Former ‘Beirut hostage’ Terry Waite: The Guantanamo Prisoners, Justice or Revenge? “I can recognise the conditions that prisoners are being kept in at the US camp at Guantanamo Bay because I have been there. Not to Cuba’s Camp X-Ray, but to the darkened cell in Beirut that I occupied for five years. I was chained to a wall by my hands and feet; beaten on the soles of my feet with cable; denied all my human rights, and contact with my family for five years, and given no access to the outside world. Because I was kept in very similar conditions, I am appalled at the way we – countries that call ourselves civilised – are treating these captives. Is this justice or revenge?” CounterPunch

The New York Times tone: It’s there whenever the Paper of Record takes a look at any of the quirkier aspects of modern culture — as if to offer a distanced, bemused reassurance to its readers of the entertainment value of taking a tour of the slums — it occurred to me as I read these two articles in quick succession. (That’s all they have to do with each other, of course):

• When Nerds Collide: Bots in the Ring
  

  At first glance, it’s obvious why “BattleBots,” the robot fighting show on Comedy Central, would draw television viewers like passers-by to a car crash.

  It is, after all, a series of staged battles between remote-controlled machines equipped with spinning blades, ramming spears and swinging maces. It has noise, wreckage, pseudo- sports commentary modeled on professional wrestling and the all-too-obvious décolletage of Carmen Electra, proffered to the camera as she asks a robot designer, after a bout, how it felt to have his weapon lopped off.

  In short, it is mildly nasty, mechanically brutish and thoroughly tasteless — the perfect television show.

  And yet, talking to one of the show’s creators, you get the idea that the whole BattleBot universe is a giant math class, much more effective than those that take place in a classroom. Trey Roski, president and chief executive of BattleBots, would have you believe that the show is almost nothing but redeeming social value.
  

• “Kiss someone who has just eaten Marmite, and you’ll think you were licking paint…” Long live Marmite! Only the British could love it. The vegetable and yeast extract celebrates its centennial.
  

  That no foreigner has ever been known to like it simply adds to its domestic allure and its iconic status as an emblem of enduring British insularity and bloody-mindedness. Were Hogarth to paint a still life in a 21st century British pantry, a jar of Marmite would have to figure in it.

In Personal Anecdote, Some See New Distance Where Others See New Strategy: ‘…(P)eople close to Mr. Bush said his mother-in-law, Jenna Welch, served as a convenient device for him to distance himself from the Enron debacle and to appear more empathetic to its investors and employees than to the wealthy business executives who escaped the Enron collapse with flush bank accounts.” NY Times And: Why Bush deserves his share of the 9/11 blame — Aaron Marr Page: “Did Bush, at a key moment, dismantle the Clinton administration’s increasingly effective anti-Al Qaeda apparatus (which, though hardly flawless, was far better than nothing)?” The American Prospect

Jonathan Chaitt: Reform School: “At first glance, the Enron scandal suggests we need campaign finance reform. Upon closer inspection, it suggests we need it desperately.”

Noam Scheiber: Business School: “Campaign finance reform seems the obvious way to prevent future Enrons. Except that campaign finance didn’t buy Enron its influence.” The New Republic

Froma Harrop: Was Enron also a cult? “There is, of course, one big difference between Lay and traditional cult leaders. Koresh and Applewhite perished with their followers. Lay had no intention of sharing their fate. While urging his employees to stay the course with Kool-Aid, he cashed out of Enron stock to the tune of many millions. No team-playing fool he.” Providence Journal

Digital divide: racism’s new frontier

“The internet is slow to recognise its responsibilities as an ethical player. If we have racism, a digital divide is its new colonial frontier. Passions surrounding the access and control of IT worldwide have triggered a cultural revolution.” Guardian UK