PDB PDF
Sometimes I'll watch the Fox News Network - because they're fun in a goofy, gung-ho way - and today they had a panel awaiting the White House's PDF file of the August 6th, 2001 President's Daily Briefing which came up in the 911 Commission hearings.
The panel included a woman who reminded me of a go-go, chubby sorority gal, a charming, nerdy, young Republican/national security expert guy, and, alas, Geraldo Rivera. The fake-looking-in-a-TV-news-anchor-way moderator let the audience know that he'd read the page and half PDB as soon as the PDF hit his monitor, which would be any minute. So everyone was speculating on its contents, except for Geraldo who was pontificating in dramatic fashion. All the while old glory flies up in the corner of tube.
Mr. young Republican made an interesting point which I had heard before. The "muscle" of the group that hijacked the planes weren't aware they were on a suicide mission according to a captured al-Qaida heavy. There may be other sources for that, I don't know. So, obviously only a very few people knew what was coming.
Still, as Ms. chubby, sorority gal pointed out, mistakes were made which is why the 911 Commission was a good idea however partisan it becomes. The moderator receives the PDF and reads it out loud. Apparently, Bush, who was aware of al-Qaida's numerous attacks overseas, wanted a briefing on a possible attack on the "homeland." The PDB said "Clandestine, foreign government, and media reports indicate Bin Laden since 1997 has wanted to conduct terrorist attacks in the US.'' Bin Laden implied in U.S. television interviews in 1997 and 1998 that his followers would follow the example of World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef and "bring the fighting to America.'' Al-Qaida members, some of them American citizens, had lived in or traveled to the United States for years, the memo said. Also, bin Laden wanted to retaliate for Clinton's attempt to assassinate him with cruise missiles in 1998.
So, something was coming and National Security Advisor Rice told the 911 Commission that protecting "the homeland" from al-Qaida was delegated to the FBI. (They were "tasked" with it. The Democratic Commissioners argued there are no records of the FBI being "tasked.") The CIA was following foreign leads. She was working on a plan to get Pakistan to crack down on Afghanistan, al-Qaida's base. It seems to me the fault lies with both the Clinton and Bush administrations, specifically and obviously the National Security Apparatus in both, for not gauging the severity of the coming threat.
Later, I caught The McGlaughlin Group on PBS. The wonderful James Warren of the Chicago Tribune happened to be on and said he didn't think the PDB/Condi vs. Richard Clarke drama would register with people outside the Beltway. Who they'll vote for will depend on the state of the economy and Iraq.
Perhaps Attorney General John Aschroft, who testifies next week, will get the axe over this. That would be great if they dumped the Christian Right's guy because of some right-wing Islamic nutjobs.
Saturday, April 10, 2004
Separated at Birth
911 Commissioner and former Illinois Governor James Thompson and former Illinois Governor George Ryan look as if they could be related. Both are ruddy, jowly and tend to scowl (except when posing for photos). Both also have a reputation for corruption. Must be something in the water.
Another gruff, jowly fellow, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, seems to have taken a page from George Ryan's playbook. Facing possible indictment for corruption, the general who was ultimately responsible for the 1982 massacres in Sabra and Shatila has now proposed unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, thereby infuriating the right wing and the settler movement he helped found. His supporters will argue that the law enforcement bureaucracy, which is generally more dovish, should not indict him during this critical time.
The conservative George Ryan was facing an ever-expanding corruption probe while governor and decided to make a play for the state's liberals by declaring a moratorium on the death penalty and emptying the state's death row. He was recently indicted anyway which might not bode well for Sharon.
911 Commissioner and former Illinois Governor James Thompson and former Illinois Governor George Ryan look as if they could be related. Both are ruddy, jowly and tend to scowl (except when posing for photos). Both also have a reputation for corruption. Must be something in the water.
Another gruff, jowly fellow, Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, seems to have taken a page from George Ryan's playbook. Facing possible indictment for corruption, the general who was ultimately responsible for the 1982 massacres in Sabra and Shatila has now proposed unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, thereby infuriating the right wing and the settler movement he helped found. His supporters will argue that the law enforcement bureaucracy, which is generally more dovish, should not indict him during this critical time.
The conservative George Ryan was facing an ever-expanding corruption probe while governor and decided to make a play for the state's liberals by declaring a moratorium on the death penalty and emptying the state's death row. He was recently indicted anyway which might not bode well for Sharon.
