>> ^Fusionaut:
I have a feeling this will be used in court one day. But it IS awesome


>> ^buzz:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/internet-video-nightmare/2008/12/08/1228584709781.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
T
he above link is to a story where an Australian man was arrested on using the internet to promote child abuse
.
.
because he posted the video to a website.
Man oh man!!!


It seems that I am clairvoyant...

Anyone buying lottery tickets?

>> ^Fusionaut:
I have a feeling this will be used in court one day. But it IS awesome


>> ^buzz:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/internet-video-nightmare/2008/12/08/1228584709781.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
T
he above link is to a story where an Australian man was arrested on using the internet to promote child abuse
.
.
because he posted the video to a website.
Man oh man!!!


It seems that I am clairvoyant...

Anyone buying lottery tickets?

>> ^Fusionaut:
I have a feeling this will be used in court one day. But it IS awesome


>> ^buzz:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/internet-video-nightmare/2008/12/08/1228584709781.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
T
he above link is to a story where an Australian man was arrested on using the internet to promote child abuse
.
.
because he posted the video to a website.
Man oh man!!!


It seems that I am clairvoyant...

Anyone buying lottery tickets?

>> ^Fusionaut:
I have a feeling this will be used in court one day. But it IS awesome


>> ^buzz:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/internet-video-nightmare/2008/12/08/1228584709781.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
T
he above link is to a story where an Australian man was arrested on using the internet to promote child abuse
.
.
because he posted the video to a website.
Man oh man!!!


It seems that I am clairvoyant...

Anyone buying lottery tickets?

"This country is now the ultimate power in the universe, I suggest we use it"
Dick Cheney

"Don't be too proud of this technological terror we have constructed. The ability to destroy a muslim nation is insignificant next to the power of our Lord(tm)"
George W. Bush

"Don't try to frighten us with your fanatical ways, Georgy. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the Weapons of Mass Destruction, nor given you clairvoyance enough to help you find Osama Bin Lade... *CHOKE CHOKE*
Dick Cheney

"I find your lack of faith disturbing *eyes turning red, horns forming*"
George W Bush.

he was born clairvoyant... i believe it, how else could this animated loaf of salami have become famous

Good thing Detective Jack Russell has clairvoyance when he drinks as he gazes into his mystic whiskey bottle!

LOL at "well-respected parapsychologist", that phrase is an oxymoron and especially ironic considering the two professors you're talking about. Tart got a Pigasus Award in 1981 for being such a tool, and Targ was one of the ones who thought Uri Geller was an actual psychic before Randi debunked him. Targ was so far gone as to publish a book (Mind-Reach: Scientists Look at Psychic Abilities) saying as much with his Scientologist buddy Harold Puthoff.

Speaking of parapsychology, Susan Blackmore has a PhD in parapsychology and she has a few things to say about her experiences here and here. I particularly like this quote: "The way I really think is more like this: 'I am a scientist. I think the way to the truth is by investigation. I suspect that telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis and life after death do not exist because I have been looking in vain for them for 25 years. I have been wrong lots of times before and am not afraid of it.'"

http://skepdic.com/parapsy.html
http://www.randi.org/encyclopedia/parapsychology.html

As to the Ganzfeld experiments, causation can't be established to any psychic phenomena. As Dgandhi said, yes, there is a statistically significant effect, but that effect is linked instead to severe experimental and analytical flaws, of which there are dozens if not hundreds, including amongst them interference in the procedure of the experiment by the researchers, outright cheating on the part of the researchers, allowing subjects to receive aural clues (as Dgandhi said above), and even basic failure to perform proper randomization.

http://www.skepticreport.com/psychicpowers/ganzfeld.htm

Then again, Mink, I couldn't care less about debunking every single experiment "proving" psychic phenomena, especially if the only thing you have to offer is mindless throw-away comments without any actual effort on your part, when you don't even read the report I cited that did, in fact, offer debunking and criticism galore. It's boring, it's already been done, and, most importantly, the onus is not on me to prove anything.

I am going to finish up by quoting Dghandi, because what he wrote so eloquently bears repeating:
"The question is have these organizations produced extraordinary evidence through replicable experiments to back up their extraordinary claims, and the answer is still no."

The usage of torture is a strategic failure in the process of information gathering from the enemy.

First of all it assumes that the terrorist organization is a top down informational entity with operational strategy going down to all it's entities. Thus if we capture one combatant in Iraq, we might derive actionable intelligence. That is of course wrong, terrorist organizations operate in cell structures, one cell does not know the existence of a sister cell, this is the viewpoint of the intelligence community post 9/11. This is problematic because it allows the enemy to remain always at large in the political process in Washington, that is why the enemy definition keeps changing, its Osama first, then insurgent forces, then the very broad term of 'Islamic extremism'.

