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Nicaragua’s glass house
Just a note on the ironic timing. UN General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua issued his call for a boycott of Israel — and his antisemitic charge that Palestinians are being “crucified” — just as the NY Times and Marc Cooper report on the increasing authoritarianism and corruption of the neo-Sandinista regime of Daniel Ortega.
Muddying the Zimbabwe issue
[Cross-posted at Z Word.] It’s a good thing that Jimmy Carter is pressing the case for help to the Zimbabwean population. But following the Mugabe regime’s politicized denial of a visa to Carter and his group, the former president’s statements have a weirdly passive ring — in stark contrast, one might point out, to his unequivocal denunciations of the Israeli
Top Ten of 2008
My ballot — with snazzy cover art this year — is now up at the website of the Jazz Journalists Association. More year-in-review posts to follow soon.
“I don’t blow. I suck.”
Seemed appropriate to post this as somehow related to the discussion Darcy kicked off here. [Hat tip Phil DiPietro.]
Got a dog?
Shameless plug time: My sister runs an online dog-products business, nawtydog.com. Bookmark it for holiday gifts. [Pictured: My little Margot at nap-time.]
Shows and more shows
Only good things to report about trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and his quintet at the Jazz Standard on Wednesday night, with Walter Smith III on tenor, Fabian Almazan on piano, Harish Raghavan on bass and Justin Brown on drums. Mostly one long, continuous set with unaccompanied trumpet segues. The harmonic model and band interaction recalled the second Miles quintet, but the
Burma update
Following up on this post to note that Burmese comedian U Maung Thura has been sentenced to 45 years in prison. His crime? Organizing an independent relief effort for victims of Cyclone Nargis. And telling the truth: that the regime did nothing. “Bloggers, musicians and poets have also been sent to prison,” reports Sharon Otterman in the NY Times. [Update:
Barack baiting
[Cross-posted at Z Word.] John Pilger, the ultra-left New Statesman columnist, infamously said, in regard to the 2004 Iraq insurgency, that “we cannot afford to be choosy” — i.e., that people of the left must support the Baath/jihadi assassins and bombers because they are arrayed against the forces of Empire. He was hardly alone in this view; Arundhati Roy and George