My View of Automobiles

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Rory Kennedy opens her latest documentary, The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, with footage of the Milgram Experiment, a 1961 behavioral study designed to ask the question, "Could the entire Holocaust really have been the work soldiers following orders?" The results demonstrated that most people will step way beyond their personal moral boundaries if directed to do so by an authority figure. In the Milgram case, subjects thought they were inflicting near-fatal electroshock treatments on unseen prisoners (in reality, they were causing no harm). Conversely, Kennedy demonstrates that the American soldiers involved in the infamous Abu Ghraib torture incidents were made to think that they were doing nothing wrong. When images of the extreme interrogation techniques leaked and the government needed a scapegoat, many of those same soldiers were then sent to prison for following orders.Netscape sat down with Kennedy last month at the Sundance Film Festival. It was the morning after President Bush`s State of the Union speech, and the director, a member of America`s most famous left-leaning political family, discussed not only her film but the War on Terror, military history, governmental transparency, and why she thinks the majority of Americans "are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore." Ghosts of Abu Ghraib premieres Thursday, February 22 on HBO.The film uses the Milgram Experiment as a structuring metaphor. Did you begin the project with that in mind?I had originally planned to do a very different film, which was more about the nature of ordinary people who commit extraordinary acts of evil. We were looking to genocides to exemplify that. And then, like so many other people, I was horrified by the photographs that came out of Abu Ghraib, and continued to be haunted by them years after. I found myself asking: Who were these people and what motivated them? Were they the kids next door or were they psychopaths? What was their childhood like? And so I then went back to HBO, where I had been developing the film on genocide, and I said, "How would you feel if we were to change direction and look at Abu Ghraib as our example?`" They were excited about that, and I was then able to get access to a number of the soldiers involved in the abuse--and ultimately to the detainees. When I talked to these people and asked the question, "Why did you do this?`", they all said the same thing: "I did it because I was told to do it." So Ghosts of Abu Ghraib became much more of an investigative film, and less of a psychological film. If I`m reading your thesis correctly, it was a combination of factors that caused the soldiers to commit these acts. They were given orders, of course--but in addition, a lot of these people were very young, and they were in a climate that limited their ability to make rational or moral decisions. I think that`s right. I mean, the film still maintains that original intention, which is to explore the psychological component of how these things transpire. But it also addresses the larger, structural elements that were in play: the systems that were there, the people who authorized a lot of the behavior, the policies that were put in place. I was wondering how you got John Yoo to speak with you. It seems like many documentary filmmakers who have a critical view of the government or the Iraq War are having trouble convincing current and former Administration officials to speak on camera.We had a lot of trouble getting access to people within the administration or the military. We approached everybody from General Geoffrey Miller to President Bush to Vice President Cheney to Don Rumsfeld, and none of them agreed to speak with us on camera. [Yoo] was in a bit of an unique position because he`s no longer part of the administration. I`m very grateful that he was willing to speak with us, because I think it`s really important to understand all sides of this debate, rather than just seeing it from a single perspective. I really tried to respect where John Yoo is coming from and what he had to say, and what the administration was thinking at the time, to the degree that he was able to represent that.Yoo argues that the actual wording of the Geneva Convention is vague. At one point he says that he thinks the people who ordered these abuses thought they were following Geneva. Do you believe that?He does say that. There`s a real disconnect, because the Geneva Conventions say that you have to treat people humanely, you can`t abuse them, right? And what Sanchez had authorized was sleep deprivation, stress positions, hooding, nudity. No matter what your interpretation of the Geneva Conventions may be, that`s not treating people humanely, that`s not respecting human dignity. So it`s hard for me to imagine anybody interpreting the Geneva Conventions in such a way that would legitimize those techniques. Ultimately Sanchez did rescind those techniques. But people on the ground were confused about what was authorized and what was not. There wasn`t a clear message down the ranks that they could no longer engage in these techniques.All of this happened after General Miller came to Iraq and ordered Abu Ghraib to be "Gitmoized." What did that mean?Miller arrived in August of 2003, and a lot of his recommendations were then approved by General Sanchez and other people locally. What he did was to transform one portion of the prison, which was known as "the hard site," into an interrogation center. And that`s where they placed their high-value detainees. Then these MPs, who weren`t even trained to be prison guards in the first place, were brought into the interrogation staff. They were basically asked to prepare the detainees for the interrogations, to do things like sleep deprivations and stress positions. All the detainees in this area were naked for the duration (some would get their clothes back if they performed in