Fresh Evidence Global Warming Is Man-Made

By GottaLaff

Dear Michele Bachmann, Grabby McOscarSwag, et al:

Climate scientists hit back at the sceptics today with new research they say has uncovered the "fingerprint" of man-made global warming.

Researchers working like detectives investigating a crime compared real observational evidence with data from computer simulations to see how they matched up.

They concluded there was an "increasingly remote possibility" of human behaviour not being the chief driver of climate change.

"Remote".

Main Entry: ¹re·mote
Pronunciation: \ri-ˈmōt\

Function: adjective

Inflected Form(s): re·mot·er; re·mot·est

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin remotus, from past participle of removēre to remove

Date: 15th century

1 : separated by an interval or space greater than usual
2 : far removed in space, time, or relation : divergent
3 : out-of-the-way, secluded
4 : acting, acted on, or controlled indirectly or from a distance computer operation>; also : relating to the acquisition of information about a distant object (as by radar or photography) without coming into physical contact with it
5 : not arising from a primary or proximate action
6 : small in degree : slight remotest idea of what was going on>

Dr Peter Stott, from the Met Office Hadley Centre in Exeter, who co-led the study:

"This wealth of evidence we have now shows there is an increasingly remote possibility of climate change being dominated by natural factors rather than human factors."

By the time the skeptics are convinced, if ever, it could be too late. The damage will have been done, damage that could have been prevented. As it is, irreversible harm has already taken place.

How does it feel to screw up the planet for your children, grandchildren, and beyond? I wonder how Trig will enjoy the new coastline...

The study found natural forces such as volcanic eruptions and cyclical changes in the brightness of the Sun could not explain what was happening to the world's climate, said Dr Stott.

For example, solar heating would have warmed both upper and lower layers of the atmosphere, the stratosphere and troposphere. However, what was seen was that while the stratosphere had cooled, the troposphere had warmed.

H/t: BuzzFlash

ACLU Asks the Supreme Court to Hear Its Case for Declassifying Torture Photos

By GottaLaff

It's Friday Dump Time! And that mean's it's time for Torture Talk!

[...] ACLU is taking its case for declassifying hundreds of photographs documenting the torture of detainees by U.S. personnel — blocked by President Obama after a flip-flop — to the high court:

NEW YORK – The government today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a court ruling requiring the release of photos depicting the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody at overseas locations. In September 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered the government to turn over the photos in response to an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The Obama administration originally indicated that it would not appeal that decision and would release the photos, but abruptly reversed its position shortly before the agreed-upon deadline.

“The appeals court soundly rejected all of the government’s arguments for withholding the photos, and it’s unfortunate that the government has chosen to contest that decision,” said Amrit Singh, staff attorney with the ACLU. “These photos would provide visual proof that prisoner abuse by U.S. personnel was not aberrational but widespread, reaching far beyond the walls of Abu Ghraib. As disturbing as the photos may be, it is critical that the American people know the full truth about the abuse that occurred in their name.”

And that concludes today's Friday Dump episode of Torture Talk, brought to you by Hotel Gitmo. Come for a week, stay for 8 years!

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

Alleged Torture Photos Slated for Destruction

By GottaLaff

No. Dammit, no:

In another black mark on the Obama administration’s promised transparency, former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed has launched an urgent legal fight to prevent photos he claims prove he was tortured from being destroyed.

This is exactly what Lt. Col. Barry Wingard has been telling me, regarding having no access, and now, we see that evidence will be destroyed that can prove his client, Fayiz, was also brutally mistreated.

Mohamed, who was seized in Pakistan in 2002 and later transferred to Morocco and Guantanamo Bay, was released in February and returned to Britain. He claims to have been brutally beaten to the point of being unrecognizable and subjected to an unnecessary anal cavity search. Under U.S. law, which states that all evidence from such a case must be destroyed within 30 days of the case’s closure, the classified photos will not be released to the public before their destruction. But according to Mohamed, “The authorities have consistently denied that I have been abused, and this is physical evidence that I am telling the truth, and they are not.”

Read that again. And again. Then read Jane Mayer's book, The Dark Side.

UPDATE:

Interrogation Contracts That the CIA Won’t Let You See