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Maher on Mahmoud
I like Bill Maher, I really do. But toward the end of this clip about Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia, he remarks on the Iranian president’s Holocaust denial and belligerence toward Israel. Terrible stuff, Maher says: But those are things he says to get elected. There are Jews in the Iranian parliament. He can’t be that anti-Semitic. Actually he said those
Jazzing Iraq
My guest column on the first-ever Summer Performing Arts Academy in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, appears in the October issue of Jazz Times. Downloadable pdf is here.
On John McLaughlin
My review of John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension at Philly’s Keswick Theatre, in today’s Inquirer.
Burma again
I am sorry about the image on the left, of a Buddhist monk, I believe showing signs of torture, floating dead in a river. But these are desperate circumstances. The Burmese junta is going to great lengths to prevent this information from getting to us. Kenji Nagai, the Japanese journalist killed last week, was not caught in any crossfire. He
Burma continued
As you’ve read, I am just back from a jazz journalism symposium that featured panelists representing some 16 countries. I’ll be offering reactions in the next issue of Jazz Notes and perhaps elsewhere. On a sunny day at Columbia University, while we talked about this business of airing ideas and sharing opinions, Burmese monks and civilian protesters were still being
Interactive forum: sign in now!
[Update: the real-time forum is over, obviously, but the summary is still online, and we are keeping the comments open. Feel free to weigh in as you wish.] I’m conducting a live discussion from the Columbia University symposium “Jazz in the Global Imagination” — you can log in from anywhere at jazzhouse.org, the website of the Jazz Journalists Association. The
No Justice, No Olympics
The Burmese junta, once again, has begun shooting and arresting peaceful demonstrators. Sullivan has a remarkable roundup here. The Burmese people are being shot at with Chinese weaponry, and China continues to block condemnations at the UN Security Council. Although a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said this: China hopes that all parties in Myanmar [sic] exercise restraint and properly handle the
“Jazz in the Global Imagination”
Another note about that Columbia jazz conference I mentioned. I’ll be anchoring a live interactive web discussion on the day of the conference, Sept. 29, 9am to 6pm EST, with an evening summation panel at 7:30pm. Login instructions will be available at jazzhouse.org, the website of the Jazz Journalists Association. Full details on the conference, “Jazz in the Global Imagination: