Now, it's sort of common knowledge that there are about 200 prisoners on a hunger strike in Guantanamo Bay.

The Pentagon has issued a most curious NewSpeak statement, whereas they deny that there are any hunger strikers, but that there are 56 prisoners on a "voluntary fast".

I'm kind of... .speechless. :sealed: :wall:

crazy stuff, eh?

well, it is a voluntary fast. that they're using as a political statement, often called a hunger strike.

ah, spin.

The Pentagon is kind of...liars. :brood:

well, it is a voluntary fast. that they're using as a political statement, often called a hunger strike.

ah, spin.


:brood: That was going to be my post. Hussy.

Yes, voluntary fast sounds so much nicer than hunger strike. Voluntary fast sounds like the person is trying to cleanse her/himself and might possibly have a juicer in the cell with him/her or a Bible and a prayer pillow (for kneeling).

Hunger strike on the other hand tends to sound like people are pretty dang pissed off and would rather die than live in/with their current conditions.

B

I would never stop someone from engaging in a hunger strike. Never saw the point in it. If they want to off themselves, let 'em.

I'd think the US gov would prefer that prisoners went on hunger strikes/fasts. It'll save them money and time on food prep.

I've heard the favorite food of prisoners there is kid's cereal, the more sugar the better. Probably save the US some money on dental care, to boot.

If they want to starve themselves, let em. Its their choice.

The point of this thread was not really whether people should be allowed to starve or not.

It was about Pentagon NewSpeak. Remember Orwell's "Ministry of Love"?

The point of this thread was not really whether people should be allowed to starve or not.

It was about Pentagon NewSpeak. Remember Orwell's "Ministry of Love"?

They won't be allowed to starve.

And it's a crying shame.

Oops, I probably shouldn't have posted until I asked "Diana, may I?"

Ah, screw it. :tame:

They won't be allowed to starve.

That's right. From what I read, a few are in hospitals being force fed.

I do find that the US gov't's newspeak is very Orwellian. They coin new terms brilliantly. Karl Rove is certainly a smart man. I wouldn't pick him as an "ethical" person, but he sure is smart.

How the US has managed to incarcerate hundreds of people for the last few years in military prisons without even so much as charging them with crimes is amazing. What is ever more amazing is that the US gov't has made it seem as if those prisoners were on a club med trip eating lobster on the tax payer's dole.

Thank you Diana for posting this information. It is intersting. :)

What is ever more amazing is that the US gov't has made it seem as if those prisoners were on a club med trip eating lobster on the tax payer's dole.

Not really. If they did that, then people really would be upset.

Not really. If they did that, then people really would be upset.

Hmmm. I will have to look up the Ann Coulter passage I read that compared Gitmo to a carribean vacation.

Annie isn't really mainstream though. So I was wrong. It isn't mainstream perception: but it surely is part of the dialogue of hawkish ideologogues.

The result is that there is a segment of the US population that wants to see those detainees suffer... and yet the reality is that the majority haven't been charged with anything.

(That isnt' to say that some of those detainees aren't dangerous; but it does seem that due process has been eliminated due to White House legal shennanigans. I can't wait until drug dealing teens in Missourri get picked up as "enemy combatants")

Hmmm. I will have to look up the Ann Coulter passage I read that compared Gitmo to a carribean vacation.


xrodolfox: Omg, please don't spoil your day by reading any of her crap. Not only does she write very badly (I find it hard to believe that she got published and is considered a writer), her humour is absolutely non-humour, and she's a freaking fascho as well.

Go for a walk instead. Reading anything Coulter writes is a perfect waste of time.

xrodolfox: Reading anything Coulter writes is a perfect waste of time.

I don't know why I wallow in consuming that sort of stuff. I have taken a hobby to listen to Conservative Christian Radio. I get stuff in the mail from the "Fatima" organization. I read the Michigan Review on campus.

I find that stuff facinating. What better way to counter lies than to hear them from the source?

Anyhow, It always takes a long time finding the right stuff in Coulter quotes. (Pun intended.) If anyone wants to do that work for me, I will forever be indebted to you. :sunny:

Hmmm. I will have to look up the Ann Coulter passage I read that compared Gitmo to a carribean vacation.



My mistake. I thought you said "...that the US gov't has made it seem as if those prisoners were on a club med trip..."

Go for a walk instead. Reading anything Coulter writes is a perfect waste of time.

But then reading Coulter would be a better way to waste time than going on a walk. Why not aspire to perfection?

I have taken a hobby to listen to Conservative Christian Radio.

Gah. Good luck with that. After growing up on the stuff, I reached my saturation point several years back.


BTW, Diana, can we have a link to this NewsSpeak statement?

Skylark: I will try and find the link. It was either in the Guardian website, the BBC website or possibly both. It was also mentioned in my local newspaper (just a small local rag.)

This is not the article I read, but it will serve it's purpose. I remember that the one I read was definitely on the BBC website.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090905A.shtml

While I was searching, I found an article that said that for the US military to call something a hunger strike, the prisoners have to have missed nine meals in a row. So what I suspect is happening is that before they get to that nine, they are taken away to the hospital ward and forced to wear a drip. And then they're no longer on a hunger-strike, because they're being force "fed" through the drip. But before that, they're not yet technically speaking (in US military terms) on a hunger strike so it's called a voluntary fast.

It's NewSpeak. Definitely shades of Orwell here.

Diana, the article you linked to didn't mention the nine-meal definition you stated. Would you share the link for that one, too, please?

LOL!!!! I just googled "Hunger Strike Guntanamo Nine Meals" and up came a link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4267326.stm

I spend about 2/3rds of my internet time reading news articles (I wither away and die when I'm not aware of what's going on in the world.) So there's no way I bookmark all the websites I read, because also when I read information somewhere, I usually like to cross-check it a few times. (I also read a lot of newspapers with more detailed in-depth articles).

But any time you want a link, I'll find one for you. :)