Foreign Hordes
Looks like xenophobia will play an important part in the Presidential election "drama." (Apologies for the following geeky, strained analogy).
Capital, or if you like, the elite who gather annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos, scours the globe for cheap labor like Sauron's red, searchlight Eye in Lord of the Rings.
America's economy, a besieged fortress like Helm's Deep or Minas Tirith, frantically attempts to ward off wave attacks of Orc-like darkies, i.e. Latino immigrants and white collar job-stealing Indians.
And, a stretch I know, when told the dusky Iraqis desperately need help shedding tyranny and building anew, many Americans give the same answer a bitter, war-weary King Theoden spits at Aragorn after his plea that Gondor urgently needs Rohan's assistance, "They need our help?! What have they ever done for us?!"
Meanwhile, the Naz-ghoul-like Al Qaeda circle overhead.
Rick Perlstein, author of Before the Storm (which you should read if you haven't), gets into the weeds to write about the X-factor of the political season, outsourcing.
I'm not sure of this, but I believe J.R.R. Tolkein used South Africa as a model for his Middle Earth. Elves were a stand-in for the British, Humans for the less-cultivated Boer/Afrikaners, and Orcs, of course, for the surrounding sea of African natives. The wizard Sauramon, perhaps, was a stand-in for "Uncle Joe" Slovo and the Commie provocateurs.
In our world, obviously, the Orcs were victorious; shed tyranny and oppression; and now work to build anew in a South Africa where politics, as in Iraq, has returned for good. (No doubt, smarty-pantses will point to the recent violence in Iraq as evidence of the absence of politics. My rejoinder: "In a split between U.S.-picked Iraqi leaders and American administrators, the Governing Council demanded an immediate cease-fire across the country Friday and a halt to military operations that punish civilians." And a cease-fire was declared.)
Jennifer Abrahamson writes in Slate about how the Orcs and Goblins are faring 10 years after overthrowing apartheid:
Rapping Against the ANC
Truth and Reconciliation on Robben Island
From the Frontline to the Bottom Line
Saving Grace
This Land is Our Land
Looks like xenophobia will play an important part in the Presidential election "drama." (Apologies for the following geeky, strained analogy).
Capital, or if you like, the elite who gather annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos, scours the globe for cheap labor like Sauron's red, searchlight Eye in Lord of the Rings.
America's economy, a besieged fortress like Helm's Deep or Minas Tirith, frantically attempts to ward off wave attacks of Orc-like darkies, i.e. Latino immigrants and white collar job-stealing Indians.
And, a stretch I know, when told the dusky Iraqis desperately need help shedding tyranny and building anew, many Americans give the same answer a bitter, war-weary King Theoden spits at Aragorn after his plea that Gondor urgently needs Rohan's assistance, "They need our help?! What have they ever done for us?!"
Meanwhile, the Naz-ghoul-like Al Qaeda circle overhead.
Rick Perlstein, author of Before the Storm (which you should read if you haven't), gets into the weeds to write about the X-factor of the political season, outsourcing.
I'm not sure of this, but I believe J.R.R. Tolkein used South Africa as a model for his Middle Earth. Elves were a stand-in for the British, Humans for the less-cultivated Boer/Afrikaners, and Orcs, of course, for the surrounding sea of African natives. The wizard Sauramon, perhaps, was a stand-in for "Uncle Joe" Slovo and the Commie provocateurs.
In our world, obviously, the Orcs were victorious; shed tyranny and oppression; and now work to build anew in a South Africa where politics, as in Iraq, has returned for good. (No doubt, smarty-pantses will point to the recent violence in Iraq as evidence of the absence of politics. My rejoinder: "In a split between U.S.-picked Iraqi leaders and American administrators, the Governing Council demanded an immediate cease-fire across the country Friday and a halt to military operations that punish civilians." And a cease-fire was declared.)
Jennifer Abrahamson writes in Slate about how the Orcs and Goblins are faring 10 years after overthrowing apartheid:
Rapping Against the ANC
Truth and Reconciliation on Robben Island
From the Frontline to the Bottom Line
Saving Grace
This Land is Our Land
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Switched On!
It's been a good month, personally. In the realm of the written word, Lorrie Moore passsed through town which was completely mind-blowing..
Then Stereolab decides to tour, absent Mary Hansen who was hit by a car while riding her bicycle in London about a year and half ago.
