Film at 11: Cookies > Waterboarding
Via boingboing:
Bacon may not make everything better, but cookies do:
FBI Interrogator Reports That Cookies Work Better Than Torture.
This is Pure Undiluted Coyote In Action: the reprehensible deeds of the arrogant and powerful are countered by something that is, at first glance, absurd.
Part of me wants to make a funny, light-hearted post about the wonders of baked goods, full of references to Eddie Izzard and '80s cartoons about Being Nice and '70s superheroes defeating the villains with Hostess Fruit Pies.
Part of me wants to go on a self-righteous tear about how the vile nature of torture is compounded by its ineffectiveness.
Look at the icon: which part do you think won this one?
It's particularly ironic because those who try to defend "enhanced interrogation" love to accuse their opponents of "coddling" terrorist suspect. "Maybe we should just serve them tea and cookies, instead! That's sure to get them to talk!"
Guess what? It does, assholes.
Treating people as people, as human beings, goes a long way toward getting them to see you as human in turn.
Those who defend and support torture don't give a damn about facts or evidence. They don't care about getting useful or accurate information out of these prisoners. They don't even care about the "ticking time bomb" scenario gleaned from their careful, in-depth research into Kiefer Sutherland.
They just want to hurt people, or have people hurt in their name. They just want to cause pain. They don't care about terrorism or any of the rest of it; 9/11 just gave them a justification to do what they've always wanted to do, to indulge their vicious cruelty, and to assert loudly and contemptuously that any other approach is naive and weak.
It is indefensible that I live in a nation that can even debate this issue.
Not when the alternative is cookies.
Bacon may not make everything better, but cookies do:
FBI Interrogator Reports That Cookies Work Better Than Torture.
This is Pure Undiluted Coyote In Action: the reprehensible deeds of the arrogant and powerful are countered by something that is, at first glance, absurd.
Part of me wants to make a funny, light-hearted post about the wonders of baked goods, full of references to Eddie Izzard and '80s cartoons about Being Nice and '70s superheroes defeating the villains with Hostess Fruit Pies.
Part of me wants to go on a self-righteous tear about how the vile nature of torture is compounded by its ineffectiveness.
Look at the icon: which part do you think won this one?
It's particularly ironic because those who try to defend "enhanced interrogation" love to accuse their opponents of "coddling" terrorist suspect. "Maybe we should just serve them tea and cookies, instead! That's sure to get them to talk!"
Guess what? It does, assholes.
Treating people as people, as human beings, goes a long way toward getting them to see you as human in turn.
Those who defend and support torture don't give a damn about facts or evidence. They don't care about getting useful or accurate information out of these prisoners. They don't even care about the "ticking time bomb" scenario gleaned from their careful, in-depth research into Kiefer Sutherland.
They just want to hurt people, or have people hurt in their name. They just want to cause pain. They don't care about terrorism or any of the rest of it; 9/11 just gave them a justification to do what they've always wanted to do, to indulge their vicious cruelty, and to assert loudly and contemptuously that any other approach is naive and weak.
It is indefensible that I live in a nation that can even debate this issue.
Not when the alternative is cookies.