Does Wes Anderson Make Documentaries?

Today's New York Times obituary of Leila Hadley by William Grimes (IMHO the best writer on the paper), reads like The Darjeeling Limited, Life Acquatic, and Royal Tennenbaums rolled into one:

In 1978 her daughter Victoria invited her to visit India. Victoria, from whom she had been estranged for years, was translating Sanskrit texts into Tibetan near Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama lives in exile. Mrs. Hadley saw the invitation as a chance to re-establish ties, and she and her daughter traveled from New Delhi to Dharamsala. Mrs. Hadley described the trip in “A Journey With Elsa Cloud,” a blend of autobiography, family saga and travel book whose title came from Victoria’s childhood wish to be “the sea, the jungle, or else a cloud.”

Along the way, Mrs. Hadley developed a lifelong interest in Tibet. In 1979 she wrote “Tibet 20 Years After the Chinese Takeover.” She was a board member of Tibet House for many years and endowed the Leila Hadley Luce Chair for Modern Tibetan Studies at Columbia University.

Trouble lay just over the horizon after the journey of reconciliation. Victoria denounced the book and later contributed family letters and her own diaries to support her sister Caroline’s lawsuit, whose details were reported in The New York Post and Vanity Fair.

Caroline Nicholson said that Mr. Luce had repeatedly tried to rape her and that she had been invited into bed by her mother and Mr. Luce. The case was dismissed in 2004 when the judge ruled that New York’s 30-year statute of limitations for the complaint had expired. Faith Nicholson said that Mrs. Hadley had attempted to assault her sexually and had intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

As charges and countercharges flew back and forth, Mrs. Hadley revealed, in her deposition, that she had been pursued ardently by Marlon Brando when he was performing on Broadway in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and had had a passionate affair with the cartoonist Charles Addams.

Matthew Eliott (who changed his last name in the 1970s) conceded that his mother was mentally troubled but challenged his sisters’ version of events, which painted a picture of their mother as a narcissist obsessed with money, social connections and her weight.

During the turmoil Mrs. Hadley produced a serene book, “A Garden by the Sea” (2005), about the pleasures of tending marigolds and irises on Fishers Island.

Joshua Foust on What's Gone Wrong In Afghanistan

Another perspective, from Registan.net:

“You know what, though?” He said, his voice rising a bit. “People die in war. It sucks, but it has to happen to get things done.” I was a bit taken aback. Even though I’ve spent years in military contracting, I’m not used to hearing people talk like this. He was right—basic tenets of counterinsurgency, like what I call “the lie of force protection” (i.e. force protection makes you less safe), actually do put people at risk and make them more likely to die. Effective counterinsurgency is a dangerous business. But then the LTC dropped a bombshell that got me to thinking.

“No one has ever gotten a 15-6 for losing a village in Afghanistan,” he said. “But if he loses a soldier defending that village from the Taliban, he gets investigated.”

As soon as he said it, we both paused for a second and looked at each other.

“I think you just explained why we’re losing,” I said, meaning every word. As of late, I’ve been fighting this nagging feeling that, from command on down, there is no concerted desire to accomplish the mission, just a desire to finish one’s tour and head home and screw whoever has to pick up the pieces later.

After another pause, he looked at me and said, his mouth twisting ever so slightly, “You know, I think you’re right.”

We didn’t say much for the rest of dinner.

Holland v. UK War of Words Over Free Speech Rights

Britain's ban and deportation of Netherlands MP Geert Wilders, on his way to the House of Lords, has led Holland to call for anti-British sanctions in the EU according to The Telegraph:

The matter could be raised as soon as next week at the European Parliament.

Thijs Berman, a Dutch EU Socialist Parliamentarian, said he will discuss the case during Tuesday's socialist EU Parliamentarians meeting in Brussels.

He said he was keen to obtain an "official rebuke" to Britain because the country had made a "totally wrong decision" by banning Mr Wilders.

He said: "We fought four wars against Britain and Mr Wilder's case will certainly not bring us to starting another one, but Freedom of Speech must be defended..."

BTW, I have not seen many other public references to wars between Britain and Holland in recent times. As a New York City native, I am of course aware of them...as my native city was formerly Nieuw Amsterdam.

Philip Johnston: UK Abandons Freedom of Speech

From The Telegraph:

The arrest and possible prosecution of Rowan Laxton, a Foreign Office diplomat, for railing at the Israeli invasion of Gaza from his exercise bike in the gym, is the latest example of an equally sinister development – the denunciation of opinions expressed in private, as with Carol Thatcher's "golliwog" comments. Free speech is about understanding that some people hold a different view from you, whether you like it or not. When we start to alert the "authorities" to thought crimes we really are one step away from the dystopian world that Orwell invented as a warning, not a prophecy.

