Is Torture Ever Ok?

Everyone has been talking about it. The Obama administration published the debated torture methods authorized during the Bush Administration. Waterboarding, Stress positions and Confinement are the main categories and were supposedly not designed to inflict severe bodily injury. If you look at the pictures and analyze the methods from a third-party point of view, then it would seem like these methods are pretty safe. I wonder if you were being put in these positions if you would feel the same. What if you have arthritis? What if you had sores and cuts? How do you decide which method to use on each prisoner - or do you use them all?

The Obama administration has stated that the U.S. does not torture. Period. But he has been rubbing conservative Christians in the U.S. the wrong way. They have vehemently protested his policies on abortion and stem cell research (which can only lead you to believe they preferred the Bush Administration which would in turn, lead many to question their credibility) and could it be that they are also finding fault in his torture policies because they simply are unhappy with his other policies? I would have thought that conservative Christians would believe in humane treatment for all of God's creations, and yet they are happy to have bodily pain inflicted on anyone who the government feels may have information - in an era when the government created new laws that take away civil liberties and allow anyone to be detained without cause.

CNN published a story about Ken Cordier, a devout Christian who was a Vietnam POW, tortured for 6 years. He believes that torture is wrong in all circumstances. I guess when you are on the outside, looking in, torture seems like a good idea to "protect" our country, but when you have lived it then your view might be slightly different. It is interesting, though, that Cordier did not consider the "enhanced interrogation" techniques introduced by the Bush Administration to be torture.

The story also mentions Rev. Ronald Kuykendall, an evangelical pastor in Gainesville, Florida. Kuykendall is all for torture, citing the New Testament (Romans 13:1-7) "everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established." Oh. Well doesn't that apply to Muslim countries too then?

It is a complicated issue, but I know one thing for sure, we agreed to follow the Geneva Convention, which says no country can torture prisoners of war, whether that be physical or mental torture. We throw a fit when other countries don't follow the rules, but we seem to hold ourselves to a different standard.

South Africa Votes

This election will define the future of South Africa. The country has struggled to get out of the shadow of the apartheid for the past 14 years. But with the aging of the godfather of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, it seems like the country may be heading the way of most other African nations - corruption, political strong-handing, puppet democracy and eventual instability.

Thabo Mbeki was a respectable leader for South Africa who was elected by the people. While he was president (and leader of the ANC) Jacob Zuma was being tried for corruption. Somehow Zuma got the charges against him dropped. Then a young girl announced Zuma raped her. Many people began to question his morals and the rape trial made international headlines. Miraculously, Zuma managed to get those charges dropped too. The straw on the camel's back came when Thabo Mbeki brought new charges of corruption against Zuma.

In my opinion, Mbeki was doing South Africa a favor by trying to show that trials cannot be bought or influenced based on a person's status. I think he brought the charges to make an example of Zuma and restore faith in South Africa but it backfired on him. Zuma claimed Mbeki brought the charges for political reasons because Zuma was going to run against him for head of the ANC. And the day South Africans bought that line was the day that will foretell South Africa following Zimbabwe into political corruption.

Mbeki knew he had been elected fairly by the people and was not willing to soil his reputation and have people think he brought the charges in order to keep his position. So he stepped down. Without a fight, without a scene, he quickly resigned and walked away with dignity. He will be remembered as a great leader who really loved his country.

Zuma, on the other hand, is a crook. If his abilities to make cases against him "go away" is any indication of his presidency, South Africa is in for a downward spiral that they will not even see until it is way too late.

The elections are today and, while it seems unfathomable, the people are faced with having to leave behind Mandela's mangled party in order to preserve everything he fought for.

Murder via Craigslist

Craiglist was a relatively unfamiliar concept to many people until a few years ago. How can we tell that the phenomenon has been integrated into mainstream American society? It has been exploited for murder and robbery.

In June 2007 Christian Morton responded to an ad for a car in Dallas, TX. The "sellers" Kendrick Demus and George Carter had posted the ad and planned to rob responders to get the $2000 asking price. In Morton's case, after the thieves demanded money, he was shot and killed.

