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Trouble in Kurdistan, continued
The shelling from Iran continues, as reported by Patrick Cockburn in The Independent. “Iran Shelling Iraq?” asks Andrew Sullivan. Um, yes — it started around April 21, as I noted here.
John McCain: sad sack
I can’t fathom all this fawning over McCain’s speech at Liberty University. The senator basically went there to retract his previous condemnation of Jerry Falwell, so that Christianist wackos might consider voting for him in a Republican primary. McCain said: It should remain an argument among friends; each of us struggling to hear our conscience, and heed its demands; each
Slow blogging…
I’ve been bogged down and haven’t had time to post… watch for my July/August cover story on Mike Stern and Richard Bona in Jazz Times. I’ll also have a short piece about Orhan Pamuk’s Snow on the weblog of Norman Geras, in about a week’s time. This will be part of Norm’s “Writer’s Choice” series — previous contributors include Hitchens,
On Colbert and a free press
A reader joins me in praising Stephen Colbert but thinks I’ve “gone a bit overboard in [my] interpretation” of the comic’s scathing routine at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner: Where has the US corporate media been over the last years? Why have they given the Bush Administration a free ride? Why has the press corps politely questioned the Bush Administration,
John Hall for Congress
Just in from pianist Bruce Barth: Guitarist and producer John Hall is putting his career on hold to run for Congress in New York’s 19th District, where he’ll try to unseat the incumbent Sue Kelly. Not only is Kelly a loyal Bushite, she serves my parents’ district, and what’s more, I once got stuck behind her pokey campaign bus for
“Democratic Vacuum of Congo”
I’m glad to see all the current consciousness-raising about Darfur, but as Johann Hari reminds us here, it’s not the only African holocaust unfolding before our eyes: This war [in Congo] has been waved aside as an internal African implosion. In reality it a battle for coltan and diamonds and cassiterite and gold, destined for sale in London and New
NO-IFS
I am not a signatory to this statement from the National Organization for the Iraqi Freedom Struggles (NO-IFS), but the message is an important one. I’m happy to reproduce it here. — The National Organization for the Iraqi Freedom Struggles (NO-IFS) is a coalition of individuals who have come together to oppose the U.S. war against Iraq by supporting the
In praise of Stephen Colbert
There’s lots of pro-and-con chatter about Colbert’s scathing routine at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I thought Colbert was fantastic. Talk about speaking truth to power. And talk about proof that America remains a free country. Some are calling Colbert’s routine “tasteless.” More power to him.