In the news

Read it and weep

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/24/war-crimes-us-soldiers-iraq

Jesus fuckin Christ!?

:-(

Read it and weep

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/24/war-crimes-us-soldiers-iraq

..what utterly despicable cunts.

that is horrendous

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/25/david-mitchell-burqa-ban-tattoos

But we are. Stupid people are thinking about an issue that doesn't need to be thought about and a YouGov survey says 67% of us want full-face veils outlawed. Just when I thought my estimation of humanity couldn't fall any further, I discover that two-thirds of my fellow countrymen are, or at least were for the duration of taking a survey, morons.

...

None of this means I think there's anything good about wearing a burqa. I think it's daft. I think any belief system that concludes that half the population should go around constantly covered from head to toe in black cloth, whether out of modesty, humility, tradition or stealth, has a massive flaw in it.

Read it and weep

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/24/war-crimes-us-soldiers-iraq

Good fucking god !

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/datablog/2010/jul/25/wikileaks-afghanistan-data

Graniaud are going to milk this I think.

That war crimes article was horrible, makes you wonder what isn't uncovered. they say one of the worst war crimes, but considering the haditha killings, and what isn't revealed that kind of thing must be endemic.

Well, it takes all kinds but how can you spot a 'paedo' at the age of 11-16?

Not necesarily most likely to be a paedo, maybe more "most likely to apear in a humiliating headline"

He was a bit of a posh twat though, or atleast his family thought they were

haha I think i know what you mean

Read it and weep

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/24/war-crimes-us-soldiers-iraq

tbh except for the weirdness of their deaths, i don't see why this is worse than ill thought out airstrikes that kill scores more?

I guess one reads as evil and one as tragic incompetence

i guess, but that green guy was found mentally ill which is unsurprising.

tbh except for the weirdness of their deaths, i don't see why this is worse than ill thought out airstrikes that kill scores more?

I suppose it's the 'intimate' (for want of a better word) nature of the crime, the pre-meditation, the contempt for the victims, seeing your captors drag your daughter away to be gang raped at gun point, hearing your captors rape your young daughter, hearing her struggling and screaming and crying, seeing your wife shot dead in front of you, a tiny little girl seeing her father shot dead and so on.

If we are simply tally up the mortality (X deaths = X deaths) then a little kid knocked over and killed is no worse than James Bugler's death, just two dead kids.

Personally I think this is much much worse (by orders of magnitude) than death from a badly planned air strike.

He had a personality disorder, a surprisingly large proportion of people are believed to have them. It's distinguished somewhat as being a disorder as opossed to a mental illness and the court didn't see fit to grant a plee of insanity.

He had a personality disorder, a surprisingly large proportion of people are believed to have them. It's distinguished somewhat as being a disorder as opossed to a mental illness and the court didn't see fit to grant a plee of insanity.

Oh, plees:

tbh except for the weirdness of their deaths, i don't see why this is worse than ill thought out airstrikes that kill scores more?

"Weirdness" is a weird word to use.
I posted it for a few reasons; one it's fine journalism, proof that there are reporters with integrity and compassion. Second, as noted above, it may be just one of many such atrocities; in this case it came to light because of the actions of one soldier.
In many ways it's typical of what happens in war; the My Lai massacre, the thousands of rapes committed by Soviet troops when they took Berlin, the rape, torture and mutilation that has characterised recent wars in Africa. Ad nauseum.
But I do think you have a point; the article moves us because of the studied cruelty of the murderers and because we can put names to the victims, we can identify with them, as Tynan suggests, we can imagine the horror. But those who plan and deploy air strikes, in Iraq, in Gaza, in Chechnya, knowing that they will kill civilians, children, they are equally sickening and they should also be tried and imprisoned. But they won't be.

He had a personality disorder, a surprisingly large proportion of people are believed to have them.

'Antisocial personality disorder' is what we used to call psychopathy. Psychologists are reluctant to label patients 'psychopaths' these days - for the obvious reasons.

Psychopaths make up around 1 in 150 of the general population - along with sociopaths this is thought to come to about 1 in 100.

Like you say, it's relatively common - of this forums 17,445 members - with all things being equal (assuming psychopaths are likely to participate in a public forum at the same rate as the general public) - there are likely 104 psychopaths.

'Antisocial personality disorder' is what we used to call psychopathy. Psychologists are reluctant to label patients 'psychopaths' these days - for the obvious reasons.

Psychopaths make up around 1 in 150 of the general population - along with sociopaths this is thought to come to about 1 in 100.

Like you say, it's relatively common - of this forums 17,445 members - with all things being equal (assuming psychopaths are likely to participate in a public forum at the same rate as the general public) - there are likely 104 psychopaths.

Here are a few definitions, it is quite fascinating

http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/psychopath_2.htm

http://www.crisiscounseling.com/articles/psychopath.htm

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-sociopath.htm

http://www.youmeworks.com/sociopaths.html

"Weirdness" is a weird word to use.

indeed, unlike charles bukowski i am not at my most articulate several drinks into a session.

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy[/ame]

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociopathy[/ame]

Sorry I deleted the pointless question.

now i look silly.

Especially as both those links imply there is no difference. I saw that too, that's why i asked what the difference is.

Bullshit terminology evidently

Oh Jon...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jul/26/jon-snow-bike-red-light

oh not jon..
http://road.cc/content/news/20885-daily-mail-exposes-jon-snow-serial-rule-breaker

n response, an unrepentant Snow said those responsible for the story were ‘at best, cycling challenged’. He told road.cc, “In the first picture I am leaving the hoops I had parked on. In the other pavement shot I am arriving at railings to which the photographer would have seen me secure the bike – you can see the top of my leg swinging over the saddle preparatory to parking.

“It is alas NOT illegal to use a mobile on a bike (but should be!)

“The red lights I was well past when they turned red and the ambulance I obviously stopped for. I regret nothing beyond the reality that in common with America and many other countries we need a serious national cycling strategy and REAL provision for cycle use.”

order is restored.