Saturday, September 04, 2004
Putin Visits Survivors
The Chinese News Service has some photos of Vladimir Putin visiting children in the hospital, along with a roundup of the latest news on the Chechen hostage crisis.
Synetic Theater
We saw "Host and Guest" last night, another energetic production by our local Synetic Theater, recently returned from New York's "Fringe Festival."
The play--actually, more than a play, it is a sort of pantomime or quasi-ballet, with very few words --is based on verses by Georgian poet Vazha Pshavela. The production had a Caucasian feeling, flashes of frightening violence and passion. As the horrifying news arrived from the Russian school hostage crisis, the action on stage seemed particularly poignant, that tragedy is inevitable, which is something we Americans find very difficult to accept.
The story of "Host and Guest" is simple. A Christian and Muslim are deer-hunting in a forest on a mountainside. Rather than kill one another, they shoot the deer and the Mulsim invites the Christian into his home to butcher and share the spoils. This is in keeping with their tradition of hospitality to visitors.
However, the village Imam discovers what is going on and denounces an infidel in their midst, as a killer of their brothers. That night, the guest is dragged out and put to death, his throat slit as a sacrifice, after his host, who had defended his guest, has been thrown off a mountain.
News of the killing reaches the Christian village, who raid the Muslims in a bloody battle that leaves everything destroyed. It is not a happy ending.
Director Paata Tsikurishvili and choreographer Irina Tsikurishivili (his wife) have a gift for dramatic staging and movement. The wild ride by enraged Christian horsemen--staged in pantomime by actors wearing only black leotards--is both cinematic and terrifying. No doubt their experience in the Rustaveli theatre in Tblisi provides some special insight into the Georgian mentality, which they are able to convey even in suburban Washington, DC.
Strange, powerful, affecting, tragic, and sadly relevant to today's headlines, "Host and Guest" is a must-see production. It runs until October 16th, at the Rosslyn Spectrum. Tickets are available online from the Synetic Theater box office.
The play--actually, more than a play, it is a sort of pantomime or quasi-ballet, with very few words --is based on verses by Georgian poet Vazha Pshavela. The production had a Caucasian feeling, flashes of frightening violence and passion. As the horrifying news arrived from the Russian school hostage crisis, the action on stage seemed particularly poignant, that tragedy is inevitable, which is something we Americans find very difficult to accept.
The story of "Host and Guest" is simple. A Christian and Muslim are deer-hunting in a forest on a mountainside. Rather than kill one another, they shoot the deer and the Mulsim invites the Christian into his home to butcher and share the spoils. This is in keeping with their tradition of hospitality to visitors.
However, the village Imam discovers what is going on and denounces an infidel in their midst, as a killer of their brothers. That night, the guest is dragged out and put to death, his throat slit as a sacrifice, after his host, who had defended his guest, has been thrown off a mountain.
News of the killing reaches the Christian village, who raid the Muslims in a bloody battle that leaves everything destroyed. It is not a happy ending.
Director Paata Tsikurishvili and choreographer Irina Tsikurishivili (his wife) have a gift for dramatic staging and movement. The wild ride by enraged Christian horsemen--staged in pantomime by actors wearing only black leotards--is both cinematic and terrifying. No doubt their experience in the Rustaveli theatre in Tblisi provides some special insight into the Georgian mentality, which they are able to convey even in suburban Washington, DC.
Strange, powerful, affecting, tragic, and sadly relevant to today's headlines, "Host and Guest" is a must-see production. It runs until October 16th, at the Rosslyn Spectrum. Tickets are available online from the Synetic Theater box office.
Friday, September 03, 2004
Classic Arts Showcase
Speaking of music, Classic Arts Showcase is one of my favorite cable channels...
Pop Stars Should Not Write Classical Music!
