Blog Entries [0 - 9]Monday, March 18, 2024
Speaking of Which
Well, another week, with a few minor variations, but mostly the
same old stories:
Israel is continuing its genocidal war on Gaza, with well
over 30,000 direct kills, the destruction of most housing and
infrastructure, and the imposition of mass starvation. This war
is likely to escalate significantly next week, as Netanyahu has
vowed to invade Rafah, which has until now been a relatively safe
haven for over one million refugees from northern parts of the
Gaza strip. Israel is also orchestrating increased violence in
the occupied West Bank and along the Lebanon border, with risks
to draw the US into the conflict (as has already happened in the
Red Sea).
The United States remains supportive of and complicit in
Israeli genocide, although we're beginning to see signs that the
Biden administration is uncomfortable with such extremism. Public
opinion favor an immediate cease-fire, which Israel and its fan
club have been working frantically to dispel and deny.
Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine continues to be stalemated,
with increasingly desperate and dangerous drone attacks. Putin
is up for reelection this weekend, and is expected to win easily,
against token opposition that also supports Russia's war, so any
hopes for regime change there are very slim. On the other hand,
the war is becoming increasingly unpopular in the US, where thus
far Biden has been unable to pass his latest arms aid request. The
only way out of this destructive and debilitating war is to open
negotiations, where the obvious solution is some formalization of
the status quo, but thus far Biden and Zelensky have refused to
consider the need.
Biden's has secured the Democratic nomination for a second
term, but he remains deeply unpopular, due to gross Republican
slanders, his own peculiar personal weaknesses, and legitimate
worry over wars he has shown little concern and/or competency at
ending.
Meanwhile, Trump has secured the Republican nomination,
but is mostly distracted by the numerous civil and criminal cases
he has blundered into. He's lost two civil cases, bringing fines
of over $500 million, but he has thus far managed to postpone trial
in the four criminal cases, and he had several minor victories on
that front last week. Meanwhile, the Republican Party is remaking
itself in his image, defending crime and corruption, spreading
hate, and aspiring to dictatorship. (At some point, I should go
into more depth on how, while the Democrats remain pretty inept
at defending democracy, the Republicans have gone way out of their
way to impress on us what the destruction of democracy has in store
for us.)
Due to various factors I don't want to go into, I got a late
start on this, and lost essentially all of Saturday, so I expect
the final Sunday wrap-up to be even more haphazard than usual.
Sorry I didn't mention this earlier, but we were saddened to
hear of the recent death of
Jim Lynch. He was one of the Wichita area's most steadfast
peace supporters, and he will be missed.
Except, of course, that I didn't manage to wrap up on Sunday,
so this picks up an extra day -- not thoroughly researched, but
I am including some Monday pieces.
Initial count: 183 links, 9,145 words.
Top story threads:
Israel:
Mondoweiss:
[03-11]
Day 157: As Ramadan begins, Israel obstructs Palestinian entry to
al-Aqsa Mosque: "Israel is preparing itself and its prisons for
the arrest of thousands of Palestinians, Netanyahu says. Meanwhile,
Israel has already begun obstructing access to the Al-Aqsa mosque
in Jerusalem, attacking worshipers on the first night of Ramadan."
[03-12]
Day 158: Israel airstrikes continue to pummel Gaza during the holy
month of Ramadan: "Israeli forces bombed Gaza on the first day
of Ramadan, killing two fishermen. Israel's fortified highway has
reached the Mediterranean coast, effectively splitting Gaza in two.
Meanwhile, hundreds of settlers stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound."
[03-13]
Day 159: Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah: "Benjamin Netanyahu
says Israel "will finish the job in Rafah" despite growing international
concern over an invasion, including from the U.S. Meanwhile, Israeli
forces kill 5 Palestinians in the West Bank in the last 24 hours,
including 3 children."
[03-14]
Day 160: Israel kills 7 Palestinians waiting for aid, attacks UN
distribution center: "Israel's Knesset approved a $19.4 billion
budget increase to fund the ongoing Israeli genocide, while the Biden
administration has indicated that it will greenlight the targeting of
'high-value Hamas targets in and underneath Rafah.'"
[03-15]
Day 161: Hamas proposes new prisoner exchange deal, Netanyahu's office
calls it 'unrealistic': "Thousands of Palestinian worshippers have
been denied access to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for Ramadan's
first Friday prayers, while Israeli forces have committed another
massacre against Palestinian aid-seekers in Gaza City."
[03-16]
Day 162: Israel kills 36 Palestinians in strike on Gaza home as
Netanyahu approves Rafah invasion: "An Israeli strike on a home
in Nuseirat refugee camp kills 36 people as massacres continue across
Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel approves plans for Rafah ground invasion
despite warnings it will be 'catastrophic' for over 1.4 million
Palestinians."
[03-17]
Day 163: Top EU official says Israel failed to prove its accusations
against UNRWA: "Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah despite the
international red line. Meanwhile, the U.S. has sanctioned two illegal
settler outposts in the West Bank for the first time."
[03-18]
Day 164: Israeli army storms al-Shifa again, aid reaches Jabalia for
first time in months: "Over a million people in Gaza face 'imminent'
famine as UNRWA aid trucks arrive in northern Gaza for the first time
in months. Meanwhile, the Israeli army's Chief of Staff says 'a long
way to go' until Israel's military objectives are achieved."
AlJazeera: [03-18]
Famine expected in Gaza between now and May: What to know? "A
UN-backed report says the entire Gaza population is experiencing
a food shortage as Israel is accused of provoking famine."
Ruwaida Kamal Amer/Ibtisam Mahdi: [03-14]
With no safety in Rafah, Palestinians are fleeing back to Gaza's
decimated center.
Hédi Attia: [03-11]
Gaza & the legacy of Netanyahu's 'war on terror': "What
happened on Oct. 7 represents the collapse of an erroneous doctrine
the Israeli leader has consistently promoted throughout his career."
One thing I clearly remember from watching TV on Sept. 11, 2001, as
the World Trade Center was burning and collapsing, was Netanyahu's
shit-eating grin as he was boasting about how good the attacks were
for Israel, because now Americans will finally know what terrorism
feels like. (Shimon Peres took the same line, perhaps a bit more
soberly, as did John Major, who pointed out that Britain has more
experience than anyone with "chickens coming home to roost" -- not
his words, but most famously from Malcolm X.) Most people reacted
to 9/11 and 10/7 with shock and horror. Netanyahu saw them as
confirmation of his life's work, and a signal to move on to his
Final Solution.
Samer Badawi: [03-16]
'Armchair humanitarianism': The problem with Gaza's maritime aid
corridor.
Simon Speakman Cordall/Veronica Pedrosa: [03-13]
Not just the UNRWA report; Countless accounts of Israeli torture in
Gaza.
Tareq S Hajjaj: [03-13]
Palestinians in Gaza face famine during Ramadan.
Shereen Hindawi-Wyatt: [03-14]
What Israeli soldiers' display of Palestinian women's lingerie reveals
about the Zionist psyche.
Najia Houssari: [03-16]
Israel accused of 'scorched earth' tactics in southern Lebanon.
David Kattenburg: [03-11]
UN expert: Israel is engineering famine in Gaza: Cites UN Special
Rapporteur Michael Fakhri, who says: "We've never seen a civilian
population made to go hungry so completely and so quickly." Also:
"It's not just denying humanitarian aid. It's not just shooting at
civilians trying to get humanitarian aid; It's not just bombarding
convoys of humanitarian trucks, even though those humanitarian trucks
are coordinating with them. They're destroying the food system." Chris
Gunness adds: "This is not a natural disaster. This is a political
choice which our governments are taking, and people of conscience all
around the world need to tell their governments, tell their elected
representatives, that they do not want to be complicit in genocide
and starvation."
Rami G Khouri: [03-18]
Watching the watchdogs: Piers, airdrops, and mediagenic spectacles
in Gaza.
Elisha Ben Kimon: [03-11]
IDF Gaza Division commander reprimanded for blowing up Gaza
university: Brigadier General Barak Hiram.
Middle East Monitor: [03-18]
Israeli settlers vandalise UNRWA's Jerusalem headquarters, threaten
staff.
Mahmoud Mushtaha: [03-16]
'We scream, starve, and die alone': Life in the ruins of Shuja'iya:
"Israel's month-long invasion of the Gaza City neighborhood left
behind a trail of devastation. Still under siege, its Palestinian
residents are risking death to get their hands on a bag of flour."
Adam Rasgon/Vivian Yee/Gaya Gupta/David Segal: [03-17]
'We're not a banana republic,' Netanyahu says, rejecting criticism
from US: Sounds like he's working on his post-political,
post-prison career, in stand-up.
Shira Rubin/Yasmeen Abutaleb: [03-14]
Israel faces crisis of its own making as chaos and hunger engulf
Gaza.
Ronen Tal: [03-17]
'Israeli settlers can now do whatever they please. They want to
drive off those who live there': "Eella Dunayevsky, an Israeli
activist in the West Bank for decades, has lost hope that the
conflict can be solved. Her new book details countless incidents
of harassment and violence in the South Hebron Hills."
David Zenlea: [03-09]
This Israeli minister wants a full-on religious war. His proposals
for Ramadan risked starting one. "Itamar Ben-Gvir has been
sidelined for now. But his fulminations still deserve our undivided
attention."
Israel vs. Biden: Israelis like to talk about the "multi-front
war" they're besieged with, but for all the talk of Iranian proxies, they
rarely point out that their main struggle since Oct. 7 has been with world
opinion, especially as it became obvious that they had both the intent
and means to commit genocide. For a long time, Biden and virtually the
entire American political establishment were completely subservient to
Israeli dictates, but that seems to be shifting slightly -- maybe those
taunts of "Genocide Joe" are registering? -- so much so that Israel can
add the US to its array of threats. Not a done deal, but increasingly
a subject of discussion.
