Also from The Washington Post, this profile of Paulo Coehlo:
"MONTPELLIER, France -- 'I'm a very famous author all over the world, totally unknown in America,' says Paulo Coelho. True. He's one of the most successful writers on the planet, yet virtually unrecognized in the United States. According to the industry newsletter Publishing Trends, Coelho's latest novel, Eleven Minutes, appeared at the top of more best-selling fiction lists around the world last year than any other novel, including the Harry Potter volumes and John Grisham's King of Torts.
"In the United States it's another story. Published in the spring by HarperCollins, 'Eleven Minutes' has not landed on the top-selling fiction lists of either The Washington Post or the New York Times."
Interestingly, when I lived in Uzbekistan, Coehlo's The Alchemist seemed to be everyone's favorite novel. It had been translated into Uzbek by a literary journal, and was taken very seriously.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
How Washington Works
A fascinating profile of Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff in The Washington Post:
"The foundation's brief history -- now the subject of a federal investigation -- charts how Abramoff attached himself to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and, in so doing, became a magnet for large sums of money from business interests. It also demonstrates how easily large amounts of such cash flowed through a nonprofit advocacy group to support the interests of a director. "
"The foundation's brief history -- now the subject of a federal investigation -- charts how Abramoff attached himself to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and, in so doing, became a magnet for large sums of money from business interests. It also demonstrates how easily large amounts of such cash flowed through a nonprofit advocacy group to support the interests of a director. "
Monday, September 27, 2004
Dan Rather on Dan Rather
From the Media Research Center [link from Little Green Footballs]:
"A serious journalist can't run with a story without confirmation. Two sources at the absolute minimum....This is how your narrator made it through Watergate. If I'd gone off half-cocked, if I'd gotten my facts scrambled, if I'd run with unconfirmed leads, I'd be selling insurance right now.-- Dan Rather in his 1994 memoir, The Camera Never Blinks Twice, page 97."
"A serious journalist can't run with a story without confirmation. Two sources at the absolute minimum....This is how your narrator made it through Watergate. If I'd gone off half-cocked, if I'd gotten my facts scrambled, if I'd run with unconfirmed leads, I'd be selling insurance right now.-- Dan Rather in his 1994 memoir, The Camera Never Blinks Twice, page 97."
Sunday, September 26, 2004
Will White House Debates Fumble Help CBS?
From INDC Journal: A Very Brief Interview with Bob Schieffer:
"INDC: 'Has this scandal affected you personally, with your impending moderation of one of the (Presidential) debates?'
SCHIEFFER: 'Well, there's been some e-mail that says that I should excuse myself, uh, but both the White House and the Kerry campaign have said that they think that I can do a fair and honest job. [emphasisis added] So as long as it's ok with them, I think it's ok.'"
"INDC: 'Has this scandal affected you personally, with your impending moderation of one of the (Presidential) debates?'
SCHIEFFER: 'Well, there's been some e-mail that says that I should excuse myself, uh, but both the White House and the Kerry campaign have said that they think that I can do a fair and honest job. [emphasisis added] So as long as it's ok with them, I think it's ok.'"
The Diplomad v. Europe (continued)
From The Diplomad:
"We drew fire from those who took offense from our claim that educated Americans -- such as we humble Diplomads -- know more about Europe, than educated Europeans -- notably Euro diplomats -- know about the USA. We don't know why some got upset about that. It happens to be true. Various emailers challenged us to recite all the kings of Lower Saxony or some such thing to prove we know European history. That's a very European approach to history: dry recitation of relatively insignificant facts that can be looked up in a reference book (or now on the internet) without any context or analysis of why a particular fact is important to the way the world is today. You would think that the USA being the world's most important country, the richest and most powerful country that has ever existed, would be an object of serious study, at least by the European foreign policy elite. Not so. They seem to get what knowledge they have (and it's not much) from BBC, CNN, Hollywood, and the shoddy and demented news media organizations that dominate the EU. America, 'the land of McDonalds' as one email charmingly put it, has more bookstores, libraries, museums, theaters, orchestras, music and art schools, and high quality technical and educational institutions (private and public) than any other country in the world, including any European country. The New York City public school system probably has produced more Nobel prize-winners than any other educational institution in the world.
Let us also not forget that the USA is actually older as a nation than many European countries (Germany and Italy, to name just two.) We are also the world's oldest democracy. You would think that Europeans would be dying to read up on the American Revolution and the principles that founded such a successful Republic. But, no. They blather on about the French Revolution, a ludicrous and horrific event that produced empty slogans, mass murder, chaos, dictatorship, years of warfare, defeats galore for France, the installation of one of the world's most absurd monarchies, and decades upon decades of political instability."