Their show tonight was completely mind-blowing, even sans Mary, who was the most friendly, out-going member of the group. They played a song that was quintessentially Mary, "Nihilist Assault Group." One of the many wonderful things about Stereolab is their creative song titles, like "Exploding Head Movie" and "International Coloring Contest."
It's been a good month, personally. In the realm of the written word, Lorrie Moore passsed through town which was completely mind-blowing..
Then Stereolab decides to tour, absent Mary Hansen who was hit by a car while riding her bicycle in London about a year and half ago.
Their show tonight was completely mind-blowing, even sans Mary, who was the most friendly, out-going member of the group. They played a song that was quintessentially Mary, "Nihilist Assault Group." One of the many wonderful things about Stereolab is their creative song titles, like "Exploding Head Movie" and "International Coloring Contest."
Distinction with a difference
Reason republished a piece Jonathan Rauch wrote for the National Journal about how "Like it or not, Israel's war with Hamas is America's, too."
I'm not an expert on the Middle East, but my impression is it isn't our war even if we give Israel a ton in foreign aid and Bush gives Sharon a free hand.
Says Rauch, "... America's terror war and Israel's are not separable, however much we might wish they were."
And later he contradicts himself, "Although Hamas has concentrated on Israeli interests while Al Qaeda concentrated on American ones, even that gap is narrowing—inevitably, now that America is making a priority of bringing secular democracy to the Middle East." Secular democracy? Afghanistan, a guide here, has Islam written into its new constitution and Iraq's will certainly have references to Islam as well, given Ayattolah Ali Sistani's pull and the majority Shia population.
Ask yourself which American interests Al Qaeda is concentrating on and why. Compare the experience of the Palestinians, who are fighting the Israelis over contested land, as described by a Middle East expert:
Reason republished a piece Jonathan Rauch wrote for the National Journal about how "Like it or not, Israel's war with Hamas is America's, too."
I'm not an expert on the Middle East, but my impression is it isn't our war even if we give Israel a ton in foreign aid and Bush gives Sharon a free hand.
Says Rauch, "... America's terror war and Israel's are not separable, however much we might wish they were."
And later he contradicts himself, "Although Hamas has concentrated on Israeli interests while Al Qaeda concentrated on American ones, even that gap is narrowing—inevitably, now that America is making a priority of bringing secular democracy to the Middle East." Secular democracy? Afghanistan, a guide here, has Islam written into its new constitution and Iraq's will certainly have references to Islam as well, given Ayattolah Ali Sistani's pull and the majority Shia population.
Ask yourself which American interests Al Qaeda is concentrating on and why. Compare the experience of the Palestinians, who are fighting the Israelis over contested land, as described by a Middle East expert:
During the first intifada, in the late 1980s, the Palestinians denied themselves the recourse to arms, mounted a civil resistance, produced voices like Hanan Ashrawi and greatly stirred world opinion. For this they were offered some noncontiguous enclaves within an Israeli-controlled and Israeli-settled condominium. Better than nothing, you might say. But it's the very deal the Israeli settlers reject in their own case, and they do not even live in Israel "proper." (They just have the support of the armed forces of Israel "proper.") So now things are not so nice and many Palestinians have turned violent and even--whatever next?--religious and fanatical. Naughty, naughty. No self-determination for you. And this from those who achieved statehood not by making nice but as a consequence of some very ruthless behavior indeed.
The Bad Old Days
Gordon Wood, the historian Will Hunting name drops in Good Will Hunting, writes about the letters between Founding Father John Adams and his wife Abigail. The two had a special thing compared to the other Founding Fathers' marriages and most marriages of the time.
Gordon Wood, the historian Will Hunting name drops in Good Will Hunting, writes about the letters between Founding Father John Adams and his wife Abigail. The two had a special thing compared to the other Founding Fathers' marriages and most marriages of the time.
It is difficult for us today to appreciate how different that patriarchal eighteenth century was, not just in its general acceptance of slavery but also in its treatment of women. Women rarely had an independent existence, at least in law. In public records they were usually referred to as the "wife of," or the "daughter of," or the "sister of," a man. Before marriage, women legally belonged to their fathers, and after marriage they belonged to their husbands. A married woman was a femme covert: she could not sue or be sued, make contracts, draft wills, or buy and sell property. It went without saying that women could not hold political office or vote. They were considered to be dependent like children, and their husbands often treated them like children. A husband might address his wife as "dear Child" or by her Christian name, but he would be addressed in return as "Mr."