In a more publicized"craigslist" murder, Katherine Ann Olson replied to an ad for a babysitting job. Police later found her bound and shot to death in the trunk of a car a few blocks from the home of Michael John Anderson, who posted the ad.

So does this foretell the beginning of the end of what started out as a positive website with so much potential?

The sad part is craiglist has a European equivalent that is even more widespread - most popular in London - called Gumtree. Gumtree.com is exactly like Craigslist in that it has parallel sites for different cities, has posting areas for jobs, items for sale, personal ads, etc. But Gumtree, even though it used in London - one of the most diverse cities in the world, and a city with a high crime rate - was never exploited the way craiglist has been exploited by Americans.

Sadly, craiglist may never enjoy the success that gumtree has in Europe. The reason is simply that Americans cannot be trusted to not kill each other.

Sexting: A Teen Felony?

Sexting: Sending a text message that contains a naked picture of yourself.

Sooooo many questions! If you sext someone, can you still wear your chastity/purity ring? If you send it to someone besides your boyfriend is it cheating? What if he sends it to someone else - is that a threesome? I jest. But not really.

In fact, what has surfaced as the pertinent question in this situation is "Is it child pornography?"

According to Slate.com:

"Last month, three girls (ages 14 or 15) in Greensburg, Pa., were charged with disseminating child pornography for sexting their boyfriends. The boys who received the images were charged with possession. A teenager in Indiana faces felony obscenity charges for sending a picture of his genitals to female classmates. A 15-year-old girl in Ohio and a 14-year-old girl in Michigan were charged with felonies for sending along nude images of themselves to classmates. Some of these teens have pleaded guilty to lesser charges; others have not. If convicted, these young people may have to register as sex offenders, in some cases for a decade or two. Similar charges have been filed in cases in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin."

WOW.

So this is in no way considered an innocent mistake - these kids have literally turned their lives upside down and they will pay for the consequences of their teenage stupidity for years.

Now in a case where these images are abused (shown against the sender's consent; used for bullying, etc) then it is understandeable that the offending party should be have repercussions. But police officers are saying the kids who choose to send the pictures of themselves should be prosecuted to show them the severity of distributing what, to many, is considered distributing child pornography.

Some say this is a new trend in child pornography. Others see it as teen folly, to be cringed at one day in a retirement home cafeteria. But at the end of the day, who is hurt in all this? Who suffers? The kids. No one yet knows how difficult it will be for them to find a job while registered on the sex offender's list. They certainly can never work in a school or a daycare. And they will be charged with child porn felonies, so for the rest of their lives they will have to tick that box on job applications. In an effort to protect kids from predators, the law has somehow turned on them and caused severe repercussions to 14- and 15-year olds whose biggest concern in life is getting asked to prom.

The debate amounts to two questions: Can you be the child and the predator? And if you can, if you prosecute the predator, are you still protecting the child?

My question is since when did freedom of speech only apply when you turn 18? These children are American and allowed, by law, to express themselves. That alone should rule out their prosecution on felony charges. That said, there SHOULD be consequences. They should be put in counseling, suspended from school and have their phones confiscated and thier parents called to comply with this rule. They most likely did not know they were being child pornographers. EDUCATE THEM. The whole world is still dealing with massive changes in the way we live our lives with the introduction of popular new technology. These issues didn't exist when school policy was written - they didn't exist until camera phones were created about 4 years ago.

Anya Hindmarch for Target

I love Anya Hindmarch and have been searching for a bag from her for months. I almost bought a white hobo bag (reminiscent of the indescribably gorgeous Gucci Indy bag) and in my search for her Summer line, I came across "Anya Hindmarch for Target" What what??

It turns out she has designed a few handbags for giant (lower-end but lovable) US retail store, Target. After looking into it, I found out Target has a little-known "label" called GO International. Ladies who love designer names are probably familiar with the line. Every season they have a few pieces by high-end designers at Target prices. An AH bag usually costs about $395; at Target one of her bags is selling for $49.99. Fundamental difference: Anya Hindmarch bags have "Anya Hindmarch" stamped in the buckle or front design; on the Target bags, "AH for Target" or "Anya Hindmarch for Target" is stamped.

