If you weren’t already feeling good about President-Elect Barack Obama, the below video should change that.  If you were already feeling good about President-Elect Barack Obama than the video below should make you happier.

In the weeks before the election the economy became the main focus but it’s important to remember what else an Obama presidency could and should mean when it comes to torture, genocide, poverty and war:

takepart with Human Rights First and remember that we won the vote and now we have to make that change mean something!

And takepart with our social action for Standard Operating Procedure and learn how you can fight torture

Two secret White House memos from 2003 and 2004 have been discovered that explicitly endorsed the use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods. The documents, reported on today in The Washington Post by Joby Warrick, were requested by then-CIA Director George Tenet to quell fears within his agency of public and or judicial reprisals should the torture program become public knowledge. Formerly, Justice Department memos had endorsed the interrogation methods conducted by the CIA, but nothing in writing mentioning the program had ever come out of the White House, which worried Intelligence officials afraid of being stuck holding the bag for a program which obviously violated international law.

The revelation that the White House approved the torture methods conducted by the CIA is hardly a surprise to anyone who has watched our supposed leaders over the past several years use every obstructionist tactic known to man to prevent the disclosure of their unlawful methods. However now that a direct link to the Bush Administration has been found, in writing, the next administration and its Justice Department should make no allowances whatsoever for the criminals that disgraced this country with such barbaric behavior. All those involved with these torture programs should be tried and sent to prison if convicted.

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I was at the Nantucket Film Festival about a week ago to screen Meerkat Media’s film Every Third Bite. While there I only caught one film at the actual festival (it seemed a better use of my time to enjoy the outdoors). The film I saw was Brad Anderson’s Transsiberian. I’ve always been a fan of Anderson and usually enjoy his intelligent and uncommon approach to commonplace genres. Perhaps it’s been a while since I saw one of his films and in that time my viewing preferences have changed, but I found Transsiberian to be somewhat disappointing in a few ways.

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The Penal Colony, a new exhibit by visual artist Dinh Q. Le, highlights the injustices and hidden aspects of war and the secrets behind prison walls. Inspired by the recent events involving the United States Military Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the installation is divided into two sets of media.

Videos shot in the notorious political prison on Con Dao island off the coast of Vietnam highlight the horrific conditions where anti-French and anti-U.S. activits from the southeast Asian nation were sent to be tortured and live in “tiger cages” during the Vietnam War.

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Is America ready for a Guantanamo comedy in its movie theaters? New Line Cinema and the producers of “Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay” seem to think so. John Cho and Kal Penn are back on the big screen to reprise their beloved roles of Harold & Kumar, but this time the triviality of an epic quest for White Castle has been replaced with a romp where they get mistakenly thrown into the United States Military’s most infamous prison. Expect stoner humor, bodily function jokes and plenty of sexual insecurity but this time around the setting is considerably more politically charged than the New Jersey suburbs of their quest for diminutive, yet strangely addictive late night hamburgers.

Critic Peter Canavese of Groucho Reviews incitefully sums it up as:

“…a latter-day Abbott and Costello flick, where the monster they encounter isn’t Frankenstein, but the Bush Administration.”

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Last month I blogged about the upcoming debut of the film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo a shocking exposé of a ic of Congo (DRC). Now you can take even more action and join hundreds of activists and viewers across the country to watch the premiere of this HBO documentary. The organization ENOUGH has teamed with HBO to coordinate and organize house screenings across the U.S. to view and discuss the film together on Tuesday, April 8th at 10:00 PM EDT.

The ENOUGH project is a group that uses in-depth knowledge to create clear, viable policy recommendations, and engage activists to apply pressure on the perpetrators and well-meaning governments whose own inertia prevents them from taking the steps necessary to stop genocide and

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On 60 Minutes last night Murat Kurnaz, an ex-terror detainee, spoke about the torture he received while in Kandahar and eventually Guantanamo. Kurnaz, a German citizen of Turkish descent, was traveling in Pakistan for religious reasons when he was picked up by police and handed over to the Americans.

The story comes roughly a month before the release of Errol Morris’ new film Standard Operating Procedure. I’ve written about the film a lot here on TakePart, both because it’s a Participant Productions film that I’m very proud of and also because I’m simply a huge Errol Morris fan. What’s especially exciting is that the film not only comes at a critical time in terms of the information it presents, but also that the film is getting a lot of praise, including winning the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

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The trailer for the Silver Bear winner at the Berlin Film Festival, Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure, is out! I’ve been waiting for it for quite some time. Watch it below (or for a more high quality version go HERE ).

Also, be sure to to learn more about the film and how you can take part!

Also of note is a great article that Errol Morris wrote for this week’s issue of The New Yorker called Exposure : The woman behind the camera at Abu Ghraib.

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Mediarights.org has a great interview with Lisa F. Jackson, director of the film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo which will premiere on HBO April 8th. The film, which won a Special Jury prize from Sundance this year was shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006. The documentary breaks the silence surrounding the tens of thousands of women and girls who have been kidnapped, raped and sexually tortured in that country’s intractable civil war.

Just viewing the short trailer below sent chills through my body. I feel infuriated and disgusted by the horrors these poor victims of war have faced and continue to face. I can only imagine the powerful impact this film will have on viewers.

and visit the links page for The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo which features a comprehensive list of organizations working to help women in the Congo.

The Oscars honored several films which highlighted several worthy causes worth paying attention to and taking action for.

If you like the Oscars and taking action, then follow this Top 10 list of actions inspired by the films, the speeches, the parties, and the outfits featured during the Academy Awards.

1. Julie Christie, who was nominated for her amazing performance in the amazing film Away From Her, directed by the Amazing actor/filmmaker Sarah Polley, wears an orange ribbon, representing the “campaign to close Guantanamo,” which Julie says is “a very, very important issue” It’s affecting the whole world.”

with Amnesty International’s online interactive Tear It Down campaign.

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