Daniel Boguslaw:
FBI warns Gaza War will stoke domestic radicalization "for years to
come".
Connor Echols: [03-13]
Bombs, guns, treasure: What Israel wants, the US gives.
Liz Goodwin: [03-14]
Schumer calls for 'new election' in Israel in scathing speech on
Netanyahu: I'd be among the first to point out that's none of his
business, just as it's none of Netanyahu's business to weigh in on
American elections -- as he's done both personally and through donors
like the Abelsons and lobbying groups like AIPAC. On the other hand,
if Schumer wanted to cut off military aid and diplomatic support for
genocide, that would clearly be his right. More on Schumer:
Jonathan Chait: [03-16]
Why Chuck Schumer's Israel speech marks a turning point: "He
tried to escape the cycle of violence and hate between one-staters
of the left and right." That's a very peculiar turn of phrase --
one designed to depict "two-staters" as innocent peace-seekers who
have been pushed aside by extremists, each intent on dominating
the other. But the very idea of "two states" was a British colonial
construct, designed initially to divide-and-rule (as the British
did everywhere they gained power), and when they inevitably failed,
to foment civil wars in their wake. (Ireland and India/Pakistan are
the other prime examples, although there are many others.) The
"two-state solution" isn't some long deferred dream. It is the
generator and actual state of the conflict. Sure, it doesn't look
like the "two states" of American propaganda -- a fantasy Israelis
sometimes give lip-service to but more often subvert -- due to the
extreme asymmetry of power between the highly efficient and brutal
Israeli state and the emaciated chaos of Palestinian leadership
(to which the PA is mere window dressing, as was much earlier the
British-appointed "Mufti of Jerusalem"). The only left solution
is a state built on equal rights of all who live there.
Borders
may be abitrary, and one could designate one, two, or N states in
the region, with various ethnic mixes, but for the left, and for
peace and justice, each must offer equal rights to its inhabitants.
It is true that some on the left were willing to entertain the
two-state prospect, but that was only because we realized that
Israel is dead set against equal rights, and saw their security
requiring that most Palestinians be excluded. We expected that
a Palestinian majority, left to its own devices, would organize
a state of equal rights democratically. Meanwhile, an Israel more
secure in its Jewish majority might moderate, as indeed Israel
had done before the 1967 war, the revival of military rule, the
settler movement, the debasement and destruction of the Labor
Party, and the extreme right-wing drive of the Netanyahu regimes.
That the actually-existing Zionist state has become an embarrassment
to someone as devoted to Israel as Schumer may indeed be a turning
point. But heaping scorn on "left one-staters" while trying to revive
the "two-state solution," with its implied "separate but equal" air
on top of vast differences in power, is less a step forward than a
desperate attempt to salvage the past.
EJ Dionne Jr: [03-16]
Schumer said out loud what many of Israel's friends are thinking.
Murtaza Hussain:
Outrage at Chuck Schumer's speech: The pro-Israel right wants to
eat its cake too.
Fred Kaplan: [03-14]
Why Chuck Schumer's break with Netanyahu seems like a turning point
in the US relationship with Israel.
Halie Soifer: [03-15]
Schumer spoke for the majority of American Jews: "Only 31% of
American Jewish voters have a favorable view of the Israeli prime
minister."
Caitlin Johnstone: [03-15]
If Israel wants to be an 'independent nation,' let it be: "Israel
knows it's fully dependent on the US and cannot sustain its nonstop
violence without the backing of the US war machine."
Fred Kaplan: [03-15]
There's a cease-fire deal on the table. Hamas is the one rejecting
it. Israel doesn't need to negotiate
with Hamas for a cease-fire. They can do that by themselves. You say
that wouldn't get the hostages back? Someone else -- say whoever
wants to run food and supplies into Gaza? -- can deal with that.
The hostages are relatively useless just to swap for other hostages.
Their real value to Hamas is to the extent they inhibit Israel from
the final, absolute destruction of Gaza and everyone stuck there.
Admittedly, that hasn't worked out so well, but trading them for
time only helps if the international community uses that time to
get Israel to give up on their Final Solution. Meanwhile, what
Israel likes about negotiating with Hamas is they never have to
agree to anything, because the one thing Hamas wants is off the
table. And because Israel is very skilled at shifting blame to
Hamas. They even have Kaplan fooled. I mean, consider this:
Netanyahu has rejected these conditions as "delusional." On this
point, he is right. A complete withdrawal of troops and a committed
end to the war would leave Israel without the means to enforce the
release of hostages. It would also allow Hamas to rebuild its military
and resume attacking Israel, whether with rocket fire or another
attempted incursion.
But isn't the point of negotiation to get both sides to do what
they committed. Why does Israel need a residual force to "enforce
the release of hostages"? If Hamas failed to honor its side of the
deal, Israel could always attack again. Can't we admit that would
be a sufficiently credible Plan B? And how the hell is Hamas going
"to rebuild its military and resume attacking Israel"? They never
had a real military, and Gaza never had the resources and tech to
build serious arms, and what little they did have has been almost
completely demolished. I could see Hamas worrying that Israel could
use truce time to bulk up so they could hit Gaza even harder, but
the opposite isn't even projection; it's just plain ridiculous.
Joshua Keating: [03-14]
How Biden could dial up the pressure on Israel -- if he really wanted
to.
Mitchell Plitnick: [03-15]
It isn't Netanyahu who is acting against the will of his people, it's
Biden.
Richar Silverstein:
Adam Taylor/Shira Rubin: [03-14]
Biden administration imposes first sanctions on West Bank settler
outposts.
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos:
Philip Weiss: [03-17]
Weekly Briefing: Now everyone hates Israel: "The unbelievable
onslaught on a captive people in Gaza has at last cracked the
conscience of the American Jewish community and sent American
Zionists into complete crisis." Picture of Schumer, followed by
Jonathan Glazer at the Oscars.
Israel vs. world opinion:
Feminist Solidarity Network for Palestine: [03-11]
Here's what Pramila Patten's UN report on Oct 7 sexual violence
actually said: "The UN report on sexual violence on October 7 has
found no evidence of systematic rape by Hamas or any other Palestinian
group, despite widespread media reporting to the contrary. But there
are deeper problems with the report's credibility."
Luke Goldstein: [03-14]
AIPAC talking points revealed: "Documents show that the powerful
lobby is spreading its influence on Capitol Hill by calling for
unconditional military aid to Israel and hyping up threats from
Iran."
David Hearst: [03-14]
All signs point to a strategic defeat for Israel.
Kathy Kelly: [03-15]
When starvation is a weapon, the harvest is shame.
Tariq Kenney-Shawa: [03-14]
Israel Partisans' use of disinformation.
Jonathan Ofir: [03-12]
Human rights groups sue Denmark for weapons export to Israel.
Roy Peled: [03-08]
Judith Butler is intentionally giving Hamas' terror legitimacy:
"In recent comments, the American Jewish gender theorist labeled the
Oct. 7 attack as 'armed resistance.'" This is where I entered a cluster
of related articles:
There's an element of talking past each other here, and especially
of assuming X implies Y when it quite possibly doesn't. "Armed
resistance" is not in inaccurate description of what Hamas is doing
in Gaza. Especially when they're firing back at invading IDF soldiers,
one could even say that they're engaged in "self defense" (to borrow
a term that Israelis claim as exclusively theirs). The left has some
history of celebrating "armed resistance," but that's mostly from
times and places where no better option presented itself. But the
struggle for equal rights (which is the very definition of what the
left is about) has a natural preference for democracy, nudged on by
occasional nonviolent civil resistance -- a realization that has
been encouraged by occasional success, but also by the insight that
some acts of violence are self-damaging and self-defeating.
Oct. 7 is certainly an example of this. I think it's safe to say
that most people who supported equal rights for Palestinians have
condemned the Oct. 7 attackers, most often as immoral but also as
bad political strategy. Why Hamas chose to launch that particular
attack can be explained in various ways -- and please don't jump to
the conclusion, which seems to be ordained in the Hasbara Handbook,
that explaining = justifying = supporting = celebrating. The most
likely is that Hamas felt that no other option was open, perhaps
by long observation of other Palestinians pleading and protesting
non-violently, only to find Israelis more recalcitrant than ever.
Or one might argue that Hamas aren't a left group at all, but like
the Zionists are dominating and reducing their enemies, and as such
are enamored with violence, like the right-wing fascists of yore.
Or you could imagine a conspiracy, where Hamas and Netanyahu have
some kind of bizarre symbiotic relationship, where each uses the
other as a wedge against their near enemies. (Even without an
actual conspiracy, that does describe much of the dynamic.)
Still, there is another way of looking at "armed resistance,"
which is that it is the inevitable result of armed occupation,
oppression, and repression -- something which Israel is uniquely
responsible for. And because it's inevitable, it doesn't matter
who is doing it, nor does it do any good to chastise them. The
only way to end resistance is to end the occupation that causes
it. So while we shouldn't celebrate armed resistance, we also
shouldn't flinch from recognizing it as such, because we have
to in order to clearly see the force it is resisting.
Andrew Perez/Nikki McCann Ramirez: [03-14]
Israel lobby pushes lie that people are not starving in Gaza.
Reuters: [03-17]
UE's Von Der Leyen says Gaza facing famine, ceasefire needed
rapidly.
America's increasingly desperate and pathetic empire:
Election notes:
Trump, and other Republicans:
Maggie Astor:
Aaron Blake:
Jamelle Bouie: [03-16]
Kellyanne Conway has some weak advice for her party.
Chris Cameron: [03-18]
Trump says Jews who support Democrats 'hate Israel' and 'their
religion'.
Zak Cheney-Rice: [03-09]
The normalization of Trump's alleged crimes: "His legal strategy
is both buying him time and erasing the accusations against him."
Noted last week, but worth noting again.
