20160829 (knowing)

Nice painting but anything like the truth?

Do you believe in Science? Depends

On what you mean when you use

The capital S for science. If you

Mean, “Does the scientific method

Allow us to obtain useful facts

Reliably?” Sure, I’m on that train.

But if you mean, “The scientific

Method is the only reliable path

To any and all truth,” then I’ll

Let that train go and wait at the

Station. For centuries now we’ve

Enjoyed a whirlwind of discovery

Which challenges so much of 

Our unscientific thinking we

Feel it only natural to question

Everything. “Question Authority”

Is a fairly straightforward rule

For maintaining independence

While annoying just about

Everyone in sight. It’s a judgment

Call to accept common practices

Out of deference to the numerous

Others who have found obedience

To be beneficial if not always

Justifiable. It’s reasonable to

Plant corn in rows as one’s

Forefathers did and we’ll learn

The reasons why once we’re

Old enough to discuss the 

Matter knowledgeably with

“Those who know.” At least

If they accord us the respect

Of sincere curiosity rather than

Deem us mouthy young

Whippersnappers. But that’s

Accepted technology of which

One doesn’t find all that much

Dispute. Touch on, “Why is 

Marrying your sister wrong?”

And you’re on shakier ground,

More so if you and your sister

Have been rumored to be 

Especially close of late. Several

Years ago asking why marrying

Outside your ethnic group,

Nationality, and God forbid, race

Was wrong could get you at least

A bloody nose if not tarred, feathered,

And run out of town. These last

Queries were not scientific in 

The manner of “Why do our cattle

Weigh less than Rancher X’s at

Round up for market?” They are

Questions of governing human

Behavior which seem more products

Of primeval understanding rather

Than contemporaneous choice.

Only now is science looking at

The roots of “accepted human 

Behavior” through the lens of 

Evolutionary psychology to 

Explain basic morality as well

As other articles of faith which 

Resist being taken into a lab. 

We’re not about to test facts 

About murder from letting one

Group murder and comparing

It to a control group who were

Not allowed to murder. Instead

We use the “lab of real life” 

And draw conclusions from 

There: Do men who were abused

As children abuse their children

At higher rates than those who

Weren’t? The studies are plagued

With selection issues—were the

Subjects chosen randomly enough

As not to determine conclusions?

Or did one look at only those

Cases supporting the “findings.”

And ultimately, if scientists 

Propose humans in the main

Believe in a God because of

An inward need for reason 

And order in their otherwise 

Inexplicable and chaotic lives,

Does that mean there is no God? 

Or that asking such questions

Has no merit because there

Is no way of testing the thesis 

Scientifically? If one “believes”

In Science, there is no other

Way of knowing.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016

20160828 (enhanced)

Abu Zubaydah 14 yrs in prison,
waterboarded 83 times. His 
tormentors determined he knew
nothing of value

John Kiriakou captured AZ but 
was sent to prison for two years
for admitting US interrogators
routinely tortured prisoners

He was thought to be the #3 guy 

In the Al-Quaeda leadership

When they first apprehended

Abu Zubaydah fourteen years

Ago when the CIA and Pakistani

Armed forces simultaneously 

Raided twelve separate locations 

Where he might be. In the 

Process he had been shot

Three times by a Pakistani with

An AK-47, the leg, the groin, 

And the stomach. The CIA got

Him patched up so he would

Live to undergo questioning

By the Agency as to what he

Knew of Al-Quaeda, 9/11,

Their plans, and their training.

That was when John Kiriakou,

A CIA analyst who participated

In his capture had the opportunity

Over his next fifty-six hours in

Captivity to interrogate him.

Following Kiriakou’s questioning

Abu Zubaydah was flown to

A secret prison where the 

Senate Report on Torture

Stated he was waterboarded

Eighty-three times before his

Tormentors concluded he knew

Nothing of value. He was not

Charged with a crime nor tried 

Primarily because his testimony,

Having been extracted by torture,

Was inadmissible in US court

Proceedings. Authorities decided

Never to release him. He is now

Among the last prisoners at

Guantanamo and Kiriakou is

Advocating his return to Saudi

Arabia as the only moral course.

Kiriakou maintains if Zubaydah

Had committed crimes against 

The US, he has certainly paid for

Them by now. It is interesting to

Note that John Kiriakou is the

Only person sent to prison from

The CIA, not for performing

Torture, but for revealing that

Our government was torturing.

