Comment - I'll write a little bit each day this week about our experiences, but I want to note right at the start how much we appreciate Vanessa going to all the trouble to arrange such a great trip for her family. She's the best daughter we could ever imagine!

Certainly one of the best parts of our visit was having Walter be our tour guide on Saturday. He took a lot of time to answer our questions and show us the "insider" highlights of the city, especially in Chinatown ( http://www.nyc.com/list.aspx?c=3&e=attractionID&sq9&v). Vanessa and Jennifer were perspicacious in their purse shopping.

Walter also treated us to one of the best meals I've ever had, at a Hong Kong noodle shop. You know the food is fresh when you see the ducks and chickens hanging in the window.

News: How do you interrogate a dedicated terrorist like Khalid Shaikh Mohammed?: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/terrorism/terrorismparry.htm

This article says that "In America, skilled interrogators have generally concluded that the harsh practices associated with the third degree are less effective in obtaining truthful statements than psychologically oriented techniques that are designed to reduce the suspect's resistance by first gaining his rapport and then probing his psyche to find the best means of inducing his cooperation. In some situations, however, interrogators might conclude that torture or other extreme tactics might be the best means of securing vital information. Recent reports suggest that federal officials are at the point of reaching that conclusion for suspects in the September 11 attacks, having found traditional interrogation tactics to be unsuccessful."

So, we are torturing September 11 suspects? That's chilling. It seems to me that one major drawback to torture is that is discourages suspects from surrendering.

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12:30:04 PM