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Water boarding What if?

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  • George W's autobiography, allegedly, he sanctioned water boarding.!!!!!

    Lets have a sensible and logical debate on this subject. PLEASE do not make this an us and them debate.
    Human rights activists and Liberals would say that in any event, torture should never be used, Extracting information and or confessions by inflicting pain or fear is never an answer and where will it end?

    Imagine this scenario, you haver a loved one, they have disappeared, A suspect has been arrested, and there is overwhelming evidence they have on previous occasions kidnapped people abused them, locked them up in an air tight container to die of suffocation, you have twelve hours to find them and get them out alive, How far would you go to extract the information you need to save their lives???

    How many lives were saved by getting information in this way. Are the rights of an individual relevant with the rights of the many? do we too often forget the rights of the victims in our quest for an individuals human rights?

    Abu Hamza, ''hook hand'' preaches hate and is in prison for inciting murder on a grand scale, he has just won the right to retain his British Passport, why? because the Egyptian Government has revoked his citizenship and if we revoke his passport and UK citizenship he will be rendered stateless, apparently a contravention of his human rights. yet his family are still living of state benefeits and handouts. and his ideals and utterings are contrary to the very basis of human rights as we know them.

    Whilst I don't know. realy if Bush was a good President or a bad one, even a mediocre one, sometimes I wish our Prime Ministers had had the backbone and balls he had.

    I will write my views on waterboarding and torture, in a few days time, whatever is said here will not change my mind and how I feel
    about it.

    Play nice lol
    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      November 10, 2010 4:50 PM GMT
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  • Interesting subject Cris. There are those that feel because we are the "civilized" world, we therefore should not cause mental or physical harm to others, ie. torture. All I can say to that is it is a greater torture to our own people who end up suffering mentally and physically because we did not do all we could to protect them.

    As for Bush, unfortunately politics today has created extreme partisanship where neither side recognizes true accomplishments of the other. Basically they are blind to anything good that may come from a particular party or person. It is exactly the same thing as fundamental christians believing homosexuality is a choice. They don't want to know anything different and will not look at facts when presented to them. But like I said, neither side recognizes the other and only when this is old history will there be an unbiased review of what actually occurred.

    And for Abu Hamza, I believe citizenship should not be revocable from the birth country.

    Hugs,
    Marsha




      November 10, 2010 5:07 PM GMT
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  • I doubt very much if Bush really knows if he sanctioned waterboarding or not!
      November 10, 2010 5:37 PM GMT
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  • Cristine,
    Perhaps it's time to stop all "dual citizenships" and increase the length of time to acquire a "new citizenship."
    I believe that Citizenship should not be "given" to anyone from another country, but rather "earned" for that persons Children and future generations. It's too bad that the UN won't take him (Hamza and his family) off the UK's hands....

    "Abu Hamza, ''hook hand'' preaches hate and is in prison for inciting murder on a grand scale, he has just won the right to retain his British Passport, why? because the Egyptian Government has revoked his citizenship and if we revoke his passport and UK citizenship he will be rendered stateless, apparently a contravention of his human rights. yet his family are still living of state benefeits and handouts."
    ------------------------------------------------------------------

    "and my needs entwined, like ribbons of light...and I came through the doorway, some where... in the night"
    <p>Doanna Highland</p>
      November 10, 2010 5:58 PM GMT
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  • I was trying to elicit responses as to if people agree with waterboarding as a method of saving lives, denying one persons human rights to save the lives of the many, would you torture someone to save the life of someone dear to you? as per the scenario I outlined..... the Hamza was just an example of people screaming for their human rights but preaching hate and plotting mass murder in defiance of humanity and other peoples human rights.........................
    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      November 10, 2010 6:07 PM GMT
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  • 1195
    I don't like your senario.
    There was a senario some years back...If you had the chance to assinate Hitler, would WW II have been avoided. The answer in that case was NO.

    I've always believed THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS.
    If you accept that torture -mental or physical -is wrong, then don't use torture.

    As for dual citizenship, if you seek citizenship in a country other than where you were born it would seem to me that you would give up citizenship in the first country. Or am I being logical?

    hugs
    Gracie
    <p>If it isn't fun - don't do it.</p>
      November 10, 2010 7:40 PM GMT
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  • Hi Cristine,

    To be honest I don't understand why this should be a subject for discussion on TGS, but since it is, here goes:

    Your scenario is often used by the Right to justify tortures of all kinds. Truth is, it seldom, if ever, actually occurs in real life. Jack What's-his-name on the show "24" on the Right Wing Fox channel seems to constantly run into this situation, but that's fantasy.