"We drew fire from those who took offense from our claim that educated Americans -- such as we humble Diplomads -- know more about Europe, than educated Europeans -- notably Euro diplomats -- know about the USA. We don't know why some got upset about that. It happens to be true. Various emailers challenged us to recite all the kings of Lower Saxony or some such thing to prove we know European history. That's a very European approach to history: dry recitation of relatively insignificant facts that can be looked up in a reference book (or now on the internet) without any context or analysis of why a particular fact is important to the way the world is today. You would think that the USA being the world's most important country, the richest and most powerful country that has ever existed, would be an object of serious study, at least by the European foreign policy elite. Not so. They seem to get what knowledge they have (and it's not much) from BBC, CNN, Hollywood, and the shoddy and demented news media organizations that dominate the EU. America, 'the land of McDonalds' as one email charmingly put it, has more bookstores, libraries, museums, theaters, orchestras, music and art schools, and high quality technical and educational institutions (private and public) than any other country in the world, including any European country. The New York City public school system probably has produced more Nobel prize-winners than any other educational institution in the world.
Let us also not forget that the USA is actually older as a nation than many European countries (Germany and Italy, to name just two.) We are also the world's oldest democracy. You would think that Europeans would be dying to read up on the American Revolution and the principles that founded such a successful Republic. But, no. They blather on about the French Revolution, a ludicrous and horrific event that produced empty slogans, mass murder, chaos, dictatorship, years of warfare, defeats galore for France, the installation of one of the world's most absurd monarchies, and decades upon decades of political instability."
Chris Hitchens on Dan Rather
From INDC Journal:
"But for journalism and its standards do matter, not just to me. I don't think of myself now as in the same profession of Dan Rather. And Dan Rather showed himself, it seems to me, to be--not for the first time actually--a very poor specimen of a showbiz type. He's not in journalism at all anymore. It's an absolute scandal that this stuff ever got on the air.
And it's wrong for us to call it forgery, even. A forgery is an attempt to fake something that's worth having. If I could get my printer to give me a $100 bill and I handed it to you and you took it, the handshake between us would be of that kind. But if I printed a $99 bill and handed it to you, you would be a fool and I would be a crook twice. This is not a forgery. This is fabrication.
And we help Rather out, it seems to me, every time we say forgery. Forgery is the cover story now. That's what they're back to. They're saying, well, it's essentially true. All the documents are fake, but the story is true. This is unpardonable.
...
I don't think it could fall any lower than this, in other words. And whether there is collusion with the DNC or not, I don't know. But there really had better not be, because I can't think'having said it couldn't go any lower, that's as low as it could then go. "
"But for journalism and its standards do matter, not just to me. I don't think of myself now as in the same profession of Dan Rather. And Dan Rather showed himself, it seems to me, to be--not for the first time actually--a very poor specimen of a showbiz type. He's not in journalism at all anymore. It's an absolute scandal that this stuff ever got on the air.
And it's wrong for us to call it forgery, even. A forgery is an attempt to fake something that's worth having. If I could get my printer to give me a $100 bill and I handed it to you and you took it, the handshake between us would be of that kind. But if I printed a $99 bill and handed it to you, you would be a fool and I would be a crook twice. This is not a forgery. This is fabrication.
And we help Rather out, it seems to me, every time we say forgery. Forgery is the cover story now. That's what they're back to. They're saying, well, it's essentially true. All the documents are fake, but the story is true. This is unpardonable.
...
I don't think it could fall any lower than this, in other words. And whether there is collusion with the DNC or not, I don't know. But there really had better not be, because I can't think'having said it couldn't go any lower, that's as low as it could then go. "
Charles Johnson on The New York Times
From Little Green Footballs :
"Matthew Klam, with whom I spoke on the phone for 43 minutes of my life that I'll never get back, writes a story for the New York Times Magazine about political blogs. And in a 10-page article, covers only the left wing blogs, including the worst, most virulent centers of lunacy. In glowing terms. Featuring a photo of Markos Zuniga, the owner of Daily Kos.
"There is not one word about the anti-idiotarian blogosphere. No LGF. No Roger L. Simon. No Michael Totten. No Allah. No Belmont Club. No Power Line. No INDC Journal. No Command Post. No Michele. No Cox & Forkum. No Rantburg.
"Nobody but Atrios, Josh Marshall, Daily Kos, Wonkette, and the other New York Times-approved left-wing drones. Not one word. Ten pages.
"The New York Times, with help from Matthew Klam, is trying to make us all disappear.
"I don't trust myself to write what I really feel about Klam's outrageously slanted piece. Read it for yourself: Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail. The mainstream media's shameful, arrogant bias, up there for all to see.
"UPDATE at 9/25/04 8:00:33 pm:
Matthew Klam will be on C-Span's Washington Journal tomorrow, talking about his article and taking calls."
"Matthew Klam, with whom I spoke on the phone for 43 minutes of my life that I'll never get back, writes a story for the New York Times Magazine about political blogs. And in a 10-page article, covers only the left wing blogs, including the worst, most virulent centers of lunacy. In glowing terms. Featuring a photo of Markos Zuniga, the owner of Daily Kos.
"There is not one word about the anti-idiotarian blogosphere. No LGF. No Roger L. Simon. No Michael Totten. No Allah. No Belmont Club. No Power Line. No INDC Journal. No Command Post. No Michele. No Cox & Forkum. No Rantburg.
"Nobody but Atrios, Josh Marshall, Daily Kos, Wonkette, and the other New York Times-approved left-wing drones. Not one word. Ten pages.
