Archive for April, 2009
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Just How Bad is American Journalism?
Many moderate and even liberal journalists are calling for a free pass to all former government officials, especially top-ranking White Housers (aka, Dick, W. and Donald). The problem, I believe, is that if we have an honest investigation into the enhanced interrogation program we are bound to learn the disgusting truth behind torture and about […]
8 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Just How Bad is Spanish Journalism?
Here we go again. Today in an article in the major Spanish daily El Mundo on how the Feria de Abril (a yearly festival in Seville) is being celebrated in Beijin, Rocío Sáez ,with what I assume to be the permission of El Mundo’s editorial staff, dubs the event the “Feria de los ojos rascados” […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Essays, Living la vida española by eric
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
The Cosmic War
Today I was listening to an excellent interview podcast from the Leonard Lopate Show with Reza Aslan, author of the recent book How to Win a Cosmic War. If you have the time, I definitely recommend you listen to it in its entirety.
Mr. Aslan’s fundamental argument mirrors something that I have been repeating over and […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Essays by eric
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Monk Elaborated
Thelonious Monk is one of the most creative, unique and enigmatic figures in the history of Jazz. Monk is often associated with his eccentricities, in particular his long periods of silence and his use of silence in his music (as I have written about before). This morning I read a blog post in El Mundo […]
2 Comments » - Posted in Jazz by eric
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Torture: More Borrowing from the Chinese
A recent story in TIME magazine tells the extent to which the Rumsfeld Department of Defense had knowingly used torture to interrogate terrorist suspects in Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Time story also explains that
Opponents of last week’s release of memos detailing CIA interrogation techniques argue that they will provide enemies of the United States with […]
9 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
The WiFi Router that Killed WiFi Everywhere
Like the song, “Video Killed the Radio Star”, it looks like the WiFi router may kill the WiFi network. Let me explain.
First, congrats to Iurgi and the guys at FON (where I used work) for the new La Fonera 2.0, a WiFi router that also doubles as a remote downloader, allowing you to upload or […]
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions, FON by eric
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
Eugene Robinson Wins Pulitzer
Eugene Robinson, who I consistently cited during my own annoyingly biased coverage of the 2008 Presidential Elections, has won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Congratulations to Mr. Robinson!
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
In Dick We Trust
Former Vice President Cheney, in reaction to the recent declassification of the torture memos, has defended the previous administration’s actions by claiming that the CIA interrogations provided the government and the Vice President with essential information. Because that information has not been revealed to the public, for obvious national security reasons, we’re just going to […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Essays by eric
Monday, April 20th, 2009
The State of the Discontented
Over the past few days, throughout the news, I have heard a series of arguments and complaints about the U.S. government. While I agree in principle that there are many areas in which we need to voice our concerns, so far most of the criticisms towards the Obama Administration from the Right – on taxes […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Monday, April 20th, 2009
The Gathering Dumbfolk
I had not seen the ant-same sex marriage “Gathering Storm” ad until I read about “The Bigots’ Last Hurrah” by Frank Rich in Sunday’s New York Times. The ad, produced by the Nation for Marriage, is so very bizarre that it’s almost an immediate parody of itself. And of course there are many parody videos […]
