Archive for May, 2009
Friday, May 29th, 2009
Paris, Clichés and New Books
I am in Paris again and as I have said before, just a little bit of sun turns this city into, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful places in the world. And I love Pont Neuf, which for some reason is my image of the city. Yes, I know this all sounds pretty […]
3 Comments » - Posted in Digressions, literature by eric
Friday, May 29th, 2009
Who will Stand Up To America and Israel?
The other day a friend of mine sent me this article denouncing the hypocrisy of the U.S. positions on North Korea, Iran and Israel. While it might sound like the mad rage of an anti-American foreign propagandist (a la Hugo Chavez), it is not. It is written by Paul Craig Roberts, an American economist and […]
4 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Friday, May 29th, 2009
The Right to Exist
One of the catch phrases of conservative Israeli politicians is that the Palestinians refuse to accept Israel’s right to exist. Netanyahu in his recent trip to Washington, DC to meet with President Obama was saying the same thing, while at the same time talking about the “Jewish State” (as opposed to a multi-cultural democratic state) […]
4 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
Dressed to Kill
Back in the 80s, I was into Break-dancing but not skating. Us break-dancers, if I recall, wore Chucks while skaters wore Vans. There were a few posers out there — as opposed to me — who tried to break-dance in their checkered Vans. I suppose as, a consequence, I was not the biggest fan of […]
2 Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Learned it from you
My college roommate, Dave, and I used to get the biggest laugh out of this anti-drug commercial from the early 90s. And we weren’t even high.
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions, Friends / Family by eric
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
Obama’s Propaganda
Rachel Maddow deconstructs Obama’s prolonged detention policy. Obama now owns the propaganda.
At least it is refreshing to see that some serious criticism is finally aired on a mainstream news outlet.
6 Comments » - Posted in Essays, Obama 44 by eric
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
U.S. Congress to finally stand up against torture?
Another great Glen Greenwald piece from late last week exposing our national hypocrisy:
U.S. Congress to finally stand up against torture?
Yesterday, President Obama approved a proposed civilian nuclear technology-sharing agreement between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates and requested its execution, but CNN — in one of the all-time most unintentionally hilarious articles ever written […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Monday, May 25th, 2009
The Tree in the Woods
I don’t really want to get into the whole “being is perception” debate about the proverbial tree falling in the woods. Nevertheless, I keep finding myself wanting to leave my music playing (at a modest volume) during brief absences from home. Here’s why:
2 Comments » - Posted in Digressions, Jazz by eric
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
Cheney vs. Bush
Liberal voices, especially Glen Grenwald, have criticized Obama for maintaining the majority of Bush’s anti-terrorism policies. Now on the other side of the spectrum, conservative columnist David Brooks is making very much the same argument. According to the recent Brooks’ article in the New York Times, Cheney is actually continuing the internal debate he had […]
6 Comments » - Posted in Essays, Obama 44 by eric
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Finally Some Reason
The last few days I have been very critical of Obama’s waffling on issues of national security. I have also allowed myself to become incredibly frustrated by the ridiculous, absurd, preposterous and shameful arguments that have come out of the some members of the press, some Republicans, and especially Dick Cheney (who is doing everything […]
