4 ms·

"The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner."

"The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner." If true, this is terrible.

Confusion 16y ago
My initial reaction was the same, but on second thought I think it may not be that bad. I agree that it would initially prevent the subject from concentrating, but he might get used to it in such a way that he can acknowledge the question with a 'yes' without breaking concentration. Some people can work with the radio on, others only when it doesn't contain commercials, others can't work with any music. I can sleep virtually anywhere, while others, in the same room, can't stand a certain buzz, regularly recurring electromechanical noises or other sounds. However, with prolonged exposure, I think anyone would start to be able to work and sleep in environments with intruding noises.
- mattmanser 16y ago
  It may not be? Yeah, dream on.
- mwg66 16y ago
  Isn't interrupted sleep (arguably sleep deprivation) a questionable a form of torture?
  - Confusion 16y ago
    They are not waking him every 5 minutes: that only happens during the day. At night he is awakened under some circumstances, but whether that constitutes sleep deprivation depends on how often it happens and there is no report on that.
    - mwg66 16y ago
      But, if for some reason, he doesn't sleep during the night - he is forcibly woken should he fall asleep during the day?
    - cjdavis 16y ago
      "The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner. At night, if the guards cannot see PFC Manning clearly, because he has a blanket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure he is okay."
      - hugh3 16y ago
        Right, so he's not woken at night unless they can't see him. Kinda like how the flight attendants will wake you if there's turbulence and they can't see whether you've got your seat belt buckled or not.
  - drinian 16y ago
    If they're only checking up on him when he appears to be hiding something, that's nothing. You see, a former co-worker of mine spent about a month (spread out over many weekends!) in the infamous "Tent City" jail in Phoenix, AZ after a DUI conviction. He said that the guards would come through the room several times a night to perform ID checks on every bunk, basically assuring that you couldn't get a reasonable night's sleep. The 100F+ temperatures didn't help either. He also said that the leaders of each ethnic group/gang (whites, blacks, Latinos) had access to contraband mobile phones, and had made deals with the prison wardens to keep them. Apparently they also had their own food supply. If PFC Manning is being treated in exactly the manner described in the article, then he's in better shape than many prisoners in America, where it seems torture is practiced every day. (I'm not condoning the practices of either).
- hugh3 16y ago
  Hang on, what the hell is he supposed to be concentrating on? He's not programming, he's just filling in time until his trial.
  - Confusion 16y ago
    He has access to books and magazines.
    - hugh3 16y ago
      Well shit, he probably got more done yesterday than I did. Anyway, if your definition of torture involves reading a book or a magazine while someone asks you every five minutes whether you're okay, you have (a) a pretty low bar for torture and (b) obviously no children.
      - ajays 16y ago
        Try going through this for 6 straight months, and then tell us if it's torture or not. Even children go to sleep eventually. His guards never sleep, and keep waking him up in the pretext of "checking" on him. Don't tell me it's not torture. Here's an idea: please post your phone number. I will set up a Twilio account that will dial it every 5 minutes, from 6AM to 9PM, and ask you if you're OK. If it doesn't get a satisfactory response, it may alert the emergency services that something has happened to you. We'll do this for 6 months, and see if you still think it's torture or not.

"The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner." If true, this is terrible.

Confusion 16y ago

My initial reaction was the same, but on second thought I think it may not be that bad. I agree that it would initially prevent the subject from concentrating, but he might get used to it in such a way that he can acknowledge the question with a 'yes' without breaking concentration. Some people can work with the radio on, others only when it doesn't contain commercials, others can't work with any music. I can sleep virtually anywhere, while others, in the same room, can't stand a certain buzz, regularly recurring electromechanical noises or other sounds. However, with prolonged exposure, I think anyone would start to be able to work and sleep in environments with intruding noises.

mattmanser 16y ago
It may not be? Yeah, dream on.
mwg66 16y ago
Isn't interrupted sleep (arguably sleep deprivation) a questionable a form of torture?
- Confusion 16y ago
  They are not waking him every 5 minutes: that only happens during the day. At night he is awakened under some circumstances, but whether that constitutes sleep deprivation depends on how often it happens and there is no report on that.
  - mwg66 16y ago
    But, if for some reason, he doesn't sleep during the night - he is forcibly woken should he fall asleep during the day?
  - cjdavis 16y ago
    "The guards are required to check on PFC Manning every five minutes by asking him if he is okay. PFC Manning is required to respond in some affirmative manner. At night, if the guards cannot see PFC Manning clearly, because he has a blanket over his head or is curled up towards the wall, they will wake him in order to ensure he is okay."
    - hugh3 16y ago
      Right, so he's not woken at night unless they can't see him. Kinda like how the flight attendants will wake you if there's turbulence and they can't see whether you've got your seat belt buckled or not.
- drinian 16y ago
  If they're only checking up on him when he appears to be hiding something, that's nothing. You see, a former co-worker of mine spent about a month (spread out over many weekends!) in the infamous "Tent City" jail in Phoenix, AZ after a DUI conviction. He said that the guards would come through the room several times a night to perform ID checks on every bunk, basically assuring that you couldn't get a reasonable night's sleep. The 100F+ temperatures didn't help either. He also said that the leaders of each ethnic group/gang (whites, blacks, Latinos) had access to contraband mobile phones, and had made deals with the prison wardens to keep them. Apparently they also had their own food supply. If PFC Manning is being treated in exactly the manner described in the article, then he's in better shape than many prisoners in America, where it seems torture is practiced every day. (I'm not condoning the practices of either).
hugh3 16y ago
Hang on, what the hell is he supposed to be concentrating on? He's not programming, he's just filling in time until his trial.
- Confusion 16y ago
  He has access to books and magazines.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    Well shit, he probably got more done yesterday than I did. Anyway, if your definition of torture involves reading a book or a magazine while someone asks you every five minutes whether you're okay, you have (a) a pretty low bar for torture and (b) obviously no children.
    - ajays 16y ago
      Try going through this for 6 straight months, and then tell us if it's torture or not. Even children go to sleep eventually. His guards never sleep, and keep waking him up in the pretext of "checking" on him. Don't tell me it's not torture. Here's an idea: please post your phone number. I will set up a Twilio account that will dial it every 5 minutes, from 6AM to 9PM, and ask you if you're OK. If it doesn't get a satisfactory response, it may alert the emergency services that something has happened to you. We'll do this for 6 months, and see if you still think it's torture or not.