U.S. military shutting down public access to trial of Bradley Manning

If the U.S. military authorities were proud of the way they were conducting the trial of Bradley Manning, they would give easy and wide-open public access to the proceedings. They are doing the opposite, as reported by Rainey Reitman at The Nation:

Unfortunately, the military is taking steps to block access by the media and the public to portions of the trial, robbing the world of details of this critically important trial. The details of Bradley Manning’s prosecution aren’t making their way into the public domain in large part because there is no full transcript being made public. During a recess from the hearing, I questioned a Public Affairs Officer who refused to provide his name about when a transcript would be made available. He said that it would likely be three to four months before any transcript would be available to the public—long after the media interest had faded . . . The government has denied any recording devices, audio or video, to be in the media center or the courtroom . . . When Nathan Fuller applied for a press pass to attend the hearing and take notes from the media center, his request was granted—and then rescinded. Among other things, Fuller is an intern with the Bradley Manning Support Network . . .

Continue ReadingU.S. military shutting down public access to trial of Bradley Manning

Ex-vegetarianism

In the December issue of The Atlantic, three ex-vegetarians explain their conversion:

Concerns about health, the environment, and ethical eating do not require giving up meat. What they do require is a new ethics of eating animals: one rooted in moderation, mindfulness, and respect.
As you might expect, vegetarians and ex-vegetarians are having an intense discussion in the comments following this article.

Continue ReadingEx-vegetarianism

Remembering Nightnoise

I happened to listen to a few tunes by Nightnoise tonight. If you haven't heard them before, click on the videos. They were a group of Irish musicians who blended Irish traditional music, jazz, new age and many other ideas. Although the audio is not great in the following video, you can see the group in action, playing a tune titled "Time Winds." One of their most beautiful tunes is "Night in that Land, and you can listen to a good quality recording here. And since it's the Christmas season, consider this rendition of "The Wexford Carol." And for something very different, check out "Fionnghuala" (Mouth music). Finally, take a listen to "Silky Flanks" for some high energy that melds into yet another beautiful tune. Here is more on the history of the group, which is no longer performing. Two of the members of the group died over the past 10 years. Nonetheless, I find this music extraordinary and timeless.

Continue ReadingRemembering Nightnoise

Documenting factory farm animal abuses as “terrorism”

Is documenting factory farm animal abuses a form of "terrorism"? Green is the New Red reports:

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has kept files on activists who expose animal welfare abuses on factory farms and recommended prosecuting them as terrorists, according to a new document uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/fbi-undercover-investigators-animal-enterprise-terrorism-act/5440/

Continue ReadingDocumenting factory farm animal abuses as “terrorism”

Rand Paul Appears to Back Sharia Law

I have recently been seeing a series of campaign ads for Rand Paul on certain liberal blogs. These are Google ads that target keywords, and thus regularly appear on pages that argue against those things supported by the ads. But the Tea Party slant of this ad series offends me. The 1976 Hyde amendment already and still prohibits tax funding of abortions, except in cases of rape and incest. That is, if you can go to court and get a judge to rule your pregnancy as such, you can then get federal funding for your abortion. This does not happen very often, as the abortion is cheaper than a court appearance. But the goal of this campaign seems to say that, as in the Old Testament and thus Sharia law, a poor rape victim must bear and raise the child of her rapist (and marry him, if he so chooses). This only applies to impoverished women; not the sort of folks that congresspeople know. After all, their servants have jobs. Rand Paul and the Tea Party: Old Fashioned Morality for those who can't afford better.

Continue ReadingRand Paul Appears to Back Sharia Law