"The New York Times, with help from Matthew Klam, is trying to make us all disappear.
"I don't trust myself to write what I really feel about Klam's outrageously slanted piece. Read it for yourself: Fear and Laptops on the Campaign Trail. The mainstream media's shameful, arrogant bias, up there for all to see.
"UPDATE at 9/25/04 8:00:33 pm:
Matthew Klam will be on C-Span's Washington Journal tomorrow, talking about his article and taking calls."
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Agustin Blazquez and the 'Bad Word' by Belkis Cuza Male
(Published by El Nuevo Herald, Friday, Sept. 24, 2004)
When I saw him at the door of my house I thought he was a resurrection of Fujita, because he was the living likeness of the Japanese painter living in Paris in the 1920s. His hair was evenly falling over his forehead making his eyes look oriental--everything about him reminded me of the painter. Well, these are the first impressions that later on vanish, deconstructing that person the next time our eyes focus on them.
In the case of Agustin Blazquez it is easy to realize that he was not Fujita, but a different being, emanating from himself, who knows if he is a relative of the famous Spaniard writer, nonagenarian Blasco Ibañez, but I could more accurately present him as a tenor, because that very special voice of his presides as a visiting card.
I am not far off; Agustin Blazquez was an actor and a singer in Cuba, he mentioned to me, and many years ago worked in theatrical companies in Havana. For sure, everybody knows him now for what he is, a film director with three fantastic documentaries, the most recent, Covering Cuba 3, about the case of the boy Elian Gonzalez, which was a success at the American Film Renaissance Film Festival in Dallas, Texas.
Agustin traveled from the Washington, DC area to participate with his film as a guest of the festival and while in Texas, on Sunday, September 12 he came to La Casa Azul in Fort Worth and presented Covering Cuba 3: Elian. He was accompanied by Jaums Sutton, his assistant and interviewer in his various films and co-editor of his articles and books.
The impression you receive when you see Covering Cuba 3: Elian is totally new and surprising, although the Elian theme by itself is too well known and could result in a hard to do piece when you want to create art. But Agustin has done it. He achieved the emotion and made us shed tears with his true-cinema and his denunciations.
But it is here, in this word – denunciation – where I want to pause and call your attention. Because I want you to understand that it seems there are “denunciations” and “denunciations.”
When Communists use propaganda to denounce something, immediately there are receptive ears, there are mouths multiplying, cameras that work, newspapers giving all types of coverage and front page exposure. But when someone that is categorized a “conservative” makes a denunciation about a situation, makes art with this denunciation, the result is an immense void, a profound silence, an unhealthy indifference.
If you could talk with Agustin Blazquez, he could tell you better than myself of the frustrations of his experiences. First as a painter and sculptor - for years he tried to make it as such – and later his uncountable efforts to show his films in this country. To date all would have been negatives. For example, recently the American Film Institute (AFI) and a film festival associated with the AFI in Maryland as well as the Maryland State Arts Council rejected Covering Cuba 3: Elian. It did not fit the political taste of the sponsors.
So when he was invited by the Dallas film festival, which intended to show the other side of the coin, the filmmaker and painter (former actor and singer) packed his bags and drove all the way to far away Texas, where his presence and his art were being requested. Indeed Covering Cuba 3 received all the deserving applause.
However, these days have been a non-stop roller coaster of emotions for Agustin Blazquez, who – thanks to the rudeness in Maryland – received a reaction from some in the media. A wonderful editorial in the Wall Street Journal about him and his work set him in orbit followed by a live interview at the Fox News Channel. And while in Dallas, the local CBS did the same in relation to his Elian film.
But for example, when we sent a press release to the Star Telegram in Fort Worth announcing Covering Cuba 3 and his presence at La Casa Azul (Heberto Padilla Cultural Center), what we got was a four-line ad among the ethnic activities on the calendar celebrating Hispanic Month. That in spite of the photos of the film and the director they requested which were promptly sent.
Everybody knows that conservative is a “bad word” and the Dallas film festival seemed to be such, so the newspapers appear to use that classification to treat as junk all of the participants. So, that’s why Agustin Blazquez and La Casa Azul didn’t deserve anything better from the Star Telegram nor La Estrella, their Spanish counterpart (that totally ignored the press release).
Could it be in fashion someday--the word “conservative”? A friend asked me, What’s wrong with being a conservative? I mean, to believe in God, in the family, in some moral values, to believe that abortion is a crime and of course don’t play with the Communists?
There are dictatorships of the right and the left? Of course, but the first type you can almost always can get rid of, but the Communist ones, as we say in Cuba, fall only by “holding the tin cup to the fire til the bottom melts.”
The real “conservative” is the one that of course is loyal to the traditional values of justice and rejects outright any dictatorship.
Truly, for me, the word conservative equally defines anyone from the right or the left who grasps at his ideas (sometimes with the extreme stubbornness of the liberals and the anti-imperialists). The ultraconservatives and fundamentalists are Fidel Castro himself and his Latin American associates, as well as all these characters of the horrible left and that Hollywood “star” fauna giving their stupid opinions and those that don’t want to see any other documentaries than the one of the pathetic Michael Moore.
