Beth Arnold

Obamarifix: Bush Aministration's Torture Policy

President Obama attempts a serious conversation with George W.--this one about the call for an investigation into his administration's torture policy:

Letter From Paris: Variations on Urban Bird Hotel

This column is dedicated to my late brother, Brent Arnold, whose birthday is today.  Brent was just the man to find beauty wherever he went--and to appreciate it--which is a grand gift to have. 

Image by anniebee via Flickr

A walk along the rue Reaumur is loud and jarring with lines of cars inching by, sparring for space. Not particularly pleasant--though the endless beauty of Paris can pop up in the least expected places--and every Parisian street has its own presence and charm.  But just to be clear: It's not like I would ever exclaim, "Oh, let's take a stroll on Reaumur."  I'm more likely to say with frantic despair, "We could get a taxi there."  You see what I mean.

But one Sunday morning my husband, Jim, and I ended up on the busy rue, slogging along to make our way somewhere else.  Then what did I spot, but an aviary with a big bird house on an island in the middle of the street.  Weird.  Why was it there?  I still don't know.  But for my amusement I decided it was a bird hotel for the pigeons passing through town.  And as boutique hotels by designers are some of the most desirable and luxe places to stay these days, I have imagined my bird hotel with themes.  Check them out:

Warhol Bird Hotel

Letter From Paris: Torture, Murder, & May Day

Cross-posted at HuffingtonPost.com.  Comments not included here.

Image by jmtimages via Flickr

President Barack Obama again validated the return of American democracy by publicly admitting that the United States had been torturing prisoners under the direction of the Bush administration. As we all know, George W. and his gang of outlaws sanctioned the shameful practice of waterboarding against foreign terrorism suspects, which destroyed our international reputation and lowered our standards to a country of thugs.

Obama chose to lay this on the world at a prime-time press conference on the anniversary of his first 100 days. Let me just weigh in with this right here and now: Evaluating Obama's performance in a media generated "report card" was a false construct to begin with. The media manipulates us all by whipping up a scandal, a test, a catastrophic faux pas, or some other cutting angle to make us feel one of the three A's--afraid, angry, or appalled.

Each day the blogosphere has its rant of the day, and hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people go to town with it. He or she who casts away this already "conventional Internet standard" is cast out of the ranting fold. A click on a link or a page or a site is the new gold standard. God help those who write something actually thoughtful or choose a topic that doesn't fit the Internet's daily bread.