Nader vs. Kerry
Dan Johnson-Weinberger was Nader's Illinois manager during the 2000 election but is now pulling for Kerry.
His blog links to Eric Zorn's Notebook (registration required). Zorn is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and exemplifies everything wrong with the official Left. Maybe I'm being unfair and Zorn is a smart, knowledgable guy, but his columns almost always cause my eyes to glaze over.
Still, no doubt he helped in a small way to get Illinois to raise its minimum wage.
Dan Johnson-Weinberger was Nader's Illinois manager during the 2000 election but is now pulling for Kerry.
His blog links to Eric Zorn's Notebook (registration required). Zorn is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and exemplifies everything wrong with the official Left. Maybe I'm being unfair and Zorn is a smart, knowledgable guy, but his columns almost always cause my eyes to glaze over.
Still, no doubt he helped in a small way to get Illinois to raise its minimum wage.
Monday, April 05, 2004
There's no denying it, I've fallen for Drea de Matteo. (What's a weblog for, but to list your crushes for the world to see). I'm not made of wood. In the latest episode of the Sopranos, her character Adrianna almost hooks up with the mob boss Tony, even though she's engaged to his #2, Chris-tuh-fuh, as she calls him.
Tony is recently separated but nonetheless, the plot line reminded me of something from Martin Amis's novel "Yellow Dog." Joseph Andrews is a high-end porno producer and - sorta like Tony - a semi-retired London crime boss.
Tony is recently separated but nonetheless, the plot line reminded me of something from Martin Amis's novel "Yellow Dog." Joseph Andrews is a high-end porno producer and - sorta like Tony - a semi-retired London crime boss.
'Crazy 'Jo', it turns out, was in the habit of 'doing' his favourite lieutenants' 'birds', and if the lieutenants complained he'd 'do' them as well, though in a different sense. 'Hey Jo. You want to stuff my bird so you can pretend you're me?' suggests Keith the Snake, the most favoured lieutenant of all. 'You want to stuff my bird so you can pretend you're her?' Earlier on, there's an allusion to the scene in Blue Velvet in which the sex-crazed villain, Frank Booth, shows that he's in love with his disturbing associate Ben. But the movie never spells it out, unlike Yellow Dog. 'He wants to have them so he does them,' Xan says. 'And has their wives.' 'Mm,' his interlocutor says. 'Hence the love of pain: he's correcting himself for it.'I'll never forget a dinner where activist professor Rashid Khalidi confessed he couldn't understand what his son saw in the The Sopranos. The encyclopedic polymath Christopher Hitchens added he didn't like it either, but then he doesn't watch TV. He does go to movies and didn't care for Tom Cruise's Last Samurai.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
Give 'Em Hell
Hellboy deserves the accolades it's been receiving. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie even though it hit a little too close to home and I was slightly hung-over at the time.
Hellboy is a demon from Hell who was discovered when he was a small kid by a British paranormal specialist and raised to fight on the side of good. Now (mostly) grown up, he works for a secret government agency and has a bit of an attitude problem. (Understandable seeing as how he's freaky-looking demon with a tail. He does try to "fit in" by sanding down his horns and cracking wise with his fellow human agents.) His coworker freaks include a psychic fish-person and Liz, a Sylvia Plath-like firestarter played by Selma Blair. Hellboy has a crush on Liz and only lets down his macho cheekiness guard when she's around.
Will Liz try to be more "normal" and date the new team member/FBI agent John Myers or will she walk on the wild side and embrace her "outsiderness" by taking a chance on Hellboy? Can the team stop German and Russian fascists from bringing on a H.P. Lovecraftian apocalypse? I won't ruin it for you.
Hellboy deserves the accolades it's been receiving. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie even though it hit a little too close to home and I was slightly hung-over at the time.
Hellboy is a demon from Hell who was discovered when he was a small kid by a British paranormal specialist and raised to fight on the side of good. Now (mostly) grown up, he works for a secret government agency and has a bit of an attitude problem. (Understandable seeing as how he's freaky-looking demon with a tail. He does try to "fit in" by sanding down his horns and cracking wise with his fellow human agents.) His coworker freaks include a psychic fish-person and Liz, a Sylvia Plath-like firestarter played by Selma Blair. Hellboy has a crush on Liz and only lets down his macho cheekiness guard when she's around.
Will Liz try to be more "normal" and date the new team member/FBI agent John Myers or will she walk on the wild side and embrace her "outsiderness" by taking a chance on Hellboy? Can the team stop German and Russian fascists from bringing on a H.P. Lovecraftian apocalypse? I won't ruin it for you.