Agustin Blazquez is a complete artist, a renaissance man, a character that breaks the parameters of the definitions, so it’s better that we don’t classify him but in the place where he belongs, in the landscape of the great creators and Covering Cuba 3 is a good sample of what I mean. If you haven’t seen it, run and do it and tell me about it.
I am sure you are going to agree with Bill, a humble American and a neighbor of La Casa Azul, who thinks that all the youngsters in this country must see Agustin Blazquez’s film.
(The film is available on DVD at http://www.cubacollectibles.com)
When I saw him at the door of my house I thought he was a resurrection of Fujita, because he was the living likeness of the Japanese painter living in Paris in the 1920s. His hair was evenly falling over his forehead making his eyes look oriental--everything about him reminded me of the painter. Well, these are the first impressions that later on vanish, deconstructing that person the next time our eyes focus on them.
In the case of Agustin Blazquez it is easy to realize that he was not Fujita, but a different being, emanating from himself, who knows if he is a relative of the famous Spaniard writer, nonagenarian Blasco Ibañez, but I could more accurately present him as a tenor, because that very special voice of his presides as a visiting card.
I am not far off; Agustin Blazquez was an actor and a singer in Cuba, he mentioned to me, and many years ago worked in theatrical companies in Havana. For sure, everybody knows him now for what he is, a film director with three fantastic documentaries, the most recent, Covering Cuba 3, about the case of the boy Elian Gonzalez, which was a success at the American Film Renaissance Film Festival in Dallas, Texas.
Agustin traveled from the Washington, DC area to participate with his film as a guest of the festival and while in Texas, on Sunday, September 12 he came to La Casa Azul in Fort Worth and presented Covering Cuba 3: Elian. He was accompanied by Jaums Sutton, his assistant and interviewer in his various films and co-editor of his articles and books.
The impression you receive when you see Covering Cuba 3: Elian is totally new and surprising, although the Elian theme by itself is too well known and could result in a hard to do piece when you want to create art. But Agustin has done it. He achieved the emotion and made us shed tears with his true-cinema and his denunciations.
But it is here, in this word – denunciation – where I want to pause and call your attention. Because I want you to understand that it seems there are “denunciations” and “denunciations.”
When Communists use propaganda to denounce something, immediately there are receptive ears, there are mouths multiplying, cameras that work, newspapers giving all types of coverage and front page exposure. But when someone that is categorized a “conservative” makes a denunciation about a situation, makes art with this denunciation, the result is an immense void, a profound silence, an unhealthy indifference.
If you could talk with Agustin Blazquez, he could tell you better than myself of the frustrations of his experiences. First as a painter and sculptor - for years he tried to make it as such – and later his uncountable efforts to show his films in this country. To date all would have been negatives. For example, recently the American Film Institute (AFI) and a film festival associated with the AFI in Maryland as well as the Maryland State Arts Council rejected Covering Cuba 3: Elian. It did not fit the political taste of the sponsors.
So when he was invited by the Dallas film festival, which intended to show the other side of the coin, the filmmaker and painter (former actor and singer) packed his bags and drove all the way to far away Texas, where his presence and his art were being requested. Indeed Covering Cuba 3 received all the deserving applause.
However, these days have been a non-stop roller coaster of emotions for Agustin Blazquez, who – thanks to the rudeness in Maryland – received a reaction from some in the media. A wonderful editorial in the Wall Street Journal about him and his work set him in orbit followed by a live interview at the Fox News Channel. And while in Dallas, the local CBS did the same in relation to his Elian film.
But for example, when we sent a press release to the Star Telegram in Fort Worth announcing Covering Cuba 3 and his presence at La Casa Azul (Heberto Padilla Cultural Center), what we got was a four-line ad among the ethnic activities on the calendar celebrating Hispanic Month. That in spite of the photos of the film and the director they requested which were promptly sent.
Everybody knows that conservative is a “bad word” and the Dallas film festival seemed to be such, so the newspapers appear to use that classification to treat as junk all of the participants. So, that’s why Agustin Blazquez and La Casa Azul didn’t deserve anything better from the Star Telegram nor La Estrella, their Spanish counterpart (that totally ignored the press release).
Could it be in fashion someday--the word “conservative”? A friend asked me, What’s wrong with being a conservative? I mean, to believe in God, in the family, in some moral values, to believe that abortion is a crime and of course don’t play with the Communists?
There are dictatorships of the right and the left? Of course, but the first type you can almost always can get rid of, but the Communist ones, as we say in Cuba, fall only by “holding the tin cup to the fire til the bottom melts.”
The real “conservative” is the one that of course is loyal to the traditional values of justice and rejects outright any dictatorship.
Truly, for me, the word conservative equally defines anyone from the right or the left who grasps at his ideas (sometimes with the extreme stubbornness of the liberals and the anti-imperialists). The ultraconservatives and fundamentalists are Fidel Castro himself and his Latin American associates, as well as all these characters of the horrible left and that Hollywood “star” fauna giving their stupid opinions and those that don’t want to see any other documentaries than the one of the pathetic Michael Moore.