a way that pleased the officials). So [Miller`s recommendations] radically transformed the way this part of the prison operated. And the MPs were told that this is how they were going to save America and fight the War on Terror.So you think the soldiers who were actually involved with this went into it with good intentions, and with faith that they were being told to do the right thing?I do. I do think that. I don`t know about all of them, but I would say absolutely most of them had very good intentions. They went into this war in an effort to protect America, and wanted to fight terrorism, and wanted to save this country, and were thrown into an environment in which they had absolutely no way to navigate.And the people who were navigating for them--Were encouraging them to engage in very abusive behavior.What long-term impact do you see this saga having on the reputation of the United States?The film is about America, and who we are, and the policies we`re engaged in. It`s not just looking back to the Geneva Conventions, in the late 1940s--you can go all the way back to the American Revolution. During that time, George Washington was faced with a similar issue. The British soldiers were treating Americans absolutely horrendously. They were chopping off our heads and they were treating us like dogs, like animals, and Washington was asked, "How do you want to treat the British prisoners?" He said, "Treat them with respect and dignity." Because if we lose our moral compass, this battle`s not worth fighting. And that has been the mission that has dictated American foreign policy for the past 200 years--with the exception of the last six.I know there`s a lot of legitimate fear of terrorism, and it`s a different world. But maintaining our moral compass during these difficult times, and the integrity of who we are as a people, is enormously critical, especially right now. So to me, this isn`t just a film about Abu Ghraib. It`s about the policies that are still in place, right now, that can contribute to another Abu Ghraib--that contribute to a sense of our country having lost that moral platform. That was the reason why you could travel anywhere in the world and say, "I`m an American," and people would look at you with admiration and respect. Well, that doesn`t happen anymore, and it has all changed in six years. Which is the saddest part of this whole thing.Can we fix it?I do think it is fixable. But as citizens, we have to demand more transparency from this government. We`ve passed this legislation, and we have our leaders saying we don`t torture, but if you look between the lines of the legislation, there`s still lots of room for abuse. In [The Military Commissions Act of 2006], they say we don`t torture, but a different set of standards applies to the CIA. And so you ask, what are those standards? And you get the answer, "Well, you can understand why we can`t tell you that."I think the average person is so confused as to what our policy on torture actually entails.Right. Nobody knows what our policy is. The policy makers don`t know what our policy is! You really have to analyze it with a fine-toothed comb to understand that there is still ample room for abuse. So I`m deeply, deeply concerned. I mean, we`ve taken away habeas corpus, we`ve taken away the rights of prisoners--constitutional rights that we`ve maintained for hundreds of years in the country. We`ve just taken them away from prisoners who don`t have the right to an attorney, who don`t have the right to represent themselves, who may be held in prison indefinitely. That sounds like a country that is completely unfamiliar to me. It`s frightening that America is representing these ideals and policies to the rest of the world.We`re heading into a new presidential election. Do you feel that eight years of damage will be too much for the next administration to correct? Or can change in the opposite direction happen just as quickly?I think it can happen. I mean, yesterday they had a poll that said the President`s approval rating is at a new low, which is 33 percent--Actually, this morning, it fell to the high 20s. After the State of the Union.Really? [laughs] So, I think people are mad as hell and they`re not going to take it anymore. That`s where we are when you have 75 percent of the country saying, "We`re heading in the wrong direction, Mr. President." The American people feel emboldened to take this presidency to task, and to halt the abuse of power.Portions of this interview previously appeared here. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Netscape 9 will include built-in tools to share, vote for, and discuss interesting things you find on the Web directly from the browser`s URL bar. The image below shows the state of the address bar for a page that a) hasn`t been submitted to Netscape.comb) has been submitted and you haven`t voted for itc) has been submitted, and you have already voted for it.The vote and comment totals are shown in the tooltips for the images as well as in the status bar.We feel that having these tools in the browser by default will introduce the idea of social news to a whole new set of users, and it should make it easier for those who are already familiar with the concept. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