Peter Bergen, who often appears on CNN, and Scott Armstrong, founder of the indispensible National Security Archive, suggest questions for Dr. Rice.
They are particularly hawkish in regards to Afghanistan and the Taliban. Bergen suggests we should have invaded immediately instead of waiting for a couple of months (can you imagine the resulting outcry from the anti-war people?). Armstrong wants to ask Dr. Rice why we don't have more troops in Afghanistan. Maybe because they're all in Iraq?
They are particularly hawkish in regards to Afghanistan and the Taliban. Bergen suggests we should have invaded immediately instead of waiting for a couple of months (can you imagine the resulting outcry from the anti-war people?). Armstrong wants to ask Dr. Rice why we don't have more troops in Afghanistan. Maybe because they're all in Iraq?
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Survivor's Guilt
This past Thursday, PBS's Frontline ran a two-hour long documentary about the Rwandan genocide which occurred 10 years ago this month. The clips with General Romeo Dallaire, head of U.N. peacekeeping forces in Rwanda at the time, are particularly heartbreaking. You just want to hug the guy, tell him it wasn't his fault and he did the best he could do under the hellish circumstances.
If you're suffering from survivor's guilt such words don't really do much for you. All you can do is muddle on with the essential help of family and friends.
This past Thursday, PBS's Frontline ran a two-hour long documentary about the Rwandan genocide which occurred 10 years ago this month. The clips with General Romeo Dallaire, head of U.N. peacekeeping forces in Rwanda at the time, are particularly heartbreaking. You just want to hug the guy, tell him it wasn't his fault and he did the best he could do under the hellish circumstances.
If you're suffering from survivor's guilt such words don't really do much for you. All you can do is muddle on with the essential help of family and friends.
My suicidal attempts were based on booze. I starting falling into these depressions, and I'd just drink and drink and then I'd cut myself or try to jump off things, but more often than not that was totally ineffective because I was pissed to the gills. It's only that and people checking up on me that prevented me from killing myself. … I'm not the man I was, and never will become [him again], but hopefully with some drugs or medication that I take, just like someone who's got diabetes takes insulin, to keep me stable … -- that will be my life.Having read Philip Gourevitch's We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families and Samantha Power's "A Problem from Hell" I knew a bit about the genocide but I wasn't aware of the heroism of Capt. Mbaye Diagne, a young Senegalese U.N. military observer and "Cool Hand Luke" character. A devout Muslim, he'd go out on solo rescue missions and charm his way past the genocidaires' checkpoints. From the video you can tell he's a grade A badass with a sense of humor that would put bloodthirsty killers in stitches and would keep up the morale of comrades like General Dallaire and the others the U.N. abandoned.
The Staggering Sunshine of the Heartbreaking Mind
The word on the street was right again, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind makes you think and laugh. Plus, it's got David Cross and Mark Ruffalo who at one point goes off on a digression about the Clash, "the only band that matters." And if a smiley Kate Winslet flashing her pantied crotch at you won't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.
Still, it seems to be a film directed more at the ladies. It's a relationship movie which tells us we should "hang in there" because "it's worth it." A nice sentiment, but if I were Joel (Jim Carrey) I wouldn't have tried to get back together with Clementine (Kate Winslet) because she's too high maintenance and bitchy. Joel can be a neurotic dick so maybe he doesn't have grounds for complaint.
The word on the street was right again, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind makes you think and laugh. Plus, it's got David Cross and Mark Ruffalo who at one point goes off on a digression about the Clash, "the only band that matters." And if a smiley Kate Winslet flashing her pantied crotch at you won't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.
Still, it seems to be a film directed more at the ladies. It's a relationship movie which tells us we should "hang in there" because "it's worth it." A nice sentiment, but if I were Joel (Jim Carrey) I wouldn't have tried to get back together with Clementine (Kate Winslet) because she's too high maintenance and bitchy. Joel can be a neurotic dick so maybe he doesn't have grounds for complaint.
Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Ill context
Garofalo and co-host Sam Seder had Dave Chappelle on as one of their guests on the first show which made it really funny and "edgy." One of the funniest things on TV in recent years, and many others agree, was a Chappelle Show parody of MTV's Real World. Setting up the segment, Chappelle pointed how the Real World always puts one black person with a bunch of crazy whites and the black would end up going crazy and getting voted off the island. So he took a naive, suburban white guy and stuck him with a bunch of crazy black roommates. His comedy special that was done in DC a few years back is hilarious if you can get your hands on a copy.