Agustin Blazquez is a complete artist, a renaissance man, a character that breaks the parameters of the definitions, so it’s better that we don’t classify him but in the place where he belongs, in the landscape of the great creators and Covering Cuba 3 is a good sample of what I mean. If you haven’t seen it, run and do it and tell me about it.
I am sure you are going to agree with Bill, a humble American and a neighbor of La Casa Azul, who thinks that all the youngsters in this country must see Agustin Blazquez’s film.
(The film is available on DVD at http://www.cubacollectibles.com)
Dan Rather, the Blogosphere, and Me...
All this fuss about the role of blogs in the Dan Rather Forgery Scandal reminded me of an article about blogs from couple of years ago, which discussed the significance of the Blogosphere:
"It was rewarding to google 'bloggers accounts of The Idler's June 28th panel at the National Press Club: 'Inside the Blogosphere: The Weblog Phenomenon.' While it was naturally disappointing that Glenn Reynolds and James Lileks cancelled due to thunderstorms, airlines, and scratched flights, it was gratifying that they wrote about their experience in their blogs, because that is the Blogosphere in action -- self-referential, self-reflexive, self-analytical, self-correcting, universal, instaneous, decentralized, emotional, rational, and available for continuous updating, response, and review. It shows the strength of the Blogosphere as a network of responses.
In the words of William Quick's January, 2002 posting on DailyPundit:
'I PROPOSE A NAME for the intellectual cyberspace we bloggers occupy: the Blogosphere. Simple enough; the root word is logos, from the Greek meaning, variously: In pre-Socratic philosophy, the principle governing the cosmos, the source of this principle, or human reasoning about the cosmos; Among the Sophists, the topics of rational argument or the arguments themselves. ..' "
"It was rewarding to google 'bloggers accounts of The Idler's June 28th panel at the National Press Club: 'Inside the Blogosphere: The Weblog Phenomenon.' While it was naturally disappointing that Glenn Reynolds and James Lileks cancelled due to thunderstorms, airlines, and scratched flights, it was gratifying that they wrote about their experience in their blogs, because that is the Blogosphere in action -- self-referential, self-reflexive, self-analytical, self-correcting, universal, instaneous, decentralized, emotional, rational, and available for continuous updating, response, and review. It shows the strength of the Blogosphere as a network of responses.
In the words of William Quick's January, 2002 posting on DailyPundit:
'I PROPOSE A NAME for the intellectual cyberspace we bloggers occupy: the Blogosphere. Simple enough; the root word is logos, from the Greek meaning, variously: In pre-Socratic philosophy, the principle governing the cosmos, the source of this principle, or human reasoning about the cosmos; Among the Sophists, the topics of rational argument or the arguments themselves. ..' "
Nonie Darwish on the Jewish New Year
From Kesher Talk [link from WindsofChange.net]:
"At a time when most religions struggle to explain evil in the world, radical Islam found the answer. Without hesitation, they say it is the Jews. Just listen to most Friday sermons in mosques all around the Muslim world. In these sermons week after week, there is one theme that keeps repeating itself: The Jews are responsible for all that is wrong in Arab society, and Arabs are not responsible for their failures. Blame the Jews, is what ends every mosque sermon. For that I personally want to apologize to Jews around the world on their holiest time of the year.
"Jews do not wish each other a “Happy New Year” on Rosh Hashana, the way we are all used to on every January 1. The traditional Hebrew greeting is “Shanah Tovah”, which means a “good year” or “a year of goodness.” The greeting stresses the yearning for goodness and the desire of living a good life; a life committed to improving the world and relationships. I am in awe when I hear my Jewish friends speak and explain the teachings of their faith.
"During these “10 days of Repentance” I want to repent and personally apologize to Jews around the world on their High Holidays. I also want to thank them and their culture for their many contributions to humanity. I am grateful for their teaching me this great tradition that so many of us non-Jews need to reflect upon. We all need to examine ourselves from inside, bring out the good and see what we have accomplished as members of the human race. We all learn from each other on this small planet of ours, and that is good. Much of the early Islamic thought and practices were based on what the Prophet Mohammed observed from the Jewish tribes of Mecca and Medina, who were a significant part of the life and culture of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century. Let us revive a gracious cultural exchange, a time of appreciation and understanding. May the New Year bring to our reality some of our expectations and may it bring us more together."
"At a time when most religions struggle to explain evil in the world, radical Islam found the answer. Without hesitation, they say it is the Jews. Just listen to most Friday sermons in mosques all around the Muslim world. In these sermons week after week, there is one theme that keeps repeating itself: The Jews are responsible for all that is wrong in Arab society, and Arabs are not responsible for their failures. Blame the Jews, is what ends every mosque sermon. For that I personally want to apologize to Jews around the world on their holiest time of the year.
"Jews do not wish each other a “Happy New Year” on Rosh Hashana, the way we are all used to on every January 1. The traditional Hebrew greeting is “Shanah Tovah”, which means a “good year” or “a year of goodness.” The greeting stresses the yearning for goodness and the desire of living a good life; a life committed to improving the world and relationships. I am in awe when I hear my Jewish friends speak and explain the teachings of their faith.