Chas Danner: [03-17]
Why did Trump warn of postelection 'bloodbath' if he loses?
Chauncey DeVega: [03-15]
Trump sneakers and the MAGA uniform: Merchandising fascism to the
mainstream. This led me to a couple more pieces worth mentioning
here:
Igor Derysh: [03-13]
Departure "blindsides" Boebert and GOP: Ken Buck (R-CO) already
decided not to run for reelection in 2024, which may be attributed
to not wanting to face primary flak after transgressing against
Trump and his cadres -- even though, until recently, Buck had been
firmly perched on the far-right wing of the party. But his decision
last week to resign his seat and force an interrim election shows
his pique with a more obvious target: Boebert, who facing an uphill
campaign in her own district, which she just barely won in 2022,
decided to switch to Buck's more heavily Republican district for
2024. Close reading suggests it's not quite a knockout blow, but
makes her campaign a good deal more awkward.
Tim Dickinson: [03-14]
Trump campaign ads are monetizing pro-Nazi content on Rumble.
Angelo Fichera: [03-16]
Examining Trump's alternate reality pitch: "The war in Ukraine.
Hamas's attack on Israel. Inflation. The former president has insisted
that none would have occurred if he had remained in office after
2020."
Jessica M Goldstein:
The right-wing war on abortion has nothing to do with babies:
"This is a battle over body autonomy." I can't imagine who thinks
that's a winning political slogan, or what the rationale is. Same
for "bans off our bodies," per the signs in the pic, although that
at least suggests that the war on abortion has something in common
with rape. The war -- and I think you have to grant that it's being
waged like one, with babies (both symbolically and literally) as
pawns and hostages, with callous indifference to casualties (or
sometimes giddy delight), and with a vast fog of propaganda -- is
really just an assault on freedom, and not just on women. Just look
at everything else the people waging this war are also working on.
Rebecca Gordon: [03-14]
Trump showed us who he is the first time around: "Trump 2.0 would
be even worse."
Ed Kilgore:
Eric Levitz: [03-12]
Trump just opened the door to Social Security cuts. Take him seriously.
Eric Lipton/Maggie Haberman/Jonathan Swan: [03-17]
Kushner deal in Serbia follows earlier interest by Trump.
Alexander Nazaryan: [03-14]
Trump's cabinet of horrors: "Team Trump is doing something this
time around that it didn't think to do in 2016: It's planning. And
wait until you see what those plans include." Author wrote a 2019 book
on Trump's first-term cabinet, The Best People: Trump's Cabinet
and the Siege on Washington, but looks like he figured he could
get an early jump on the sequel.
Toni Aguilar Rosenthal: [03-15]
Ken Paxton, America First Legal, and premonitions of Project 2025:
"Texas today is what America will look like if Trump wins. It's not
pretty."
Jim Rutenberg/Steven Lee Myers: [03-17]
How Trump's allies are winning the war over disinformation:
"Their claims of censorship have successfully stymied the effort
to filter election lies online."
Greg Sargent:
Matt Stieb: [03-18]
Trump says he can't find a $464 million bond. Now what?
"Trump's lawyers want some leniency from the appeals court as
Attorney General Letitia James gears up to possibly seize assets
as early as next week."
Lucian K Truscott IV: [03-12]
The pure emptiness of Katie Britt.
Biden and/or the Democrats:
Legal matters and other crimes:
Kim Bellware: [03-14]
Father of Oxford shooter found guilty of involuntary manslaughter:
James Crumbley, whose son killed four students with guns and ammo
provided by his parents. The mother, Jennifer Crumbley, was also
convicted of involuntary manslaughter in an earlier trial.
Ben Brasch: [03-14]
Police fatally shoot autistic 15-year-old who charged with garden tool,
video shows.
Margaret Carlson: [03-16]
Take a load off Fani: "A judge's ridiculous probe of Fulton County
Prosecutor Fani Willis ends with a split decision and another Trump
legal delay."
Ryan Cooper: [03-05]
The corrupt Supreme Court bails out Trump once more: Another
comment on the Colorado 14th Amendment case.
Elie Honig: [03-15]
The failure of DOJ's special counsel system. And he barely mentions
Kenneth Starr, who's still the obvious prime suspect.
Sarah Jones: [03-15]
The Christian right's imaginary nation: Filed here because it
starts with the lawsuit to ban mifepristone, but the topic is much
broader.
Ruth Marcus: [03-18]
Outlawing abortion is just the start for some conservative
judges.
Ian Millhiser:
Adam Rawnsley/Asawin Suebsaeng: [03-05]
The Supreme Court is tilting 2024 in Trump's favor, one decision at a
time.
Mark Joseph Stern:
Even the Supreme Court's conservatives are fed up with the garbage
coming out of the 5th circuit.
Matt Stieb: [03-14]
Not only will Bob Menendez refuse to quit, he might run as an
independent: Filed here because he's a criminal, and his claim
as a Democrat is long gone. But clearly he understand the graft
advantages of running for office, and he's no doubt studying Trump
on how to use a pending election to snag up the wheels of justice.
Climate and environment:
Rebecca Burns: [03-12]
Against the wind: "Climate science deniers, right-wing think tanks,
and fossil fuel shills are plotting to foil the renewable-energy
revolution."
Keren Landman: [03-13]
4 big questions about measles, answered.
Aaron Regunberg/David Arkush:
The case for prosecuting fossil fuel companies for homicide: "They
knew what would happen. They kept selling fossil fuels and misleading
the public anyway." The title overreaches, probably just to get your
attention, as I doubt anyone wants to blur the definition of homicide
that much. As a practical matter, the case against gun companies is
much more substantial, with many fewer mitigating factors, and look
how far that's gotten. But prosecuting them for something? There may
well be a case for that.
Brian Resnick: [03-13]
Are we breaking the Atlantic Ocean? "The climate change scenario
that could chill parts of the world, explained."
Dylan Scott: [03-14]
The tropical disease that's suddenly everywhere: Dengue fever.
Economic matters:
War in Ukraine, an election in Russia:
Connor Echols: [03-15]
Diplomacy Watch: The pope is (mostly) right about Ukraine: "It
does Kyiv no favors to pretend that this war is going well."
Medea Benjamin/Nicholas JS Davies: [03-13]
After Nuland, the chances for peace in Ukraine.
Giorgio Cafiero: [03-18]
If Kyiv fell, would Moldova have been next? I'd caution that "domino
theories" are usually false alarms, but the continued existence of a
separatist Transnistria, like Abkhazia and South Ossetia (formerly
parts of Georgia), as well as similar fragments of Yugoslavia, will
remain as potential trouble spots that can blow up into major wars --
like Donbas. I blame the US and Russia both for for failing to try
to find workable compromises, and maybe also less interested parties
(like Turkey and the EU) that risk being sucked into disasters.
Robyn Dixon: [03-14]
Why does Putin always win? What to know about Russia's pseudo
election.
Marc Martorell Junyent: [03-18]
A chat with the devil beats a lifetime in hell: "In a new book,
Pierre Hazan gives an insider's account of the importance of peace
talks." The book is:
Negotiating with the Devil: Inside the World of Armed Conflict
Mediation. The book deals with many examples beyond Ukraine.
Branko Marcetic: [03-15]
Does Putin want to end the war? We should test him: "Ukraine war
maximalists are portraying diplomacy as futile, pointing to a cherry
picked quote from a recent interview with the Russian president."
Ishaan Tharoor: [03-18]
Russia's farce election sums up a grim moment in global democracy.
Anton Troianovski/Nanna Heitmann: [03-17]
With new six-year term, Putin cements hold on Russian leadership.
Looks like he won, the term extending to 2030, with 87% of the
vote. "Western governments were quick to condemn the election as
undemocratic."
Around the world:
Boeing:
TikTok: A bill to force, under threat of being banned, the
Chinese owners of TikTok to sell the company has passed the House,
with substantial bipartisan support. Despite the many links here,
I have no personal interest in the issue, although I do worry about
gratuitous China-bashing, and I'm not a big fan of any social media
companies or their business models.
Jonathan Chait: [03-14]
Explain to me why China has to control TikTok: "If it's just a
great app, why can't somebody else run it?" Explain to me why China
can't? That they might tilt the scales on political discourse shouldn't
be a problem if political information is freely accessible elsewhere --
unless the point is specifically to suppress anything that might offer
a specifically Chinese perspective on the news? And it's not as if
companies owned by Americans, Brits, Israelis, or Rupert Murdoch don't
tilt their own platforms to further their own national or personal
interests. I'm not a fan of foreign capital coming to America and
buying up real estate and companies and so forth, but then I'm not
often a fan of the Americans who sell out their country, often to
take their profits to buy up someone else's, then lobby for foreign
policies that put the sanctity of their property ahead of peace and
cooperation. I also doubt this would be happening unless there are
financiers waiting in the wings to make a killing on the sale, as
well as the arms lobbyists, who jump on any opportunity to increase
tension with China, Russia, or anyone else who can be sold as some
kind of threat.
David French: [03-17]
What Trump's TikTok flip-flop tells America: "On yet another
confrontation between American national security and an authoritarian
foreign adversary, Biden sides with American interests and Trump
aligns with our foe." French somehow imagines that complaint, along
with his Reagan conservative cred, will get him invited to parties
in DC. But that Trump seems able to get away with such apostasy
testifies to how low the credibility of the Blob has sunk.
Minho Kim: [03-17]
Khanna explains opposition to TikTok bill while Senators signal
openness: Ro Khanna [D-CA] was one of 50 Democrats ("mostly
from the progressive wing") and 15 Republicans who voted against
the House bill.
Ken Klippenstein: [03-16]
TikTok threat is purely hypothetical, US intelligence admits.
Taylor Lorenz: [03-16]
The TikTok debate featured many disputed claims. Here are 7 of them.