    Most victims of torture turn out to be low level nobodies with no information of significance to give. Studies show they either endure it until the torturers give up or say anything that is demanded of them - useless misinformation. If the top level terrorists are captured, they are simply too well known to be tortured.

    If one follows the argument to it's logical conclusion, we might as well throw out all laws and courts. In the middle ages "trial by fire" or the like were used to determine guilt. Witches, TG's, foreigners, people who belonged to the wrong religion, and other undesirables would be placed in the hands of God to determine their fate. Those in authority would do things like tie the unfortunate to a stake and set fire to them or hold their head underwater for 5 minutes. If they died, the poor bugger was innocent. If they managed to live they were in league with the Devil and were immediately executed. Very efficient system of "justice."

    I don't know much about Abu Hamza so I can't comment on his situation.

    One can easily sum up the "W's" presidency by stating that when he took office the US was at peace and had a balanced budget. When he left office we were fighting two wars and the nation was drowning in a huge deficit and falling into recession.

    Best,
    Melody
    <p><span style="color: #800080;">Girls will be boys and boys will be girls It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola Lo-lo-lo-lo Lola</span> - Ray Davies, The Kinks</p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">(S)he's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction</span> - Kris Kristofferson</p>
      November 10, 2010 8:14 PM GMT
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  • Thank you for making my point Melody.
    Hugs,
    Marsha
      November 10, 2010 9:43 PM GMT
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  • Melody.

    I always read your well thought out and considered postings, why is it being discussed in TGS?, it is making the headlines, Surely we all have our own views and should discuss issues like this and not just be bound by ''tranny'' related subjects, things like this affect all our lives. I'm not trying to be bombastic or dissenting, the thought occured to me whilst reading about it, would I be grateful if somone was tortured and it saved my life or the lives of people near and dear to me? Could I honestly turn round and say thats disgusting an abomination of someones basic human rights? or be thankful,..... just trying to be honest

    I don't do the law forum for the fun of it, having a great respect for peoples rights and a sense of fair play, but where does fair play start and end, when dealing with these type of people?

    Are ethics affordable when they are self orientated regarding ones own survival?
    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      November 10, 2010 10:02 PM GMT
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  • I agree with you 100% on this one Cris. But you know, you should have kept things on topic for a TG website and finished your post with " And what color panties are you wearing?"
    Hugs,
    Marsha
      November 10, 2010 10:12 PM GMT
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  • Abu Hamza should be STRUNG UP as he's nothin but a bl**dy terrorist. If you ask me, after all the hate that comes out of his mouth, the bugger SHOULD be made stateless & to HELL with his Human Rights!


    Anna-Marie
    "When the world gets in my face i say HAVE A NICE DAY"
      November 10, 2010 10:38 PM GMT
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  • Hi Cristine. My answer to this is Malleus Maleficarum....Hammer of the Witches, written in 1486 by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, and was first published in Germany in 1487. Its main purpose was to challenge all arguments against the existence of witchcraft and to instruct magistrates on how to identify, interrogate and convict witches. Back then people were often accused by others for simply being different or due to vendettas. The book was a guide for those charged with the task of extracting confessions by means of ordeal such as "swimming". It would be fair to say that a huge amount of people confessed to outlandish things because of such torture. So personally I find the idea of water boarding repugnant however having never been faced with the awful circumstances of a member of my family being in peril as you describe or knowing anyone personally who has been a victim of a terrorist attack I feel im not qualified to judge those who want a high justice to prevail.
      November 10, 2010 11:36 PM GMT
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  • Hi Cris,

    The problem with these extreme hypotheticals is that they're so easily rebutted by another hypothetical - in fact, I'll offer you two.

    In the instance you suggest, let's say that we decide to ignore the suspect's human rights, and use every abhorrent torment we can devise to coerce information from him/her. Despite our best and most inventive efforts, we still fail to get any answers. And then, some hours, days or weeks later, it transpires that our suspect was, despite the overwhelming evidence of past misdeeds, not in fact the culprit.

    Whoops.

    Do we justify our actions because we sincerely thought the suspect guilty? History can show a lot of people whom we generally condemn for their actions who could claim the same justification. Indeed, any transphobic bigot who sincerely believes that transgender people are a danger to the moral health of society could use the same defence for any of their actions towards us.