"During these “10 days of Repentance” I want to repent and personally apologize to Jews around the world on their High Holidays. I also want to thank them and their culture for their many contributions to humanity. I am grateful for their teaching me this great tradition that so many of us non-Jews need to reflect upon. We all need to examine ourselves from inside, bring out the good and see what we have accomplished as members of the human race. We all learn from each other on this small planet of ours, and that is good. Much of the early Islamic thought and practices were based on what the Prophet Mohammed observed from the Jewish tribes of Mecca and Medina, who were a significant part of the life and culture of the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century. Let us revive a gracious cultural exchange, a time of appreciation and understanding. May the New Year bring to our reality some of our expectations and may it bring us more together."
Madonna's Israeli Pilgrimmage
From Haaretz :
"After midnight prayers at the grave of a rabbinical sage, songstress Madonna on Sunday called for world peace at a conference on Jewish mysticism, a highlight of her five-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Israel hopes the star - the biggest pop celebrity to visit in years - will revive tourism battered by four years of violence, and government officials were on hand at a Tel Aviv hotel to share the spotlight, the glory and the photographs.
"Madonna, wearing a low-cut dress with a black and white leopard pattern, said she was hesitant to come to Israel 'after seeing so many news reports about terror attacks' and reading State Department travel warnings. 'I realize now that it is no more dangerous to be here than it is to be in New York,' she told the gathering of more than 1,000 people.
"Speaking without notes, Madonna said the people she met during her five-day Holy Land trip 'have one thing in common - we want to create peace in the world.' "
"After midnight prayers at the grave of a rabbinical sage, songstress Madonna on Sunday called for world peace at a conference on Jewish mysticism, a highlight of her five-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Israel hopes the star - the biggest pop celebrity to visit in years - will revive tourism battered by four years of violence, and government officials were on hand at a Tel Aviv hotel to share the spotlight, the glory and the photographs.
"Madonna, wearing a low-cut dress with a black and white leopard pattern, said she was hesitant to come to Israel 'after seeing so many news reports about terror attacks' and reading State Department travel warnings. 'I realize now that it is no more dangerous to be here than it is to be in New York,' she told the gathering of more than 1,000 people.
"Speaking without notes, Madonna said the people she met during her five-day Holy Land trip 'have one thing in common - we want to create peace in the world.' "
Ann Coulter on Dan Rather's Forgeries
From AnnCoulter.com:
"CBS was forced to run a fake story so early in the campaign that it was exposed as a fraud – only because of the Swift Boat vets. These brave men, many of them decorated war heroes, have now not only won the election for Bush, they have ended Dan Rather's career.
"It's often said that we never lost a battle in Vietnam, but that the war was lost at home by a seditious media demoralizing the American people. Ironically, the leader of that effort was Rather's predecessor at CBS News, Walter Cronkite, president of the Ho Chi Minh Admiration Society.
"It was Cronkite who went on air and lied about the Tet offensive, claiming it was a defeat for the Americans. He told the American people the war was over and we had lost. Ronald Reagan said CBS News officials should have been tried for treason for those broadcasts.
"CBS has already lost one war for America. The Swift Boat Vets weren't going to let CBS lose another one."
"CBS was forced to run a fake story so early in the campaign that it was exposed as a fraud – only because of the Swift Boat vets. These brave men, many of them decorated war heroes, have now not only won the election for Bush, they have ended Dan Rather's career.
"It's often said that we never lost a battle in Vietnam, but that the war was lost at home by a seditious media demoralizing the American people. Ironically, the leader of that effort was Rather's predecessor at CBS News, Walter Cronkite, president of the Ho Chi Minh Admiration Society.
"It was Cronkite who went on air and lied about the Tet offensive, claiming it was a defeat for the Americans. He told the American people the war was over and we had lost. Ronald Reagan said CBS News officials should have been tried for treason for those broadcasts.
"CBS has already lost one war for America. The Swift Boat Vets weren't going to let CBS lose another one."
Colbert King on Kerry's Latest Critics
From The Washington Post:
"Two weeks later, another e-mail arrived on the same topic. It was from a Howard University classmate, a friend of 47 years, former assistant secretary of the Air Force Rodney Coleman. A Democrat, Coleman has local roots, having worked for the D.C. Council and later the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corp. Bill Clinton appointed Coleman to the Pentagon post, in which he served from 1994 to 1998. Somehow, despite our running into each other over the years at various social occasions, Vietnam was never a serious topic of conversation between us. Until now. Coleman, who served in Vietnam for 13 months in 1971-72, wrote that he found disheartening the protracted mudslinging between Bush and Kerry and their respective camps about military records. But the favorable conclusion I drew about Kerry's service was, he stated, 'with all due respect, not mine!'
'Some of those 58,000 who died [in Vietnam] were at DaNang with me, and some were under my command, in the 366th Air Force engineering squadron,' Coleman wrote. Then he got to the heart of the matter.
