Retired US Air Force lieutenant-colonel, Francis X. Stone’s letter to the Boston Globe:

“All of the approaches to interrogation supported by President Bush as ‘nontorture’ (head slapping, freezing temperatures, water boarding) qualify as torture under international law.

During my last year in Vietnam, 1968 to ‘69, I was in charge of US Air Force interrogation of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army prisoners. None of what Bush labels as legal was legal under the Geneva Conventions, to which the United States is still a signatory. US Army, Marine, and Army of Republic of Vietnam personnel were constantly amazed at the interrogation results produced by the Air Force, and we were never allowed to touch prisoners, let alone head-slap them. Every human being has needs, and we learned those needs and exploited them. Neither Bush’s bullying approach in the Mideast nor his unlawful interrogation program has worked. Sophisticated psychological methods are not being used by the Bush people, so the alleged ‘nontorture’ bullying will continue.”

Hat tip: Andrew.

The Adobe Max 2007 event party was Tuesday night. There was a wide variety of entertainment. Here are two videos I shot. (Careful, they are quite loud.)

On Tuesday, I skipped the marketing keynote to visit the Art Institute. The museum has an amazing collection with Seurat (above), Picasso, Renoir, Cézanne, Manet, Monet, Matisse, and Van Gogh.

The also had a great furniture collection including this desk designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which I need. Wikipedia has a small gallery, here.

Ariel Shamir, the creator of an image resizing technique called seam carving, spoke at the Adobe Max “Sneak Peeks” session last night. When he demonstrated his creation, the crowd pretty much went nuts. There might have even been some fist pumping. Check it out.

Here’s the view from my window in Chicago at the McCormick convention center.