Waiting for the Guards

"Waiting For The Guards is the first of 3 films commissioned by Amnesty International to highlight the enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA in the “War on Terror”. The Directors approached the making of the film in a way that has never been done before, choosing to show the reality of Stress Positions in as authentic a way as possible. They filmed a person being put into Stress Positions over a 6 hour period. There is no acting on the part of the “prisoner” – his pain and anguish is for real. This powerful film shows without doubt that what the US administrations say is interrogation is in reality, torture and must be stopped."

There isn't much that will have tears filling my eyes at 9AM in an open office space- but this piece confronts one with such a deep well of anguish and sorrow that it's simply overwhelming. It is a rare moment when the reality of the history unfolding around us can punch through the veil of apathy and comfortable ignorance, but as they say "some viewers may be disturbed".

Well tough, the world is disturbing and who are we to pick and choose only the pretty pieces to colour our fantasies of this place in which we live. I think many share this feeling of strong resistance to this raw reality, but what is the basis of this fear? It's not a fear of what this information might do to us or make us feel, it's a fear of what we may no longer be able to do. I think we're afraid to lose our ability to sit there and do nothing.

I suggest watching the higher resolution version, although a Youtube is below. Turn your speakers up.

The actor is Jiva Parthipan, his story is here. Unsubscribe is a campaign by Amnesty UK, welcoming people around the world to join them unsubscribing from human rights abuses in the ‘war on terror’.

Genius: 2012

Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point, talks about individual and collaborative genius in problem-solving, the importance of stubbornness and the "ten-thousand hours to mastery" rule. Presented at the 2007 New Yorker Conference, “2012: Stories from the Near Future” . If you are at all familiar with Gladwell then you might like to skip the introduction by David Remnick.

Gladwell asserts that, "the modern problems that we face aren't two-page problems, they are two-hundred page problems". An assumption worth delving into.

No doubt that the 21st century offers us an increasing list of two-hundred page problems; energy production/storage/transport/sustainability, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, gene therapy and neurotechnology, to name but a few. However, it seems that many of our really critical problems, the problems we have struggled with for centuries, do not need two-hundred page solutions. War and peace, international law and sovereignty, human rights and social welfare, can each be framed by a dozen volumes of debate, but no solution of such size will be applicable.

To mobilize large scale action, to maintain clarity of direction, to engage diverse interests in common benefit, requires two-page solutions. Or rather, they demand the ability to transcend the cacophony of spin and bias to describe succinct solutions accessible by the broadest base possible. Gladwell displays much of this skill himself- he has a rare ability to describe the simplicity behind a complex system, to turn two hundred page problems accessible only by specialists into two page problems available on any metro or plane ride.

Of course, we need all these types; the Ventrises to make the great leaps forward, fuelling and fuelled by teams of Wileses, and communicated to the rest of us by the Gladwells.

"A Very English Genius", a BBC documentary on Michael Ventris and his "Everest of Greek archaeology".

(Thanks, Tom W!)

Love Earth

Filmed over five years in more than 200 different locations by 40 specialist crews, Earth is a feature-length portrayal of our planet over a one year period. As a companion piece to the beautiful BBC television series Planet Earth, expectations are set for a truly incredible film.

Arriving in UK cinemas today, there is also a gorgeous website featuring a delicious trailer, a delightful soundtrack, production information and video introductions to the film's chief protagonists- the humpback whale, the polar bear and the African elephant. Prepare to fall in love with the world again.