Extraordinary Rendition

One of the nastier effects of the ‘war on terror’ is extraordinary rendition. A term coined by the CIA where a terrorist suspect is handed over to another country where torture is permitted. This usually happens in a secret disclosed prison. “Extraordinary rendition” was only ever used in extraordinary cases however after 9/11, matters worsened.

The United States is known as the land of the free, where citizens can go about their business doing as they please. However, if you happen to be of middle-eastern descent, this isn’t the case. The US can detain whomever they please without any formal charges. One day you could be on a flight heading home to New York City and the next, you’re in Syria being tortured and interrogated about subjects unknown to you. No one would know where you are. This is exactly what happened to Maher Arar. On a connection flight back to Canada, Arar was detained by US officials at JFK airport on suspicion of having had contact with Al Qaeda members. His records were deleted to seem as though he had never entered the US. He then was sent to Syria to be tortured for a year before being released without charges. He was tortured, endured immense amount of psychological pain and was detained in what was “likened to a grave.” He was released after the Canadian government took his case.

Cases like these have occurred more frequently after 9/11 and frankly, the US is one giant hypocrite. As President Bush quoted in 2005, “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture.” Little does he fail to mention anything related to “extraordinary rendition.” Just because the detainees are being tortured and interrogated in another country doesn’t mean that the US isn’t responsible for it. What about Guantanamo Bay? Why do you think the US send prisoners to be kept at Guantanamo Bay? “The policy of the United States is not to expel, extradite, or otherwise affect the involuntary return of any person to a country in which there are substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, regardless of whether the person is physically present in the United States.” The CIA clearly disregards this law when sending suspected terrorists off to torture prisons in Egypt, Morocco, Syria and Jordan.

The CIA gives reasons for “extraordinary rendition,”; it exposes the suspect to aggressive methods of persuasion that is illegal in the US. By slowly breaking down a suspect both physically and psychologically, you can save thousands of lives by capturing and interrogating these terrorists. However they fail to regard the many people who are wrongly detained. Considering that the United States is supposedly ‘the land of free’, they should practice what they preach.

Mars. Inc has nothing else better to do than to slaughter animals.

So, I’ve recently had a couple assignments that have got me writing about animal cruelty on fur farms in the middle of china. As you probably have heard me speak about fur farms already during our world issues class i decided to do a little more research about the cruelty that animals go through everyday. Having done those assignments, it got me wondering whether or not multinational companies do animal testing.

Did you know that Mars Inc. funds animal testing? These include candies like Skittles, M&M’s, Snickers, Twix and more, I used to eat their candy all the time! Unfortunately, i was subconsciously funding the animal testing myself. They conduct a variety of truly disguting tests. One of the tests; the mice are fed a candy ingredient and are then placed into a pool of white paint where they are to find a ladder to get out. Of course the mice can’t see in paint! These people are insane and should be ashamed of themselves. The mice of course, drown and are then dissected. Most of their experiments are ridiculous and have nothing to do with any effects that their candy has on humans. Even if these experiments were for "research", mice are nothing like humans, not in the least bit. One of the harsher experiments is how they shove a bunch of baby mice into a confined space about the size of half a can. The can is then sub merged into freezing cold water for 5 hours causing labored breathing. Once they are “free” the people then force feed chocolate down plastic tubes into their mouths for 10 days and then they are killed. There are a lot more experiments involving bunnies, guinea pigs and more. I honestly couldn’t believe any of this when I first read it, but after a while I was convinced. If China can flay animals alive for fur, then “scientists” can definitely conduct cruel, gruesome experiments on poor defenseless animals.

There are so many companies and groups that support animal testing around the world yet so many of these cases haven’t been covered globally. One particular group that I found surprising was the prestigious Columbia University, they had sewed monkeys eyes shut and had placed sonar’s on their heads to see how they act when blinded. Another major controversy is the animal fur trade in China. Only recently has it been discovered that certain groups in China have been skinning animals like raccoon pups and even pets like dogs alive. Even the idea of watching a dog being flayed alive is appalling. It isn’t right.

Despite all the animal cruelty that goes on in the world today, it bugs me that people who say animals such as cats, dogs and monkeys aren’t deserving of any rights because people kill poultry, cows and pigs everyday yet they have no rights. I understand your point but the difference is that animals such as chickens, pigs and cows are RAISED to be eaten. Whereas dogs and cats have been mans friend for thousands of years. Animal cruelty is a huge issue that has been going on for a long time now. Thankfully, many countries have created laws against animal cruelty but that doesn’t stop people. I just can’t believe that a candy company that I have so devotedly been eating could do such a thing. I have stopped purchasing Mars Inc. products and now I only purchase candies from Hershey’s. They have pledged not to conduct any animal testing of any kind. Other multinational companies should most certainly follow their example. Perhaps we could put logos on products that tell the consumer "no animal testing." This would ensure those consumers who do not believe in animal testing that they are purchasing a safe product as opposed to unknowingly fund such a disgusting practice. Animals deserve a life.