dev

15
Nov

Worst (best?) album covers

14
Nov

Tarik Shah

I’ve received an email from Margaret Davis, NYC avant-jazz promoter, regarding a benefit for bassist Tarik Shah. Now in jail awaiting trial, Shah stands accused of expressing a desire to aid al-Qaeda. Davis writes the following: Our brother in the music, bassist Tarik Shah, a wonderful musician who has played and recorded with Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln, among many

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12
Nov

Today in torture

Andrew Sullivan, anti-torture polemicist par excellence, posted the image at left in response to a Wall St. Journal editorial denying that waterboarding is torture. Note the caption on the 16th-century drawing.Sullivan also links to this AP report on Senator Bill Frist: WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he is more concerned about the leak of information regarding

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12
Nov

Israel, phantom villain

A good NY Times piece on “Israel did it” conspiracy theories circulating in Jordan following the bombing. Money quote: While it appears that most Jordanians have accepted that Mr. Zarqawi was involved – with many saying they are sickened by his actions – there is little criticism for those who scapegoat Israel. A former prime minister, Tahir Masri, who said

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12
Nov

Pat Robertson’s battle

I’m late in posting this, but post it I must. Pat Robertson, sorry, God, has it in for Dover, PA voters who yanked anti-evolution school board members from office — a crystal clear rejection of the intelligent design “controversy” that’s been foisted on their community by oustide Christianist agitators. (Read my earler post here.) You’ve already seen it, but let’s

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11
Nov

On a lighter note…

Odds and ends from my CD player: Angie Stone, Stone Love (J Records): Especially the single “Lovers’ Ghetto,” with a sample of Dynasty’s “Adventures in the Land of Music.” Great production. Stone is refreshingly free of the hyper-acrobatic singing that plagues a lot of today’s R&B. Yellowjackets, self-titled (Rhino reissue): New liner notes by my colleague Bill Milkowski. Four unearthed

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10
Nov

The Jews knew? Again?

I guess we should resign ourselves to a seeing a variation of this lie after every single Al Qaeda attack. Post-Jordan bombing, a friend alerts me to a dispatch from Haaretz, of all places: Israelis evacuated from Amman hotel hours before bombingsBy Yoav Stern, Haaretz CorrespondentA number of Israelis staying on Wednesday at the Radisson hotel were evacuated before the

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9
Nov

Meanwhile, inside the beltway…

Via Michael Crowley at TNR’s “The Plank,” a story from The Hill about the 15 Democrats who broke party ranks to support the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA): Business interests are making good on their promise to reward 15 House Democrats who bucked their party’s leadership in July and backed [CAFTA].In the three months since CAFTA passed the House

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