That's the view of composer Daniel Felsenfeld, who objects to Elvis Costello's latest symphonic ballet. Writing in New Music Box, Felsenfeld throws down the gauntlet:
"And all of us need to consider this: perhaps walls are important. Maybe it is how people differentiate, and when everything is 'classical' music, nothing is. As for Elvis: he deserves to be taken as seriously as anyone is, no less (and no more). Yes, his rock star status got him to Lincoln Center, but at some point the lights dimmed, the orchestra began to play, and Elvis or not, something musical happened. If we are going to judge it, it is by those standards alone. We owe him that�and I hope that one day, when Mr. Costello is sitting in an audience waiting to hear one of my pieces, he does me the same courtesy. "
[Link from Artsjournal.com]
"And all of us need to consider this: perhaps walls are important. Maybe it is how people differentiate, and when everything is 'classical' music, nothing is. As for Elvis: he deserves to be taken as seriously as anyone is, no less (and no more). Yes, his rock star status got him to Lincoln Center, but at some point the lights dimmed, the orchestra began to play, and Elvis or not, something musical happened. If we are going to judge it, it is by those standards alone. We owe him that�and I hope that one day, when Mr. Costello is sitting in an audience waiting to hear one of my pieces, he does me the same courtesy. "
[Link from Artsjournal.com]
Andrew Sullivan Gives Bush an "A"
On AndrewSullivan.com :
"A SUPERB SPEECH: It was the second best speech I have ever heard George W. Bush give - intelligently packaged, deftly structured, strong and yet also revealing of the president's obviously big heart. The speech writers deserve very high grades for pulling it off, to find a way to get the president to deal substantively with the domestic issues he is weak on and to soar once again on the imperatives of freedom in the Middle East... "
"A SUPERB SPEECH: It was the second best speech I have ever heard George W. Bush give - intelligently packaged, deftly structured, strong and yet also revealing of the president's obviously big heart. The speech writers deserve very high grades for pulling it off, to find a way to get the president to deal substantively with the domestic issues he is weak on and to soar once again on the imperatives of freedom in the Middle East... "
Bush Gets a "Gentleman's C"
John LeBoutillier liked half of it:
"Last night's speech by the President was actually two speeches melded into one: A) A State of the Union type laundry list of new initiatives; and B) a rousing and patriotic political speech to end the convention.The laundry list was a bit too long and included too many new ideas to expand the role of the federal government. That old 'compassionate conservatism' was back; I wish it wasn't. When the GOP thinks the Federal Government can help people, we have already lost.
"The patriotic speech was excellent and invoked the selfless heroism of our troops overseas.The result of this speech and the four-day Republican National Convention? A two-point lead for Bush/Cheney in the new Zogby poll: 46%-44% with 9% undecided."
"Last night's speech by the President was actually two speeches melded into one: A) A State of the Union type laundry list of new initiatives; and B) a rousing and patriotic political speech to end the convention.The laundry list was a bit too long and included too many new ideas to expand the role of the federal government. That old 'compassionate conservatism' was back; I wish it wasn't. When the GOP thinks the Federal Government can help people, we have already lost.
"The patriotic speech was excellent and invoked the selfless heroism of our troops overseas.The result of this speech and the four-day Republican National Convention? A two-point lead for Bush/Cheney in the new Zogby poll: 46%-44% with 9% undecided."
A Letter from New York City
Our New York correspondent, a, Democrat for Kerry, has this report on protests outside the Republican National Convention:
Friday dawns glorious--the day of our liberation from the Republicans and it is not even that hot.
For those without the time to read through the reams of text I seem to be producing, this is the executive summary: in the 17 hours I spent on the street in the last week, ending last night at 11:00, I have an unbroken record of never being around when there was trouble (and with 1800 arrests over the week that took some luck).
When we left this saga on Sunday night, I was sunburned and tired, had a notebook full of drawings of streets with police locations, badge numbers, police car license plates etc.
Monday, to my amazement, I was still able to walk and showed up at 3:00 pm for my next shift. By now all of midtown was blocked and the Civil Liberties Union storefront was in the heart of the lock-down area. I passed the National Guard at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. These guys were in fatigues and armed to the hilt. It reminded me of Guatemala in the early 80's.
A couple of girls in their early 20's were manning a table for Bush/Cheney outside the Protecting Protest Storefront. They had the sweetly glazed look of cult members as they offered me literature. I wanted to ask if their parents had signed them up for de-programming yet.
Then, join the Civil Liberties Union and see New York-off to the the "March for Life" Rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 47th and First Avenue (right near the UN). This time I am paired with Jenny, who has a law degree from Golden Gate Law School in California but never practiced and became a graphic artist. She has a video camera and goes right to work checking access to the park--now surrounded by barricades and a flotilla of police. I go to work drawing the scene and wandering past police officers to record names etc. At 4:00 there are about 100 demonstrators and about 400 police. There are police in vans, shoulder to shoulder at the barricades, walking around in groups of 2 or 3, police on scooters at the end of the block (47th and Second Avenue, undercover police--these would be the guys with the very clipped haircuts, the chinos, the gray or gray green golf shirts worn outside their pants to cover their guns (this does not always work). And when one of the captains bounds up to say hello and shake hands all round, this definitely blows their cover.