Arwa Mahdawi: [03-16]
Are progressive politics the real reason why US lawmakers are spooked
by Tiktok? "Some users think the app has become a hub for
progressive activism."
Nicole Narea: [03-14]
TikTok could avoid a ban with a sale. Finding a buyer won't be easy.
"Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is among those lining up to
buy TikTok if Congress enacts a law that forces its Chinese owner to
sell."
AW Ohlheiser: [03-14]
Banning TikTok would be both ineffective and harmful.
Nathan J Robinson: [03-14]
The plan to ban TikTok is outright xenophobia.
Michael Tracey: [03-15]
The frenzy to ban TikTok is another National Security State scam.
Other stories:
Andrea Long Chu: [03-11]
Freedom of sex: The moral case for letting trans kids change their
bodies. I'm in no mood to wade into this issue, but note the
article, which makes an honest and serious point, and backs it up
with considerable evidence and thought. Also note the response:
Jonathan Chait: [03-16]
Freedom of sex: A liberal response. Oh great, another epithet:
TARL (trans-agnostic reactionary liberal), which Chait seizes on,
probably because he's the very model of a "reactionary liberal" --
a term he's encountered in many other contexts, and not undeservedly
(need we mention Iraq again?).
TJ Coles: [03-08]
The new atheism at 20: How an intellectual movement exploited
rationalism to promote war: The Sam Harris book, The End
of Faith, came out in 2004, soon to be grouped with Daniel
Dennett (Breaking the Spell), Richard Dawkins (The God
Delusion), and Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great).
While critical of all religions, they held a particular animus for
Islam, at a time when doing so was most useful for promoting the
American and Israeli wars on terror. Coles has a whole book on
them: The New Atheism Hoax: Exposing the Politics of Dawkins,
Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens. Coles is a British psychologist
with a lot of recent books attacking media domination by special
interests; e.g.:
- President Trump, Inc.: How Big Business and Neoliberalism Empower Populism and the Far-Right (2017)
- Real Fake News: Techniques of Propaganda and Deception-Based Mind Control, From Ancient Babylon to Internet Algorithms (2018)
- Manufacturing Terrorism: When Governments Use Fear to Justify Foreign Wars and Control Society (2019)
- Privatized Planet: Free Trade as a Weapon Against Democracy, Healthcare and the Environment (2019)
- The War on You (2020)
- We'll Tell You What to Think: Wikipedia, Propaganda and the Making of Liberal Consensus (2021)
- Biofascism: The Tech-Pharma Complex and the End of Democracy (2022)
- Militarizing Cancel Culture: How Censorship and Deplatforming Became a Weapon of the US Empire (2023)
Matt Kennard: [03-16]
Last days of Julilan Assange in the United States: "The WikiLeaks
publisher may soon be on the way to the US to face trial for revealing
war crimes. What he would face there is terrifying beyond words."
Rick Perlstein: [03-13]
Social distortion: "On the fourth anniversary of the pandemic, a
look at how America pulled apart as the rest of the world pulled
together." Reviews Eric Klinenberg: 2020: One City, Seven People,
and the Year That Changed Everything.
Scott Remer: [03-15]
Pessimism of the intellect, pessimism of the will: Title is an
obvious play on Gramsci, who even facing death in prison preferred
"optimism of the will." But no mention of Gramsci here. The subject
is self-proclaimed progressivism, keyed to this quote from Robert
LaFollette: "the Progressive Movement is the only political medium
in our country today which can provide government in the interests
of all classes of the people. We are unalterably opposed to any
class government, whether it be the existing dictatorship of the
plutocracy or the dictatorship of the proletariat." (Presumably
that was from 1924, when the Soviet Union was newly established.)
That leads to this:
All this should sound familiar. It describes bien-pensant
liberals of the Obama-Clinton-Biden persuasion to a tee: their
aestheticization of politics, their fetishization of
entrepreneurialism and expertise; their studied avoidance of
polarization, partisanship, and partiality; their distaste for class
conflict; their elevation of technocracy and science as beacons of
reason; their belief in the pretense that politics can be reduced to
interest-group bargaining and consensus seeking; their desire to keep
the labor movement at a distance; their continued fealty to American
exceptionalism even when looking to European models would be
exceptionally edifying; and their general attitude of deference
towards big business. Neoliberals' demography -- disproportionately
white, upper middle class, professional, and college-educated --
also parallels the original Progressives.
I like bien-pensant here, as it's open to translations
ranging from "right-thinking" to "lackadaisically blissful,"
each a facet of the general mental construct. The easiest way
to understand politics in America is to recognize that there
are two classes: donors and voters. Voters decide who wins,
but only after donors decide who can run -- which they can do
because it takes lots of money to run, and they're the ones
with that kind of money. Republicans have a big advantage in
this system: they offer businesses pretty much everything they
want, and ask little of them beyond acceding to their singular
fetishes (mostly guns and religion).
Democrats have a much tougher
problem: voters would flock to them because Republicans cause
them harm, but the only Democrats who can run are those backed
by donors, who severely limit what Democrats can do for their
voters. The Clinton-Obama types tried to square this circle by
appealing to more liberal-minded business segments, especially
high-growth sectors like tech, finance and entertainment. They
were fairly successful at raising money, and they won several
elections, but ultimately failed to make much headway with the
problems they campaigned on fixing.
At present, both parties have backed themselves into corners
where they are bound to fail. With ever-increasing inequality,
the donor class is ever more estranged from the voting public.
Normally, you would expect that when the pendulum swings too far
left or right, it would swing back toward the middle, but the
nature of capitalism is such that donors can never be satisfied,
so will always push for more and more. But the policies they
want only exacerbate the problems that most people feel, sooner
or later leading to disastrous breakdowns (for Republicans) or
severe dissolution (for Democrats, who while incapable of fixing
things are at least more adept at delaying and/or mitigating
their disasters).
Nathan J Robinson:
[03-12]
Overwhelmed by feelings of complicity and paralysis: "In a world
filled with horrors, where our actions feel useless, it can be hard
to muster the energy to press on." This paragraph hit close to home:
As Americans see tens of thousands of Palestinians die, we know that
our own government is responsible, through providing the weapons and
blocking UN action to stop the war. But how can we actually affect
government policy? Later this year, there will be an election, but
the choices in that election will be between the intolerable status
quo (Joe Biden) and a likely even more rabidly pro-Israel
president (Donald Trump). I don't know how it felt to oppose the
Vietnam war in 1967-68, but I suspect it must have felt similarly
frustrating, with the Democratic incumbent responsible for the war
and any Republican likely to escalate it further.
I do remember 1967-68, which spans the period from when my next
door neighbor came home from Vietnam in a box to the government's
first efforts to send me to the same fate. I knew people who went
quite literally crazy back then. (Fortunately, I was already crazy
then, and the Army decided they'd be better off without me.) So
one thing I learned was to be fairly tolerant of people I don't
agree with. Nearly everything is out of our control, so the only
real task most of us face is just coping with it.
Also the section on critiquing political books ("I have never
felt more ineffectual than at this moment"). Here's a bit:
Today, our public discourse seems to have gone off the rails entirely,
and this sometimes makes me question what my approach should be as a
political writer. Look, for example, though the
top-selling political commentary books. No.1 at the moment is a
book by Abigail Shrier, whose terrible polemic about trans kids I
reviewed a while back. This one is about how we're ruining children
by coddling them and is a broadside against mainstream psychology.
I suspect its claims are just as dubious as those in the last book.
Should I bother to go through and refute them? Will anybody care if
I do?
What else do we have in the political commentary section? More
stuff about how the left is crazy, from Jesse Watters, Christopher
Rufo, Douglas Murray, Coleman Hughes, Alex Jones, Candace Owens,
Ted Cruz, etc. Books about how there's a war on Christian America,
a war on the West, and a battle to "cancel" the American mind. Most
of the bestsellers are right-wing, and the ones that are liberal
are mostly just attacks on Trump.
That list is generated by sales, so it's likely changed a bit
since Robinson linked to it. One new add is Alan Dershowitz: War
Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism. Aside from Jonathan
Karl's Tired of Winning, the top-rated Trump book is also by
Dershowitz, but defending him. The only remotely liberal (never mind
left) book is Heather Cox Richardson's Democracy Awakening,
where she is astonishingly naïve and blasé about the real effects
of Biden's foreign policy.
[03-08]
Why we need "degrowth": Interview with Kohei Saito, author of
Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto.
[03-01]
Why factory farming is a moral atrocity: Interview with Lewis
Bollard, of Open Philanthrophy's farm animal program.
[02-26]
It's time to break up with capitalism: Interview with Malaika
Jabali, author of
It's Not You,
It's Capitalism: Why It's Time to Break Up and How to Move On,
"reviewed
here by Matt McManus."
[02-02]
Astra Taylor on what 'security' really means: I'm pretty sure
I've linked to this before, but I've nearly finished reading the
book -- which, not for the first time, is very good, especially
the section on education and curiosity -- so could use a review.
Aja Romano:
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Monday, March 11, 2024
Music Week
March archive
(in progress).
Music: Current count 41974 [41938] rated (+36), 27 [21] unrated (+6).
Another substantial
Speaking
of Which yesterday, plus some late additions today, bringing it
up to 206 links, 9408 words. Otherwise, I have nothing much to show
for the week, and I'm feeling as drained and hapless as I can recall,
perhaps ever. Lots of tasks and projects piling up, unattended. At
least I feel fairly well informed, and like I'm making sense when I
drop into whatever topics come my way. Reflexes, and a substantial
backlog of references I can still call up.
Meanwhile, I listened to the following bunch of records. I spent
a lot more time with the R&B comp, eventually replaying all of
it, which was enough for the promotion. Good tip from the redoubtable
Clifford Ocheltree, so thanks again. The Hawkwind album tip came
from a follower who goes by
Cloudland Blue Quartet, who featured
it in a
#13at13 list.
