Archive for May, 2010
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Extraordinarily Hypocritical or Extraordinarily Ordinary: Obama’s Brand of Change
It’s hard to think of a single area of U.S. policy where then candidate Obama promised change and now President Obama has not completely reversed his former position and reverted to the policies of Bush & Co. Some may call Obama a socialist, but he has moved his position on almost every single issue, a […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Essays, Obama 44 by eric
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Why Can’t Soldiers Just Get Along?
From Washington Post’s Tom Toles. Of course, the notion that they cannot is a fabrication of politicians.
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
More from Mi Vieja
Some recent favorites from my often tasteless friends at Mi Vieja:
1 Comment » - Posted in Friends / Family, Living la vida española by eric
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
Robert Fisk: Tea with Bin Laden…and other stories
“The distinguished Middle East correspondent of The Independent [Robert Fisk] recalls the culinary highs and lows of an extraordinary career - from feasting with kings in Jordan to eating under fire in Afghanistan.”
Robert Fisk: Tea with Bin Laden…and other stories:
When the Iranian Revolutionary Guards closed the roads to journalists after Ayatollah Khomeini’s return from exile […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
Round Midnight
As mentioned, since reading Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of An American Original, my interest in Monk’s music has been rekindled, and I am listening to little else these days. But, in particular, I have become completely addicted to “Round Midnight” — an original Monk composition that became a classic Jazz standard even before […]
No Comments » - Posted in Jazz by eric
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
In the Name of the ?
It’s funny watching the trailer of In the Name of the Father, almost 20 years after it came out on video, especially at a time when it appears that, as Glenn Greenwald describes, with each new terrorist attempt — ironically, each one less sophisticated than the last — the popular response is to find new […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Essays by eric
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
An American Original
For most of 2009, I was a very good boy. Instead of buying new music, I did my best to recycle from the fairly vast collection that I already had – because, of course, the more music you have, the less of it you can enjoy.
And then my frugal trend suddenly took a turn for […]
No Comments » - Posted in Jazz, literature by eric
Sunday, May 9th, 2010
The Republican Mantra
Regulate individuals and leave the corporations alone.
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Sunday, May 9th, 2010
Euro-Hipsters Go Ghetto
There are a few popular stereotypes in the U.S. about the inferiority of white people. One being that we can’t jump, and another that we can’t dance. Now I am not a particularly great dancer myself and am not one to promote ethnic, cultural or racial stereotypes, but go to any European nightclub and witness […]
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
A Quick Word on Immigration
This post will likely be followed with others discussing the same topic in greater detail, but I wanted to briefly express this one point: I often find it hard to comprehend, from a strictly ideological point of view, how those who believe in the supremacy of the free market and capitalism while distrusting government intervention […]