I leave Jenny videotaping as protesters drift in and ajourn to a convenient spot to sit across the street (for that longer perspective). I am not the only one.
Dozens are lounging on the granite barriers surrounding the Trump World Towers, an apartment building with apartments that must sell for at least
$1 million. The rally is a protest against poverty.
Hours tick by, more protestors, more police, more civil liberties types. The protesters are negotiating a deal with the police to march without a permit. The weather is good --nice and cool. I hop up from my seat from time to time to check on police car movements. I study police uniforms. I never get the system with stars/hierarchy down and am now noting the police as "wniforms, white shirts, and undercover".
Finally the organizers get permission to move--they are to stay on one side of the street and move down 2d Avenue to 23rd street, then over to 8th Avenue and up to Madison Square Garden. We start to trail them downtown and my shift ends. The later group has shown up and I peel off. Later I learn that there was considerable trouble as the group approached MSG and that the police have been netting and arresting protesters. This was the case at other protests around the City, including one of the Veterans groups against the war, who thought they had a deal with the police to march.
Thursday morning and the news reports 1800 protesters being held in the piers at the Hudson River. The newspapers are reporting that the sweeps around the Public Library have netted a number of pedestrians. Protesters are all over the City heckling the convention delegates --who are a conspicuous lot. For example, the Texans all were walking around with red white and blue shirts in a graphic combination of color blocks and stars that would be equally appropriate for those who still support the Confederacy. And of course, cowboy hats.
Thursday afternoon and I show up for my shift with the uneasy conviction that my smooth ride as a monitor is over. Now I am reading the instructions on what to do if arrested. So far none of the Civil Union monitors have been arrested but at least a dozen of the National Lawyers Guild members have gone been picked up.
I get sent with my new group to 29th and 8th Avenue, where there will be a rally for some hours as the Convention winds down with the Bush speech. We get into position early and check access in and out of the rally pens. The police are audibly counting down the time before this is all over. The press are out in force on the west side of 29th and a couple are commenting that they thought that tonight would not be quiet. The police are pouring into the area and their are police on all the surrounding rooftops (except the housing complex on the west side of the street that was established by the Garment Workers Union--the elderly leftists in the building are on the sidewalk in lawnchairs).
The word comes through that a New York City judge has threatened the City with a large fine and a payment to each protester of $1000 if the City does not either charge or release the people being held in violation of the time limits for prosecutorial action. Protesters start to move into the pens. One of the best signs--"The Last Time We Listened to a Burning Bush We Spent 40 Years in the Desert." The police begin to close off sidewalk access to the space around pens 1 and 2 and Pen 3 begins to fill--this time with infiltrating Republicans--who have suspiciously professional looking signs--the others are mostly a handlettered lot. The newcomers are aggressive and the police quickly put them in a pen of their own, setting up some barricades to separate them from the rest of the group.
The protesters are chanting--"March, march, march, march and straining the barricades and more riot troops move into position. A firetruck arrives and the firemen leap out in fire-fighting mode. The press surges forward. Then, the police start moving the barricades so that the people in pen 2 can move into pen 1 and vice versa. The firemen are reported to have made some comments on not enough access.
Tension dissipates as the groups start to mingle.
At 10 o'clock the organizers pack up their soundstage and move their protesters peaceably south.
My fellow monitors, none of whom is older than 30, are eager to continue to monitor the protesters as they disperse, one of them suggesting ( a little hopefully) that there could be trouble later.
I go home--my record as a pacifying influence is intact.
Friday dawns glorious--the day of our liberation from the Republicans and it is not even that hot.
For those without the time to read through the reams of text I seem to be producing, this is the executive summary: in the 17 hours I spent on the street in the last week, ending last night at 11:00, I have an unbroken record of never being around when there was trouble (and with 1800 arrests over the week that took some luck).
When we left this saga on Sunday night, I was sunburned and tired, had a notebook full of drawings of streets with police locations, badge numbers, police car license plates etc.
Monday, to my amazement, I was still able to walk and showed up at 3:00 pm for my next shift. By now all of midtown was blocked and the Civil Liberties Union storefront was in the heart of the lock-down area. I passed the National Guard at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. These guys were in fatigues and armed to the hilt. It reminded me of Guatemala in the early 80's.