The cell structure thus allows for unrelated parties to assume the guise of representing a greater whole, separate actors can suddenly be part of a larger nebulous whole even though in reality they are not related. This is how Bush in his simplistic assessment of the threats can say there is terrorism from Morocco to Indonesia. In Iraq the US labeled Zarqwi as being an operative member of al-Qaeda, this is beneficial for both sides Osama can claim larger operation status while the US can state that its fighting al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq. However Zarqwi for example did not possess intelligence on operations in Afghanistan, they were not related, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Funny how Osama Bin Laden was called the mastermind of 9/11, in mere hours after the event, what happened to such intelligence gathering clairvoyance?

Looking back at the myriad of enemy combatants captured so far in both Iraq and Afghanistan - we have yet to see any proof of progress with regards to any actionable intelligence being gathered from those sources, because the actors caught were obliviously small fish.

Second it drives away actual informants who would want to switch sides, by creating the 'US against Them' cornerstone the Bush Administration has actually rallied support for terrorist organizations. Operatives who would gain from switching sides would not want to, knowing that they face torture and long term imprisonment. This is how after all these years of war, and "Mission Accomplished", turning the corner, defeating the terrorists: The Taliban control half of Afghanistan and al-Qaeda is reconstituted its strength in Pakistan and Southern Afghanistan.

Third it assumes from the operative viewpoint that ALL enemy combatants would provide under duress reliable actionable intelligence without actually knowing what that could be i.e. we are torturing to find out something we don't even know might exist, the Rumsfled's known unknowns and unknown unknowns - that is of course a logically fallacy. How can you derive intelligence when you don't know what you are trying to get at? This of course translates into increased torture methods against detainees, eventually breaking them to a point where they will tell you anything to get you to stop. Khalid Sheik Mohammad was tortured to the point that he confessed to a whole swell of terrorist plots and acts, intelligence operatives rolled their eyes because it was simply inconceivable that it could be true as it would mean he was in 5 or 6 places at once, there was no concrete evidence to prove it, he was simply saying things to make them stop.

This is dangerous, as its a self feeding cycle, if you torture enemy combatants without a contextual means to an end you would receive all kinds of rubbish, that feeds into paranoia that it's actually real and you then torture even more. Actionable intelligence has a finite time frame, usually less then 6 months, after which the operative in custody is tapped out, the organization would nullify any plans and change their tactics and plans.

Remember that all the so called reliable actionable intelligence for Iraq possessing and developing WMDs came from a single informant. Look where that lead to.

Fourth it loses the sight of how to attain trust, operatives from past conflicts always state that to derive information you must make the actor rely on you, trust in you and eventually befriend you. Interrogators of Nazi war criminals often state how they derived more information in a simple chess game then through torture methods.

Torture is a annihilation of the human spirit, it drives people insane through sleep deprivation, humiliation and water boarding. It nullifies the human psyche into delirium, psychosis and eventual madness, yet we are led to believe that somehow that would prevent another 9/11.

Finally all warfare is tactics, for all of America's military might they were close to defeat by an insurgence that has lapsed back into guerrilla warfare, the tactics shifted. The application of torture would mean the tactics will shift once more.

The question remains - "Is this strategy benefiting our objectives?"

The US administration would of course say "Yes", why wouldn't they. The appointment of Mukasey as Attorney General for the first time showed how abortions and other issues of the previous Justice Department appointments became insignificant, the question was only "Do you believe water boarding is torture?" - It was asked not because it was important as AG but because there are people in the administration who know they have gone too far and are vehemently trying to cover their asses from prosecution. The scandal of Abu Graibh was called as being "a few bad apples", that is of course not true, operational orders came from the top down. The definition of torture rewritten by John Yoo and David Addington. Torture was stricken through Congress, yet it continues through the special signing letters of the President. The public is basically being lied to.

Now American politicians are too scared to stand against it because they lack a backbone and are more worried they might be wrong, fear penetrates the Democratic party while the Republican party is lost after a presidency of fiscal irresponsibility, looming recession, and the 2 never ending wars.

Its not about constitutional rights for terrorists, its about constitutional rights for US Citizens that is under threat. You could find yourself supporting means to an end that will lead into police state.

He speaks and even sings in their Vegas show during a bit about a "spirit cabinet" and Houdini. But you don't see him singing. And he was the voice of "Mofo, the Psychic Gorilla" an expose of "clairvoyants". And of course, they run to the back of the hall and stand on either side of the exist, and people can talk to either.