I spent the weekend in the city of Brno, Czech Republic, with a few friends who wanted someone who knew their way around to take them to all the best places. We were in Špilberk castle, which was used as a prison for all of the Habsburg Empire for decades in the 18th and 19th century, and again by the Nazis during WWII. There was a reconstruction of a torture chamber which was a little scary, and I turned to my friend and said, "Can't you imagine what the attitude must have been like, back then? With, you know, Joe, who lives next door, oh, he's a torturer, didn't you know? And being okay with that?"
And we ruminated a little bit and figured that, well, okay, at least the world's a little bit better, now. And then, since Brno actually carries the occasional foreign-language newspaper, I invested in an International Herald at the Newsagent's and one of the first stories I saw was about secret legal opinions given by the Justice Department to the CIA about interrogation methods. Apparently, simulated drowning is not degrading and inhumane.
The world never changes, does it? This is just an ordinary, garden variety, territorial war, just like they've been fighting them for centuries, only with more firepower.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-10-07 08:36 pm (UTC)I spent the weekend in the city of Brno, Czech Republic, with a few friends who wanted someone who knew their way around to take them to all the best places. We were in Špilberk castle, which was used as a prison for all of the Habsburg Empire for decades in the 18th and 19th century, and again by the Nazis during WWII. There was a reconstruction of a torture chamber which was a little scary, and I turned to my friend and said, "Can't you imagine what the attitude must have been like, back then? With, you know, Joe, who lives next door, oh, he's a torturer, didn't you know? And being okay with that?"
And we ruminated a little bit and figured that, well, okay, at least the world's a little bit better, now. And then, since Brno actually carries the occasional foreign-language newspaper, I invested in an International Herald at the Newsagent's and one of the first stories I saw was about secret legal opinions given by the Justice Department to the CIA about interrogation methods. Apparently, simulated drowning is not degrading and inhumane.
The world never changes, does it? This is just an ordinary, garden variety, territorial war, just like they've been fighting them for centuries, only with more firepower.