If You Find Yourself Defending Torture….

If, in the year 2009 – in the first decade of a new century – you find youself  on the defending side in the middle of an ongoing debate on the morality, legality and efficiency of torture…..

……you are probably a conservative.

If you are a conservative and you find yourself on the defensive end of an argument about using heretofore (pre Bush/Cheney) unthinkable brutality to find out what a subject may or may not know…

….you are probably a NeoCon.

Where are the good old fashioned conservatives that all we used to know and love.

Did they ever really exist?

Cheney’s Play

After the rumors and the denials, after the legal memos and the justifications; after the whole sorry twisted episode of  torture, lies and cover-ups; Cheney’s play, his bet, his gamble is – and has always been – that America and Americans lack the courage and spine to confront him and more importantly the ideas he represents.

Cheney has publicly admitted to torture.

That’s the sound of a betting man going all in.

That’s the sound of a man betting against America.

Never Let The Music Stop

Sometimes, I get messages in the most unusual way.

To my mysterious friend… I say: I appreciate your message of support more than you could know.

The music will never stop. Yes, it slows down sometimes, and now that my latest obsolete computer recording system has self destructed, it may be a while (3-6- weeks) before I can record again.

I realized a long time ago that I was not making light hearted pop music. I realized a long time ago that the rewards on my chosen path would be few and far between.

Nevertheless, this is the music I am driven to make.

I would rather have some help and human company while working on this stuff, but every attempt (so far) has ended in unacceptable artistic compromise.

Perhaps I would have been better off if I had accepted those compromises anyway.

But I did not.

An so the music goes on in its own way…..

As long as I am breathing, I will find a way to make my music despite the obstacles.

Thank you mysterious messanger. To you and to my listeners (I know you are out there – my download count increases everyday) I have only the following to add to my thanks for your support:

I will never let the music stop.

 

David Archer April/09

Toronto

 

Click here to listen and download original music by David Archer

War Zone

War Zone

 

We drank vodka and vanilla coke

It was awful but we got drunk

As we knew we would

 

Later, you were sick

But I imagine you don’t remember

 

As the sirens screamed

As the bombs began falling

You cried out in your sleep (if that’s what it was)

And I cried out in fear

But the bombs fell across the river

And we were never in any real danger

 

Except for the fact

That we sleep in a War Zone

And when we wake up in the morning

Another nightmare begins

Absolutely Amazing

I think it is Absolutely Amazing that there is open talk of torture investigation and prosecution on some mainstream news outlets.

Could it be that the rusty, creaky old system of American justice is actually going to rouse itself long enough to take a swat at Bush, Cheney and the enablers?

Could it be that American journalism – so sorely (and willingly) used and abused by Bushco in leading the country to a murderous war of choice – is finally circling around with revenge in its heart?

What sweet justice that would be.

Sullivan on Torture

Here at Loon Theory we will continue to view Andrew Sullivan as a reliable source concerning the morality and legality of torture.

Many seem to regard the subject of torture as a minefield, while Sullivan is unwilling to allow specious arguments and moral relativism to cloud his position.

From Sullivan’s blog The Daily Dish, read Obama, Bush And The Rule Of Law.
 

…even if you believe that the president has the duty to torture terror suspects, under the constitution, he has no legal right to do so without Congress’ passage of legislation repealing the laws and treaties governing such torture

Now no legal authority in  human history would judge the waterboarding of a prisoner 83 or 183 times in one month as anything but torture. If it were done to a US soldier, would Dick Cheney refuse to call it torture? Of course not, although it is telling that no reporter has ever asked him this obvious question directly.

And so it is simply an empirical fact that president Bush broke the law and violated his oath of office by ordering the torture of prisoners.

The cancer of the G.W. Bush administration now threatens to infect Obama, if, as it appears, he is too politically calculating or too frightened to investigate and prosecute.

Today’s Top Stories

Today’s Top Stories

 

She said:

“Why are you always lost in space?”

I replied:

“Because that’s where the stars are”

And then she said:

“No, not that space. The space inside your head”

And I said:

“Oh, that’s neither here nor there”

 

We continued walking

 

She said:

“Is this your destiny?”

I replied:

“Destiny is only one of our destinations”

And then she said:

“But you are here, now. Is that your choice?”

And I said:

“I have no choice, but there are many opportunities”

 

It began to rain

 

She said:

“If that is true, then you must explore them”

I answered:

“If it’s not true, then I must find out why”

She said:

“Either way, it becomes a wall between us”

I said:

“Maybe that’s where we’ll build the door”

 

We entered a coffee shop

 

She said:

“What about a window?”

And I replied:

“Why not?”

She said:

“There’s not enough rain in the world”

And I said:

“Isn’t glass made from sand?”

 

The radio repeated today’s top stories

800 Billion Suns

M104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy, has 800 billion suns.

Via Huffington Post and HUBBLESITE

Arrest Bush and Cheney for War Crimes

America can create justice and America can destroy justice.

When people as powerful as the political and moneyed elites in Washington act out their fevered adolescent nightmares (or worse), they redefine America’s leadership as cowardly sociopaths and take one step closer to their apparent goal of driving a stake through the heart of the American Dream, Democracy, justice and hope for the entire world.

The United States of America must confront the cancer in its soul and there is one way, and one way only to do that:

Arrest Bush and Cheney for War Crimes.

Free Form Guitar Practise

A reprint from last year

 I always follow the same lesson plan when I practice. It goes  like this:

Just play.

 Anything, doesn’t matter what. Just tune the guitar and play. A few song parts, some scales, a lead line over an imaginary rhythm section, a low string drone, finger-picking pattern design and repetition, old folk song, instrumental sections, a new chord pattern/melody idea, a few arpeggios to match the new pattern, work on correcting poor third finger picking position, some fast strumming, a jazz standard structure, try to work in melody, pay attention strictly to tone for a few minutes, lead soloing to open bass string patterns, slow finger-pick, double time, try to get a handle on those rippling finger-picked arpeggios, a bit of raspy blues ending up an hour or two later with a few attempts at a clean run through of your newest song followed by an effort to quickly touch on and reinforce your memory of any new ideas or techniques you’d like to remember, and now it’s break time.

Do it again only different, emphasizing parts, pieces, drills, song ideas that arise from your earlier run through.

It’s during these free form practice sessions that I regularly discover and rediscover why I play the guitar and make music.

 

Let It Be Strange To It’s Maker – an essay on creativity

A Fools Day

Fools courtesy of Mikhail Chemiakin