Inside the Insurgency

Once again, PBS Frontline is pushing the journalistic envelope in order to provide pioneering coverage of the war in Afghanistan. Their most recent contribution, entitled "Behind Taliban Lines", is a rare documentation of insurgent life and an ominous snapshot of global jihad. Afghani journalist Najibullah Quraishi spent an unprecedented 10 days within the ranks of an elusive militant cell operating in the north country. It is a rare and unsettling opportunity to follow the footsteps of these men as they travel from guesthouse to guesthouse attempting to plot and execute acts of sabotage on Allied vehicles. Theirs is a makeshift but implacable resistance. Each is prepared for martyrdom and devoutly committed to eliminating the "unbelievers". It should be said, the film does little to alleviate the foreboding sense of futility that continues to haunt this 9-year-old conflict. It is pretty sobering stuff. It is also infuriating.

This posse of self-righteous guerillas seems to traverse the frontier with relative impunity. They live off the local charity of some and prey on the fears of others- it is often hard to distinguish between the two. Sadly, they seem to represent only one tiny head of the large, slippery, seething Hydra that plagues our efforts in the region. Decapitation only feeds the beast. It would seem that the task before us is no less daunting than those of Greek mythology.....but I would not want to attach a false narrative.

You can view the film here:

The Architecture of "Spectacle"

This is a timely new documentary from PBS FRONTLINE entitled Digital Nation. In a nutshell, it explores the vast breadth and depth of the human interaction with cutting-edge media technology and raises some pointed questions about the inevitable (but often elusive) social implications. Just to name a few, some points of interest include 1) the myth of media multi-tasking, 2) gaming and internet "rescue camps" in South Korea, 3) the erosion of memory & literacy 4) the bizarro "World of Warcraft", 5) telecommuting in "Second Life", and 6) the murky ethics of Predator drones and US Army recruitment "arcades".

If anything, the film is a sobering portrait of the present state of the hyperreal. As the speed of such technology is only accerlating, it is with extreme vigilance and introspection that we should engage such titanic, life-altering advances.