I didn't spend enough time on it -- certainly nothing like I would
have had I encountered it at 13 (or 21, which I was when it came out;
I certainly didn't have 13 albums at that age, and none to brag about).
It seems like I must have heard more from them at the time than I have
in the database, but not enough to really register (except as noted).
Three relatively mainstream jazz albums in the A-list this week.
I feel a bit bad about not finding less obvious choices, but sometimes
it breaks that way. The Potter album isn't actually in the 36 count,
but I moved it in to wrap it up here. None scored high enough to be
strong top-ten candidates at EOY (11, 13, 14 at the moment, or 6, 8,
9 among jazz), but they are likely to finish high in EOY polls.
Hurray for the Riff Raff is another pick with pretty broad support
(86 on 21 reviews at
AOTY; making it the year's highest-ranked album so far with that
many reviews). It's taken over the number 2
slot in my
2024 list.
As for Old Music, the Gebru album I most recommend is still
Éthiopiques 21: Ethiopia Song (1963-70 [2006], Buda Musique),
attributed more precisely to Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, but any of the
recent Emahoy/Mississippi compilations could do the trick. For solo
piano, I usually prefer something upbeat (Earl Hines), fanciful
(Art Tatum), and/or abrasive (Cecil Taylor), but all rules seem
to have exceptions, and this is definitely one.
New records reviewed this week:
Albare: Beyond Belief (2023 [2024], AM): Guitarist
Albert Dadon, born in Morocco, grew up in Israel and France, moved
to Australia in 1983 and made a fortune in business. Albums start
in 1992.
B+(*) [cd]
Bob Anderson: Live! (2023 [2024], Jazz Hang):
Standards crooner, also described as an impressionist, career
dates back to 1973, "has performed in more Las Vegas show rooms
than just about anyone." Wikipedia has a bio but doesn't list
any albums. Discogs has him as "(18)," with two two albums and
three singles, none dated. These recordings were "taken from
live performances in New York City, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City,
Hollywood, Boston, and the like," also undated. Not a great
ballad singer, but on the right song he does a pretty decent
Sinatra.
B+(*) [cd] [03-29]
Jonas Cambien: Jonas Cambien's Maca Conu (2023
[2024], Clean Feed): Belgian pianist, based in Oslo, leads a quartet
with Signe Emmeluth (alto/tenor sax), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass),
and Andreas Wildhagen (drums), plus guest Guuro Kvåle (trombone) on
two tracks.
B+(***) [sp]
Ian Carey & Wood Metal Plastic: Strange Arts
(2019 [2024], Slow & Steady): Bay Area trumpet player, seventh
album, leads a "new chamber jazz septet with strings."
B+(**) [cd] [03-22]
Giuseppe Doronzo/Andy Moor/Frank Rosaly: Futuro Ancestrale
(2022 [2024], Clean Feed): Baritone saxophonist, from Italy, has
a couple previous albums, also credited with Iranian bagpipe here,
in a trio with electric guitar -- English, but has long played in
the Dutch punk band, the Ex -- and drums (from Chicago).
B+(**) [sp]
Fire!: Testament (2022 [2024], Rune Grammofon):
Trio of Mats Gustafsson (baritone sax), Johan Berthling (bass),
and Andreas Werlin (drums), formed 2009, eighth album, plus
another seven as the expanded Fire! Orchestra.
B+(***) [sp]
Glitter Wizard: Kiss the Boot (2023, Kitten Robot,
EP): Glam rock group from San Francisco, four albums 2011-19, adds
this six song, 18:30 EP. Includes a cover of "Sufragette City,"
not that they need to be so explicit about their niche.
B [sp]
Laura Jane Grace: Hole in My Head (2024, Polyvinyl):
Originally Thomas Gabel, singer-guitarist leader in punk group Against
Me!, third solo album, a short one (11 songs, 25:28). Still sounds
male, so you can just bracket the trans angle. Songs open up a bit
towards folk, partly to expound on politics, e.g.: "out in the country
is where fascists roam."
B+(***) [sp]
Dave Harrington/Max Jaffe/Patrick Shiroishi: Speak,
Moment (2021 [2024], AKP): Los Angeles-based trio:
guitar, drums, sax, with some electronics and extra percussion.
B+(**) [sp]
Keyon Harrold: Foreverland (2023 [2024], Concord):
Mainstream trumpet player, debut 2009, many credits but only a
few albums since. Major effort here, with variable lineups, and
a sticker noting special guests Common, Robert Glasper, PJ Morton,
and Laura Mvula.
B+(**) [sp]
Brittany Howard: What Now (2024, Island): Former
Alabama Shakes leader, second solo album, always winds up confusing
me, although this one kept my interest piqued longer than most.
B+(**) [sp]
Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Past Is Still Alive
(2024, Nonesuch): Band but mostly folkie singer-songwriter Alyndra
Segarra, from the Bronx via New Orleans, shows no obvious links to
either but rather seems totally assimilated into declassé Americana.
Ninth studio album. Always seemed like someone I should like more
than I did, but this album is the breakthrough, and not just in
likability. I'm not good enough at words to recall much of the
brilliance I heard, beyond the "Buffalo" lament and the "Ogallala"
reference, but they come with great ease.
A- [sp]
Idles: Tangk (2024, Partisan): British rock band,
from Bristol, fifth album since 2017, formally post-punk, have a
lot of critical and popular support. Sounds good, but ended before
anything really registered.
B+(**) [sp]
Vijay Iyer: Compassion (2022 [2024], ECM):
Pianist, from upstate New York, parents Tamil, studied physics
before deciding on music, many albums since 1995, has won
virtually everything. Trio with Linda May Han Oh (bass) and
Tyshawn Sorey (drums). Starts slow, develops into something
I never quite grasp -- one is tempted to use "dazzling," but
that belongs more to the drummer.
B+(***) [sp]
The Last Dinner Party: Prelude to Ecstasy (2024,
Island): British rock group, five women, Abigail Morris the lead
singer, debut album frequently described as art rock and/or baroque
pop.
B+(*) [sp]
Little Simz: Drop 7 (2024, Forever Living Originals,
EP): British rapper-singer Simbi Ajikawo, first mixtape 2010, four
albums and a dozen EPs, including seven Drop titles, this
one with seven titles, 14:52.
B+(**) [sp]
Mike McGinnis + 9: Outing: Road Trip II (2023 [2024],
Sunnyside): Clarinet player, albums since 2001, including his prior
Road Trip from 2012. Tentet again, with three saxes, three
brass (trumpet/trombone/French horn), Jacob Sacks on piano, bass,
and drums.
B+(**) [sp]
Emile Parisien/Roberto Negro: Les Métanuits (2023,
ACT): French soprano saxophonist, debut was a quintet in 2000, duo
with the Italian pianist, one year older but albums only since
2015. "Inspired by György Ligeti's String Quartet No. 1."
B+(**) [sp]
Emile Parisien Quartet: Let Them Cook (2024, ACT):
French saxophonist (mostly soprano, but doesn't say, and sounds more
like alto to me), debut was a quintet in 2000, info on this one is
still very sketchy, but more names on cover: Julien Loutelier (drums),
Ivan Gélugne (bass), Julien Touéry (piano).
B+(***) [sp]
Chris Potter/Brad Mehldau/John Patitucci/Brian Blade:
Eagle's Point (2024, Edition): The tenor saxophonist's
album, his pieces, but all four surnames on the cover, fellow stars
at piano, bass, and drums. Potter also plays soprano sax and bass
clarinet. When he gets going, he can be quite astonishing. Mehldau
is equally impressive, when he gets his opportunities, as here.
A- [sp]
Joel Ross: Nublues (2023 [2024], Blue Note):
Vibraphonist, fourth album since 2019, all on Blue Note, which
instantly made him some kind of star. No doubt he is, as is
his label mate and guest here, Immanuel Wilkins (alto sax).
A- [sp]
Scheen Jazzorkester & Cortex: Frameworks: Music by
Thomas Johansson (2022 [2024], Clean Feed): Norwegian
large group, ninth album since 2013, teamed up with a quartet
that's been active since 2011, both long associated with the
trumpet player who composed these five pieces.
B+(***) [sp]
Patrick Shiroishi: I Was Too Young to Hear Silence
(2020 [2023], American Dreams): Japanese-American alto saxophonist,
has produced a lot of records since 2014, mostly improv duos and
trios, this a solo, starting in a deep listening vein, struggling
to build something much more imposing (while maintaining that eery
resonance).
B+(***) [sp]
The Smile: Wall of Eyes (2024, XL): Band with
ex-Radiohead leaders Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, plus Sons of
Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. Second album. Slow and plainly pretty,
not the sort of thing I find appealing.
B [sp]
Vera Sola: Peacemarker (2024, Spectraphonic/City
Slang): Singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, parents famous actors,
from which her alias provides some distance, started as a poet,
second album, first was DIY but at least has a co-producer here,
Kenneth Pattengale.
B+(**) [sp]
John Surman: Words Unspoken (2022 [2024], ECM):
British saxophonist (the whole family, but just soprano, baritone,
and bass clarinet here), avant-garde into the 1970s but settled
into ECM's ambient chill by 1979 and has been secure ever since.
With Rob Luft (guitar), Rob Waring (vibes), and Thomas Strønen
(drums). This one is exceptionally engaging.
A- [sp]
Michael Thomas: The Illusion of Choice (2023 [2024],
Criss Cross): Alto saxophonist, based in New York, three previous
albums going back to 2011, not to be confused with trumpeter of
same name (or any others: he's "(25)" at Discogs). Mainstream
quartet with Manuel Valera (piano), Matt Brewer (bass), and
Obed Calvaire (drums), playing eight originals plus "It Could
Happen to You."
