PBS Frontline: Rumsfeld’s War

Screenshot from Frontline documentary, Rumsfeld's War
Watch the PBS documentary in small streaming format from PBS.org or download the higher-quality bittorrent version

The PBS Frontline special, Rumsfeld’s War, details the internal power struggles that have shaped American foreign policy over the last ten years. The documentary is available, as one web forum poster put it, “…in Gameboy size resolution and s-s-s-s-streaming format…” at the PBS website. For a significantly better viewing experience, there a complete bittorrent version (bittorrent file) with much higher quality.

The documentary is striking for several reasons. First, the internal political posturing that characterizes the most powerful positions in U.S. foreign policy is as fascinating as any Hollywood war drama.

Second, the line between fiction and reality is eerily faint when all of your information comes through a small color screen in your living room. Last week, I was struck by the lack of contrast between the depiction of the Middle East conflict (or as Jon Stewart calls it, “Mess-o-potamia”) as depicted in the NBC drama, The West Wing, and the nightly America television news.

Regardless, the PBS special, Rumsfeld’s War, is worth watching.

 

Acts of Volition Radio: Session 16

Acts of Volition Radio: Session Sixteen This, the sixteenth session of Acts of Volition Radio is a collection of hidden gems. These are great songs that you have likely never heard before (most of them, at least). This session features a super-duper-quadruple-pack of a band you’ve almost certainly never heard of before, Chagall Guevera. Thanks to Dennis for rekindling my love for the band.

More good music. Recorded Thursday, October 28, 2004 by Steven Garrity. Run time: 1hr 6min.

Session Sixteen Playlist:

  1. The Watchmen – All Uncovered
  2. Sandbox – Curious
  3. The Northern Pikes – She Ain’t Pretty
  4. Toad the Wet Sprocket – Before You Were Born
  5. Newsboys – Lost the Plot
  6. Chagall Guevara – Escher’s World
  7. Chagall Guevara – Violent Blue
  8. Chagall Guevara – I Need Somebody
  9. Chagall Guevara – If It All Comes True

For more, see the previous Acts of Volition Radio sessions.

Special geek-recording note: This was my first session recorded under Linux. I had previously been rebooting into Windows to use n-Track to record the sessions. This session was recorded in the open-source and cross-platform audio editor, Audacity, on my Fedora Core laptop. It worked well.

Acts of Volition Radio
Acts of Volition Radio
Acts of Volition Radio: Session 16
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