A couple of girls in their early 20's were manning a table for Bush/Cheney outside the Protecting Protest Storefront. They had the sweetly glazed look of cult members as they offered me literature. I wanted to ask if their parents had signed them up for de-programming yet.
Then, join the Civil Liberties Union and see New York-off to the the "March for Life" Rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 47th and First Avenue (right near the UN). This time I am paired with Jenny, who has a law degree from Golden Gate Law School in California but never practiced and became a graphic artist. She has a video camera and goes right to work checking access to the park--now surrounded by barricades and a flotilla of police. I go to work drawing the scene and wandering past police officers to record names etc. At 4:00 there are about 100 demonstrators and about 400 police. There are police in vans, shoulder to shoulder at the barricades, walking around in groups of 2 or 3, police on scooters at the end of the block (47th and Second Avenue, undercover police--these would be the guys with the very clipped haircuts, the chinos, the gray or gray green golf shirts worn outside their pants to cover their guns (this does not always work). And when one of the captains bounds up to say hello and shake hands all round, this definitely blows their cover.
I leave Jenny videotaping as protesters drift in and ajourn to a convenient spot to sit across the street (for that longer perspective). I am not the only one.
Dozens are lounging on the granite barriers surrounding the Trump World Towers, an apartment building with apartments that must sell for at least
$1 million. The rally is a protest against poverty.
Hours tick by, more protestors, more police, more civil liberties types. The protesters are negotiating a deal with the police to march without a permit. The weather is good --nice and cool. I hop up from my seat from time to time to check on police car movements. I study police uniforms. I never get the system with stars/hierarchy down and am now noting the police as "wniforms, white shirts, and undercover".
Finally the organizers get permission to move--they are to stay on one side of the street and move down 2d Avenue to 23rd street, then over to 8th Avenue and up to Madison Square Garden. We start to trail them downtown and my shift ends. The later group has shown up and I peel off. Later I learn that there was considerable trouble as the group approached MSG and that the police have been netting and arresting protesters. This was the case at other protests around the City, including one of the Veterans groups against the war, who thought they had a deal with the police to march.
Thursday morning and the news reports 1800 protesters being held in the piers at the Hudson River. The newspapers are reporting that the sweeps around the Public Library have netted a number of pedestrians. Protesters are all over the City heckling the convention delegates --who are a conspicuous lot. For example, the Texans all were walking around with red white and blue shirts in a graphic combination of color blocks and stars that would be equally appropriate for those who still support the Confederacy. And of course, cowboy hats.
Thursday afternoon and I show up for my shift with the uneasy conviction that my smooth ride as a monitor is over. Now I am reading the instructions on what to do if arrested. So far none of the Civil Union monitors have been arrested but at least a dozen of the National Lawyers Guild members have gone been picked up.
I get sent with my new group to 29th and 8th Avenue, where there will be a rally for some hours as the Convention winds down with the Bush speech. We get into position early and check access in and out of the rally pens. The police are audibly counting down the time before this is all over. The press are out in force on the west side of 29th and a couple are commenting that they thought that tonight would not be quiet. The police are pouring into the area and their are police on all the surrounding rooftops (except the housing complex on the west side of the street that was established by the Garment Workers Union--the elderly leftists in the building are on the sidewalk in lawnchairs).
The word comes through that a New York City judge has threatened the City with a large fine and a payment to each protester of $1000 if the City does not either charge or release the people being held in violation of the time limits for prosecutorial action. Protesters start to move into the pens. One of the best signs--"The Last Time We Listened to a Burning Bush We Spent 40 Years in the Desert." The police begin to close off sidewalk access to the space around pens 1 and 2 and Pen 3 begins to fill--this time with infiltrating Republicans--who have suspiciously professional looking signs--the others are mostly a handlettered lot. The newcomers are aggressive and the police quickly put them in a pen of their own, setting up some barricades to separate them from the rest of the group.
The protesters are chanting--"March, march, march, march and straining the barricades and more riot troops move into position. A firetruck arrives and the firemen leap out in fire-fighting mode. The press surges forward. Then, the police start moving the barricades so that the people in pen 2 can move into pen 1 and vice versa. The firemen are reported to have made some comments on not enough access.
Tension dissipates as the groups start to mingle.
At 10 o'clock the organizers pack up their soundstage and move their protesters peaceably south.
My fellow monitors, none of whom is older than 30, are eager to continue to monitor the protesters as they disperse, one of them suggesting ( a little hopefully) that there could be trouble later.
I go home--my record as a pacifying influence is intact.