The Government that has treated our liberties in such a cavalier way is having none of this, of course. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said the film made by Wilders was "full of hate" and therefore fell foul of British laws, though he admitted that he had not seen it and therefore could not judge. But, in any case, is he right? Is it against the law?

People have always been free under the criminal law to speak their minds, provided they did not, in doing so, incite others to commit violence or infringe public order. Rabble-rousers trying to whip up the mob have never been the beneficiaries of this latitude: there is, in other words, a difference between license and liberty. However, it is necessary to demonstrate that the words complained of are likely to stir up hatred and public disorder, not merely to complain that they are unpleasant or objectionable to some. Imams have been allowed to continue preaching in mosques when it could be argued that they have overstepped this mark, as when they have called for the death of homosexuals or Jews.

Wilders is no advertisement for free speech. After all, he wants the Koran to be banned. But that is not the point. It is what this affair says about us, not him, that matters. Is Britain now adopting a position where people who support suicide bombers and jihad are able to make known their opinions without legal challenge, whereas those who oppose them cannot?

The very people who in 1989 were demanding the murder of Salman Rushdie for writing a book are today leading the charge against a Dutch MP for making a film. The fundamental difference is that 20 years ago, the government supported free speech; today, it has cravenly surrendered. It is simply not good enough to say that Wilders should not be heard because he might provoke a backlash from those who do not like him or his views. That is not upholding the law. That is appeasement.

Águas de Março

Unable to get the catchy tune out of my head after watching the (unauthorized?) Trader Joe's ad posted earlier, by spinning a whole bunch of Euro-Pop LPs purchased at Rizzolis in the last century, someone I know identified the soundtrack on an old LP we used to listen to some 30 years ago in our Upper West Side aerie in New York City-- Frutta & Verdura, on which Mina she sang it as "La pioggia di marzo." As "Águas de Março" (Waters of March), the song had been recorded in 1974 by its composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and Elis Regina...who can be heard singing it on this YouTube video...
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Mina also sings it on YouTube, here:


And here it is in a 1985 Coca-Cola ad:

White House Blogs Lincoln's Birthday

From WhiteHouse.gov:

The Great Emancipator would have been 200 years old today, and President Obama is marking the occasion in several ways. This morning he spoke at the Lincoln bicentennial celebration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and tonight he’ll address the 102nd Abraham Lincoln Association Annual Banquet Dinner.

Last night he appeared at the Re-Opening of Ford’s Theatre, the site of the April 14, 1865, assassination of President Lincoln. Big names like Katie Couric, James Earl Jones, and Jeffrey Wright, appeared, and there performances by the President’s Own Marine Band, violinist Joshua Bell, and Audra McDonald, among others.

The 44th President commended the 16th’s many accomplishments, but made particular note of his commitment to the future, even amid the upheaval of the Civil War.

"When President Lincoln was finally told of all the metal being used at the Capitol, his response was short and clear: That is as it should be," President Obama said in his remarks. "The American people needed to be reminded, he believed, that even in a time of war, the work would go on; that even when the nation itself was in doubt, the future was being secured; and that on that distant day when the guns fell silent, a national capitol would stand, with a statue of freedom at its peak, as a symbol of unity in the land still mending its divisions."

Happy Birthday, Frederick Douglass!

Just got back from a terrific visit to the Frederick Douglass house in Washington, DC. They are having a birthday party for the first African-American to have his name placed in nomination for the Presidency of the United States (at the Republican Convention of 1888), publisher of the Northern Star, and author of "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" (1845) on Saturday, February 14th:

Frederick Douglass Birthday Celebration
Date: February 14, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM
Location:

Details:
Celebrate the birth of famed orator, activist and author, Frederick Douglass at Cedar Hill in Historic Anacostia, Washington, D.C. The day`s events begin with an opening ceremony followed by a lecture on the Freedman`s Bank and Freedman`s Bureau by Reginald Washington, an historian from the National Archives and a talk on Douglass by "Giants" author Dr. John Stuaffer. In addition, there will be special house tours, music, children`s activities and a guest appearance by Douglass himself, played by actor Kevin McIlvaine. Refreshments and books will be available for sale on-site.

No on-site parking will be available for this event.

