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Damned if you do…
Chaos as usual in Iraq — this from an NYT report on sectarian fighting north of Baghdad: Gun battles also broke out Wednesday in the market in central Baquba, as Shiite militiamen fought with Sunni Arab insurgents, according to a shopkeeper, Hassan Abdul Fattah, 25. The Shiite militiamen had distributed fliers in the morning warning Sunni storeowners to keep their
Halliday on the Rushdie affair
Speaking of politics as pure cynicism, there is an interesting summary of the Satanic Verses affair of 1989 in Fred Halliday’s indispensable little book 100 Myths About the Middle East. The Rushdie affair is Halliday’s Myth No. 97. The myth, more accurately speaking, is the notion that Rushdie committed “blasphemy” by any stretch. The Satanic Verses is complex, imaginative and
Legislative malpractice
The 14 Democrats who voted for the shameful flag-burning amendment, very narrowly defeated in the Senate: Baucus (D-MT)Bayh (D-IN)Dayton (D-MN)Feinstein (D-CA)Johnson (D-SD)Landrieu (D-LA)Lincoln (D-AR)Menendez (D-NJ)Nelson (D-FL)Nelson (D-NE)Reid (D-NV)*Rockefeller (D-WV)Salazar (D-CO)Stabenow (D-MI) *our fearless leader Hillary Clinton’s compromise measure—a criminal statute against flag-burning rather than a constitutional amendment—is transparently opportunistic, and it accepts Orrin Hatch’s terms of debate. It’s politics as
Richard Bona/Mike Stern feature
The July/August issue of Jazz Times is on the newsstands. My profile of Richard Bona & Mike Stern is here [pdf]. A letters exchange on Tarik Shah is here [pdf]. On the letters, I may have additional comments shortly.
Bravo, NY Times
It’s important to voice support for the NY Times (and other major papers) for publishing the “Swift” story on the tracking of terrorism-related financial activity. The denunciations from Bush and Cheney and their congressional lackeys are politically motivated and baseless. The topic of terrorist financing has been in the news since almost immediately after the 9/11 attacks. Would-be terrorists cannot
Sounds to cherish
Pierre Villette (1926-1998), Motets (Hyperion, 2006)A cappella sacred music of exquisite harmonic clarity and indescribable beauty. Gotta hand it to those Catholics. Villette’s influences include Fauré and Messiaen. Nightingale: Japanese Art Songs (BIS, 1997)Featuring counter-tenor Yoshikazu Mera and pianist Kikuko Ogura. Individual songs, as well as suites, by 20th-century Japanese composers. Mera, in voice and appearance, is an androgynous marvel.
Ralph Towner solo
On June 21, guitarist Ralph Towner played his first New York solo concert in 20 years. My review is online at JazzTimes.com.
A. Roy redux
Until now I haven’t had the time or the stomach for this, but here goes. Famed novelist/activist Arundhati Roy appeared on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now program in May; transcript here. I’ve written critically about Roy before, also here and here. (I’m grateful to a reader for pointing out a circulating misquotation that I once cited and then corrected.) The latest