We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Whatever

Am taking a little break from posting "Prisoner" and "Prisoner"-related videos here, to post links to three stories that I think are of importance, and, in one way or another, are related to issues discussed in "The Prisoner".

The first is to Rosa Brooks' op-ed piece in to-day's LA Times on yet another Administration Executive Order, this one issued on Friday last, that essentially authorises the CIA to snatch anyone anywhere in the world, as long as the CIA's Director believes him or her to be somehow linked to Al Qaida or other such groups.

It can be found here at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks27jul27,0,7795419.story?coll=la-tot-opinion&track=ntottext.

The next one also comes from the LA Times, and is another op-ed piece, this one by Brian Copeland, an African-American playwright, on why and how Barack Obama isn't considered a "real" African-American by some in the African-American community, and by others outside of it as well, and how this kind of "identity policing", if anything, only further encourages stereotyping and bigotry.

It can be found at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-copeland27jul27,0,90968.story?coll=la-tot-opinion&track=ntottext.

The third and last link is to an In These Times story on how Latino kids, including illegal immigrant kids, are targeted by US military recruiters, and advertisers working for them, and are lured into joining up by sometimes true, sometimes false, promises of citizenship and other benefits for themselves and their families.

It's located at http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3271/illegal_immigrants_uncle_sam_wants_you/.

All right, so the issues in the last two stories weren't discussed in "The Prisoner".

But, on the other hand, the use and abuse of power, the snatching of people from their homes and off the streets and indefinitely imprisoning them, the pressure to conform to some group ideal, and the use of truths, half-truths, and outright lies by those in power to get what they want, were discussed in the show, and, I think, are quite apparent in these stories.

A little something for y'all to mentally munch on on this hot July day.

Be seeing you.