B+(***) [sp]
Akiko Tsugura: Beyond Nostalgia (2023 [2024],
SteepleChase): Japanese organ player, moved to New York in 2001
ten or more albums since 2004, this one with Joe Magnarelli
(trumpet), Jerry Welcon (tenor sax), Byron Landham (drums),
and Ed Cherry (guitar).
B+(**) [sp]
The Umbrellas: Fairweather Friend (2024, Tough
Love): San Francisco-based jangle pop band, second album.
B+(*) [sp]
Yard Act: Where's My Utopia? (2024, Island):
British group, from Leeds, second album, James Smith's vocals
are most often spoken, with bits of skits cut up and scattered.
B+(**) [sp]
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Guebru: Souvenirs (1977-85
[2024], Mississippi): Ethiopian pianist (1923-2023), described
as a nun, "Emahoy" being a religious honorific. Recorded her
first album in 1963, until recently was known mostly for her
Éthiopiques 21 compilation of solo piano. This collects
eight pieces (36:11), solo piano with vocals as soothing as the
music.
B+(***) [sp]
Old music:
Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru: Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
(1963-70 [2016], Mississippi): Solo piano from the Ethiopian nun's
early albums (although the last three cuts, sourced from a 1996
Best Of, could be later). Seems like simple patterns, but
lives up to the hype: "some of the most moving piano music you will
ever hear."
A- [sp]
Emahoy Tsege-Mariam Gebru: Jerusalem (1972-2012
[2023], Mississippi): More solo piano (with a bit of vocal),
three tracks from a 1972
album called The Hymn of Jerusalem: The Jordan River Song,
six more from a much later album, by which time she had emigrated
to Israel. Some biographical notes: she was of "a wealthy Amhara
family," from Gondar, and learned music in a boarding school in
Switzerland, from age six. She returned to Ethiopia in 1933, and
became a "civil servant and singer to Emperor Haile Selassie."
She became a nun when she was 21, and "spent a decade living in
a hilltop monastery in Ethiopia." After that, she returned to
playing music, and released her first album in 1967, in Germany.
She emigrated to Israel in 1984, after Selassie fell, and "settled
in an Ethiopian Orthodox convent in Jerusalem."
B+(***) [sp]
Gigi W Material: Mesgana Ethiopia (2009 [2010],
M.O.D. Technologies): Ethiopian singer Ejigayehu Shibabaw, recorded
a couple albums 1997-98, then hooked up with Bill Laswell for a
series of albums from Gigi in 2001 to this live album, but
nothing since. (They were married for some period, but I haven't
found dates.) Material was a band Laswell started in 1979, breaking
up in 1985 but Laswell continued using the name for various projects
through 1999, reviving it here.
B+(**) [sp]
Hawkwind: Doremi Fasol Latido (1972, United Artists):
British space-rock band, debut 1970, still extant (Dave Brock is the
only original member left, and was probably always the main guy; Nik
Turner left in 1976, and Huw Lloyd-Langton left in 1971 but returned
for 1979-88), this their third album, with two otherwise notable
musicians present: guitarist Lemmy Kilmister (later of Motorhead),
and vocalist Robert Calvert (whose 1975 solo Lucky Leif and the
Longships, produced by Eno, was a personal favorite, and who I
credited most for the one Hawkwind album I did really love, 1977's
Quark, Strangeness and Charm). Seems too dated to turn into
a major research project at this point, but between the post-Pink
Floyd and proto-Motorhead, familiar soundposts abound.
B+(***) [sp]
Grade (or other) changes:
The R&B No. 1s of the '50s (1950-59 [2013],
Acrobat, 6CD): I still haven't filed this set, which made it a
convenient option, especially to start each day. Mostly that's
meant disc 6, where the novelties not in Rhino's canonical The
R&B Box are exceptionally catchy -- especially the Lloyd
Price hits ("Personality," "I Wanna Get Married") that I already
loved before I turned ten. But revisiting discs 1-3 clinched the
deal.
[was: A-] A [cd]
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Neal Alger: Old Souls (Calligram) [03-01]
- Sam Anning: Earthen (Earshift Music) [04-05]
- Alex Beltran: Rift (Calligram) [03-01]
- Julieta Eugenio: Stay (self-released) [03-29]
- Julien Knowles: As Many, as One (Biophilia) [04-26]
- Travis Reuter: Quintet Music (self-released) [04-19]
- Claudio Scolari Project: Intermission (Principal) [03-25]
- Dan Weiss: Even Odds (Cygnus) [03-29]
- Hein Westergaard/Katt Hernandez/Raymond Strid: The Knapsack, the Hat, and the Horn (Gotta Let It Out) [02-25]
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Speaking of Which
Once again, started early in the week, spent most of my time here,
didn't get to everything I usually cover. Late Sunday night, figured
I should go ahead and kick this out. Monday updates possible.
Indeed, I wasted most of Monday adding things, some of which,
contrary to my usual update discipline, only appeared on Monday.
The most interesting I'll go ahead and mention here:
Alexander Ward/Jonathan Lemire: [03-11]
If Israel invades Rafah, Biden will consider conditioning military
aid to Israel. There are several articles below suggesting that
the Biden administration is starting to show some discomfort with
its Israeli masters. I've generally made light of such signals, as
they've never threatened consequences or even been unambiguously
uttered in public. I've seen several more suggesting that the long
promised invasion of Rafah -- the last corner of Gaza where some
two million people have been driven into -- could cross some kind
of "red line."
I am willing to believe that "Genocide Joe" is a
bit unfair: that while he's not willing to stand up to Netanyahu,
he's not really comfortable with the unbounded slaughter and mass
destruction Israel is inflicting. I characterize his pier project
below as "passive-aggressive." I think he's somehow trying (but
way too subtly) to make Israel's leaders realize that their dream
of killing and/or expelling everyone from Gaza isn't going to be
allowed, so at some point they're going to have to relent, and
come up with some way of living with the survivors.
I don't recall where, but I think I've seen some constructive
reaction from Biden to the "uncommitted" campaign that took 13%
of Michigan and 18% of Minnesota votes. So it's possible that the
message is getting through even if the raw numbers are still far
short of overwhelming. The Israel Lobby has so warped political
space in Washington that few politicians can as much as imagine
how out of touch and tone-deaf they've become on this issue.
Still, Biden has a lot of fence-mending to do.
I'll try not to add more, but next week will surely come around,
bringing more with it.
Initial count: 181 links, 7,582 words.
Updated count [03-11]: 207 links, 9,444 words.
Top story threads:
Not sure where to put this, so how about here?
Jacob Bogage: [03-08]
Government shutdown averted as Senate passes $459 billion funding
bill: In other words, Republicans once again waited until the
last possible moment, then decided not to pull the trigger in their
Russian roulette game over the budget. It seems be an unwritten
rule that in electing Mike Johnson as Speaker, the extreme-right
gets support for everything except shutting down the government.
Israel:
Mondoweiss:
[03-04]
Day 150: Israel is 'engineering famine' in Gaza. "Amnesty
International says Israel is 'engineering famine' in Gaza. Organization
head Agnes Callamard adds, 'all states that cut UNRWA funding, sold
weapons and supported Israel bear responsibility too.'"
[03-05]
Day 151: Israel 'campaigns' to end UNRWA in Gaza Strip: "UNRWA's
chief says dismantling the agency is 'short-sighted' and will 'sow
the seeds of hatred, resentment, and future conflict.' Israeli forces
fire at Palestinians seeking aid and food in Gaza City and detain
others in southern Gaza."
[03-06]
Day 152: Prospect of breakthrough in ceasefire talks remains thin:
"Canada will resume funding to UNRWA and pay a pledge of $25m due in
April. In Gaza, another Palestinian child dies of thirst and hunger
in the north, bringing the number of children to die from malnutrition
to 18."
[03-07]
Day 153: Over 2 dozen Palestinian captives have 'died' in Israeli
detention camps: "At least 20 Palestinians have died as a result
of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, health officials say.
Meanwhile, new reports from Israeli media say 27 Palestinian
captives who were being held in Israeli 'makeshift cages' have
died."
[03-08]
Day 154: Biden's maritime aid corridor to Gaza slammed as
'unrealistic': "Human rights experts say the Biden administration's
proposed maritime corridor is a much less effective solution to
addressing the dire needs of Gaza's besieged and starving population
than a ceasefire and pressuring Israel to open land crossings."
[03-09]
Day 155: Deadly aid drop and obstacles to a maritime corridor expose
farcical humanitarian response to Gaza famine: "At least eighteen
children have died in Gaza from malnutrition, while deaths by starvation
have risen to 23. Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that Biden's proposed
floating pier would take two months and 1000 US troops to build.
[03-10]
Day 156: Israel deploys 15,000 troops in West Bank as Ramadan starts:
"Ceasefire talks falter as Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson
says Israel is using 'deception and evasion.' Israel deploys thousands
of troops in the West Bank and Jerusalem ahead of plans to restrict
access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan."
Shane Bauer: [02-26]
The Israeli settlers attacking their Palestinian neighbors: "With
the world's focus on Gaza, settlers have used wartime chaos as cover
for violence and dispossession."
Giorgio Cafiero: [03-05]
Why Egypt can't and won't open the floodgates from Gaza.
Emma Farge: [03-07]
Israel destroying Gaza's food system in 'starvation' tactic.
Noa Galili: [03-10]
Strangled by Israel for decades, Gaza's future must begin with free
movement.
Imad Abu Hawash:
A new surge of settler outposts is terrorizing Palestinians off
their land.
Ibrahim Husseini: [03-08]
Palestinians expect Israeli crackdown on worship at al-Aqsa during
Ramadan.
Ellen Ioanes: [03-07]
What the UN report on October 7 sexual violence does -- and doesn't --
say.
Eyal Lurie-Pardes:
Journalism out, hasbara in: How Israeli news joined the Gaza war
effort.
Khalid Mohammed:
Desperate to escape Gaza carnage, Palestinians are forced to pay
exorbitant fees to enter Egypt.