Fasten Your Seatbelts
It's going to be a rocky election season, says Victor Davis Hanson:
"Almost every day, al Qaeda suspects or affiliated terrorists are arrested somewhere in the world. Islamic fascists blow up Israelis, behead Nepalese, murder Russians children in schools and on the street, and kidnap French journalists (so much for appeasement). They want to destroy trains in New York as they did in Madrid. They seek to ruin democracy in Kabul and Baghdad and take down Russian airliners. Nearly each week they are caught forming cells in Europe and the United States--all akin in their desire for theocracy, incoherent demands, partiality for barbarous methods of killing civilians, and hatred of Western-style liberalism and freedom. Now we learn that they may well turn their attention to targeted assassinations here at home--in the manner in which Osama bin Laden took out General Massoud of the Northern Alliance on the eve of the September 11 attacks, and like the various efforts to incinerate General Musharraf in Pakistan. The problem is not only that such efforts would be aimed at short-circuiting the nerve center of the United States, but also that previous reckless talk on the part of some cultural elites at home would only accentuate the turmoil. "
"Almost every day, al Qaeda suspects or affiliated terrorists are arrested somewhere in the world. Islamic fascists blow up Israelis, behead Nepalese, murder Russians children in schools and on the street, and kidnap French journalists (so much for appeasement). They want to destroy trains in New York as they did in Madrid. They seek to ruin democracy in Kabul and Baghdad and take down Russian airliners. Nearly each week they are caught forming cells in Europe and the United States--all akin in their desire for theocracy, incoherent demands, partiality for barbarous methods of killing civilians, and hatred of Western-style liberalism and freedom. Now we learn that they may well turn their attention to targeted assassinations here at home--in the manner in which Osama bin Laden took out General Massoud of the Northern Alliance on the eve of the September 11 attacks, and like the various efforts to incinerate General Musharraf in Pakistan. The problem is not only that such efforts would be aimed at short-circuiting the nerve center of the United States, but also that previous reckless talk on the part of some cultural elites at home would only accentuate the turmoil. "
Russians Storm School Ending Chechen Hostage Crisis
From Reuters:
"Russian troops stormed a school Friday in a chaotic battle to free hundreds of parents, teachers and children who had been held hostage for two days by Chechen separatists. Naked and screaming children ran for safety amid machinegun fire and explosions while attack helicopters clattered overhead. The Tass and Interfax news agencies spoke of over 300 wounded, mostly children. Rebels fled with soldiers in pursuit. Witnesses at the scene in Beslan, in the North Ossetia region near Chechnya, saw several bodies on stretchers and Russian news agencies said at least seven people had been dead on arrival at hospital. Half- or fully naked children gulped from bottles of water after two days without drink in a stiflingly hot and crowded school. Some lay on stretchers. There was no definite toll, although Tass quoted an unidentified official as saying most of the hostages were alive."
You can read more at Yahoo News.
"Russian troops stormed a school Friday in a chaotic battle to free hundreds of parents, teachers and children who had been held hostage for two days by Chechen separatists. Naked and screaming children ran for safety amid machinegun fire and explosions while attack helicopters clattered overhead. The Tass and Interfax news agencies spoke of over 300 wounded, mostly children. Rebels fled with soldiers in pursuit. Witnesses at the scene in Beslan, in the North Ossetia region near Chechnya, saw several bodies on stretchers and Russian news agencies said at least seven people had been dead on arrival at hospital. Half- or fully naked children gulped from bottles of water after two days without drink in a stiflingly hot and crowded school. Some lay on stretchers. There was no definite toll, although Tass quoted an unidentified official as saying most of the hostages were alive."
You can read more at Yahoo News.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
The Economist Remembers Dr. Kubler-Ross
In this obituary:
"Though poets and philosophers might write ardently of the soul and of immortality, doctors could not possibly describe these as fact. Plato, Plotinus and Shelley might describe the winged spirit struggling from the body, and 'the abode where the Eternal are'; but scientists, however hazy their understanding of human consciousness, could have no truck with theories based neither on reason nor on observable evidence. Her colleagues increasingly murmured about Dr Kubler-Ross, and edged away. Disastrously, she then went much further. She began to fill her lectures with tales of her out-of-the body experiences, including travelling through space at the speed of light. She fell in with Jay Barham, a charlatan from Arkansas who practised 'channelling', 'spiritual cloning' and batty sorts of religio-sexual therapy. Four 'spooks' from the spirit world called Salem, Ankh, Mario and Willie became her guides and mentors. Her husband, horrified by her antics, divorced her. By the 1980s her healing centres in Virginia and California were being shot at and burned down. Although the best parts of her work had taken hold--there are now more than 2,500 hospices in America--her reputation was in ruins."
