I just read Peggy Noonan's editorial in the WSJ this weekend - (see below link).  The issue of the release of the torture memos, and soon to be pictures (which I think is horrendous and needless) is not an easy one – what we are dealing with here is not a clear right and wrong but a muddied mix of grays that are very context and timing dependent…and do we forget that we are so lucky to be sitting in our homes, or working in our yards, or watching a child’s soccer or baseball game while we discuss this? That perhaps because of this we actually are free to do those things instead of being dead, maimed, or hunkered down…

     WSJ - 24Apr09 - Peggy Noonan - Past, President and Future –

(if you can't get this, it will be in my weekly email - so you can get it there)

Another profoundly insightful article is in the Washington Post which raises the issue clearly that this not a black and white issue -- 

 WashingtonPost - 27Apr09 - Lines on a Slippery Slope

As many of us know/remember, back in January, Obama authorized $20.3B in aid to the Palestinians after the war with Israel.  This was an executive order (see below).  A very disturbing part of this executive order allows Hamas members to migrate to the USA as well as provide housing, food, aid to any Hamas members in the Gaza strip.  The “Presidential Determination” was signed on 1/27 and appeared in the Federal Register on 4/4.  The entire document is below but here is what is key:

“ [I]t is important to the national interest to furnish assistance under the Act in an amount not to exceed $20.3 million from the United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund for the purpose of meeting unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs, including by contributions to international, governmental, and nongovernmental organizations and payment of administrative expenses of Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department of State, related to humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza.”

Ok, but what exactly does the US Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the Department of State do? On their website, http://www.state.gov/g/prm/, “What is the Bureau’s role? The State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) provides aid and sustainable solutions for refugees, victims of conflict and stateless people around the world, through repatriation, local integration, and resettlement in the United States.”

 All - I know we're all busy, but I just listened to part 1 of EconTalk's theory of moral sentiments and it is so prescient and relevant!!!! download the podcasts and listen to them in the car...really, trust me -- it is so relevant to today's economic situation - on virtues and the economy!!!

http://www.econtalk.org/bookclub.html#schedule

well, it's very hard work being the top economist in the USA today -- apparently, at Obama's meeting with Credit Card execs, Larry Summers had trouble staying awake...must be all those "all-nighters" trying to fix this economy....

 http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/04/23/obama-meets-credit-card-execs-summers-catches-some-zs/

Susan Davis reports on the White House.

President Barack Obama and senior administration officials met with credit card executives today to discuss reforms in the industry.

Associated Press

National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers nods off at a meeting with representatives of credit card companies at the White House today.

Now that may sound scintillating, but top economic adviser Larry Summers had a hard time keeping his head up and his eyes open at the top of the meeting as the television and print cameras were allowed in the room for a photo op.

Summers, the head of the National Economic Council, was captured falling asleep as he sat perched at the head of the table, according to the pool report.

“One thing to note is that Summers appeared to be nodding off near the beginning of Obama’s remarks,” reads the report, adding breathlessly: “And then he DID nod off, doing the head on the hand and then head falling off the hand thing. Photogs seemed to be having a field day.”

Rest assured, the president’s senior aides also present at the meeting were bright-eyed and alert.

“All other officials in the room appeared fully awake,” according to the pool report.

The White House is seeking strong consumer protections from the credit card industry that would ban certain rate increases and penalties, require credit card companies to make their forms and statements easier to understand, and increase accountability on industry practices.

 Ok, in the midst of our automotive industry decline, NPR had a news item today and referenced the tremendous works Diego Rivera had done of the auto industry - he is a terrific artist -- I encourage you to check them out at:

http://www.npr.org/multimedia/2009/04/rivera/gallery/index.html