"Musicians ask Obama to ban music torture" by Mary Shaw (7-20-09 Online Journal)

[bobthedrummer]

"...Blasting prisoners with ear-splitting music 24/7 is a modern form of torture. Yet because this technique leaves no visible scars, there is a real chance that President Obama will consider it harmless. It is not. It causes severe psychiatric problems, the devastating effects of which can last a lifetime.

...The United nations and the European Court of Human Rights have banned the use of loud music in interrogations, but we are apparently still using it..."

http://www.onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4920.shtml

As a musician myself, I agree-there should not be the use of music in torture-it is not to be used as a directed energy weapon.

This article, and those that signed the letter to our President, appear to condemn another example of what human rights activist Cheryl Welsh documented in her January 2008 Mind Justice posting below, much of it based on the research of University of Wisconsin Professor Alfred McCoy.

"In Contravention of Conventional Wisdom: CIA 'no touch' torture makes sense out of mind control allegations"
http://www.mindjustice.org/wisdom.htm

[Forkboy]

1. "it is not to be used as a directed energy weapon. "

We're obviously listening to music for different reasons. ;)

Joking aside, I hope it's banned, but we can't even come down forcefully on waterboarding yet. I doubt many will care about this.

[juno jones]

2. Not lovely Ludvig Von!...

Seriously, I agree. Music should not be used in torture. Hell, there should BE no torture. But we already knew that eh? ;)

[bobthedrummer]

4. Decades ago that was called "aversive conditioning" it's "neuroscience" today.

Of course Alex was a fictional criminal sociopath, what about the detainees that are innocent of any so called links to real terrorists?

Btw, I was the drummer in Milwaukee's Clockwork Orange circa 1970-our 18 year old bass player was shot to death and our guitarist shot in a drug related crime ruled death by misadventure-and I was ignorant of what was going on.

But you knew that, perhaps?
:shrug:

[juno jones]

12. Oh I know

I remember reading Noan Chomsky back in the 80's-90's and his stories of innocent children tortured in fron tof innocent parents in CA was almost too much for my soul to bear.

Sad to hear about your bandmates. Alex Constantine theorizes that many famous 'deaths by misadventure' in the rock-and-roll world were actually hits on people the TPTB thought were threats to the status quo. His book on the subject is facinating. I have never heard your music, and I'm afraid the above caption was posted in ignorance of your past.

I'm always up for new stuff, I will look for it. :)

[DJ13]

3. Does this mean we can outlaw hip hop?

:hide:

[notesdev]

8. Yes please!

and opera

[Senator]

5. He can't "ban" any kind of torture -- and hasn't.

You simply can't "ban" something that's been a war crime for generations.

Worse, claiming the power to "ban" torture by definition claims the power to "unban" it at will.

But good for the musicians for singing an anti-torture song as loudly as they can.

---

[Demeter]

6. He COULD Enforce the Laws

But he's taking a pass on that, too.

[winyanstaz]

13. Exactly, throw the torturers in prison and it would

certainly cut down on the amount of torture. People that are sick enough to torture need to know they will be forced to pay the price of their evil crimes.

[TaffyMoon]

7. What a very good idea.

[LeftinOH]

9. They could start by banning it in my neighborhood, especially in the middle of the night. n/t

[immoderate]

10. This is more than psychological damage.

It causes tinnitus and deafness.

--imm

[Wednesdays]

11. K&R

:kick:

[tomreedtoon]

14. But isn't torture the POINT of metal songs?

The artists all glory in how devastated, how demonic, how hard, how abusive their songs and their lifestyles are. They should be proud that their stuff is being used to deafen and torture people, because that's why they created the damn stuff.

(Note: I know that most of these "demonic" performers are actually nerds with really good projected self-images, but if you want to play in that league, you have to take responsibility for what you project.)