"Though poets and philosophers might write ardently of the soul and of immortality, doctors could not possibly describe these as fact. Plato, Plotinus and Shelley might describe the winged spirit struggling from the body, and 'the abode where the Eternal are'; but scientists, however hazy their understanding of human consciousness, could have no truck with theories based neither on reason nor on observable evidence. Her colleagues increasingly murmured about Dr Kubler-Ross, and edged away. Disastrously, she then went much further. She began to fill her lectures with tales of her out-of-the body experiences, including travelling through space at the speed of light. She fell in with Jay Barham, a charlatan from Arkansas who practised 'channelling', 'spiritual cloning' and batty sorts of religio-sexual therapy. Four 'spooks' from the spirit world called Salem, Ankh, Mario and Willie became her guides and mentors. Her husband, horrified by her antics, divorced her. By the 1980s her healing centres in Virginia and California were being shot at and burned down. Although the best parts of her work had taken hold--there are now more than 2,500 hospices in America--her reputation was in ruins."
The End of Classical Music
Norman Lebrecht announces the death of the classical musice business [thanks to ArtsJournal.com for the link]:
A Columbia boss signing himself “God”' (his name was Goddard Lieberson) gave Leonard Bernstein carte blanche to record anything he liked. God also got Stravinsky to preside over the recording of every note he ever wrote - 20 volumes of it. Herbert von Karajan convinced two labels to let him record the Beethoven symphonies five times over. Beethoven was a brand. Buy him in a box. By the 1980, the record business was making more boxes than the match industry. I recently cleared my Brahms shelf, unsentimentally throwing out sets by Böhm, Haitink, Solti, Bernstein, Karajan (two boxes) and Sawallisch - and that still left me with three indispensable cycles (Furtwängler, Abbado, Jansons) plus six working copies of every single symphony. Madness. It had to end. At the start of 2004 I predicted that this would be the industry's last year. Well, I was over-cautious. No need to wait for Christmas: it's over now.
A Columbia boss signing himself “God”' (his name was Goddard Lieberson) gave Leonard Bernstein carte blanche to record anything he liked. God also got Stravinsky to preside over the recording of every note he ever wrote - 20 volumes of it. Herbert von Karajan convinced two labels to let him record the Beethoven symphonies five times over. Beethoven was a brand. Buy him in a box. By the 1980, the record business was making more boxes than the match industry. I recently cleared my Brahms shelf, unsentimentally throwing out sets by Böhm, Haitink, Solti, Bernstein, Karajan (two boxes) and Sawallisch - and that still left me with three indispensable cycles (Furtwängler, Abbado, Jansons) plus six working copies of every single symphony. Madness. It had to end. At the start of 2004 I predicted that this would be the industry's last year. Well, I was over-cautious. No need to wait for Christmas: it's over now.
FBI v. AIPAC
So says Laura Rozen:
"Both of these articles would seem to indicate that not Franklin but AIPAC is more the center of this larger investigation; and that Franklin, who apparently has been cooperating with the Bureau for several weeks, may have been used by the FBI to gather further evidence in that case. The political implications of the allegation that AIPAC was the real target of the FBI investigation would seem to be very serious."
"Both of these articles would seem to indicate that not Franklin but AIPAC is more the center of this larger investigation; and that Franklin, who apparently has been cooperating with the Bureau for several weeks, may have been used by the FBI to gather further evidence in that case. The political implications of the allegation that AIPAC was the real target of the FBI investigation would seem to be very serious."
Gennady Gudkov Analyzes Hostage Standoff
FSB reserve general and Russian Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov has strong views on the current crisis:
"Today they pose as Chechen separatists; tomorrow they support al-Qaeda; the day after tomorrow they assume some other guise. Yet, they all belong to the same group. "
"Today they pose as Chechen separatists; tomorrow they support al-Qaeda; the day after tomorrow they assume some other guise. Yet, they all belong to the same group. "
Russia's Hostage Crisis: What Next?
An analysis from The Moscow Times:
"The hostage-taking drama evolving in North Ossetia has put forth a deadly serious dilemma for President Vladimir Putin, of whether to continue his policy of refusing to negotiate with radical groups in the North Caucasus, or to soften his line and meet some of the hostage-takers' demands, given that the lives of more than 100 children are at stake in this standoff.
