ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Over the past two days, you've had plenty to say about Omar Khadr, the now 21-year-old Canadian citizen being held at Guantanamo Bay. Khadr is accused of killing a U.S. soldier with a hand grenade during a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002. Excerpts of his interrogation made when he was 16 were released to the public this week by his lawyers. I listened to them with NPR's Tom Gjelten.
(Soundbite of Omar Khadr's interrogation)
Unidentified Man: (Unintelligible). You can't even bear to look at me when you're saying that.
Mr. OMAR KHADR (Guantanamo Bay Detainee): Right. I can't bear to look at you.
Unidentified Man: You know, put your hand down.
Mr. KHADR: No, you don't care about me.
TOM GJELTEN: You know, Robert, here, to me, this is so clearly a teenager…
SIEGEL: Mm hmm.
GJELTEN: …being interrogated. I mean, how many times have you spoken to your own teenage kids this way when you say, look at me in the face, and he is just too upset to do it? It clearly - I think this scene really illustrates what an interrogation of a 16-year-old looks like.
SIEGEL: Are you kidding, asks Bob Kelly of Denville, New Jersey. When you pick up arms at age 10, 15 or 50 with the intent to do harm to the United States, you are an enemy. When you kill another in combat, you are a soldier, not a child.
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
Virginia Love of Salt Lake City, Utah wrote: Having worked in the criminal arena for a short time, I've seen 50-year-olds react the same way when questioned. Perhaps this person should have considered what would happen to him if he was caught before he launched a grenade at other people.
SIEGEL: Well, on a completely different story, many of you wrote in about shiny foil balloons. A California lawmaker wants to ban them because they float into electric lines and cause power outages. Balloon lovers are not amused. At a pro-balloon rally, they beat an effigy of State Senator Jack Scott made out of balloons.
NORRIS: Some of you wrote in with alternatives to Scott's proposed ban. Valerie Weiss(ph) of New Brighton, Minnesota has this suggestion. Might there be a requirement to weight the balloons in order to prevent them from floating into the power lines?
SIEGEL: Daniel Presil(ph) of Havre de Grace, Maryland says, don't outlaw the balloons, apply a nuisance tax.
NORRIS: Why is this such an issue, writes Jonathan Cohen of Monroe, New York. The shine and the electrical conductivity problem are a result of the deposition of a thin layer of metal over the plastic film. If the manufacturer joined the two layers of metallized surface inward, the balloons could float and show their shine with no conductivity problem.
SIEGEL: Kevin Kenerum(ph) of Greenwood, South Carolina wrote in about our story on heavy metal band Bon Jovi's crossover to country music. He writes: I spent 1985 to 1989 in college entering with a love for heavy metal, and only through the help of a roommate and a fabulous college radio station was I able to avoid the plunge into hair metal. Sadly, our neighbors and friends could not, and I was forced to listen to "Living on a Prayer" more times than should be allowed for in the Geneva Convention. Your program will have me singing Bon Jovi in my head for the next two to three weeks. I hate you.
NORRIS: Harsh. He includes this post script. I'm not saying I don't like the song, I just don't want it in my head anymore.
(Soundbite of song "Living on a Prayer")
Mr. JON BON JOVI (Lead Singer, Bon Jovi): (Singing) Oh, we're halfway there. Oh, living on a prayer.
SIEGEL: Sorry, Kevin. We just couldn't resist. Rock on.
(Soundbite of laughter)
NORRIS: You can send us your musical earwigs, your concerns and your opinions. Go to npr.org. Click on Contact Us at the top of the page. And I agree with Kevin, enough.
(Soundbite of "Living on a Prayer")
Mr. BON JOVI: (Singing) Tommy's got his six-string in hock. Now he's holding in what he used to make it talk. So tough, yeah it's tough. Gina dreams of running away when she cries in the night. Tommy whispers, baby it's okay. Someday. We've got to hold on…
NORRIS: You're listening to All THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.