Workers Unite!

A dark day for our country....class action legal action is the only way in which the average American can achieve affordable redress for workplace grievances. Thanks to today's  Supreme Court decision, agreement to binding arbitration now will become a condition of employment. As Dylan said...'you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears; bury the rag deep in your face for now is the time for your tears'.

Gina Haspel and the Institutionalization of Torture

In the wake of World War II, the Tokyo Trials were convened to prosecute Japanese war criminals for their treatment of American prisoners of war and their utter disregard for the human rights of those captured and detained in horrifying conditions. One of the common crimes for which these perpetrators were convicted (and sentenced to as many as thirty years in prison) was the act of water boarding. This practice has been internationally recognized as torture and has been universally condemned as barbaric by the vast majority of the civilized world.

Today the Senate of the United States of America, voted to confirm as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency a person who presided over the implementation of a policy of systematic and regular water boarding and other means of 'enhanced interrogation' (a grim euphemism) in a CIA Black Site facility in Thailand during the dark days of rendition in the aftermath of 9/11. Gina Haspel also supervised and ordered the destruction of video evidence of these crimes and thereby thwarted proper adjudication in the future.

In so doing, the United States senate has confirmed an individual who stands aligned with her Japanese counterparts of nearly eight decades ago who were found guilty of crimes against humanity and who today, instead of standing in front of an international tribunal, is taking her place atop the largest intelligence gathering and spy agency on the face of the Earth. Standing beside the newly confirmed CIA director is a president who declared with proud arrogance in 2016 that he 'fully supported water boarding...and much, much worse'. Today's action gives renewed, sobering, and clearer meaning to Santayana's ominous admonition: 'Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it'.

Headwinds

While running directly into a 25 mph headwind on the back stretch of the Polo Fields last week, I reminded myself to relax, focus on form, and 'flow into the wind'. It has since occurred to me that the this phrase also suggests a useful metaphor as to how to address the difficult challenges we all face in life. It is always easy to flow while experiencing the aid of a helpful tailwind; much less so when the winds of adversity blow hard against our best efforts. These latter moments often trigger defensive, tense, and guarded reactions which serve to exacerbate an already challenging situation rather than acting as calming and healing agents. Perhaps a pause before action followed by a measured flow into that confronting headwind will yield a more desirable result in the present and set a conciliatory tone for future endeavors.
So when the next zephyr enters unannounced...unclench those fists, relax the wrists, take a deep breath, and try flowing into that opposing wind.