Freedom And No Freedom

Spring has arrived and how quickly life cheers up. Here I am before an Anish Kapoor.

Since Sonnet in Devon with the kids, I spend my evenings with Tommy, drink red wine and read books. Does this make me an alcoholic? Probably so. My clothes piling up in the corner or on the bed post. The mornings are luxurious - two hours peace before going into the office .. whenever. The sunlight floods our bedroom from 6AM and, I must admit, I am feeling pretty good with myself. Last night I am out until past Midnight with Arnaud and his fiancee- we have dinner at a trendy Brazilian-Sushi restaurant in Chelsea - did you know that Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan? According to the IBGE, there is somewhere around 1.5 million Japanese in Brazil vs. 1.2 million in the US. Go figure. So .. Arnaud is from Paris and a fund investor whom I was with recently in Chantilly. He is clever and I respect his judgements of people and their situational circumstances. While most (and especially MBAs) consider themselves a good "read" of character, Arnaud is.

The Times reports that President George W Bush knew that hundreds of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay were innocent, but covered the fact up for political reasons. Retired Army Col. Lawrence B. Wilkerson, who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, has testified that officials "knew that they had seized and were holding innocent men at Guantanamo." and "They simply refused to release them out of fear of political repercussions." The Times reports that Wilkerson's assertions are supported by General Powell. This inglorious period will not be remembered kindly by history. I sometimes wonder what it was like during McCarthyism or Vietnam, Watergate or other self-inflicted dark periods. Now I know.

"I discussed the issue of the Guantanamo detainees with Secretary Powell. I learnt that it was his view that it was not just Vice-President [Dick] Cheney and [Defense] Secretary [Donald] Rumsfeld, but also President Bush who was involved in all of the Guantanamo decision making.

--Lawrence Wilkerson