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The real Giuliani
I saw this footage when it first aired years ago on NY-1, and I felt that it spoke volumes about Rudy Giuliani’s character. Now that he’s campaigning, if questions are raised about, say, his dealings with Bernard Kerik, it won’t be so easy for him to bully his way out. I shudder to think of this man with runaway executive
An addendum
Since I compared Philly unfavorably with Paris in my last post, it’s only fair that I draw attention to this hopeful development, covered last night on PBS’s Newshour: a civilian anti-crime initiative originating from within the black community. And beautiful Paris has its own troubles, as the anti-police riots in Villiers-le-Bel make clear. The community is well within its rights
An American in Paris
I don’t speak the language, but my favorite word in French is gendre, for son-in-law, which is what I am — and what brought me and my wife to Paris for a blissful week (her dad, Texas born and bred, has lived on a quaint cul-de-sac in the 4th arrondissement for the last 15 years or so). Pictured here is
On Tiger Okoshi
My review of Tiger Okoshi’s absolutely gorgeous Saturday show at the Kimmel Center, in today’s Inquirer. There’s much more I could say about Okoshi and his band, but I’m putting this blog in park for about a week’s time. Back soon.
The week on disc (8)
In case you missed the last one… Bob DeVos, Playing for Keeps (Savant) Marlon Simon and the Nagual Spirits, In Case You Missed It (Jazzheads) Supersilent 8 (Rune Grammofon) David Hazeltine, The Inspiration Suite (Sharp Nine) Carla Kihlstedt & Satoko Fujii, Minamo (Henceforth) Harry Whitaker, Thoughts (Past and Present) (Smalls)
Iranology
Since I’ve noted the falsehood of claims that Ahmadinejad’s “Israel-off-the-map” remarks were mistranslated, I should also note that Norman Podhoretz, advisor to Rudy Giuliani and unhinged proponent of bombing Iran, has been circulating a bogus quote from Khomeini. And this is part of a pattern with Podhoretz. Opposing aggression against Iran is one thing; peddling the Iranian government line on
More from Atzmon
I’m behind in noting the latest from UK jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, who now declares, in essence, that Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves. It’s a challenge to decipher Atzmon’s miserable writing, but here it is: Seemingly, it is the personification of WW2 and the Holocaust that blinded the Israelis and their supporters from internalising the real meaning of the
Obama’s patriotism
What Ron Rosenbaum said: The pledge is a kind of forced confession of orthodoxy. No, not water-boarding, but coercion nonetheless. Especially for peer-group-pressured school kids. Even if they have the right to opt out. In past school-prayer cases, the court has resisted the idea that the state should be implicated in even the social coercion or propagation of religion. Busybody