Suicides at Guantanamo, heinous coordinated bombings in Kirkuk (extremely close to Kurdistan), continued meltdown in Israel/Palestine — and I happen to be mired in other work. Two major jazz festivals are going on simultaneously in New York; some of my coverage will appear here. And I’ve got a jazz education piece pending for Jazz Times. But watch this space — politics will engulf my life again soon.
Just a quick observation:
The Daily Show had a “Moment of Zen” airing (I think) Tim Russert’s commentary on the handshake between Pres. Bush and Prime Minister Maliki today in Baghdad. In the footage we see Maliki shake Bush’s hand, then place his hand over his heart. Russert marveled at the gesture: “It’s not necessarily an Iraqi thing, he’s just genuinely amazed to be seeing the president.” During my time in Kurdistan, I saw plenty of men follow this regional custom. I don’t think Maliki’s gesture was unusual.
Comments are closed.