The tactic that Russian police and security agencies have pursued in similar situations is to try to negotiate the release of as many hostages as possible, while giving commandos time to prepare for a storming."
"The hostage-taking drama evolving in North Ossetia has put forth a deadly serious dilemma for President Vladimir Putin, of whether to continue his policy of refusing to negotiate with radical groups in the North Caucasus, or to soften his line and meet some of the hostage-takers' demands, given that the lives of more than 100 children are at stake in this standoff.
The tactic that Russian police and security agencies have pursued in similar situations is to try to negotiate the release of as many hostages as possible, while giving commandos time to prepare for a storming."
Zell Miller, Music Lover
He introduced Beethoven for Babies in Georgia:
"In January 1998, then-Gov. Zell Miller went to the Georgia Legislature armed with a tape player and a new idea. Miller told lawmakers he wanted $105,000 to pay for a CD of classical music that would be distributed to parents of newborns across Georgia. Miller cited early childhood research touting the benefits of music in developing babies' brains and the link between music and math. To hit home his point, Miller pulled out his tape player and let lawmakers listen to a few minutes of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy.' Now don't you feel smarter already? Smart enough to vote for this budget item, I hope,' Miller told them. But before lawmakers could decide whether to pay for the 'Beethoven for Babies' program, Sony Music announced that it would provide the CDs for free. And in July 1998, Georgia hospitals began distributing the CD to new parents. "
"In January 1998, then-Gov. Zell Miller went to the Georgia Legislature armed with a tape player and a new idea. Miller told lawmakers he wanted $105,000 to pay for a CD of classical music that would be distributed to parents of newborns across Georgia. Miller cited early childhood research touting the benefits of music in developing babies' brains and the link between music and math. To hit home his point, Miller pulled out his tape player and let lawmakers listen to a few minutes of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy.' Now don't you feel smarter already? Smart enough to vote for this budget item, I hope,' Miller told them. But before lawmakers could decide whether to pay for the 'Beethoven for Babies' program, Sony Music announced that it would provide the CDs for free. And in July 1998, Georgia hospitals began distributing the CD to new parents. "
Mama and the Marines
They made Zell Miller who he is, according to an official biography:
"Throughout his career, Senator Miller has credited two major influences for his success: his strong mother and the U.S. Marine Corps.
Born Feb. 24, 1932, in Young Harris, Georgia, Miller followed his parents' footsteps into the teaching profession and into politics. He was raised by his single mother after his father died when Miller was only 17 days old.
Miller gets his work ethic and his appreciation for the arts from Birdie Miller, an art teacher and one of Georgia's first female mayors. She hauled stones from a mountain creek to build the family home that Miller still lives in today. Though he never knew his father, Stephen Grady Miller, Senator Miller followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a University of Georgia graduate, a history professor at Young Harris College and a state senator.
Governor Miller accepts a check for $1.1 billion from Georgia Lottery Director Rebecca Paul. Miller used the lottery to pay for HOPE scholarships and his Pre-K program. (1996)
Miller's passions are history, baseball and music. He is a walking baseball encyclopedia who is equally at home at the Grand Ole Opry or Symphony Hall. He has written six books, including 'A National Party No More: The Conscience of A Conservative Democrat' and 'Corps Values: Everything You Need To Know I Learned in the Marines.'"
"Throughout his career, Senator Miller has credited two major influences for his success: his strong mother and the U.S. Marine Corps.
Born Feb. 24, 1932, in Young Harris, Georgia, Miller followed his parents' footsteps into the teaching profession and into politics. He was raised by his single mother after his father died when Miller was only 17 days old.
Miller gets his work ethic and his appreciation for the arts from Birdie Miller, an art teacher and one of Georgia's first female mayors. She hauled stones from a mountain creek to build the family home that Miller still lives in today. Though he never knew his father, Stephen Grady Miller, Senator Miller followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a University of Georgia graduate, a history professor at Young Harris College and a state senator.
Governor Miller accepts a check for $1.1 billion from Georgia Lottery Director Rebecca Paul. Miller used the lottery to pay for HOPE scholarships and his Pre-K program. (1996)
Miller's passions are history, baseball and music. He is a walking baseball encyclopedia who is equally at home at the Grand Ole Opry or Symphony Hall. He has written six books, including 'A National Party No More: The Conscience of A Conservative Democrat' and 'Corps Values: Everything You Need To Know I Learned in the Marines.'"