    A second scenario - you return home to find that your front door is off its hinges, the house has been ransacked and your partner is nowhere to be seen. You call the police, and they tell you that they have overwhelming evidence that your partner is involved in something illegal (they won't tell you what, or what evidence they hold for 'reasons of security'). They claim that they have the right to detain your partner indefinitely, without legal representation, and are in fact just about to fly them out of the country for 'questioning' in an undisclosed location.

    Do you a) put your feet up with a nice cup of tea and a Bourbon biscuit, secure in the knowledge that whatever atrocities are visited on the helpless person of your partner are justified by the suspicions of Her Britannic Majesty's government, and for the good of the many

    or

    b) contact lawyers, newspapers and every pro-human rights group you can think of?

    Let me say that I'm not trying here to change your views, or indeed anybody else's, just pointing out that these 'any reasonable person would have to agree' hypothetical scenarios are of dubious value in informing a debate on complex moral issues.

    Hugs,

    Judith.
      November 11, 2010 12:39 AM GMT
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  • Provocative thread Cristine,
    Your scenario depicts, a peace time, kidnapping of a loved one, and would YOU torture. Would I torture if I ( key word here is I ) had the chance to maybe save them, you bet, emotions get in the way, vengeance is the only answer, you have no regards to human rights.
    Would it be logical, no. Why, the info may not be of any use. Torture has been proven to the point that the person being torture will say anything to make it stop, even if they do not have any. End results can be more damaging, to all concerned.

    Now, lets take the torture scenario into different light, from peace time to war time. Are there human rights in this situation?

    In our ( U.S.A. ) way of thinking....it's alright as long as it is them who gets tortured. At least that is the level we have seemingly dropped to.

    How many lives were saved in the scenario below, NONE, on both sides.

    You are at war, mortal combat, you already know what the enemy does to your troops, there seems to be no human rights in this situation, it's war, and they are all dirty. You capture five prisoners. They are put on a chopper, with an interpreter. The officer on board tells the pilot to take it up to 5000 feet. They maybe of no special rank, but they will have info about where there comrades are. Now, torture by fear. The first one is questioned, looks at the other four and does not speak, he is thrown out of the chopper door. The same interrogation goes on, three more out the door. The last one, talks his fool head off. Was the info good, yes.
    Was this right, no, but at the time, it got good info. The reality is, it gave the info to kill more people. Individual rights versus the needs of the many. Now this must be pondered.

    Just who is relevant anymore, this is the question?

    What was really gained? Where and how far down has humanity gone? We are the good guy's right? The land of John Wayne and all that is good. The Geneva Convention spells this out, right? Wow, now that's irrelevant!!

    Would we learn not do it again, regrettably no.

    Now, the war on terror. This is a tough one to answer in today's reality. Just my thoughts, you have to play as dirty as the other guy,....where are our human rights, we know what they do!!! In war and peace, some innocent people suffer.
    Example, look at the prison system, that is a good example of how some innocent people pay for the needs of the many.


    In conclusion,
    We must hold ourselves to a higher standard, for we are the ones that have to face our own conscious, face the world, and look in the mirror to judge.

    Tammy
    <p>A life without purpose, is a life without reason!</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;myspace.com/tammybrianne</p>
      November 11, 2010 7:32 AM GMT
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  • I agree with Melody,

    Torture isn't the answer in a civilised society, It's all very easy to claim " lives saved by water boarding" to justify ones actions, but did Bush actually provide evidence of this? I doubt it.

    It's all too easy to ride rough shod over one persons human rights "for the greater good" But if you were that person would you think it justified?

    Marsha,
    I doubt History will ever show "w" Bush's presidency in a good light , no matter how many times he tries to re-write history. He and Blair will always be remembered for the lies and war crimes for which they are responsible.

    Becca
      November 11, 2010 7:38 AM GMT
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  • Great post Tammy,

    Reasoned and unbiased.

    I abhor the thought of anyone being tortured, even in the direst need I would be too squemish to do it. but I had to ask myself, if I found out my life or someone dear to me lived as a result of a person being tortured, I would be inclined to leave the moral high ground and push my own moral code to one side. Is this a natural feeling? a basic instinct,, seems sorta selfish, its wrong as long as it does'nt affect me? Do we honestly have double standards. Do morals and ethics have a final price. Then we have to think about the choices those in power have to make to protect us, if things that have been reported are true, one outcome of the water boarding seems to have prevented an attack on Heathrow airport and Canary Wharf. As a nation the UK from past history certainly can not take the moral high ground unilaterally, the rack and thumbscrews spring to mind. I am sure our government whilst in China are spouting human rights, are aware that behind closed doors and suppressed media reporting are still ''in favour of torture,under the premise that its for the common good''

    Cristine Jennifer Shye.  B/L.  B/Acc
      November 11, 2010 10:32 AM GMT
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  • Moderator
    252
    My first question when I read about torture techniques like water boarding, sleep depravation, sensory depravation, etc. is "Who are we?" I'm not talking about who others are and what they would do to me if the situation were reversed, about what Hezbollah would do, what the Chinese would do or what one of our allies would do. Who are we?

