tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28275022.post194784002502026342..comments2023-10-07T09:01:59.742-04:00Comments on The Jaundiced Eye: 24's Joel Surnow: The Chicken-Hawk's Chicken-HawkCurmudgettehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00909592581165744084noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28275022.post-14928467495091773232007-02-12T09:07:00.000-05:002007-02-12T09:07:00.000-05:00Anonymous said...I think you're being a little har...<EM>Anonymous said...<BR/><BR/>I think you're being a little hard on Mr Surenough here. When he said They say torture doesn’t work. But I don’t believe that. what he meant (obviously) is he doesn't believe torture doesn't work to increase viewer numbers. I mean, that's what it's all about, right?</EM><BR/><BR/>In a strange way, I wish that were the case. The thing about this guy is that he's a true believer. While some of the other producers and talent think of the show as entertainment and fantasy, and Keifer Sutherland hopes that it doesn't have unintended consequences, Surnow's <I>intent</I> is to have a political and social impact.Curmudgettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00909592581165744084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28275022.post-87646830489017696362007-02-12T05:13:00.000-05:002007-02-12T05:13:00.000-05:00I think you're being a little hard on Mr Surenough...I think you're being a little hard on Mr Surenough here. When he said <I>They say torture doesn’t work. But I don’t believe that.</I> what he meant (obviously) is he doesn't believe torture doesn't work <I>to increase viewer numbers</I>. I mean, that's what it's all about, right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28275022.post-46311610983441537772007-02-12T00:20:00.000-05:002007-02-12T00:20:00.000-05:00Well, actually...maybe the American people DO favo...Well, actually...maybe the American people DO favor torture.<BR/><BR/>There's a 2004 poll that claims that 63% of respondents opposed torture.<BR/><BR/>But--and it's quite a condition--these respondents favored maltreatment that the pollsters defined as "physical abuse" that "borders" torture but isn't really torture.<BR/><BR/><I>Given pro and con arguments, 63 percent in an ABC News/Washington Post poll say torture is never acceptable, even when other methods fail and authorities believe the suspect has information that could prevent terrorist attacks. Thirty-five percent say torture is acceptable in some such cases.<BR/><BR/>There's more of a division, though, on physical abuse that falls short of torture: Forty-six percent say it's acceptable in some cases, while 52 percent say not.<BR/><BR/>Majorities identify three specific coercive practices as acceptable: sleep deprivation (66 percent call it acceptable), hooding (57 percent) and "noise bombing" (54 percent), in which a suspect is subjected to loud noises for long periods.</I><BR/><BR/>Source: http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/Polls/torture_poll_040527.html<BR/><BR/>Small problem: sleep deprivation IS torture (and "noise bombing" is a form of that). International legal experts have declared that sleep deprivation violates Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. The European Court of Human Rights and the Supreme Court of Israel have ruled sleep deprivation inhumane and unlawful.<BR/><BR/>And the US Army's own training manual (an FM, or field manual)declares that sleep deprivation is torture: FM 34-52 describes "abnormal sleep deprivation" as a form of mental torture.<BR/><BR/>I have never watched a single episode of "24" but people have described them to me--and I was appalled, horrified. Many of the people watching them have reported that they approve of Jack Bauer's actions (like shooting one suspect and threatening to shoot another if they didn't divulge the information he wanted). And these people describe themselves as "liberals".<BR/><BR/>Um....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com