Global
Tony Judt, the NYU professor and liberal writer for the New York Review of Books, has just discovered some of the consequences of publicly criticizing Israeli government policies, as he has been doing. Here's a message he released on Oct. 4: "I was due to speak this evening, in Manhattan, to a group called Network 20/20 comprising young business leaders, NGOs, academics, etc, from the U.S. and many countries. Topic: the Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. The meetings are always held at the Polish Consulate in Manhattan.
In this Walruss interview, Jonathan Groner, an associate professor of surgery at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health, describes parallels between lethal injection in America and the Nazi Germany "euthanasia" program. As in Nazi Germany, Groner says that in America doctors are today being asked to hold the lethal syringe.
Daniel Sturm: You say that you see similarities between Nazi doctors and U.S. execution teams?
Jonathan Groner: At Northwestern University I read many Holocaust books, being Jewish and having gone to Hebrew High School. It was interesting to see how intimately doctors were involved in the Nazi euthanasia program, and eventually in the genocide. When I was a surgery resident, I heard a lecture about Robert Jay Lifton, who studied the corruption of Nazi Germany physicians. Lifton described how the government recruited physicians to kill physically and mentally disabled patients, including the "criminally insane." What struck me was the idea of using healing imagery to justify killing. That stayed with me.
Daniel Sturm: When did you first become critical of the death penalty?
Daniel Sturm: You say that you see similarities between Nazi doctors and U.S. execution teams?
Jonathan Groner: At Northwestern University I read many Holocaust books, being Jewish and having gone to Hebrew High School. It was interesting to see how intimately doctors were involved in the Nazi euthanasia program, and eventually in the genocide. When I was a surgery resident, I heard a lecture about Robert Jay Lifton, who studied the corruption of Nazi Germany physicians. Lifton described how the government recruited physicians to kill physically and mentally disabled patients, including the "criminally insane." What struck me was the idea of using healing imagery to justify killing. That stayed with me.
Daniel Sturm: When did you first become critical of the death penalty?
When Jonathan Groner put his dog to sleep, he knew the procedure would be quick and painless. He said he trusted the veterinarian because she euthanized dogs daily, and thought the procedure would be humane since dogs lacked a perception of time. On the other hand, he said there was no humane way to kill a human.
Since the botched execution of Joseph Clark last May, critics of Ohio’s lethal injection protocol have been pointing toward the immanent risk of torture in the execution chamber if a licensed anesthesiologist is not present.
"A humane execution is the ultimate paradox," said Groner at his Columbus Children’s Hospital office. The doctor of pediatric surgery and associate professor at Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health said he was troubled to see how the rise in Ohio executions was accompanied by the belief that lethal injections were non controversial. He drew a parallel between lethal injection procedures in the U.S. and concentration camp euthanasia programs in Nazi Germany (see sidebar interview).
Since the botched execution of Joseph Clark last May, critics of Ohio’s lethal injection protocol have been pointing toward the immanent risk of torture in the execution chamber if a licensed anesthesiologist is not present.
"A humane execution is the ultimate paradox," said Groner at his Columbus Children’s Hospital office. The doctor of pediatric surgery and associate professor at Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health said he was troubled to see how the rise in Ohio executions was accompanied by the belief that lethal injections were non controversial. He drew a parallel between lethal injection procedures in the U.S. and concentration camp euthanasia programs in Nazi Germany (see sidebar interview).
No one knows exactly how many Iraqi civilians have died from the
war’s violence since the invasion of their country. The new study from
public health researchers at Johns Hopkins University estimates that
the number of those deaths is around 601,000, while saying the actual
total could be somewhere between 426,369 and 793,663. Such wartime
figures can’t be precise, but the meaning is clear: The invasion of
Iraq has led to ongoing carnage on a massive scale.
While we stare at numbers that do nothing to convey the suffering and anguish of the war in Iraq, we might want to ask: How could we correlate the horrific realities with the evasive discussions that proliferated in U.S. news media during the lead-up to the invasion?
In mid-November 2002 -- four months before the invasion began -- a report surfaced from health professionals with the Medact organization and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. “The avowed U.S. aim of regime change means any new conflict will be much more intense and destructive than the [1991] Gulf War,” they warned, “and will involve more deadly weapons developed in the interim.”
While we stare at numbers that do nothing to convey the suffering and anguish of the war in Iraq, we might want to ask: How could we correlate the horrific realities with the evasive discussions that proliferated in U.S. news media during the lead-up to the invasion?