If President Obama isn't too busy, maybe he'd drop by?

More on Frederick Douglas at the Library of Congress website.

An (unauthorized?) Trader Joe's Ad

(ht Althouse) "Unauthorized commercial for Trader Joe's shot on my Palm Treo before I accidentally ran over it with my car. Please watch in high quality. See more spots at www.carlsfinefilms.com"

President Obama's Press Conference

I heard the first part of the Presidential press conference on the radio driving home from work, watched the rest of the Q & A on TV, first PBS, then NBC because the PBS picture was too small and squeezed for my non-HDTV. Overall, a double rather than a home-run. But he did get on base, not bad.

Some initial thoughts:

1. As someone I know pointed out, Obama needs to take some Alexander Technique classes or find a good Drama coach, asap. He can talk the talk, but he can't walk the walk. Literally, his stroll to and from the podium in Ronald Reagan's corridor didn't come across too well. He needs to hold himself erect and stride purposefully, rather than just bopping along. One's posture reflects a great deal, when President it reflects the National Posture towards whatever. Before his next press conference, he really needs to work on his walk. in the meantime, and until he gets it right, it might be a good idea to use a different briefing room where he doesn't have to stride to and from the podium.

2. He showed some flashes of anger and resolve, which was nice to see, but it didn't seem as focused and controlled as it might be. What is the precise target of his emotions? That was unclear.

3. He didn't seem to be particularly well-briefed. A question about showing the arrival of war dead on TV seemed to take him by surprise, as did a question (pretty clearly intended as a friendly one) about steroids in baseball. He needs better staff work, and better answers worked out in advance. He should have been able make a decision on the air, to answer something like: "Yes, I will allow cameras to show the arrival of Americans who have died in the service of their country. There is nothing shameful about it. I join all Americans in saluting the fallen."

4. The stimulus message is still not clear. He said that he didn't pick $800 million "out of a hat," which immediately suggested (at least to me) that he did. The number is too close to the number of the TARP bailout not to look like a deal--$800 million for the banks, $800 million for the working stiffs. The rationale to do anything and worry about it later simply didn't compute. Better to know where you are going. We've just spent trillions of dollars under Bush and have little to show for it--other than defeat staring us in the face around the world and a collapsed economy. As someone I know suggested, he might "recalculate" his strategy and divide his bills into specific purpose-driven proposals: a health care bill, a highway bill, a jobs bill, and education bill, and so forth. Panic and hysterical threats of catastrophe were the Bush administration M.O. Americans voted for change. Even if he gets this through without Republican support, it looks like a setback--because he promised bipartisanship. His off-the-cuff remark about a different negotiation strategy vis-a-vis the Republican leadership at least shows he's thinking about this problem. Perhaps he should take out all the tax cuts in conference, if he's going to pass the bill without Republican support, just to show them who's boss?

5. The press was being tough, but fair. My guess is to show they don't work for him, and also to answer the challenge Obama laid down when he complained that Washingtonians were wimps because they wanted to take the day off when it snowed, unlike Chicagoans. There was a lot of grousing about that, in my opinion, perfectly honest remark. A friend told me that it is a mistake to upset the permanent bureaucracy in DC, that Carter suffered because he eliminated free parking. A suggestion to make nice from someone I know: Obama could announce the he will issue an executive order to make Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's Birthday federal holidays once more (in an economic slowdown, people don't have to work as hard). That's two paid vacation days instead of President's Day. He could announce it on February 12th, paying tribute to Lincoln, making a statement about himself and where he plans to take the country. And giving a make-up gift to disgruntled Washingtonians and civil servants at the same time..

6. Finally, the rhetoric about looking forward and not looking backward sounds too much like Bush. How do we know where we are going if we don't look back to see if we are on the right track? And if our navigators are no good, they need to be replaced. In a way, the stimulus package is suffering because Geithner was connected with the last bailout bill. A different Treasury secretary might have more "oomph." Obama was begging for people to pay attention to Geithner--bad. People should want to know what Geithner has to say on his own. IMHO, we have a crisis of confidence in leadership at all levels: financial, political, and military. There probably needs to be a serious house-cleaning, and yes, heads must roll and some people from Wall Street must go to jail to set an example. The sooner Obama accepts this and takes care of it, the better off he will be. Ronald Reagan's most important move was to fire striking air traffic controllers--who had endorsed him. Obama needs to do something similar to show he's his own man.

7. He should try to announce something completely new at a press conference, to move the ball forward and show he's controlling the agenda rather than that events are controlling him.

