Excerpt from CIA Guide on How to Torture Prisoners

Some this-and-that, in brief:

  • I’ve added the section on “The Sufferings of many, for Refuſing to pay the wicked Exactions of the Ceſs, Locality, Fynes &c. Vindicated” from Alexander Shields’s book A Hind let looſe, or An Hiſtorical Repreſentation of the Testimonies, of the Church of Scotland, for the Intereſt of Chriſt, vvith the true State thereof in all its Periods, &c as a stand-alone page. I dropped the long “s”es for readability’s sake, and did some reformatting and breaking up of the multi-page paragraphs, but otherwise kept it pretty much as-was. It’s tough reading, but represents an early and unusually methodical defense of tax resistance, and I hope to spend some time distilling its more interesting arguments into more modern English at some point.
  • Here are the details, the schedule, and a registration form for the upcoming NWTRCC National Gathering in Cleveland .
  • Part of the new CIA Inspector General’s report that jumped out at me was this excerpt, found in an appendix, from the CIA Office of Medical Services [sic] guide on how to torture captives by waterboarding without inadvertently killing them: “In our limited experience, extensive sustained use of the waterboard can introduce new risks. Most seriously, for reasons of physical fatigue or psychological resignation, the subject may simply give up, allowing excess filling of the airways and loss of consciousness. An unresponsive subject should be righted immediately, and the interrogator should deliver a sub-xyphoid thrust to expel the water. If this fails to restore normal breathing, aggressive medical intervention is required.”
  • Here’s a more thorough article about Scott Byars and others like him who are beginning to grow their own tobacco as a way to beat the increasing taxes. The article also has links to seed companies and on-line instructions.
  • Lets say you send an envelope full of powdered sugar to the IRS with a cover letter saying its anthrax and they’re all gonna die. Furthermore lets say you’re none too bright, and you sent the envelope from “an automated postal center where [you] paid postage with [your] credit card” and they trace the envelope back to you and successfully prosecute you. What sentence will you face? A year and a day, apparently.