Wesley Yang, on The Dark Side: These experts "reverse engineered" their techniques ... The idea was to induce the "learned helplessness" that psychologists had shown it was possible to create in dogs. Yoo and Addington, who were, for a time, "running the War on Terror almost on their own," as one official told Mayer, pursued this agenda with a singular ruthlessness neatly summarised in Addington's promise to "keep pushing and pushing and pushing until some larger force makes us stop."
The Nerve and the Will: If Schnabel is a surfer in the sense of knowing how to skim existence for its wonders, he is also a surfer in the more challenging sense of wanting to see where something bigger than himself, or the unknown, will take him, even with the knowledge that he might not come back from the trip.
Sterling Hayden: If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
Andrew Bacevich: Sometimes the effect of diving into the sea is anything but cleansing.
Decius: Overestimating the threat, when you're lining people up against the wall without due process, does have a cost, and frankly it's your soul.
Finally: According to one who was present, Churchill suddenly blurted out: "Are we animals? Are we taking this too far?"
Blight unto the nations | 
