(NOTE: Above graphic shamelessly heisted from Ross Blog at NBC.com)
I’ve been in a non-blogging state of mind….working on another deadline, and generally enjoying the lovely fall weather. But will be back in full force tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, aside from the various news stories on Blackwater, gang “rent” payments, and DWP rate hikes, out of Sunday’s papers, I recommend the following:
FROM THE LA TIMES:
The Facebook Revolution – No this isn’t a social justice issue, but it’s an interesting read anyway, unless you’re planning to live like Christopher McCandless, the Into the Wild guy. (And things didn’t turn out that well for him anyway.)
Militant Atheists are Wrong – an anti-anti God essay that has some interesting and discussion-provoking points to make. “Their assault on religious faith amounts to an attack on the human imagination,” writes author Lee Siegel.
FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
On Torture and American Values – “Truly banning the use of torture would not jeopardize American lives,” writes the NY Times, “experts in these matters generally agree that torture produces false confessions. Restoring the rule of law to Guantánamo Bay would not set terrorists free; the truly guilty could be tried for their crimes in a way that does not mock American values.” Expert opinions on this matter are pretty close to unanimous. So why does American policy dictate otherwise?
Race Gap: Crime vs. Punishment – An interesting and nuanced essay that asks the questions: IF criminal legal proceedings seem to turn out differently for people of different races, when does a constitutional problem exist?
FROM THE WASHINGTON POST
The WaPo has its own torture-memo-related editorial, but the big Must Read from today’s Post is this story: An Exit Toward Soul-Searching: As Bush Staffers Leave, Questions About Legacy Abound.
AND ABOUT CERTAIN SPORTS DEVELOPMENTS having do with (cough) damned Stanford (cough), I have no freaking comment.
Glad to hear you occasionally afford yourself some “down time.”
The WaPo article I saw that is the definitive discussion, for me, wrt torture: Fort Hunt’s Quiet Men Breakn Silence on WWII Interrogators Fought ‘Battle of Wits’
By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 6, 2007; Page A01
http://tinyurl.com/yutbvr
Sorry about SC, Celeste. I went to a college game Saturday with an SC graduate, who was there the same time as you, and I got back in time to flip back-and-forth on the TV between three college games and a baseball playoff, trying to watch all at once while texting my older son about the games. For excitement, the SC game was great, as was the LSU-Fla. game. Notre Dame beat UCLA. Weird season.
The Auburn game started with the eagle circling the stadium and landing at midfield. The band first played “God Bless America” then the “National Anthem” with the crowd singing both times. Near the end, the band unfurled a large patriotic banner on the field. At the amphitheater near my house, they were having a “God and Country” musical presentation with a moving talk on patriotism.
Do you know what we call a day like this? Saturday. Eat your heart out.
Luckily I was at a party where men were not allowed to watch sports on television (the wife/host had T.V. removed) so I did not have to witness the USC defeat. I’m wondering if it was a plot by the liberals, especially the ex-Stanford radical liberal Angela Davis.
Woody – You do know cell-phones calls are free on the weekends and it is easier/quicker to talk than text? Facebook, Myspace and texting are all non-existent in my world. I have only sent a total of three text messages on all my cell-phone, the other person had no pen and paper to write down information. I think we have gone technology crazy, and my vocation is factory automation, control systems engineering and computer networking and programming.
I’ll let the white conservatives tell us about all of their personal experiences with racism and injustice in America. (sarcasm alert)
LA Res, do you know that it’s faster to text than get involved in a conversation. Also, you can check the text when you want rather than when the other person calls. Texting saves me a lot of interruptions and problems getting rid of callers. Ask Celeste if she finds that it saves her time to use her blackberry.
Do you want some conservative and/or white experiences of racism and injustice? Try affirmative action in the work place, quotas in college admissions, and blocked opportunities of conservative professors and speakers. Your racial fairness is nothing but reverse discrimination.
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