Tolstoy on Chechnya
You can read his 1911 novella, Hadji Murad, about Russia's earlier Chechen war, online:
"'What vitality!' I thought. 'Man has conquered everything and destroyed millions of plants, yet this one won't submit.' And I remembered a Caucasian episode of years ago, which I had partly seen myself, partly heard of from eye-witnesses, and in part imagined. The episode, as it has taken shape in my memory and imagination, was as follows."
"'What vitality!' I thought. 'Man has conquered everything and destroyed millions of plants, yet this one won't submit.' And I remembered a Caucasian episode of years ago, which I had partly seen myself, partly heard of from eye-witnesses, and in part imagined. The episode, as it has taken shape in my memory and imagination, was as follows."
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Lileks on Schwarzenegger
From The Bleat:
"Now, Arnold. Odd. Either the audience is undermiked or they're 88% thrilled to see him. He's beaming, waiting for the applause to die down. It seems forced. 'This is like winning the Oscar.'
Like I would know, I say in an Ahnold voice.
'As if I would know,' he said. Or something like that. Joke two: 'True Lies' movie reference. Lame, but we have to get these out of the way. Making reference to his movies is for Arnie what referencing cheapness or violin-playing was to Jack Benny. It simply must be done. Joke three: a man said he was as good a governor as he was an actor. What a cheap shot. The delivery lacked, but it's the sort of self-deprecating thing we like from the ol' brute. Is this going to work? He can connect with millions through the lens uf de cahmera, and he's good on the stump, but maybe he's not the kind of speaker who scales well to an arena.
I love the accent: 'Medicine Square Godden.'
Okay, he gets better. A good Arnold speech is not full of subtle rhetoric, cozening shifts in vocal tone, facial nuance. It's like watching a strong man chop an oak tree: the last blow will be just like the first. (Except that after the last one, something falls on someone's head.) Very simple cadences; you could actually read this speech in a Kennedy voice, and it would sound Kennedyesque. Paging Vaughn Meader; Mr. Meader to the desk.
'Fear of the Soviet Boot.' Yep.
Holy Crow, he's just endorsed DICK FRICKIN' NIXON. Only Arnie can go to China. "
"Now, Arnold. Odd. Either the audience is undermiked or they're 88% thrilled to see him. He's beaming, waiting for the applause to die down. It seems forced. 'This is like winning the Oscar.'
Like I would know, I say in an Ahnold voice.
'As if I would know,' he said. Or something like that. Joke two: 'True Lies' movie reference. Lame, but we have to get these out of the way. Making reference to his movies is for Arnie what referencing cheapness or violin-playing was to Jack Benny. It simply must be done. Joke three: a man said he was as good a governor as he was an actor. What a cheap shot. The delivery lacked, but it's the sort of self-deprecating thing we like from the ol' brute. Is this going to work? He can connect with millions through the lens uf de cahmera, and he's good on the stump, but maybe he's not the kind of speaker who scales well to an arena.
I love the accent: 'Medicine Square Godden.'
Okay, he gets better. A good Arnold speech is not full of subtle rhetoric, cozening shifts in vocal tone, facial nuance. It's like watching a strong man chop an oak tree: the last blow will be just like the first. (Except that after the last one, something falls on someone's head.) Very simple cadences; you could actually read this speech in a Kennedy voice, and it would sound Kennedyesque. Paging Vaughn Meader; Mr. Meader to the desk.
'Fear of the Soviet Boot.' Yep.
Holy Crow, he's just endorsed DICK FRICKIN' NIXON. Only Arnie can go to China. "
What is Enlightenment?
The Wall Street Journal reviews Gertrude Himmelfarb's comparison of French, British, and American Enlightenment thinkers:
"Ever since Immanuel Kant posed his famous question in 1784--'What is Enlightenment?'--critics and commentators have searched for an answer, and they still do. For it is to the Enlightenment--a particular set of 18th-century ideas--that many thinkers trace the political and intellectual origins of the modern world. To pose Kant's question is to ask nothing less than who we are."
"Ever since Immanuel Kant posed his famous question in 1784--'What is Enlightenment?'--critics and commentators have searched for an answer, and they still do. For it is to the Enlightenment--a particular set of 18th-century ideas--that many thinkers trace the political and intellectual origins of the modern world. To pose Kant's question is to ask nothing less than who we are."
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