'I vividly recall Kerry's antiwar testimony in April 1971. I was a White House fellow at the time, on a leave of absence from active duty, as were five of the 17 fellows selected. Two of them had Vietnam experience with Silver and Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts awarded for their heroism. In early April 1971, I volunteered to go to Vietnam after my year as a White House fellow. I could have very easily taken steps to forgo a tour in 'Nam, but as an Air Force captain committed to the ideals of the oath of office I took, Vietnam was the only game in town.' The oath of office was a serious matter for products of Howard's ROTC programs. I know. I was commissioned in the Army; Coleman joined the Air Force. Unlike some college campuses, Howard's ROTC programs were a source of pride, having produced, according to the school, more African American general officers than any other university in the country.
"When Kerry made those critical statements of the war," Coleman wrote, "my parents, God bless them, went ballistic about their son going in harm's way. My military colleagues in the fellows program who had been there and were shot up were incensed that a so-called military man would engage in such insubordinate actions. At the time Kerry made those unfortunate remarks, America had POWs and MIAs, among them my friend, Colonel Fred Cherry, the longest-held black POW of the Vietnam War. How could a true American fighting man throw away his medals, while thousands he fought alongside of were in the midst of another example of man's inhumanity to man?"
"Two weeks later, another e-mail arrived on the same topic. It was from a Howard University classmate, a friend of 47 years, former assistant secretary of the Air Force Rodney Coleman. A Democrat, Coleman has local roots, having worked for the D.C. Council and later the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corp. Bill Clinton appointed Coleman to the Pentagon post, in which he served from 1994 to 1998. Somehow, despite our running into each other over the years at various social occasions, Vietnam was never a serious topic of conversation between us. Until now. Coleman, who served in Vietnam for 13 months in 1971-72, wrote that he found disheartening the protracted mudslinging between Bush and Kerry and their respective camps about military records. But the favorable conclusion I drew about Kerry's service was, he stated, 'with all due respect, not mine!'
'Some of those 58,000 who died [in Vietnam] were at DaNang with me, and some were under my command, in the 366th Air Force engineering squadron,' Coleman wrote. Then he got to the heart of the matter.
'I vividly recall Kerry's antiwar testimony in April 1971. I was a White House fellow at the time, on a leave of absence from active duty, as were five of the 17 fellows selected. Two of them had Vietnam experience with Silver and Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts awarded for their heroism. In early April 1971, I volunteered to go to Vietnam after my year as a White House fellow. I could have very easily taken steps to forgo a tour in 'Nam, but as an Air Force captain committed to the ideals of the oath of office I took, Vietnam was the only game in town.' The oath of office was a serious matter for products of Howard's ROTC programs. I know. I was commissioned in the Army; Coleman joined the Air Force. Unlike some college campuses, Howard's ROTC programs were a source of pride, having produced, according to the school, more African American general officers than any other university in the country.
"When Kerry made those critical statements of the war," Coleman wrote, "my parents, God bless them, went ballistic about their son going in harm's way. My military colleagues in the fellows program who had been there and were shot up were incensed that a so-called military man would engage in such insubordinate actions. At the time Kerry made those unfortunate remarks, America had POWs and MIAs, among them my friend, Colonel Fred Cherry, the longest-held black POW of the Vietnam War. How could a true American fighting man throw away his medals, while thousands he fought alongside of were in the midst of another example of man's inhumanity to man?"
Friday, September 24, 2004
Ballerina on the Boat
Last night we watched a DVD called Masters Of Russian Animation, featuring Brezhnev-era cartoons. It was a mixed bag, generally the films for children based on fairy-tales were more appealing than the propagandistic adult-oriented Soviet animation. Can't recommend the DVD overall, but a few short films really were excellent.
Ideya Granina's "Crane Feathers" is striking, Japanese dolls tell a sad story of trapped lives. Yuri Norstein's three shorts were also super: "Fox and Rabbit," about courage, "Heron and Crane," about marriage, and "Hedgehog in the Fog", about life. These are charming Aesop's-fable like morality tales, sweet for children, while bittersweet for adults.
My favorite was Lev Atamanov's "Ballerina on the Boat." A beautiful ballerina comes onto a boat, transforming everyone she meets, rescuing the vessel from a dangerous storm, literally floating away. It reminded me of "Steamroller and Violin," how much art and culture meant to people as an escape from the grim realities of the "Worker's State."
Ideya Granina's "Crane Feathers" is striking, Japanese dolls tell a sad story of trapped lives. Yuri Norstein's three shorts were also super: "Fox and Rabbit," about courage, "Heron and Crane," about marriage, and "Hedgehog in the Fog", about life. These are charming Aesop's-fable like morality tales, sweet for children, while bittersweet for adults.
My favorite was Lev Atamanov's "Ballerina on the Boat." A beautiful ballerina comes onto a boat, transforming everyone she meets, rescuing the vessel from a dangerous storm, literally floating away. It reminded me of "Steamroller and Violin," how much art and culture meant to people as an escape from the grim realities of the "Worker's State."
