Homo sum humani nil a me alienum puto.
I am a human being. Nothing human can be alien to me.
– Terence aka Publius Terentius Afer, Roman Playwright
Note: Fixed typo…
R and I went "camping" this weekend for one night though it was a bit posh for it to really be considered camping. We rented a cabin up in Snohomish county. The place turns out to only be about 30 minutes from home without traffic (which makes it closer than work). It’s in a nice park by a lake. It had lights and heat and was a fairly new building, which was great because it started really pouring Friday night. I felt sorry for the people in tents the next day but it was nice to get away.
On Saturday, R and I went down to the University District and she found me a used (but pristine) copy of The Dalai Lama’s Secret Temple, so I was able to take my library copy back. While we were out, I took R to Thai Tom’s, the best Thai food in Seattle, since she’d never been there before. We wound up not having to wait outside more than five minutes though it did take something like 35 minutes to get our food once we ordered… I remember going to Thai Tom’s with Fire_faery and having the whole thing take two hours with all of the waiting. The food was excellent though and not to be forgotten. While we were
there, we stopped by Scarecrow Video and picked up the import DVD versions of the Beat Takeshi version of Zatoichi, Battle Royale II, and Hero with Jet Li. The first and last are at the Seattle International Film Festival this year.
BRII was a bit of a disappointment. It was stylistically similar to the first one but the whole theme of children against adults as a revolutionary movement just became innane. Zatoichi was great though. I loved it a lot more than some of Takeshi's movies and it had a lot of good moments throughout along with being well put-together overall.
We finished watching Hero just a couple of hours ago. You can get a synopsis here and the trailer is viewable here. It had similar themes to The Emperor and the Assassin, which I own, to do with the first Emperor and the unification of China (and the conquest of the Zhao Kingdom and assassins…). The latter was a more dramatic movie overall and more touching in many ways but I quite enjoyed Hero. It's somewhere betweenCrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and some of the better Hong Kong action movies. Lots of good martial action, some wirework, but also thoughtful, to some degree, and not always having a simple answer to whether someone's actions are evil if the ends justify the means. I don't like Jet Li that much but I don't dislike him either. He isn't the actor that I prefer though. Cinematically, it was a beautifully filmed movie with a lot of great shots. For different versions of past events, costumes and shots changed from very bright reds to blues to whites to greens. It was an interesting effect.
Last night, because of the holiday, R and I met up with Ashley, Oniyeh, and a few others at the Vogue for "Fetish Night." Apparently, the club had some more organized activities planned (which we, thankfully, missed most of) so, along with the Monday holiday, the place was packed and a lot more people were geared up than I've normally seen on the supposed "Fetish" night there. Purple Mark was there in good form and a number of us seemed entranced at various points with a particular woman's love affair with the giant brass pole on the raised stage. It was good to get out of the house, hear some music, mix with friends and drink a bit. R and I don't go clubbing very often though we talk about doing more. It's
hard to get a lot of excitement about just the two of us going a lot of the time though.
Tomorrow, it's back to work…
How much of this are we going to eventually hear about? Gang-rape in Cuba or something? How many of our soldiers are out of control with people that they think deserve it?
I have friends in the military but I still have to wonder what the hell is going on.
http://www.lex18.com/Global/story.asp?S=1891343&nav=EQlpNN9R
A Georgetown resident and former Kentucky National Guardsman is angry that the military is denying his claims that he suffered brain injury while being severely beaten by U.S. soldiers during a training exercise at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2003.
In a story with international implications first broken by LEX 18’s Leigh Searcy on Monday, Sean Baker says that while serving as a member of the 438th Military Police company in Guantanamo Bay during Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was ordered to pose as the enemy for a training exercise. Baker said he received a severe brain injury because of the subsequent beating he received.
Baker claims that he was ordered to put on one of the orange jump suits worn by the detainees. “At first I was reluctant, but he said ‘you’ll be fine…put this on.’ And I did,” said Baker.
“I was on duty as an MP in an internal camp (at Guantanamo Bay) where the detainees were housed,” said Baker.
Baker says an officer in charge issued the order because he wanted the training to be as real as possible. Baker says what took place next happened at the hands of four U.S. soldiers - soldiers he believes didn’t know he was one of them - has changed his life forever.
“They grabbed my arms, my legs, twisted me up and unfortunately one of the individuals got up on my back from behind and put pressure down on me while I was face down,” said Baker. “Then he - the same individual - reached around and began to choke me and press my head down against the steel floor. After several seconds, 20 to 30 seconds, it seemed like an eternity because I couldn’t breath. When I couldn’t breath, I began to panic and I gave the code word I was supposed to give to stop the exercise, which was ‘red.’”
But, Baker says, the beating didn’t stop. “That individual slammed my head against the floor and continued to choke me,” he said. “Somehow I got enough air, I muttered out, ‘I’m a U.S. soldier, I’m a U.S. soldier.’”
Baker says it wasn’t until one of the soldiers noticed what Baker was wearing did the exercise stop. “He saw that I had BDU’s and boots on.”
Nearly 15 months after that day, and countless medical treatments at Walter Reed Hospital, Baker is now medically retired from the military, but still
suffers.
On Wednesday, the U.S.military, while acknowledging an injury to Baker took place during the exercise, is disputing some of Baker’s claims, saying he left for “unrelated reasons.” Baker said he already feels betrayed about what happened to him, and tells LEX 18’s Searcy that he’s not at all surprised by the Army’s response to his “going public” with his story.
“As a soldier, you almost expect that. Denial,” said Baker.
Speaking from his Scott County home Wednesday morning, Baker once again reiterated his claims, and is angry that the Army won’t admit what happened.
“How can they say I was released from there for other reasons?” said Baker. “If there are other reasons, please bring forth the evidence. I”d like to see it.”
Baker says he has nothing to hide, and he plans to request the military’s information. Due to privacy laws, an Army spokeswoman says she can’t release any of Baker’s medical history. She will only say he was not discharged for disciplinary reasons.
Baker said, “I wish they would bring forth something to substantiate their claims that I was released for ‘unrelated reasons’ because the documents I have from the Medical Evaluation Board clearly state the traumatic brain injury was due to me role playing as a detainee, an uncooperative detainee.”
Baker’s certificate of discharge from active duty shows the 37-year-old had a
character of service that was “honorable” It shows he retired due to temporary disability - the brain injury Baker claims is the direct result of posing as a prisoner and being beaten at the hands of U.S. soldiers.
“The seizure disorder was the prominent injury that stopped me from being a soldier,” said Baker, who takes several medications to control the seizures but still suffers them frequently. “It all stems from the training incident. The seizures are the result of the brain injury.
“All I wanted to be is a soldier. And when they denied me of that and sent me home…I want to hold them accountable.”
Baker was a member of the Kentucky National Guard from 1989 to 1997. During that time, he served in the Gulf War. In the late 90’s, he got out of the Guard, but re-enlisted after September 11th.
“I feel like I’ve been betrayed by my own troops because I would never have
done to any detainee what had been transpired in my life what happened to me,” said Baker. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else, what I’m living with daily.”
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