8. He should not have abruptly ended with: "All right. Thank you, guys," and then walked away. It looked like he couldn't stand the heat, so got out of the kitchen. He would to better use the conventional format of a friendly reporter asking, as the last question: "Thank you, Mr. President."

In conclusion, Obama needs to grow into the job. Given his growth as a candidate, there is no reason to doubt that "yes, he can" improve his performance in televised press conferences...

Well, At Least Now We Know What The British Foreign Office Really Thinks...

From The Daily Mail (ht LGF):

A high-ranking diplomat at the Foreign Office has been arrested after allegations that he launched a foul-mouthed anti-Semitic tirade.

Middle East expert Rowan Laxton, 47, was watching TV reports of the Israeli attack on Gaza as he used an exercise bike in a gym. Stunned staff and gym members allegedly heard him shout: 'F**king Israelis, f**king Jews'. It is alleged he also said Israeli soldiers should be 'wiped off the face of the earth'.

His rant reportedly continued even after he was approached by other gym users.

After a complaint was made to police, Mr Laxton was arrested for inciting religious hatred through threatening words and behaviour and bailed until late next month.

The maximum penalty for inciting religious hatred is a seven-year prison term or a fine or both.

Mr Laxton, who is still working normally, is head of the South Asia Group at the Foreign Office, on a salary of around £70,000.

Times of London story, here.

And Melanie Phillips links the story to the premier of Caryl Churchill's new play at the Royal Court Theatre.

Mark H. Teeter: How to "Reset" Russian-American Relations

From the Moscow Times:

Just who should "press the reset button," as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden aptly put in Munich on Saturday? Here are a half-dozen Americans, the tip of a modest iceberg, who spent significant time in the 1970s as either U.S.-subsidized exchange students at Soviet universities or USIA exhibit guides -- or both -- and have stayed conversant with things Russian ever since: Harley Balzer, professor of Russian studies at Georgetown; Blair Ruble, director of Washington's Kennan Institute; Laura Kennedy, deputy commandant and international affairs adviser at the National War College; Thomas Robertson, former Russia director at the National Security Council and ambassador to Slovenia; Rose Gottemoeller, previous director of the Carnegie Moscow Center; and John Beyrle, U.S. ambassador to Russia.

This group's expertise was developed first in U.S. schools and then in Russia's school of hard knocks, before perestroika. The resulting specialists are neither emigres nor ideologues, and their book-learning plus in-country tenure and honest-broker mentality distinguish them from less well-rounded peers. They represent a unique generation of new "old Russia hands" who bring with them more experience than baggage -- and understand the difference.

The extent to which the Obama administration takes their advice and uses their skills may dictate how much the U.S.-Russian relationship improves on multiple fronts. Or doesn't.

Even before Munich, things were warming up in several areas. Gottemoeller, a former Rand Corporation analyst, was named point person for breaking the U.S.-Russian nuclear negotiations logjam. Muscovites who have seen her in action call the appointment a boon to both sides. Beyrle, moreover, went on Vladimir Pozner's national television program recently and inspired myriad viewers to reconsider the United States and U.S. intentions. One veteran of Russia's "surveillance organs" wrote that he "listened to [Beyrle] for a few minutes and came to believe an entire country." Now that's "your tax dollars at work."

BTW, Beyrle was number two at the US Embassy when I taught in Moscow, not only did he seem smart but the Russian press lionized his father, Joseph Beyrle--"the American Comrade" who fought in both the US Army and the Soviet Army against the Nazis during World War II....

Your Bailout Tax Dollars At Work...

From today's Huffington Post:

Wall street lawyers, investment bankers, CEOs and media executives often used corporate credit cards to pay for $2,000 an hour prostitutes, according to the madam who ran one of New York's biggest and most expensive escort services until it was busted last year.

But prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's office chose not to pursue any of the corporate titans, says Kristin Davis, who pleaded guilty last year to charges of running a prostitution business that used more than a hundred women...

"Some of these guys, I was invoicing on corporate credit cards," she said. "I was writing up monthly bills for computer consulting, construction expenses, all of these things, I was invoicing them monthly so they could get it by their accountants," Davis said.

Raccoons Invade White House!

The other night a raccoon opened the window on our third-floor bathroom to get out of the cold night weather--"thud." When I went up, the intruder scampered out, leaving an open window that he had managed to unlatch. The next day, I took myself to Strossnider's Hardware to buy a couple of sliding hook latches that were supposedly more raccoon resistant (can't say "proof" with raccoons).