Aseel Mousa: [03-08]
As Ramadan approaches, Rafah braces for an Israeli ground invasion.
Jonathan Ofir: [03-06]
'We are the masters of the house': Israeli channels air snuff videos
featuring systematic torture of Palestinians.
Yumna Patel: [03-05]
Palestinian PM's resignation nothing more than 'cosmetic shake up,'
analysts say.
Reuters: [03-09]
Israeli settlements expand by record amount, UN rights chief
says.
Jeffrey St Clair: [03-02]
Gaza Diary: Burning all illusions.
- Times of Israel: [03-08]
Five Palestinians killed in Gaza after aid airdrop malfunctions.
Nick Turse:
Who could have predicted the US war in Somalia would fail? The
Pentagon.
Israel vs. world opinion: Note that Biden's relief scheme
for Gaza, announced in his State of the Union address, has been moved
into its own sandbox, farther down, next to other Biden/SOTU pieces.
Kyle Anzalone: [03-07]
South Africa urges ICJ for emergency order as famine looms over
Gaza.
James Bamford: [03-06]
Time is running out to stop the carnage in Gaza: "Given the toll
from bombing and starvation, Gaza will soon become the world's largest
unmarked grave." Actually, time ran out sometime in the first week
after Oct. 7, when most Americans -- even many on the left who had
become critical of Israeli apartheid -- were too busy competing in
their denunciations of Hamas to notice how the Netanyahu government
was clearly intent to commit genocide. At this point, the carnage
is undeniable -- perhaps the only question is when the majority of
the killing will shift (or has shifted) from arms to environmental
factors (including starvation), because the latter are relatively
hard to count (or are even more likely to be undercounted). Of
course, stopping the killing is urgent, no matter how many days
we fail.
Greer Fay Cashman: [03-07]
President Herzog faces calls for arrest on upcoming Netherlands
visit.
Jonathan Cook: [03-07]
How the 'fight against antisemitism' became a shield for Israel's
genocide.
Richard Falk: [02-25]
In Gaza, the west is enabling the most transparent genocide in human
history.
Noah Feldman: [03-05]
How Oct. 7 is forcing Jews to reckon with Israel. Excerpt from
his new book, To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and
the Jewish People.
Daniel Finn: [03-07]
Slaughter in Gaza has discredited Britain's political class.
Fred Kaplan: [03-06]
Four things that will have to happen for the Israel-Hamas war to
end: I have a lot of respect for Kaplan as an analyst of such
matters, but the minimal solution he's created is impossible. His
four things?
- The Hamas leadership has to surrender or go into exile. ("Qatar
will have to crack down on Hamas, or perhaps provide its military
leaders refuge in exchange for their departure from Gaza.")
- "Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other Sunni powers in the region will
have to help rebuild Gaza and foster new, more moderate political
leaders."
- "Israel will at least have to say that it favors the
creation of a Palestinian state and to take at least a small
movement in that direction." Why anyone should believe Israel
in this isn't explained.
- "The United States will have to serve as some sort of guarantor
to all of this -- and not only for Israel."
In other words, every nation in the region has to bend to Israel's
stubborn insistence that they have to maintain control over every
inch of Gaza, even though they've made it clear they'd prefer for
everyone living there to depart or die. In any such scenario, it is
inevitable that resistance will resurface to again threaten Israel's
security, no matter how many layers of proxies are inserted, and no
matter how systematically Israel culls its "militants." Short of a
major sea change in Israeli opinion -- which is a prospect impossible
to take seriously, at least in the short term -- there is only one
real solution possible, which is for Israel to disown Gaza. Israel
can continue to maintain its borders, its Iron Walls and Iron Domes,
and can threaten massive retaliation if anyone on the Gaza side of
the border attacks them. (This can even include nuclear, if that's
the kind of people they are.) But Israel no longer gets any say in
how the people of Gaza live. From that point, Israel is out of the
picture, and Gaza has no reason to risk self-destruction by making
symbolic gestures.
That still leaves Gaza with a big problem -- just not an Israel
problem. That is because Israel has rendered Gaza uninhabitable, at
least for the two million people still stuck there. Those people
need massive aid, and even so many of them probably need to move
elsewhere, at least temporarily. Without Israel to fight, Hamas
instantly becomes useless. They will release their hostages, and
disband. Some may go into exile. The rest may join in rebuilding,
ultimately organized under a local democracy, which would have no
desire let alone capability to threaten Israel. This is actually
very simple, as long as outside powers don't try to corrupt the
process by recruiting local cronies (a big problem in the region,
with the US, its Sunni allies, Iran, its Shiite friends, Turkey,
and possibly others serial offenders).
Sure, this would leave Israel with a residual Palestinian problem
elsewhere: both with its second- and lesser-class citizens and wards,
and with its still numerous external refugees. But that problem has
not yet turned genocidal (although it's getting close, and is clearly
possible as long as Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are part of Israel's ruling
coalition). But there is time to work on that, especially once Israel
is freed from the burden and horror of genocide in Gaza. There are
lots of ideas that could work as solutions, but they all ultimately
to accepting that everyone, regardless of where they live, should
enjoy equal rights and opportunities. That will be a tough pill for
many Israelis to swallow, but is the only one that will ultimately
free them from the internecine struggle Israelis and Palestinians
have been stuck with for most of a century. There's scant evidence
that most Israelis want that kind of security, so people elsewhere
will need to continue with BDS-like strategies of persuasion. But
failure to make progress will just expose Israelis to revolts like
they experienced on Oct. 7, and Palestinians to the immiseration
and gloom they've suffered so often over many decades decades.
Colbert I King: [03-08]
The United States cannot afford to be complicit in Gaza's tragedy:
True or not, isn't it a bit late to think of this?
Nicholas Kristof: [03-19]
'People are hoping that Israel nukes us so we get rid of this pain':
Texts with a Gazan acquaintance named Esa Alshannat, not Hamas, but
after Israeli soldiers left an area, found "dead, rotten and half eaten
by wild dogs." Kristof explains: "Roughly 1 percent of Gaza's people
today are Hamas fighters. To understand what the other 99 percent are
enduring, as the United States supplies weapons for this war and vetoes
cease-fire resolutions at the United Nations, think of Alshannat and
multiply him by two million."
Debbie Nathan:
Vivian Nereim: [03-10]
As Israel's ties to Arab countries fray, a stained lifeline remains:
The United Arab Emirates is still on speaking terms with Israel,
but doesn't have much to show for their solicitude.
Ilan Pappé: [02-01]
It is dark before the dawn, but Israeli settler colonialism is at
an end.
Mitchell Plitnick: [03-07]
Replacing Netanyahu with Gantz won't fix the problem.
Rebecca Lee Sanchez: [03-06]
Gaza's miracle of the manna: Aid and the American God complex.
Philip Weiss:
[03-07]
Zionism and Jewish identity: "American Zionists are not deluded
about Zionism. They know exactly what Israel is, and they are actively
supporting blatant supremacy, racism, and apartheid. But that is
changing, because Zionism is finally being challenged in the
left/liberal press."
[03-10]
Weekly Briefing: Israeli genocide is 'embarrassing' Biden, at
last.
Brett Wilkins: [03-06]
AIPAC's dark money arm unleashes $100 million: "Amid the
Netanyahu government's assault on Gaza and intensifying repression
in the West Bank, AIPAC is showing zero tolerance for even the
mildest criticism of Israel during the 2024 US elections."
America's increasingly desperate and pathetic empire:
I started this section to separate out stories on how the US was
expanding its operations in the Middle East, ostensibly to deter
regional adversaries from attacking Israel while Israel was busy
with its genocide in Gaza. At the time, it seemed like Israel was
actively trying to promote a broader war, partly to provide a
distraction from its own focus (much as WWII served to shield
the Holocaust), and partly to give the Americans something else
to focus on. Israel tried selling this as a
"seven-front
war" -- a line that Thomas Friedman
readily swallowed, quickly recovering from his initial shock at
Israel's overreaction in Gaza -- but with neither Iran nor the US
relishing what Israel imagined to be the main event, thus far only
the Houthis in Yemen took the bait (where US/UK reprisals aren't
much of a change from what the Saudis had been doing, with US help,
for years). So this section has gradually been taken over by more
general articles on America's imperial posture (with carve outs
for the still-raging wars in Israel/Gaza and Ukraine/Russia.
Ramzy Baroud:
[03-04]
To defend Israel's actions, the US is destroying the int'l legal
system it once constructed: I'm not sure that the US ever supported
any sort of international justice system. The post-WWII trials in Japan
and Germany were rigged to impose "victor's justice." The UN started
as a victors' club, with Germany and Japan excluded, and the Security
Council was designed so small states couldn't gang up on the powers.
And when Soviet vetoes precluded using the UN as a cold war tool, the
US invented various "coalitions of the willing" to rubber-stamp policy.
The US never recognized independent initiatives like the ICJ, although
the US supports using the ICJ where it's convenient, like against Russia
in Ukraine. The only "rules-based order" the US supports is its own,
and even there its blind support for Israel arbitrary and capricious --
subject to no rules at all, only the whims of Netanyahu.
[03-08]
On solidarity and Kushner's shame: How Gaza defeated US strategem,
again.
Mac William Bishop: [02-23]
American idiots kill the American century: "After decades of
foreign-policy bungling and strategic defeats, the US has never
seemed weaker -- and dictators around the world know it."
Christopher Caldwell: [03-09]
This prophetic academic now foresees the West's defeat: On
French historian/political essayist Emmanuel Todd, who claims to
have been the first to predict the demise of the Soviet Union (see
his The Final Fall: An Essay on the Decomposition of the Soviet
Sphere, from 1976), has a new book called La Défaite de
l'Occident.
