Every planet we reach is dead
I hail from a cursed line, the O'McYamazakisteins, whose progenitor so offended the Colonel that he has doomed the male scions of the family to be half werewolf, half normal wolf. Despite this handicap, I attended Cambridge University with my best friend Isaac Newton, studying Theory of Law and Ninjitsu. After being disillusioned by the old boys clubs of European Ninjitsu, I took to the seas as a crab/Jormungandr fisherman, eventually being shipwrecked along the arctic coast.
I was taken in by a clan of Inuit circus folk, learning their ways and marrying their seven most attractive daughters. But, of course, by the late 1970's all the Inuit had been wiped out by the Finnish Robot Army.
So now I wander the land with my faithful polar bear steed, Snorlax, and my floating pickle sidekick, Eustace, righting wrongs and progressing through my Cupcake-a-Day Calendar.
Donald Kaufman: I knew. I heard them.
Charlie Kaufman: How come you looked so happy?
Donald Kaufman: I loved Sarah, Charles. It was mine, that love. I owned it. Even Sarah didn’t have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want.
Charlie Kaufman: But she thought you were pathetic.
Donald Kaufman: That was her business, not mine. You are what you love, not what loves you. That’s what I decided a long time ago."
Adaptation, written by Charlie Kaufman
This was a tremendous movie from a lot of perspectives, and I think I needed to hear that at this point in my life.
In the first verdict of its kind since former President George W. Bush left office, he and several members of his administration have been successfully convicted in absentia of war crimes in Malaysia.
Yes, this is a BFD.
This past Friday, a five panel tribunal delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after a week long trial that, unsurprisingly, was not covered by American media. The witnesses included several ex-Guantanamo detainees that gave testimony on the conditions and human rights violations that were systematically carried out under orders of the Bush administration.
Former President Bush, Former Vice-President Dick Cheney, Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo that crafted the legal ‘justification’ for torture that basically said, ‘we can if we want to even if it’s illegal’ were the defendants. None were present, of course, but international war crime trials do not require the presence of the accused. The trial was run according to the standards set by the Nuremberg Trials to convict war criminals after World War II.
Professor Gurdial Singh Nijar, who headed the prosecution said, “The tribunal was very careful to adhere scrupulously to the regulations drawn up by the Nuremberg courts and the International Criminal Courts”.
The United States is subject to international law which makes this trial significant beyond the borders of Malaysia. Foreign Policy Journal reports:
President Lamin told a packed courtroom: “As a tribunal of conscience, the tribunal is fully aware that its verdict is merely declaratory in nature. The tribunal has no power of enforcement, no power to impose any custodial sentence on any one or more of the 8 convicted persons. What we can do, under Article 31 of Chapter VI of Part 2 of the Charter is to recommend to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission to submit this finding of conviction by the tribunal, together with a record of these proceedings, to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council.
“The Tribunal also recommends to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission that the names of all the 8 convicted persons be entered and included in the Commission’s Register of War Criminals and be publicized accordingly.
“The Tribunal recommends to the War Crimes Commission to give the widest international publicity to this conviction and grant of reparations, as these are universal crimes for which there is a responsibility upon nations to institute prosecutions if any of these Accused persons may enter their jurisdictions.”
The hope is that other countries will hold trials of their own and the guilty verdicts will mount up. This is not that outlandish an idea as Bush and Cheney have not only brazenly admitted they authorized torture in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention, but bragged about it. Nothing more helpful than having a criminal do all the heavy lifting for the prosecution. If enough of these verdicts are passed on to the international courts, they will have no choice but to hold a trial of their own. While Bush won’t be arrested on American soil, he’ll have a very difficult time leaving the country. Already he’s canceled a trip to Switzerland, due to possible charges of war crimes.
The best possible outcome is that the world court delivers a guilty verdict that sends a clear message to President Obama and his successors that the United States is not above the law, American Exceptional-ism be damned. It’s a lesson we’ve forgotten and need to relearn.
I don’t understand why this is relevant. A Malaysian mock court declares defendants, not present, guilty. Okay?
(via historicalslut)
What’s that? Oh, nothing, just the best video game of all time over here. Don’t mind me.
(via towritelesbiansonherarms)
OH MY GOD.
ealrjhywerhj LOL
I hate it when my Schwartz gets twisted.
Rule #76: It’s not gay if it’s to preserve the balance of the Force.
(via deanelganger)
Bathroom with glass floor, overlooking a 15 story elevator shaft.
omg wh
I would not could not.
jesus christ
why would you do that
nightmare fuel
what no this is genius you would never be constipated again
(via deanelganger)
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there is nothing left to do, and nothing else to pursue.
(Source: atearak)