So, it was reassuring to read in this morning's paper that the White House is facing its own version of our problem. Today's paper failed to note that it is against the law to kill a raccoon, which means that each time a trapper relocates a critter to Rock Creek Park for a fee of a couple of hundred bucks, the animal just needs to wander back to generate another service call, and another fee. Our friends from Chicago told us that when a neighbor of his once found a family of raccoons living in the attic, he killed them all with a baseball bat...another difference between Chicagoans and Washingtonians:

President Obama mocked the Washington area's Defcon 1 response to a few snowflakes last week. Let's see how the flinty Chicagoan does with the latest living-in-Washington challenge: critters.

With permission from the Secret Service, the National Park Service has been in hot pursuit of a pack of raccoons spotted roaming the manicured grounds near the White House, a spokesman said.

Masked bandits scurrying through Washington aren't news to the seasoned trappers who have made a handsome living relocating varmints from attics, crawl spaces and chimneys in homes.

"One time, in an apartment complex, I got called to look into something going up a crawl-space vent," said Karl Kaifes, who has been catching small beasts for 40 years. "I trapped two or three raccoons, a possum, a skunk and five cats. That's city living."

There is a joke at every turn here, and bipartisan humor abounds.

Live, from London: Classicaltv.com

I used to own this domain name, but unfortunately never was able to come up the financing to go with it in order to set up my own alternative to PBS--so a few months ago I sold it to a British entrepreneur who found me through an agent living a couple of blocks away, who had located me through a WHOIS search.

Presto!

A phone call yesterday called attention to the fact that Classicaltv.com is now on the air, webcasting La Boheme from the English National Opera, among other things...(you'll need Microsoft Silverlight to watch, btw).

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Pancreatic Cancer

Not good news. Having just lost the aunt of someone I know, and not so long ago having lost an old friend, all I can say is that my thoughts and prayers are with the Ginsburg family. The only silver lining I can think of is that this may finally persuade Congress to pass the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act (HR 745) and direct more funding to Pancreatic Cancer research. You can find out more about the disease at the PanCan website, here.

End Bergson Ban, Rabbis Petition Yad Vashem

According to the Jerusalem Post (ht Wyman Institute), some four hundred rabbis have asked Yad Vashem to include Peter Bergson (aka Hillel Kook) in exhibits devoted to rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. Until now, mention of Bergson--protagonist of my film Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die--has been banned.

In a rare display of Jewish unity, more than 400 rabbis from every major stream of Judaism have signed a petition urging Yad Vashem to include a display about a World War II rescue organization known as the Bergson Group.

The rabbis' appeal to add information about the Bergson Group to Jerusalem's Holocaust museum came months after Yad Vashem rebuffed earlier requests to do so by a group of Holocaust scholars as well as by a cross-section of political and cultural figures.

The Bergson Group was a maverick activist group in the US in the 1940s that sought to raise public awareness of the Holocaust and campaigned for US action to save European Jews.

American Jewish leaders at the time viewed the organization - led by Hillel Kook, a nephew of Israel's first chief rabbi, who worked under the alias "Peter Bergson" - as too direct in its criticism of the Roosevelt administration's failure to rescue Jewish refugees. The group actively campaigned to save the doomed Jews of Europe through theatrical pageants, lobbying on Capitol Hill, newspapers advertisements and organizing a march in Washington by 400 Rabbis, which was the only rally for rescue held in the nation's capital during the Holocaust.

The Bergson Group is credited with helping to persuade Roosevelt in 1944 to establish the War Refugee Board, which ultimately saved 200,000 Jewish lives. For decades after the war, information about the Bergson Group was routinely left out of textbooks, encyclopedias, and museums, but in recent years most Jewish leaders and Holocaust scholars have come to recognize the group's crucial contribution to the infamously belated rescue effort.

Arianna: Make Wall Street Pay

From today's Huffington Post:

Capping executive pay at companies that are being bailed out is a good step. But Obama and Geithner can't stop there.

As Niall Ferguson writes on HuffPost: "Existing shareholders will have to face that they have lost their money. Too bad; they should have kept a more vigilant eye on the people running their banks... Financial history is, after all, an evolutionary process. When old banks die, new banks swiftly take their place."

That's called capitalism, Mark. I missed the chapter in Adam Smith -- or Ayn Rand for that matter -- where it says that equity holders in insolvent banks need to be paid taxpayer-funded dividends. Did you say "clueless"?

Capitalism comes with great rewards -- and commensurate risks.