Chappelle admitted he never voted before, but he's planning on voting this time around. He added he's not partisan which caused Garofalo to chime in and say being partisan is not necessarily a bad thing which Chappelle agreed with. I don't know anything about Seder, but he said Chappelle and a friend wrote "Half Baked" in Seder's apartment or house.
They talked a bit about how fucked-up the media and Entertainment Complex is. "Fear driven" was the consensus. Everyone's too afraid of getting fired to be risky. Chappelle had a post-911 airport anecdote and talked seriously about the "ill context" of these strange days and how everything's politicized and crazy. He ended sincerely by saying that Garofalo is the bravest celebrity out there "because she says what she believes!" Both of them come off as honest and sincere in their edgy comedy which shows respect for the audience and makes for good radio.
Garofalo and co-host Sam Seder had Dave Chappelle on as one of their guests on the first show which made it really funny and "edgy." One of the funniest things on TV in recent years, and many others agree, was a Chappelle Show parody of MTV's Real World. Setting up the segment, Chappelle pointed how the Real World always puts one black person with a bunch of crazy whites and the black would end up going crazy and getting voted off the island. So he took a naive, suburban white guy and stuck him with a bunch of crazy black roommates. His comedy special that was done in DC a few years back is hilarious if you can get your hands on a copy.
Chappelle admitted he never voted before, but he's planning on voting this time around. He added he's not partisan which caused Garofalo to chime in and say being partisan is not necessarily a bad thing which Chappelle agreed with. I don't know anything about Seder, but he said Chappelle and a friend wrote "Half Baked" in Seder's apartment or house.
They talked a bit about how fucked-up the media and Entertainment Complex is. "Fear driven" was the consensus. Everyone's too afraid of getting fired to be risky. Chappelle had a post-911 airport anecdote and talked seriously about the "ill context" of these strange days and how everything's politicized and crazy. He ended sincerely by saying that Garofalo is the bravest celebrity out there "because she says what she believes!" Both of them come off as honest and sincere in their edgy comedy which shows respect for the audience and makes for good radio.
Positive developments
The oh-so-dreamy and whip-smart Janeane Garofalo will preside over her very own radio show, starting today (7-10 p.m. CST, 950 AM, here in Chicago). The show's name "The Majority Report" is inspired by Al Gore's victory in the popular election of 2000. I can't help but wonder if it is based on the name of a column Christopher Hitchens once wrote for the Nation. Hitchens admited to stealing the name for his column, "Minority Report" from a column H.L. Mencken wrote back in the bad-old days. Garofalo once said she admired Hitchens, however these days the two disagree on much. For example, he penned a trademark takedown of Howard Dean for the Wall Street Journal and "Ms. Garofalo was in the audience on the night of the Iowa caucus, before [Dean] gave what she described as his "so-called 'I have a scream' speech.""
In other E! Channel news, the next Wilco record, "A Ghost Is Born," is due out this summer and Jack Black and Naomi Watts signed to star in the "King Kong" remake which will be directed by Peter Jackson. Finally, good news for male masturbators who are into sci-fi: Charlize Theron has signed to star in Aeon Flux.
The oh-so-dreamy and whip-smart Janeane Garofalo will preside over her very own radio show, starting today (7-10 p.m. CST, 950 AM, here in Chicago). The show's name "The Majority Report" is inspired by Al Gore's victory in the popular election of 2000. I can't help but wonder if it is based on the name of a column Christopher Hitchens once wrote for the Nation. Hitchens admited to stealing the name for his column, "Minority Report" from a column H.L. Mencken wrote back in the bad-old days. Garofalo once said she admired Hitchens, however these days the two disagree on much. For example, he penned a trademark takedown of Howard Dean for the Wall Street Journal and "Ms. Garofalo was in the audience on the night of the Iowa caucus, before [Dean] gave what she described as his "so-called 'I have a scream' speech.""
In other E! Channel news, the next Wilco record, "A Ghost Is Born," is due out this summer and Jack Black and Naomi Watts signed to star in the "King Kong" remake which will be directed by Peter Jackson. Finally, good news for male masturbators who are into sci-fi: Charlize Theron has signed to star in Aeon Flux.
Never Again* (or depends on what the meaning of "genocide" is)
President Clinton lied. Surprise, surprise. Clinton claimed he didn't know genocide was occurring in Rwanda before it was too late, but the Guardian reports otherwise.
