th and 30th where he talks about a photo of a new born baby from Malaysia. I couldn't find the photo on the web, if anyone has it, please send it to guillaume@filion.org.

29 December 2004:

Good evening again. Welcome to our international viewers as well.

We've been forced to show you some truly awful images the last couple of nights, and we're sorry to say we will be doing that again this hour, and probably for hours and days to come.

There is really no choice, given the dreadful reality of what's happened and what continues to happen in the wake of these killer waves.

But right now, for just a moment, we want you to start with something else. We want to start with this. Now, don't look away. It's all right. Her name is [Supia Tulasi]. She's 3 weeks old, and she's fine. As you can see, she's just tired. She's sleeping peacefully on her mother's arm.

And that is the miracle of it, that she is with her mother, that she is OK, that she is sleeping peacefully.

Her parents were in a seaside restaurant in Panang, Malaysia. When the tsunami struck, her parents and family were swept out of their building, everyone but the baby. She was left behind, alone for hours on a mattress, floating on five feet of water.

Who is more defenseless than a little child? Who is more vulnerable? And yet when her mother and father fought their ways back into the building, from which all other life had been flushed, they found her, crying on the mattress. The tsunami that had pulled trucks out to sea and people out of swimming pools, the waves that tossed and twisted and engulfed so much and so many, had spared her, 20-day-old [Supia Tulasi].

We want you to keep her face, her hope, in mind for the rest of this hour. It will be necessary, we're afraid.

[...]

We're going to end this evening exactly where we began two hours ago, with a single image that deserves to be seen again. This image, of a peacefully sleeping child not quite three weeks old.

There's nothing at all out of the ordinary about S. Tulasi of Panang, Malaysia. She has that patented angelic look babies always have when they're comfortably asleep and can smell and sense their mothers cradling them.

Look at her. Clearly, in her tiny universe all is well with the world.

But all was not well earlier. This baby spent hours entirely alone, floating in five feet of water on a mattress after her parents and the rest of her family were washed out of their seaside restaurant by the tidal wave that did so very much damage and killed so many all along the coast of south Asia.

Grown men could not resist that tide. Buildings and cars couldn't resist. Whole villages and families couldn't resist. Some small islands couldn't resist.

But when her parents fought their way back, they found S. Tulasi, 20 days old, still lying there on that mattress, crying but safe. Alone, entirely defenseless, heartbreakingly vulnerable, she'd done what so many others struggled so hard to do but could not. She had survived. A squealing bundle of hope. Something many in South Asia wish they could hold onto tonight.

31 December 2004:

Good evening again. You may not realize it, but this is the 366th day of the year. 2004 was a leap year. And it ends in a way none of us could have imagined. On this night you'll no doubt hear a lot of talk about Father Time and Baby New Year. Tradition says old Father Time robs us of opportunities. Baby New Year gives us hope. This week for millions, hope has been a hard thing to hold on to.

So tonight we begin, as we have before, with an image we think you can hold on to, a Baby New Year we met just this week.

At first all we saw was this photo, 20-day-old Supia Tulasi, peacefully asleep in her mother's arms. A miracle because somehow when a torrent of water washed her parents out of their restaurant in Panang, Malaysia, this little girl survived alone, on a mattress, floating in five feet of water.

Today we have a new image to show you, a video we just saw for the first time. Supia Tulasi at home, at peace, swaddled in love and drinking from a bottle of milk her mother is holding. She is not a number tonight. She is not a statistic. This little girl gives us hope, a Baby New Year to hold on to as we look forward as what's to come.

Stay with us as we welcome a new year with hope. Hope that help arrives in time. Hope that the disaster does not worsen. And hope that the lost will and can be found.

PS: Looking at my web site visits, each month I get a couple visits from people who are looking for Anderson Cooper's mother... Obviously this article is not what they're looking for, who they're looking for is Gloria Vanderbilt.

Posted by gfk at 5:11 PM | Comments (0)