It's ok, I'm a dentist

I was reading the New York Times today when something caught my eye. It seems that even the Hippocratic oath has it's limits in the War on Terror . In an article on the limits permitted American "interrogators" (a polite euphemism, if ever I heard one) the journalist mentioned this in passing;

"Mr. Krongard even recalls receiving a proposal for help with questioning Qaeda suspects from an American dentist who said he “could create pain no human being could withstand.”

This is a far cry from the modern oath which, amongst other things states quite clearly;

"Never to do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else's interest."

Reading this I can't help but think of the Nazi war criminal/dentist played by Lawrence Olivier in the Marathon Man.

Seven hours, seven photos

All the photographs were taken over a period of seven hours today, from 12 till 7pm.

"...but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and it's too much; my heart fills up like a balloon and it's about to burst. And then I remember to relax. And stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me, like rain, and I can't feel anything but gratitude for *every* single moment of my stupid little life...".

--from American Beauty (Lester Burnham/Kevin Spacey v.o. at the end)

(Thanks To Cynthia SF for reminding of the quote).