Allowing stockholders to reap the benefits during the good times... and to keep reaping them in the very bad times -- at taxpayers' expense -- isn't capitalism. It's lunacy. And only people like Mark Haines, their vision limited by Wall Street blinders, can utter the nonsense he uttered this morning.

Protester Throws Shoe at Chinese Premier in Cambridge, England

The shoe-thrower was arrested by British police...

What I Saw at the Inauguration...

A friend emailed me to ask what I saw at the Inauguration.

We were waaaay in the back, behind the Washington Monument, so mostly saw the crowd. The ceremony was on a Jumbotron, but it wasn't very close, either. The sound went in and out, as the wind shifted, the loudspeakers were more like softspeakers. So we missed almost everything, including the Chief Justice's botched Oath of Office. But, on the other hand, we were there, with the crowd. It was a very nice, happy crowd. Some people, especially it seemed older African-American women, had tears running down their cheeks. The crowd was about 1/2 black and 1/2 white. Everyone was smiling and very friendly. Despite the obstacles placed by Department of Homeland Stupidity crowd control--concrete barriers in the middle of where the crowd needed to walk, cyclone fencing where the crowd needed to exit--people took it all in good humor...storming the barricades where necessary, but without any apparent irritation.



We saw the puffs of smoke from the 21-gun salute in the distance, which was exciting. Otherwise, just looked at the Capitol dome, and said, that's where it is happening.

While the new President had his lunch, we went to the National Press Club to get out of the cold (our friends were from Chicago, so we were warmly dressed in long johns, double wool socks, Thinsulate (R) hats, etc. which was fine at 19 degrees. The Press Club bar was packed, and they had installed new flat-screen TVs for the occasion, so we watched the coverage on a number of channels. It was a shock when Senator Kennedy collapsed, luckily he didn't die. When the parade started, we craned and peeked at an angle through the window towards Pennsylvania avenue, where we couldn't see very much, but did see all the security and the crowd. When Obama approached 14th street, I went downstairs with one of my Chicago friends, but we couldn't get near because of the riot fences and barriers.



We saw the top of Rosa Parks's bus, and heard some cheers as the President walked (or rode?) by--like a scene in a Fellini film. After Obama passed, things got easier. The barriers opened up, and the Cook County Sheriff's Police detailed to our street let everyone watch the Inaugural Parade.



The parade was the best part! It looked just like 19th-century engravings. There were American Indian chiefs wearing headdresses, carrying tomahawks, dressed in leggings, riding Palomino ponies. There was the Navy Band, the Marine Corps Band, a whole lot of high school and college bands from every state. There were Medal of Honor winners riding in carriages. There were baton-twirlers, and drummers, and floats from different states. We left as it grew dark, but the parade went on and on and on. A memory for a lifetime.

The night before the inauguration, we had attended (thanks to our Chicago friends) the "Big Shoulders Ball" (unofficial) at the Black Cat Nightclub, organized by and for Chicagoans from "The Hideout"--a Chicago nightspot. Lots of different acts, all from Chicago. Our favorite: Honeyboy Edwards, a 93-year old blues singer who told me he still tours to some 75 cities a year. Crowd was 30-ish, not too young, not too different from college rathskeller crowds of our youth. The times, they are NOT changing...at least not yet.



Following the inauguration, we went to two unofficial balls. One at the Louise-Dickson-Hurt home for the aged, where the district residents seemed happy. The other at the Bethesda Unitarian meeting house, a really big congregation, dancing the night away (I didn't know Unitarians danced) until the close--which featured the choir singing "America the Beautiful"...all the stanzas. It was very moving, being with descendants of Abolitionists from Boston at this moment. These words of Katherine Lee Bates' poem seemed particularly apt:

America! America!
God mend thy ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine...

Daniel Pearl's Dad v. Bill Moyers

In today's Wall Street Journal:

Some American pundits and TV anchors didn't seem much different from Al Jazeera in their analysis of the recent war in Gaza. Bill Moyers was quick to lend Hamas legitimacy as a "resistance" movement, together with honorary membership in PBS's imaginary "cycle of violence." In his Jan. 9 TV show, Mr. Moyers explained to his viewers that "each [side] greases the cycle of violence, as one man's terrorism becomes another's resistance to oppression." He then stated -- without blushing -- that for readers of the Hebrew Bible "God-soaked violence became genetically coded." The "cycle of violence" platitude allows analysts to empower terror with the guise of reciprocity, and, amazingly, indict terror's victims for violence as immutable as DNA.