    Well, I'm an American. Our rule of law (in 49 states) is based on English Common law, so I think it's fair to say that our two countries have many more similarities than differences when it comes to this. My country is supposed to respect each individual's rights. Each person has rights, even while under arrest. There has been international concensus about torture, one of the reasons we supposedly don't do it is so the enemy won't torture our people.

    Torture is reknowned for being unreliable. Are you really going to try to play "beat the clock" with a terrorist who knows how desperate you are? Those situations are straw man arguments. Nothing like that "last minute save" by using torture has ever happened and most likely would almost never work.

    I realize they (whoever "they" is at the moment) have tortured. Islam, especially can be twisted by evil men. As easy as democracy can be twisted.

    Even if these evil men torture our people, we cannot allow ourselves to give in to rage and desperation. As far as intell goes, torture as an information getter just doesn't work. When the US was attacked on 9/11, we gave ourselves over to the Patriot Act, which limits our own personal freedoms. We gave the terrorists exactly what they wanted. We became suspicious of our neighbors and we created our own terror inside Gitmo. We gave them what they wanted on a plate, we became paranoid and racist.

    I will not become one the pigs at the end of Animal Farm: "And the animals looked from man to pig and pig to man and no one could tell the difference." I will fight against secret disappearances, against the paranoia that creates fear. We need to remain the country of our forefathers. If we allow fear to change us, did the idea of America ever really exist or was it just all smoke and mirrors the whole time?

    Z
    I am the itch, after it was scratched.
      November 11, 2010 1:32 PM GMT
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  • Gee, Marsha, you're right.

    Bush, now that his eight year term is over, should be given the same total lack of criticism as Obama has received in the first two years of his presidency.

    It is absolutely unfair to "misunderestimate" his performance in office. In a thousand years I (as a trained historian) am completely sure that he will rank right up with our greatest presidents like Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover (whose crimes, stupidity and incompetence will be totally forgotten by then.)

    So very sorry to have expected the "Shrub" to actually provide this country with the peace and prosperity that it had when he took office. To quote the great man, "hell of a job" Marsha.

    Best,
    Mellie
    <p><span style="color: #800080;">Girls will be boys and boys will be girls It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola Lo-lo-lo-lo Lola</span> - Ray Davies, The Kinks</p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">(S)he's a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction</span> - Kris Kristofferson</p>
      November 13, 2010 8:00 PM GMT
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  • Cristine,
    It's an "age old" question as to does "the end justify the means".
    1) Many, many years ago, a small number of people could not cause nearly as much damage and injury to as many people as they can today.
    2) Unfortunately, the "politically correct" seem to think that anything that is "the least bit unpleasant" is torture. With this definition... I strongly disagree.
    3) As far as things like "waterboarding", "sleep deprivation", and "drugs" are concerned... I would be in favor of those being used if there is a good possibility that it could avert the suffering of many innocent people. I would never agree with the older forms of torture that involved terrible pain.
    We have to ensure that the people who make the decision to use waterboarding etc. have a strong belief that doing so will bring "positive" results.
    4) as for the question "does waterboarding etc. make us sink down to the level of the bad guys?" .... NO!!

    5) - We all remember seeing videos of people (while initially still conscious) getting their heads slowly cut off.
    - We all remember seeing photos and videos of soldiers, stripped of clothing, who had been butchered and dragged behind vehicles.
    - We all know that the people in the "Western World" do not condone that sort fanatical "hatred" ..but we do have a right to protect ourselves. The fact that we do not use pain as the "chosen method" of torture separates "us from them." That is the true meaning of being "civilized"
    .... to paraphrase...
    "I could cause pain to get the information I need...but I choose not to..."