* Except in Africa. I doubt a black president, as supporters called Clinton, would have been so complacent.
President Clinton lied. Surprise, surprise. Clinton claimed he didn't know genocide was occurring in Rwanda before it was too late, but the Guardian reports otherwise.
The National Security Archive, an independent non-governmental research institute based in Washington DC, went to court to obtain the material.Here's another case where Clinton wasn't a "leader." They were right to fear the morally superior public. It's not for nothing the Democrats are often known as the lesser evil.
It discovered that the CIA's national intelligence daily, a secret briefing circulated to Mr Clinton, the then vice-president, Al Gore, and hundreds of senior officials, included almost daily reports on Rwanda. One, dated April 23, said rebels would continue fighting to "stop the genocide, which ... is spreading south".
Three days later the state department's intelligence briefing for former secretary of state Warren Christopher and other officials noted "genocide and partition" and reported declarations of a "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis".
However, the administration did not publicly use the word genocide until May 25 and even then diluted its impact by saying "acts of genocide".
Ms Des Forges said: "They feared this word would generate public opinion which would demand some sort of action and they didn't want to act. It was a very pragmatic determination."
* Except in Africa. I doubt a black president, as supporters called Clinton, would have been so complacent.
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Didn't you know, fiscal discipline is hip
And Neal Pollack is back in Blogistan once again hawking his book and shilling for the Democratic National Committee. A Nader satire should be coming any day.
Nader is hurting Kerry in Pennsylvania, where he's polling at 7%, and conceivably could keep the Democrats out of the White House again. Not surprisingly, liberals aren't taking it too well (click on Naderite Nursery Rhymes. If Bush is reelected, I imagine some liberals' heads will explode like the fembots in Austin Powers. Nader will certainly be a persona non grata.)
Learning from Gore's mistake, Kerry has agreed to a sit-down. Who knows what they'll discuss, but maybe Nader can convince Kerry not to pull the Democrats too far to the right on economic policy as Clinton did.
For Kerry's four main economic advisors are all Clintonoids according to a New York Times article by Louis Uchitelle. Robert C. Altman and Gene Sperling were both high ranking officials while 33-year-old Jason Furman worked as an aide and 31-year-old Sarah Bianchi was an intern....
And Neal Pollack is back in Blogistan once again hawking his book and shilling for the Democratic National Committee. A Nader satire should be coming any day.
Nader is hurting Kerry in Pennsylvania, where he's polling at 7%, and conceivably could keep the Democrats out of the White House again. Not surprisingly, liberals aren't taking it too well (click on Naderite Nursery Rhymes. If Bush is reelected, I imagine some liberals' heads will explode like the fembots in Austin Powers. Nader will certainly be a persona non grata.)
Learning from Gore's mistake, Kerry has agreed to a sit-down. Who knows what they'll discuss, but maybe Nader can convince Kerry not to pull the Democrats too far to the right on economic policy as Clinton did.
For Kerry's four main economic advisors are all Clintonoids according to a New York Times article by Louis Uchitelle. Robert C. Altman and Gene Sperling were both high ranking officials while 33-year-old Jason Furman worked as an aide and 31-year-old Sarah Bianchi was an intern....
Above all, the restored tax rates would finance Mr. Kerry's pledge to cut the budget deficit to $250 billion by the end of his first term from roughly $500 billion now, most of it a result of the Bush tax cuts.Kerry has little reason to listen to Kennedy, while Nader has a bargaining chip - the 5% who say they'll vote for him rather than Kerry. See MaxSpeak, You Listen! for the politics of deficit spending.
"It is a credible, enforceable pledge that will position Kerry to the right of Bush on fiscal policy," Mr. Altman declared.
THAT sort of thinking does not appear to sit so well with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, who played a central role in Mr. Kerry's primary victories. The two senators are political allies and speak often to each other, although Mr. Kennedy is not officially on the Kerry economic team. Still, he is arguing in his speeches for what amounts to a bigger role for the government in job creation, a position clearly to the left of the Kerry team.
Coincidence?
Both Bookslut and Cup of Chicha link to a Guardian piece about the McSweeney's/Believer constellation.
I don't know if Eggers pilfered from The Baffler, but he has blurbed Baffler editor Tom Frank and has given readings with him.
Both Bookslut and Cup of Chicha link to a Guardian piece about the McSweeney's/Believer constellation.
