David Adler
On Mickey Roker
My review of Mickey Roker at Ortlieb’s, in today’s Inquirer.
Cole’s top-ten myths
Juan Cole has a list of top-ten myths about the Iraq war, well worth reading. Top myth: The surge is working. This mantra is being repeated on every network news broadcast. Nothing in Iraq is that simple. P.S. – There are things of Cole’s to take issue with. He’s right to note that Kurdistan can no longer be regarded as
Lahr on Pinter
Soon after my last comment on Harold Pinter comes John Lahr’s New Yorker profile — mostly a close reading of the play “The Homecoming,” though Lahr touches on Pinter’s politics at the end: …he has lent the muscle of his voice to a variety of causes, among them the Sandinistas, the freedom of Slobodan Milosevic, the end of the Iraq
Benazir Bhutto, martyr
I had some music-related and other posts stored up, but I’m putting this blog on temporary hold in mourning for Benazir Bhutto. And not only for Bhutto, but for the entire nation of Pakistan, which is erupting into chaos as I write this.
Turkey-Kurdistan-PKK
In light of continuing Turkish attacks against the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan, one could do worse than read Marko Attila Hoare’s clear-eyed policy prescriptions. In short: yes, the PKK is a terrorist gang. But Turkey has created its Kurdish problem and can end it. It should grant the Kurds full, unconditional political freedom and recognize Kurdish as an official language,
Packer on “Redacted”
I observed my Jewish Christmas by watching Brian De Palma’s “Redacted” this evening. Was surprised to find it on-demand so soon. Anyway, I agree wholeheartedly with George Packer: De Palma has announced that his intention in making “Redacted” is to end the war. “The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the
Music after 9/11
The following book review appears in the Winter 2008 issue of Jazz Notes, the quarterly journal of the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA), edited by yours truly. — Music in the Post-9/11 WorldJonathan Ritter and J. Martin Daughtry, eds.Routledge, New York/London, 2007; 328 pp.; $24.95 paperback Review by David R. Adler In the liner notes to Up For It, written about
“The duality of man”
Violent hip-hop lyrics, we’re told, don’t really glorify violence — either they hold up a mirror to harsh reality or offer a fantasy escape from same. Brian McManus, my editor at Philadelphia Weekly, puts a knife in that argument, and twists it. It’s hilarious.