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World News Once a Week |
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| Published Thursday, March 13, 2008 |
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| Reuters/Beawiharta Beawiharta: A woman leaves a polling station in Kuala Lumpur. |
Issue 90
Good morning, guv'nah — looking for a new job, are you? This week, New York's Governor Eliot Spitzer watched his career self-destruct
after he was fingered as "Client 9." (A short trip down sex-scandal lane shows one eyebrow-raising distinction between the governor and other loose-zippered
politicos: they didn't pay almost $80,000 for the honor.) Tearing our attention away from licentious details, we focus on
the Bush Administration's steely determination to stymie Congress over the issue of torture. In this week's Q&A, we consider how modern torture is a discomforting byproduct of democracy.
In Japan, two of the country's naughty habits — whaling and porn — took punches after international pressures took aim. And Los Angeles' tap water may taste the best, but is it because the whole city is on happy pills? Looks like our national water supply does more than
quench thirst.
- Catherine New |
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| The Activate Q&A |
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Democracy incubates the torture debate
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| Reuters/Kevin Lamarque |
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The body is strapped to an inclined board and the head is covered with water. Painful feelings of asphyxiation come first,
followed by a fiery distention of the bowels and terrifying fear. The White House euphemistically calls waterboarding a "coercive
interrogation" technique. For human-rights groups, it's torture. President Bush vetoed a bill last week that sought to ban the use of waterboarding by the CIA, arguing that it is an important weapon against terrorist
threats. However, many in the US military contend that torture is not an effective information-gathering tool. While the clash continues in Congress, we confront another chilling
aspect of the debate. State democracy itself is at fault for perpetuating modern "clean" torture — such as water-based methods
— says Darius Rejali, a professor of political science at Reed College, in his new book Torture and Democracy. We spoke with Rejali about the history of torture and how its past suggests new perspectives on the current debate.
AT: When does punishment and coercion end and torture begin?
DR: Torture is when state agents use physical methods on detained and helpless individuals to attain certain information for the
state. It excludes circumstances [in which] private individuals torture others. That is part of the history of cruelty. Punishment
is a legal term and not all punishment involves physical pain, as it can take the form of fines and exile. Not all torture
is punishment, because it can be used for investigative purposes. The difference is not in the words used to define [punishment
and torture], it's in the practice of what actually happens.
Keep reading the Q&A »
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From governor to 'Client 9': Spitzer out
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New York State governor Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday, after evidence surfaced tying the embattled politician to a prostitution ring. The New York Times broke the story on Monday, identifying Spitzer as a repeat customer known as "Client 9" in the FBI's sex-sting affidavit. Records show the governor payed thousands of dollars to have an upscale New York prostitute visit his Washington, DC hotel
room in February.
The scandal follows months of partisan bickering and plunging approval ratings, which had already threatened to derail a once-promising term. A fresh start arrives in the form of Lt.
Gov. David Paterson, who, once sworn in next Monday, will be both the state's first black governor and the first to be legally blind. (ED)
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Serbian government collapses over Kosovo
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Kosovo's call for independence not only sparked riots on the streets of Belgrade, but also ground Serbia's government to a halt. On Saturday, Prime Minister
Vojislav Koštunica announced the coalition government's dissolution and called for new elections. Voters will take sides over
the central point of contention: Serbia's relationship to the European Union, and the country's prospects of future membership.
Koštunica, a right-wing nationalist, refuses to entertain any connection with the EU if prominent member countries continue
to endorse Kosovo's independence. His counterpart, the EU-friendly Boris Tadić, is hardly pro-independence; however, Tadić proposes
that Serbia move forward with its membership bid, in hopes of avoiding a repeat of his country's isolation during the 1990s. (BH)
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| Newswire |
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Socialists repeat in Spanish elections
Socialist José Luis Zapatero, elected prime minister in Spain's emotionally charged 2004 elections, defeated Mariano Rajoy to win a second term. Countrywide, the Socialists barely squeaked past Rajoy's conservative
People's Party; the small margins could be a preview of partisan gridlock. (BH)
| Los Angeles Times | Der Spiegel |
US courts possible return to Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan granted American forces limited access to one of its airbases, the first such gesture of cooperation since relations
froze after the 2005 Andijan massacre. The US military's return has irked the Kremlin and stirred debate over future American troop presence. (CN)
| Eurasia Daily Monitor | BBC |
Opposition victories reshape Malaysian politics
After opposition parties made unprecedented gains in Malaysia's elections on Saturday, the country's government prepares to
face a new era of dissent. At stake is the ruling coalition's New National Agenda, an extension of social policies from the 1970s designed to favor ethnic Malays. (ED)
| Al Jazeera | BBC |
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Buyout kings lose with unpaid debts
Private-equity giants including Blackstone and the Carlyle Group — once Wall Street darlings — are reporting major losses related to the spiraling credit crisis. Companies acquired by equity
firms are struggling to meet debt obligations, thus sinking profits for the buyout groups. (CN)
| New York Times | CNN |
Boeing up in arms over lost contract
In an unusual move, Boeing is protesting the US government's decision to deny the company a $40 billion defense contract. The aerospace giant, which lost the bid to build refueling planes to
Northrop Grumman, claims that the competition was judged unfairly. (BH)
| Los Angeles Times | Seattle Times |
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Tap pours cold glass of — drugs?
Trace quantities of powerful pharmaceuticals — including pain pills and mood stabilizers — are contaminating US drinking water,
according to a five-month Associated Press investigation. Experts say not to panic just yet, since the jury's still out on
the long-term effects of such low-level drug exposure. (ED)
| Associated Press | Discover |
Everyone grabs a shovel to Digg
Digg, the popular website on which users submit and rank news stories, may be on the market. Google and Microsoft are among the
companies rumored to be bidding for the social-content aggregator, which could sell for upward of $200 million. (BH)
| Portfolio | TechCrunch |
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| The Week in Pictures |
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Click to see the full-size image and caption.
 Reuters/Adnan Abidi
 Reuters/Jaime Saldarriaga
 Reuters/Tim Chong
 Reuters/Jon Nazca
 Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak
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*Unless otherwise noted, all photos are courtesy of Reuters.
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Secret talks held over whaling war
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Amid an exchange of minor blows between activists and whalers, International Whaling Commission members met secretly last week to discuss a resumption of Japanese commercial whaling — that is, if Tokyo stops exploiting
a legal loophole with its "scientific" hunts. (CN)
| Independent | The Age |
Child porn banned at last in Japan
Tokyo is finally drafting a law against possession of child pornography. Japan is one of the few G8 countries that hadn't
yet banned ownership, although it barred kiddie-porn production and distribution in 1999. However, the new law exempts kinky
manga comics. (CN)
| Guardian | Yomiuri Shimbun |
Women outsource pregnancy to India
Surrogate motherhood is a booming business in India. Foreign couples pay about $25,000 — far less than US prices — to plant
embryos in the wombs of Indian women. Critics worry about ethical breaches as the procedure becomes more popular. (BH)
| New York Times | MeriNews |
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| Masthead |
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Editors
Anna Balkrishna
Eli Dvorkin
Benjamin Hart
Doug Levy
Catherine New
Contributors
Mark Mangan
Production
Anjuli Ayer
Morgan Croney
Andrew Steinmetz
Design
Nicholas Feldman
Jessica Bauer-Greene
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