I was awestruck, but obviously skeptical. The bags follow Anya Hindmarch's design ideas, but use lower quality materials. I will go check them out in-store but am not getting my hopes up. After all, the best parts about designer bags are the thick, soft leather and the solid detailed trinkets.

BUT the deflated economy will probably see a lot of people joining me in the line at Target for lower-end high-end items. GO International, started in 2007, is probably just realizing the potential of their label.

Frost/Nixon - A Must-See for Every Journalist

Frost/Nixon is an excellent movie whose story is not lost on anyone who has ever done an interview for broadcast. It follows the dream of a journalist who was hungry for recognition and ratings, who put his career and personal prosperity in jeopardy to score an interview with Nixon after he resigned. And not just any interview, a no-holds-barred interview costing Frost $2m. The twist is that the $2m came out of his own pocket, not backed by any network and Frost was a British journalist with experience in Australia, nothing related to American politics. No one believed he would be able to get a decent soundbite from a political figure as versed in semantics and as slippery as Nixon.

Of course, if you know anything about history or journalism then you know how the story ends. It is an amazing triumph for a man who no one believed in, and to be fair, at one point I almost wasn't sure how the story would end :).

One thing to note is that the movie does dramatize the situation Frost was in by a lot. It portrayed him as a big-time talk show host with little-time experience, when, in fact, he had done numerous hard-hitting interviews. I have to wonder how Frost, who now has his own show on Al-Jazeera English: Frost Over the World, feels about it.

But as the movie is made, it is still inspiring to any journalist. It makes us proud to do the research, put in the time, study the techniques, and eventually emerge triumphant with the golden soundbite. The "I may have made mistakes" statements that mean so much. I recommend all my journalist friends go see it (among others) and I, myself, would like to see it again. But I don't want to give away too much here...

SUPERBOWL SPOILER ALERT: The Steelers won the Superbowl today!!!!!!!!!!! It was a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat-then-crawling-toward-the-TV game that went down to the last 5 seconds. They won their 6th Lombardi trophy, and their coach is the youngest to ever make it to the Superbowl, let alone win it. It was such a great game and there were moments when I thought they were going to lose it. ALTHOUGH, part of me can't help but notice that President Obama predicted the Steelers would win...and he seems to have an eerily magical touch...

Blagojevich aka Nixon

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached and found guilty of trying to sell the senatorial seat vacated by Barack Obama. I'm sure you've heard about it - he made SURE of it. In fact, he skipped the first day of his trial to go on a media blitz in New York, starting with the ladies on The View!! *Best Moment*: when Joy asked him to do a Nixon impression and say "I am NOT A CROOK!" and he totally refused. Smart man! That sound bite would have been played over and over and over right now. The similarities between Nixon and Blago can't be denied. The speech in this clip could almost be used word-for-word by Blago...

He made a great effort to avoid the impeachment trial, raising hell over the fact that he was not given his 6th amendment rights and he couldn't bring witnesses to testify to his innocence and it was all a conspiracy because real corrupt politicians in Illinois didn't like all the "wonderful" work he was doing for the people. Right. BUT at the end of the day, if you read the 6th amendment, it says "In all criminal cases" which means NOT in impeachment trials. His was a case of the legislature deciding whether he was still the best person to take care of Illinois, not whether he was going to jail - so the 6th amendment doesn't apply here.

He was given an undetermined amount of time to defend himself and NOT ONCE did he deny the charges of corruption or deny that he was trying to gain financially from the available senate seat. He did not provide affidavits from the supposed witnesses he wanted to call. Instead he spent almost AN HOUR talking about his immigrant parents, his children thinking he was corrupt, the great work he has done, detailing EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE (aka his JOB). I wish I knew how to play the violin so I could play along to the tune...

He will go down in history and when corrupt politicians have no defense but insist on their innocence, it will forever be known as Pulling a Blagojevich. So now Illinois is Governor-less (to my knowledge) and if his eventual appointee, Roland Burris (who I met and questioned on his policies toward Arabs, and who I consequently dislike immensely) is not honored as senator, Illinois is also Senator-less (aside from Durbin). I can't wait to be back in Chicago next week!