In mid-November 2002 -- four months before the invasion began -- a report surfaced from health professionals with the Medact organization and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. “The avowed U.S. aim of regime change means any new conflict will be much more intense and destructive than the [1991] Gulf War,” they warned, “and will involve more deadly weapons developed in the interim.”
What blessings, what outrage.
The Amish child said, "Shoot me first." The survivors counseled forgiveness and prayed for the soul of the murderer. This was all too solemn and too real to be purveyed by the mainstream media as picturesque curiosity, horse-and-buggy morality in the age of the Hummer.
The Amish modeled courage and healing for the rest of America. They modeled a peace built not on intimidation and conquest but on respect and forgiveness. They shut down the cynics for almost a week. They grieved, they buried their dead and they reached out to the killer's widow.
Kneel with them, mourn with them, rise up angry.
The body count in our nation's schools over a period of barely a week was eight innocents: students, a teacher, a principal, shot point-blank by psycho-terrorists with easy access to personal arsenals. Another eight were injured and at least one of them, an Amish girl, is in grave condition. More than 400 people have died in school violence in the last dozen years, many hundreds of others have been wounded, and uncounted close calls - like the one this past Monday morning - have been averted.
The Amish child said, "Shoot me first." The survivors counseled forgiveness and prayed for the soul of the murderer. This was all too solemn and too real to be purveyed by the mainstream media as picturesque curiosity, horse-and-buggy morality in the age of the Hummer.
The Amish modeled courage and healing for the rest of America. They modeled a peace built not on intimidation and conquest but on respect and forgiveness. They shut down the cynics for almost a week. They grieved, they buried their dead and they reached out to the killer's widow.
Kneel with them, mourn with them, rise up angry.
The body count in our nation's schools over a period of barely a week was eight innocents: students, a teacher, a principal, shot point-blank by psycho-terrorists with easy access to personal arsenals. Another eight were injured and at least one of them, an Amish girl, is in grave condition. More than 400 people have died in school violence in the last dozen years, many hundreds of others have been wounded, and uncounted close calls - like the one this past Monday morning - have been averted.
"Please be aware that this type of activity must be scheduled in advance in order to have permission to be on campus or you may be considered trespassing." -- Kathleen Armontrout, Campus Scheduling Office, University of Cincinnati.
I find it fascinating (in that fascist kind of way) that a public institution on public property supported by public monies could claim any lawful citizen doing anything legal (freedom to assemble) would be trespassing. Obviously an attempt by UC administration to join forces with majority parties in bullying third party candidates and stomping on the democratic process.
Tammy Makela
Supporter, Peirce for Ohio campaign
I find it fascinating (in that fascist kind of way) that a public institution on public property supported by public monies could claim any lawful citizen doing anything legal (freedom to assemble) would be trespassing. Obviously an attempt by UC administration to join forces with majority parties in bullying third party candidates and stomping on the democratic process.
Tammy Makela
Supporter, Peirce for Ohio campaign
AUSTIN, Texas -- Nobody else seems to be asking the obvious question about Susan B. Ralston, former administrative assistant to Jack Abramoff and, until last week, assistant to Karl Rove. She got hired by Rove at $64,700 after the 2004 election and then received a raise to $122,000. Why? I've never gotten a 100 percent raise. Did you? Is this common?
“The ideal tyranny is that which is ignorantly self-administered by its victims. The most perfect slaves are, therefore, those which blissfully and unawaredly enslave themselves.”
---attributed to Dresden James
A caricature of a man who has wrought havoc in virtually every endeavor throughout his miserable existence has found his calling. Exuding false bravado and contrived machismo, he has swaggered his way into the deepest recesses of America’s collective psyche, fulfilling the inculcated need for a “manly” patriarch. Chest thumping, bullying, and ultimately unleashing the Hell of the Pentagon’s death machine upon those brazen enough to resist conversion to the American Way, King George IV has succeeded the tyrant American Revolutionaries toppled over 200 years ago.
A caricature of a man who has wrought havoc in virtually every endeavor throughout his miserable existence has found his calling. Exuding false bravado and contrived machismo, he has swaggered his way into the deepest recesses of America’s collective psyche, fulfilling the inculcated need for a “manly” patriarch. Chest thumping, bullying, and ultimately unleashing the Hell of the Pentagon’s death machine upon those brazen enough to resist conversion to the American Way, King George IV has succeeded the tyrant American Revolutionaries toppled over 200 years ago.