He served two years on the charge

Of revealing a CIA operative’s

Identity to a news reporter, much like 

Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney’s 

Chief of Staff blew Valerie Plame’s

Cover in a move to punish Joe

Wilson for an article that there

Were no yellow-cake (uranium)

Shipments to Iraq which dealt

A serious setback to W’s war

Justification. But returning

To Abu Zubaydah, decide

When you would have stopped

Waterboarding him. After the

First time? The tenth? 

The twenty-fifth? Now we’re 

Getting “enhanced interrogation.”

The fiftieth? The sixtieth? Bringing

A man repeatedly to the point of death

Is risky (much less inhumanly

Callous). Wouldn’t you be fearful

Of killing him by the sixty-fifth?

Or would you get so cocky about it

You’d laugh and say, “C’mon, one

More time—for the Gipper!” Or

Would you consult a Guiness Book

Of World Records to know when 

To quit? Mr. Obama set all those

Souls at ease when he stated of the

War crimes, “. . . we need to look

Forward not backward . . “ and

Guaranteed none participating in

The “techniques” would be brought

To justice—except of course for

John Kiriakou who merely told us it

Was going on full blast.*

c. J.S.Manista, 2016 

*http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/abu_zubaydah_case_sets_bad_precedent_for_military_justice_system_20160826

20160822 (disgusting)

As massageur or massagee you know what comes next. [This photo
was censored by Facebook who did not let me post either this picture 
or the related blog when I tried repeatedly to post it on FB. I did get 
it posted momentarily last night and again this morning but both 
times it soon disappeared. Do you think this photo/blog violates 
community standards,and if you do, what the hell community do you
live in?]

         

Sometime ago I mentioned Loki

Is incurring skin bumps and 

Eruptions whose size and growing

Number caused me to take him

To the vet to be examined. She

Informed me: “They’re harmless.

Older dogs get these things. They

Come, they go. Some get large

Before resolving. Some have to 

Be drained if they’re affecting

The pet’s quality of life. But 

They can recur. Removing all

Of them will not prevent new 

Ones and can be costly. Plus

Anesthetizing an animal has 

Risks of its own which you 

Want to avoid.” I pointed out

One reddish hard bump that

Had formed on his right

Shoulder area. “This is a 

Sebaceous cyst which is

Very near the surface and

Ready to erupt with a 

Little help.” She cleansed the 

Red bump with an antiseptic

Wipe and, without any local,

Punctured the thin skin. The

Creamy material inside oozed

Out copiously at first from 

The pressure of the skin

Swollen around it, then from 

Her carefully squeezing with

Her fingers what could be felt

As the body of the cyst. It was

A mixture of clear liquid, blood

And something like a waxy

Stalk emerging sometimes like

A tower folding over itself as

It surfaced. Loki remained calm

Throughout, appeared not to be

In any pain whatsoever as the 

Material was pressed out, daubed

With tissues, and again at 

The end cleansed with some

Fluid and dried off. The procedure

Took fairly little time for

Doubling the cost of the 

Consultation. Back home I

Wanted more information

And Googled YouTube for 

Explanatory videos. This is 

Where you’ve got to take

Great caution, as I discovered 

Once earlier when researching

Images of “skin diseases.” I’ll

Not do that again anytime soon

And I forewarn you not to do 

So lightly either. I thought the 

Images of skin burned in the

Hiroshima/Nagasaki blasts

Were repulsive enough. I came

Away with a new respect for

Dermatologists, somewhat like

The shock Jerry Seinfeld’s

Character underwent when, after

Belittling a dermatologist he

Was dating for specializing in 

Rashes, he discovered she 

Worked with horrible skin

Cancers in terminal stages of

The disease. “Sebaceous cysts”

Was topic enough to lead me to

A segment from the afternoon TV

Show “The Doctors” featuring

Sandra Lee, M.D., who is 

Widely known as the "Pimple

Popper” of heavily viewed YouTube

Videos. Without going into any

More detail than I have risked

Already, suffice to say some enjoy

Watching these recordings. When

One considers alternatives, these

Resolutions can be done at home,

Without great danger of infection (if

You’re careful), and once done, it’s

Done—no great risk of recurrence

Or aggravation of other illness.

Reportedly, mutual zit extraction

Is a fairly popular post-coital 

Practice second only to massage

Which, of course, leads to

Discovery of these bumps in 

The first place.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016