France Promises Israel Support
FromHaaretz :
"NEW YORK - French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier promised U.S. Jewish leaders Thursday that his country would wage an intransigent battle against anti-Semitic violence and improve its relations with Israel. Barnier met a group of U.S. Jewish community leaders to explain government measures to counter a surge of attacks on Jewish targets in the Paris region and the provinces. 'I told them of the total determination of the president [Jacques Chirac] and the government to fight all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia,' Barnier told reporters."
"NEW YORK - French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier promised U.S. Jewish leaders Thursday that his country would wage an intransigent battle against anti-Semitic violence and improve its relations with Israel. Barnier met a group of U.S. Jewish community leaders to explain government measures to counter a surge of attacks on Jewish targets in the Paris region and the provinces. 'I told them of the total determination of the president [Jacques Chirac] and the government to fight all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia,' Barnier told reporters."
Russia Atones for Stalin's Anti-Jewish Purge
From MosNews.com:
"One of the skeletons rattling in the former Soviet Union's closet was finally put to rest with honors on September 21--it even happened at a cemetery. A newly unveiled memorial at Moscow's Donskoye Cemetery commemorates the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. The committee had been created to further Jewish culture in the USSR, but in the 1950s its members, including renowned artists and writers, were eliminated during Stalin's anti-Semitic purge. The story of the committee's end has been unraveled by historians as a stark, chilling testimony of Stalin-era horrors. The committee had been formed in 1942 to create support for the Soviet Union among Jewish communities in the West. Solomon Mykhoels, a well-known Jewish actor, was chosen to head the committee. Many other famous Jewish cultural icons of the time were also active in the committee, including actors, poets, writers, scientists, and others. The committee published a newspaper in Yiddish. It was the first Soviet organization of this kind. Obviously, in the Soviet Union, an atheist state, the uniting factor was Jewish culture, since religion was discouraged. After the war, the committee revived Jewish culture in the Soviet Union, helping preserve Soviet Jews as an ethnicity. The ties it established with Western Jews helped assemble and spread information about the persecution of Jews and the Holocaust. After WWII, when the Soviet Union was becoming the center of one of two warring camps in a bipolar world, these ties to the West, which were the very reason the Committee was established, became a threat to the secretive, policing Soviet government."
"One of the skeletons rattling in the former Soviet Union's closet was finally put to rest with honors on September 21--it even happened at a cemetery. A newly unveiled memorial at Moscow's Donskoye Cemetery commemorates the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. The committee had been created to further Jewish culture in the USSR, but in the 1950s its members, including renowned artists and writers, were eliminated during Stalin's anti-Semitic purge. The story of the committee's end has been unraveled by historians as a stark, chilling testimony of Stalin-era horrors. The committee had been formed in 1942 to create support for the Soviet Union among Jewish communities in the West. Solomon Mykhoels, a well-known Jewish actor, was chosen to head the committee. Many other famous Jewish cultural icons of the time were also active in the committee, including actors, poets, writers, scientists, and others. The committee published a newspaper in Yiddish. It was the first Soviet organization of this kind. Obviously, in the Soviet Union, an atheist state, the uniting factor was Jewish culture, since religion was discouraged. After the war, the committee revived Jewish culture in the Soviet Union, helping preserve Soviet Jews as an ethnicity. The ties it established with Western Jews helped assemble and spread information about the persecution of Jews and the Holocaust. After WWII, when the Soviet Union was becoming the center of one of two warring camps in a bipolar world, these ties to the West, which were the very reason the Committee was established, became a threat to the secretive, policing Soviet government."
Thursday, September 23, 2004
Belmont Club on Terror Networks
Thanks to Instapundit again, here's an interesting link at Belmont Club:
"Vladis Krebs has a case study page examining how mapping social networks and understanding their properties can be used to take down of terrorist networks. Network analysis was used to take down Saddam Hussein. The Washington Post has some of the details."
"Vladis Krebs has a case study page examining how mapping social networks and understanding their properties can be used to take down of terrorist networks. Network analysis was used to take down Saddam Hussein. The Washington Post has some of the details."
Iranian Bloggers v.the Mullahs
From the BBC [tip from Instapundit.com]:
"Hundreds of Iranian online journals have been protesting against media censorship by renaming their websites after pro-reformist newspapers and websites that have been banned or shut down by the authorities. Many of the websites, known as blogs or weblogs, have also posted news items from the banned publications on their websites. The protest was started by blogger Hossein Derakhshan, a student at Toronto university in Canada. He told the BBC that although he felt the action was symbolic, he wanted to show Iranian authorities 'that they would not be able to censor the internet in the same way as they have managed to control other media.'"
"Hundreds of Iranian online journals have been protesting against media censorship by renaming their websites after pro-reformist newspapers and websites that have been banned or shut down by the authorities. Many of the websites, known as blogs or weblogs, have also posted news items from the banned publications on their websites. The protest was started by blogger Hossein Derakhshan, a student at Toronto university in Canada. He told the BBC that although he felt the action was symbolic, he wanted to show Iranian authorities 'that they would not be able to censor the internet in the same way as they have managed to control other media.'"
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