Archive for August, 2009
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Re American Meritocracy
I recently wrote about the eeriness of the American Mullahs, that club of practically identical – in dress, age, gender and ethnicity — senators panicking about Judge Sotomayor. When you consider these distinguished whiners, the historical composition of the Supreme Court (two non whites and two women out of some one hundred justices), how close […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Essays by eric
Monday, August 31st, 2009
Olé McCain
I congratulate John McCain for his appearance yesterday on Face the Nation, breaking with partisan ranks, calling torture, torture and disagreeing flat out with Dick Cheney.
I think the interrogations were in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the convention against torture that we ratified under President Reagan. I think that these interrogations once publicized helped […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
Nocturnes
I finally got back in the saddle again and this week finished three long-awaited books: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout, Rhyming Life and Death by Amos Oz, and Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro.
I have mixed feelings about Olive Kitteridge, this year’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel that just didn’t quite reach the same level as 2008’s The […]
2 Comments » - Posted in literature by eric
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
My Daddy is Innocent
I don’t know what is more repulsive, Liz Cheney crying “my daddy’s innocent” or the mainstream press actually giving her airtime. Today she was back on the circuit on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, arguing that daddy is not a crook and that even second-guessing him or his subordinates would be partisan, unpatriotic and make […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Friday, August 28th, 2009
Paris in the Spring
Here is a video from this spring in Paris (sorry if it is a little out of season), shot from Rivoli overlooking the Tuilieres gardens and the Louvre, not far from where I had my civil wedding earlier that day. The music is “I love Paris”, interpreted by Frank Sinatra from his 1957 album “Come […]
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Friday, August 28th, 2009
In Praise of Deficits ?
In today’s New York Times, Paul Krugman (in Economics 101 style) explains why deficit spending in the short term is actually good for the economy and that the only arguments against it are purely for political gain. Perhaps his cheap shot at the Conservatives at the end of the piece, though I may agree with […]
12 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
Underappreciated
In the summer, the Leonard Lopate Show runs an ongoing series of interviews about underappreciated works of literature. Last year, thanks to the Underappreciated episodes, I discovered the Tea in the Harem by Medhi Charef and Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih. A few days ago, Lopate was discussing the mammoth, unfinished […]
No Comments » - Posted in literature by eric
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
Godfather III
Just when I thought I was getting away from politics, when I thought I had exhausted the topic of torture and Guantanamo, I see the embarrassingly disgusting and partisan reactions to the DOJ Ethics Panel request for preliminary investigations into detainee abuse. Just like with Michael in Godfather III, right when I think I’m out, […]
6 Comments » - Posted in Essays, Obama 44 by eric
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Re Joe Henderson
The background music to my life is generally filled with whatever Jazz is being shuffled on my iTunes library. On countless occasions I hear an amazing tenor saxophone solo that I just can’t put my finger on, and low and behold, it almost always turns out to be the versatile Joe Henderson. Although I have […]
No Comments » - Posted in Jazz by eric
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
Too Hot
It’s hot, too hot. The daytime temperature in Madrid has not gone below 90F (30C) since the beginning of June, and I don’t have air conditioning. Three months of this continuous, unwavering heat takes its toll on you.
I could cool off at the local public pool, but that would be communism, right? Actually, I don’t […]