    -------------------------------------
    "The vagabond who's rapping at your door
    Is standing in the clothes that you once wore." ...Bob Dylan
    <p>Doanna Highland</p>
      November 14, 2010 2:22 AM GMT
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  • Here's another scenario:
    I'm at war with you. From my perspective I'm the "good guys" and you (of course) are the "bad guys".
    If I inflict physical pain on you to gain information, (or maybe I just like it) I'm certainly not going to call it "torture", I'm going to call it "extreme interrogation" or some other gobbledegook like that.
    With me so far?
    Good!
    But if you bad guys should inflict physical pain on us good guys to extract information, (or maybe you just like it), it is of course torture.
    It's all to do with perspective isn't it?
    Except it isn't.
    Inflicting pain on another human who is in a helpless situation to extract information from them is called "torture", plain and simple.
    And it is also wrong!
      November 14, 2010 4:16 AM GMT
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  • A good topic,and why shouldn't us TG/S girls discuss things other than the colour of our panties?(Thanks,Marsha-!)
    I think torture is despicable in ALL circumstances-while acknowledging that my own country has been remiss in this-your Presidents' father being tortured by our troops during the 'Mau-Mau' uprising in Kenya.By the way i thought Mr.Obama was quite forgiving in the beautiful book he wrote about his father.If the 'right' wish to permit torture-'water-boarding'-etc..then let us not EVER point the finger at Nazi or Soviet atrocities or the foul atrocities committed throughout East and South Asia by the despicable WW2 Japanese!
    I'm wearing my favourite Spandex,Black 'What Katy Did' French panties!lol-xxxx
      November 14, 2010 5:37 PM GMT
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  • It is shocking that a country that is presumed by a lot of people to be civilised to be using such primitive techniques as water boarding to meet their ends. Whether there is any truth in the allegations, the allegations themselves helps fuel the hatred of the west by other parts of the world regardless.

    and, my knickers are pink!

    love penny
    x
    Just an ordinary girl finding her way in this strange life. - What will it take to get everyone to realise that everyone else is also a human being that deserves just as much respect? - How does someone tell their doctor they have hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia? - When I was a student I specialised in Alcopology. It always starts with Alco and always ends with pology. - Waiter! There's a hare in my rabbit pie!
      November 16, 2010 5:42 PM GMT
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  • Spot on,janis!Torture is torture and is uncivilized and has no possible justification ever and any country-wether the Third Reich,Soviet Union or United States that uses it has forfeited the right to be called 'civilized'-end of-period! Thank you.
      November 17, 2010 10:06 PM GMT
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  • I guess we can just bash countries like the U.S. that "torture" (which the definition varies), but sex scandals including rape and pedophilia by UN peacekeepers is swept under the rug. Is that because the U.S. supplies the fewest UN troops which means it is troops supplied by your countries?
    The U.S. bashing continues as usual here, what's new. You are all just so perfect and know everything about everything. Maybe when a family member of yours is killed on a bombed train, plane, or building, then you will shut up. Cover your eyes and ears and maybe it will all go away.
    Hugs,
    Marsha
      November 18, 2010 12:53 AM GMT
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  • Moderator
    252
    Good grief, you can't separate "good" torture from "bad" torture. This is not a matter of degrees. This goes to the heart of who we are. TORTURE DOES NOT WORK!!

    I think what this is really about is revenge, cloaked in the guise of getting info. Say torture works half the time (to be generous.) What do you do then? Roll the dice and hope your number comes up and you can get to the next level up the terrorist hierarchy? If you are wrong and the person you have is not even a terrorist, that means that most likely the info you've just gleaned for destroying a human being's psyche is exactly NOTHING. In the worst case scenario, they will lead you to more people like themselves and you can torture a whole new group of innocent people.

    What are we doing to our own people? The people who do the torturing? We are making our own brave men and women in uniform into monsters. Is that what you want? To have scarier monsters than the next guy? There is not happy ending and there is no torture that would allow me to sleep the sleep of angels.

    We do NOT need to be like these people. We do not need to rely on techniques like these. In Roman times, if you wanted information from a slave, that slave would automatically be tortured, because, as a slave, their information could not be considered legitimate unless they were tortured. Is that what we are reaching back to? 2000 years ago?

    A good friend of mine retired from the US Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. Her specialty was military intelligence. She would look through a one-way mirror while a prisoner was being interrogated. Not tortured...questioned. At the end of the interrogation, she would present a report based on body language, eye response, automatic emotional responses, a host of things. She did it with me several times to show me how it worked. It was pretty scary how accurate it was. Her accuracy was somewhere around 90%. Often, she would re-enter the room and present the info that she noticed. More often than not, the person would think they had broken someone else, and they would give it all up.

    Unless we like hurting people, we don't need torture. We can put that away with tricorn hats, petticoats and leisure suits.

    Z
    I am the itch, after it was scratched.
      November 18, 2010 2:56 AM GMT
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