When the final episode of the Fox drama The O.C. airs tonight, it`ll mark the end of an era. There will be distraught fans, such as 19-year-old Coleeeee, who informs the world via one the show`s many MySpace groups that her "life is over when The O.C. is." Cast and crew will have to find new jobs, and moving on may be tough for some -- as star Benjamin McKenzie put it in a statement released by the show`s publicist, "I`ll probably miss working with everyone." But the loss will also be felt by indie rock bands and fans, by fashion designers and young style mavens, and by comic book producers and consumers. For though The O.C. `s ratings were at best average (and sometimes totally abysmal), the show served as a remarkably effective clearinghouse for totems of teenage cool. The show was created in 2003 by television novice Josh Schwartz who, at age 27, was the youngest person to develop and produce his own one-hour drama in the history of network television. In a 2004 interview with the New York Times, Schwartz admitted to using a "Trojan Horse strategy" to get his foot in the door. Knowing that FOX was looking for a prime-time soap to replicate the success of Aaron Spelling`s just-retired dinosaur Beverly Hills 90210, Schwartz crafted a pilot script that self-consciously hit all the high notes of the Spelling drama genre: pool parties, massive mansions, diva rivalries, cocaine. Then, as he later put it, Schwartz inserted "characters that were a little bit funnier and more soulful and different and specific than the kinds you usually see in that genre." Much of the story of life in the luxurious (and fictional) Southern California suburb of Newport was seen through the eyes of Seth Cohen (played by Adam Brody), a friendless ninth grader obsessed with comic books and emo bands. In the series pilot, Seth`s public defender father brings home Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie), a juvenile offender from less-than-desirable Chino, who has returned from a night in jail to find that his mom has skipped town without leaving so much as a note. Soon this miscreant was installed in the Cohen family pool house. Ryan and Seth quickly formed a bond as outsiders, simultaneously attracted to and repulsed by the glamour and excess of the Newport lifestyle. And the show`s creator got to have it both ways. Schwartz gave Fox their shiny, highly-marketable soap sensation, all the while building a one-hour prime time drama about a friendship formed by two teenage boys, each of whom, though undeniably telegenic, fell somewhere outside the mold. If you`ve spent any time on MySpace or iTunes over the last four years, you know that The O.C. was a triumph of music merchandising. Straight from the gate, the show earned coolness points with young viewers for expertly matching the drama in Newport to selections from up-and-coming indie artists. "The O.C. introduced a ton of great indie bands to viewers," says Tina Smithers, an editor at "teen/tween entertainment" magazine M. "Bands like Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie might not be as popular as they are today if not for the coverage they got on the show." Indeed, for some viewers, music became a reason to tune in. "The music on the show never disappointed," Smithers says. "It was always good." Good or bad, notes Jonathan Toomey, who has written about The O.C. for TV Squad.com, the music always felt authentic. "What else would a bunch of angst-ridden rich kids do in their free time but listen to a bunch of angst-ridden indie pop bands?" he asks. "No other show that I can think of incorporates a band so that it feels like it`s part of the episode, and not an advertisement for the performer." Though other indie stalwarts such as Love as Laughter and Spoon all saw profile increases as a result of placement in the show, the big O.C. soundtrack success story seems to be Modest Mouse. The band, a scrappy trio from the Pacific Northwest, had been a fixture on the college radio scene since the mid-90s. Yet their major-label debut, released in 2000 on Epic Records, was considered something of a failure. Their second Epic release, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, came out in the summer of 2004 without making a major splash. Six months later, the band appeared an episode of The O.C. as themselves, and played the lead single from that album, "Float On." By June 2005, Good News had sold almost 700,000 copies--more than every previous Modest Mouse release combined. It`s since been certified platinum. The O.C. had the ability to create a major sales boost for the groups it featured. But as Toomey points out, the association with what was often perceived as a cheesy mainstream soap could actually damage a given band`s indie credibility. "The show emphasized the fact that it`s cool to like a band that no one has heard of," Toomey says. "But while the show created a whole army of new fans for Band X, it was alienating the current fan base who thought they were in the minority." Other cultural references woven into the show failed to resonate as strongly as the soundtracks. "Seth`s constant ruminations on all things anime, comics, and graphic novels went over a lot of people`s heads," says Toomey. "The fans adored Seth, but they generally had no idea what he was talking about when he quoted a line from Princess Mononoke or made reference to a Frank Miller graphic novel." According to Tina Smithers, the show`s influence on fashion has been similarly spotty. Most of it, she argues, can be chalked up to actress Mischa Barton, who played Marissa on The O.C. until her character was killed off at the end of the third season. "Mischa has become a style icon," says Smithers. "I think that fans [look to] `Mischa,` rather than `Marissa.`" What`s undeniable in any case is that The O.C. managed to lock onto a cultural moment. The fact that it then killed that moment by projecting it onto the culture at large may not matter in the end. As Toomey puts it, "It`s like a time-capsule. It`s cool now, but in ten years, who knows what will be in style? Will people still talk about it ten years from now? Yeah, I think they will." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | CommentsSPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Peripherals Man, what a racket they`ve got going over there at Microsoft. Not only does the company get to unilaterally decide exactly when we all "need" a new operating system, it gets to siphon money off of hardware manufacturers for the privilege of advertising their products as "Vista-certified." Now we can see why said certification might be useful for entire systems or even select components such as video cards, but how is our computing experience going to be any different if we use a mouse adorned with this supposedly-coveted seal of approval? Nevertheless, Sigma APO of Japan has decided to shell out some cash to Redmond to get the ol` "Made for Vista" badge slapped on its oddly-titled "Zoffy" laser mouse, but predictably, there`s no indication as to how this model differs from the Logitech you`re clutching at the moment (except for its bargain basement price). On the specs front, you`re getting a 1,600dpi laser (adjustable to 800dpi), four-way scroll wheel, rubberized grip, and not much else. Still, if you can deal with the dearth of buttons and absolutely gotta have "Vista-certified" bragging rights for all your gear, Zoffy will be available at the end of the month for about $27. Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsBOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-timeOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: PeripheralsWhen your server farm is in the hundreds of thousands and you`re using cheap, off-the-shelf hard drives as your primary means of storage, you`ve probably got a a pretty damned good data set for looking at the health and failure patterns of hard drives. Google studied a hundred thousand SATA and PATA drives with between 80 and 400GB storage and 5400 to 7200rpm, and while unfortunately they didn`t call out specific brands or models that had high failure rates, they did find a few interesting patterns in failing hard drives. One of those we thought was most intriguing was that drives often needed replacement for issues that SMART drive status polling didn`t or couldn`t determine, and 56% of failed drives did not raise any significant SMART flags (and that`s interesting, of course, because SMART exists solely to survey hard drive health); other notable patterns showed that failure rates are indeed definitely correlated to drive manufacturer, model, and age; failure rates did not correspond to drive usage except in very young and old drives (i.e. heavy data "grinding" is not a significant factor in failure); and there is less correlation between drive temperature and failure rates than might have been expected, and drives that are cooled excessively actually fail more often than those running a little hot. Normally we`d recommend you go on ahead and read the document, but be ready for a seriously academic and scientific analysis. [Warning: PDF link][Via Slashdot, photo by Uwe Hermann] Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsBOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-timeOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals Ours is not to question why, only to accept the inevitable convergence of USB and pretty much everything else within the vicinity of our PCs. Meet the newly announced 4-port USB 2.0 hub and tape dispenser from Hong Kong`s Earth Trek. It comes in large and small versions and can naturally be affixed with your very own logo for some good ol` corporate schwag. Sorry, these devices are not USB powered -- but if you`re the type who finds it overly taxing to dispense tape, then maybe you should be looking into a bionic suit. "Coming soon" in several color options for an undisclosed price. [Via Akihabara News] Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsBOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-timeOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Peripherals While it won`t do your laptop any good, this new Freeloader gig from Solar Technology should be able to provide juice to just about every other gadget in your repertoire. The device contains its own li-ion rechargeable battery, which it can fill up from your laptop or desktop`s power via USB, or using its 120mA crystalline solar cells. From there you`ve got a master cable and eleven adaptors to get the electricity into your phone, camera, PDA, GPS, gaming handheld or DAP. Solar Technology seems to have most of the big brands covered, and claims it can fuel an iPod for 18 hours, a mobile phone for 44 hours, PSP for 2.5 hours and a PDA for 22 hours -- not too shabby for the 6.5 ounce unit. Sure, we`ve seen plenty of similar chargers before, but the combination of device compatibility and relatively low price (£30, about $59 US) makes this a decent option for those sun-drenched road warriors out there. Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsBOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-timeOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: PeripheralsWhile we`ve seen more than a few folks get a little mod-happy when it comes to crafting their own mousing devices, Cylo Technology is offering up an apparently well thought-out device that should have audio / video editors going wild. If you feel more comfortable spinning a jog wheel than you ever have manually moving a cursor, the "three-dimensional" 3style mouse is right down your alley, as the hybrid input peripheral handles the typical X and Y axes as well as giving users the ability to scroll in any direction with a simple spin. Utilizing a ball bearing pad, the knob can spin freely with just a nudge, and can interpret Z-axis data as well as offering up right-click functionality by squeezing the edges. While some may envision faint similarities to the iMac`s hockey puck mouse of days past, this rendition could probably last a bit more than 30 seconds before becoming destined for the trash bin. Nevertheless, the 3style mouse can be used wirelessly as well as in a wired form, and can purportedly work seamlessly with any application that supports a scroll wheel or jog dial, but we`ll have to wait until this thing actually hits store shelves before testing out these bold claims ourselves. Click on through for a live demonstration.[Via HackedGadgets]Continue reading Cylo`s 3style jog wheel / mouse spins it up Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsBOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-timeOffice Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!