Some more light reading

... regarding the torture debate: here is an essay written by a former military interrogator who worked at Guantanamo. He offers some strong counter-arguments to Cheney's support of torture.
A snippet:

... the former vice president never mentioned the Senate testimony of Ali Soufan, the FBI interrogator who successfully interrogated Abu Zubaydah and learned the identity of Jose Padilla, the dirty bomber, and the fact that Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM) was the mastermind behind 9/11. We'll never know what more we could have discovered from Abu Zubaydah had not CIA contractors taken over the interrogations and used waterboarding and other harsh techniques. Also, glaringly absent from the former vice president's speech was any mention of the fact that the former administration never brought Osama bin Laden to justice and that our best chance to locate him would have been through KSM or Abu Zubaydah had they not been waterboarded.

This American Life

You already know how great this show is, but in case you've missed either of these programs I highly suggest downloading the podcasts:

"Bad Bank" (#375 from 3/1/09): Where the economic crisis is explained in layman's terms. One very poignant moment came when Columbia business school professor David Beim stated the following:

What is happening to us is something that goes way beyond toxic assets in banks. It's something that has little to do with the mechanics of mortgage securitization, or ethics on Wall Street, or anything else. It says the problem is us. The problem is not the banks, greedy though they may be, overpaid though they may be. The problem is us. We have over-borrowed, we have been living very high on the hog. Our standard of living has risen dramatically in the last 25 years and we have been borrowing much of the money to make that prosperity happen.

"Scenes from a Recession" (#377 from 3/29/09): Where they focus on odd stories stemming from the recession, including how condo owners are banding together despite the problems caused by vacancies in their building (like feral cats, sinking foundations and leaking roofs) and how the FDIC takes over a bank.

I was able to catch up on all of these during my road trip from AZ to CA. Listening to a bunch of them at the same time can be overwhelming, but they are so well done that they often build on themes raised in other programs creating a multi-layered reflection on current events.

David Lynch's Interview Project

You may have heard about DL's latest opus, Interview Project. The project feels like one part Studs Terkel, one part Richard Avedon.

Beginning June 1st, and continuing every few days for a few months, you can watch each 3-5 minute interview of the 121-part series at the project's website. One installment is located here (I had trouble embedding it or else I would have posted it directly). Enjoy!

Say what you will, the man is inspiring

You know, President Obama is not perfect and I didn't expect him to be. He's got a job no one in their right mind would want. He seems to be carrying forward a lot of Bush-like policies. Time can only tell how things progress in our country.

Nevertheless, he is an amazing speaker. He is masterful in his ability to turn a faux-controversy into a call to action. Enjoy.

Part One:



Part Two:



Part Three:

For Mark

Hysterical!

He's giving Jon Stewart a run for his money!

"Capitalism appears to be an engine for inequality"

I heard an interesting interview with Joshua Cooper Ramo on the Diane Rehm Show (link to real player audio at the site).

Ramo is the author of The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We can Do About It (video essay about the book and first chapter posted).

Also, here is a video of his appearance on the Charlie Rose show. It should be noted that Ramo is employed by Kissinger Associates - yes, that Henry Kissinger. So, take that for what you will.

I agree we are in a state of change (and not just the Obama/campaign rhetoric). Our leaders need to emerge from the era when their political and intellectual capacities formed (mid-20th century) and either re-think everything or step aside to allow for new leadership. Our global society is moving so fast and if we don't do anything to help anticipate changes we continue to lose opportunities to improve the lives of people around the globe, enforce the rule of law, and protect the environment.

I think we are in a time that could go in one of two ways: a second Age of Enlightenment or a second Dark Ages. To avoid the latter, we must get back in touch with the principles that underlie who we are as a democracy/civilized nation and what we can do to influence countries around the world to follow our lead.

If we forget what freedom, liberty, and equality should mean in our own society we are powerless to stop violations here and beyond. I, for one, don't want to see America turn into a cesspit and we have to do what we can to stop other countries from devolving into one (through influence or otherwise).

For example, why in 2009 is there a huge market in selling women and children into sexual slavery? This is one example, and there are many. But I think we are in a time where we could restore whatever has been lost from humanity that created these problems. But it requires real leadership - not people controlled by corporate interests and held captive by capitalism.

If that's socialist, so be it. I don't care about the labels; those are for talking heads who hate America.

New Francis Ford Coppola film!

In case you're in da club and have to get those dudes off your jock

Fake engagement rings from Mstaken.com! Hilarious...

Of course, you could go the cheaper route and do what a law school friend does: just tell guys you have genital herpes. Enjoy:

A new Supreme Court justice in our future...

You've probably heard that Justice Souter is stepping down, apparently because he's sick of D.C. and wants to retire.

Souter is one of the so-called "liberal" justices, appointed by Bush I. He has been on the liberal side of most decisions... Whoever replaces Souter will hopefully be equally liberal (or, at least not a religious ideologue) so that we can hope for a re-aligning of the Supreme Court once Scalia and Thomas step down (which may never happen; I could see them staying until they die on the bench).

There's a lot of buzz surrounding Sonia Sotomayor as a potential nominee. I don't know much about her but all I can say is that I do hope we see a female person of color appointed.

Some may gristle at this idea, because it suggests that the person would "only" be selected because they are a woman. Turns out, you can be *both* qualified and a woman! What a revelation!

I got to meet Justice Sandra Day O'Connor recently and part of our conversation was about her nomination to the Supreme Court. At the time, Reagan (the beloved icon of the GOP) was insistent that if he were able to nominate someone to the Court, he would nominate a woman. Her name was on the shortlist of candidates and when she was offered the job, it was her HUSBAND who convinced her to take it. He gave up his successful law practice in Arizona to support her move to the Court.

Her appointment opened up countless possibilities for women in the legal profession. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but her appointment signaled a sea change in the perception of women lawyers and the respect they were afforded by their male counterparts.

Today most of the students in law school are women. When Justice O'Connor graduated at the TOP of her class at Stanford law school, not one firm would hire her. The only job she could find was as a paralegal sharing an office with a legal secretary. To this she said, "I was happy I had that job - I would have taken any job I could find!"

Our Supreme Court - and it's "ours," not Justice Scalia's, should reflect the diversity in society. In 2009, we should not continue to let old white men dictate their political agenda to us.

The more we can see women and people of color achieve positions at the highest level in our society the more we can hope that tolerance and progressive idealism will filter down to the masses.