There was an elaborate chart tracing the international provenance of magic realism. (Many McSweeney's regulars - Lydia Davis, Ben Marcus, William Vollmann, Jonathan Safran Foer, George Saunders - made it on to this list). Small ink drawings of animal skulls were dropped randomly into the text.When McSweeney's first came out, the old-timey design and cutesy graphics dispersed within the serious prose immediately reminded me of The Baffler. The Baffler first appeared in the early 90s and the look was created by Daniel Raeburn, The Baffler's Typographer who happens to have a brilliant piece on H.L. Mencken in the current issue. Mencken is sort of the Patron Saint of the Baffler crowd, gruff and cranky yet funny as hell. (If The Baffler were a Bad News Bear, it'd be scrappy Tanner). In his piece, Raeburn acknowledges he stole the Baffler's look from the Mencken-era magazines the Smart Set and The American Mercury.
As recently as five years ago, such a winsome, even kittenish, tone, and such graphic and typographic interventions were rare in mainstreams novels. Now they are so common almost to have become a convention; signs of a highbrow endeavour whose (possibly off-putting) serious tone is cut with doodling examples of author-graffiti and liberal doses of high irony. It could be argued that, in this way, Eggers's influence on young writers coming out of the creative writing departments of the universities (and posting things on the McSweeney's website in their hundreds) is as pervasive as Raymond Carver's was in the austere, cut-to-the-marrow, sackcloth-and-ashes, "dirty realist" years of the 1980s.
I don't know if Eggers pilfered from The Baffler, but he has blurbed Baffler editor Tom Frank and has given readings with him.
Monday, March 29, 2004
Put your game face back on
A couple things stuck in my mind about the Al Qaeda attacks on 9.11.01 and recently in Madrid. Both involve the horror of eye-witness accounts. The New York Times Magazine published one by a Spaniard who witnessed the Madrid bombing. It reminded me of something I heard about the rescue workers at the Madrid scene. What really got to them was the sounds of cell phones ringing amidst the carnage.
Perhaps it's all a little morbid, but I imagine the look on the rescue workers' faces was similar to the facial expressions of the firefighters in the French documentary 9/11 (narrated by Robert De Niro and Steve Buscemi). On that day, two French brothers happened to be making a documentary about the NYFD - tough, tough boys, the firefighters. After the World Trade Center had been hit and the firemen received the call, they allowed the filmmakers to tag along. At one point, the firemen are inside the first floor of one of the towers and they're standing around waiting for a strategy to be hashed out. You can hear bodies periodically hitting the ground outside the blown-out windows nearby - people jumping to escape being burnt alive - and you can see it's really messing with the firefighters who are trying to keep their composure.
In a recently published book about the Bush dynasty by a married conservative couple, there's a quote from an unnamed source: "[President Bush] doesn't have a p.c. view of this war. His view of this war is that they are trying to kill the Christians. And we the Christians will strike back with more force and more ferocity than they will ever know." If Kerry's elected, I hope he agrees with this except for the religious stuff. Dean certainly didn't.
A couple things stuck in my mind about the Al Qaeda attacks on 9.11.01 and recently in Madrid. Both involve the horror of eye-witness accounts. The New York Times Magazine published one by a Spaniard who witnessed the Madrid bombing. It reminded me of something I heard about the rescue workers at the Madrid scene. What really got to them was the sounds of cell phones ringing amidst the carnage.
Perhaps it's all a little morbid, but I imagine the look on the rescue workers' faces was similar to the facial expressions of the firefighters in the French documentary 9/11 (narrated by Robert De Niro and Steve Buscemi). On that day, two French brothers happened to be making a documentary about the NYFD - tough, tough boys, the firefighters. After the World Trade Center had been hit and the firemen received the call, they allowed the filmmakers to tag along. At one point, the firemen are inside the first floor of one of the towers and they're standing around waiting for a strategy to be hashed out. You can hear bodies periodically hitting the ground outside the blown-out windows nearby - people jumping to escape being burnt alive - and you can see it's really messing with the firefighters who are trying to keep their composure.
In a recently published book about the Bush dynasty by a married conservative couple, there's a quote from an unnamed source: "[President Bush] doesn't have a p.c. view of this war. His view of this war is that they are trying to kill the Christians. And we the Christians will strike back with more force and more ferocity than they will ever know." If Kerry's elected, I hope he agrees with this except for the religious stuff. Dean certainly didn't.
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