Caldwell, who has a book called The Age of Entitlement,
seems to be an unconventional conservative, so even when he has
seeming insights it's hard to trust them. Even harder to get a
read on Todd. (The NYTimes' insistence on "Mr." at every turn has
never been more annoying.) But their skepticism of Biden et al.
on Ukraine/Russia is certainly warranted. By the way, here are
some old Caldwell pieces:
Brian Concannon: [03-08]
US should let Haiti reclaim its democracy.
Gregory Elich: [03-08]
How Madeleine Albright got the war the US wanted: NATO goes on
the warpath, initially in Yugoslavia, then . . . "the opportunity
to expand Western domination over other nations."
Tom Engelhardt: [03-05]
A big-time war on terror: Living on the wrong world: "A
planetary cease fire is desperately needed."
Connor Freeman: [03-07]
Biden's unpopular wars reap mass death and nuclear brinkmanship.
Marc Martorell Junyent: [03-07]
Tempest in a teapot: British illusions and American hegemony from
Iraq to Yemen. Review of Tom Stevenson's book,
Someone
Else's Empire: British Illusions and American Hegemony.
Joshua Keating: [03-09]
The Houthis have the world's attention -- and they won't give it up:
"What do Yemen's suddenly world-famous rebels really want, and what will
make them stop?" One lesson here is that deterrence only works if it
threatens a radical break from the status quo. The Saudis, with American
support, have been bombing the Houthis for more than a decade now,
causing great hardship for the Yemeni people, but hardly moving the
needle on Houthi political power. So how much worse would it get if
they picked a fight with Israel's proxy navy? Moreover, by standing
up to Israel and its unwitting allies, they gain street cred and a
claim to the moral high ground. For similar reasons, sanctions are
more likely to threaten nations that aren't used to them. Once you're
under sanctions, which with the US tends to be a life sentence, what
difference does a few more make? It's too late for mere threats to
change the behavior of Yemen, Iran, North Korea, and/or Russia --
though maybe not to affect powers whose misbehaviors have thus far
escaped American sanctions, like Israel and Saudi Arabia. But for
the rest, to effect change, you need to do something positive, to
give them some motivation and opportunity to change. In many cases,
that shouldn't even be hard. Just try to do the right thing. Respect
the independence of others. Look for mutual benefits, like in trade.
Help them help their own people. And stop defending genocide.
Nan Levinson: [03-07]
The enticements of war (and peace).
Blaise Malley: [03-06]
Opportunity calls as Cold War warriors exit the stage: "Will
Mitch McConnell's replacement represent the old or new guard in
his party's foreign policy?"
Paul R Pillar: [03-06]
Why Netanyahu is laughing all the way to the bank: "David Petraeus
said recently that US leverage on Israel to do the right thing in Gaza
is 'overestimated' -- that's just not true."
Robert Wright: [03-08]
The real problem with the Trump-Biden choice: This piece is
far-reaching enough I could have slotted it anywhere, but it has
the most bearing here: the problem is how much Trump and Biden
have in common, especially where it comes to foreign affairs:
"America First" may seem like a different approach from Biden's,
but the latter is just a slightly more generous and less intemperate
variation, as both start from the assumption that America is and must
be the leader, and everyone else needs to follow in line. Trump thinks
he can demand the other pay tribute; Biden possibly knows better,
but his pursuit of arms deals makes me wonder. Wright cites a piece
by Adam Tooze I can't afford or find, quoting it only up to the
all-important "but" after which the Trump-Biden gap narrows. While
I'm sure Tooze has interesting things to say, Wright's efforts to
steer foreign policy thinking away from the zero-sum confrontations
of the Metternich-to-Kissinger era are the points to consider.
Fareed Zakaria: [03-08]
Amid the horror in Gaza, it's easy to miss that the Middle East has
changed.
Election notes: Sixteen states and territories voted for
president on Super Tuesday, mostly confirming what we already knew.
Biden won everywhere (except American Samoa), even over "uncommitted"
(which mostly got a push from those most seriously upset over his
support for Israeli genocide). Trump won everywhere -- except in
Vermont, narrowly to Nikki Haley, who nonetheless shuttered her
campaign (but hasn't yet endorsed Trump). Dean Phillips dropped out
of the Democratic race after getting 8% in his home state of Minnesota
and 9% in Oklahoma. He endorsed Biden. I'm not very happy with any of
the news summaries I've seen, but here are a few to skim through:
538;
AP;
Ballotpedia;
CBS News;
CNBC;
CNN;
Guardian;
NBC News;
New York Times;
Politico;
USA Today;
Washington Post.
One quote I noticed (from CNN) was from a "reluctant Democrat" in
Arizona: "It's hard to vote for someone with multiple felony charges;
and it's also very hard to vote for someone that is pro-genocide."
Michael C Bender: [03-06]
How Trump's crushing primary triumph masked quiet weaknesses:
"Even though he easily defeated Nikki Haley, the primary results
suggested that he still has long-term problems with suburban voters,
moderates, and independents."
Aaron Blake: [03-08]
The Texas GOP purge and other below-the-radar Super Tuesday
nuggets.
Nate Cohn: [03-07]
Where Nikki Haley won and what it means: Inside the Beltway (61%),
Home base and Mountain West cities (57%), Vermont (56%), University
towns (56%), Resort towns (55%): In other words, the sorts of places
that would automatically disqualify one as a Real Republican.
Antonia Hitchens: [03-06]
Watching Super Tuesday returns at Mar-a-Lago.
Ro Khanna: [03-07]
The message from Michigan couldn't be more clear: Actually,
these figures (see Nichols below) are hardly enough for a bump in
the road to Biden's reelection -- unlike, say, Eugene McCarthy's
New Hampshire showing in 1968, where Lyndon Johnson got the message
clearly enough to give up his campaign. What they do show is that
the near-unanimity of Democratic politicians in support of Israel
is not shared by the rank and file.
Adam Nagourney/Shane Goldmacher: [03-09]
The Biden-Trump rerun: A nation craving change gets more of the same:
I bypassed this first time around, but maybe we should offer some kind
of reward for the week's most inane opinion piece. Wasn't Nagourney a
finalist in one of those hack journalists playoffs? (If memory serves --
why the hell can't I just google this? -- he finished runner-up to
Karen Tumulty.)
John Nichols: [03-05]
Gaza is on the ballot all over America: "Inspired by Michigan's
unexpectedly high 'uncommitted' vote, activists across the country
are now mounting campaigns to send Biden a pro-cease-fire message."
Uncommitted slate votes thus far (from NYTimes link, above):
Minnesota: 18.9%;
Michigan: 13.2%;
North Carolina: 12.7%;
Massachusetts: 9.4%;
Colorado: 8.1%;
Tennessee: 7.9%;
Alabama: 6.0%;
Iowa: 3.9%.
Alexander Sammon:
[03-09]
Katie Porter said her Senate primary was "rigged." Let's discuss!
"Her complaint was kind of MAGA-coded. But it wasn't entirely wrong."
Adam Schiff had a huge fundraising advantage over Porter, as Porter
did over the worthier still Barbara Lee. This is one of the few pieces
I've found that looks into where that money came from (AIPAC chipped
in $5 million; a crypto-backed PAC doubled that), and how it was used,
explained in more depth in the following:
[03-05]
Democrats have turned to odd, cynical tactics to beat one another in
California's Senate race. Schiff wound up spending a lot of money
not trying to win Democrats over from Porter and Lee -- something that
might require explaining why he supported the Iraq War (which itself
partly explains why he got all that AIPAC money) -- but instead spent
millions raising Republican Steve Garvey's profile. In the end, Schiff
was so successful he lost first place to Garvey (on one but not both
of the contests: one to finish Feinstein's term, one for the six year
term that follows), but at least he got past Porter and Lee, turning
the open primary into a traditional R-D contest (almost certainly D
in California).
Michael Scherer: [03-08]
Inside No Labels decision to plow ahead with choosing presidential
candidates: "The group announced on a call with supporters
Friday plans to announce a selection process for their third-party
presidential ticket on March 14 with a nomination by April."
More No Labels:
Li Zhou: [03-06]
Jason Palmer, the guy who beat Biden in American Samoa, briefly
explained.
Trump, and other Republicans:
David Atkins: [03-06]
The incompetent malfeasance of today's Republican party: "They're
mendacious buffoons, but their lack of political acumen makes them no
less dangerous than if they knew how to shoot straight." Laugh as you
may, but in much of the country, they're still kicking your ass.
Zack Beauchamp: [03-06]
The Republican primary was a joke. It tells us something deadly
serious. "Trump's inevitable romp to victory revealed how strong
his hold on the GOP is -- and how dangerous he remains to democracy."
Ryan Bort: [03-08]
Republicans tap election denier, Trump's daughter-in-law to run
RNC: "The MAGA takeover of the Republican National Committee
is complete, and the group appears poised to subsidize Trump's
legal fights." Michael Whatley and Lara Trump.
Zak Cheney-Rice: [03-09]
The normalization of Trump's alleged crimes: "His legal strategy
is both buying him time and erasing the accusations against him."
Juan Cole: [03-06]
Trump, Like Biden, supports Israeli Campaign against Gaza: "You've got
to finish the Problem": Odd turn of phrase, isn't it? (I usually
try to standardize case in headlines, but this one was so peculiar, I
left it alone.) Most people try to solve problems, but "finish" could
have two meanings, one suggesting that it isn't problem enough yet,
so needs to be made more complete; the other interpretation, which is
more like Trump, is that "Problem" means Palestinians, and "finish"
means annihilation (or more vividly, if you know the original German,
Vernichtung). I don't quite buy the argument that "Trump's position
on Gaza is not any different from that of Joe Biden." Biden may feel
powerless to object to Israel, but he's not unaware of the human cost.
Trump simply doesn't care. As long as the checks don't bounce, he's
good to go. More on Trump's Gaza "problem":
Dan Diamond/Alex Horton: [03-07]
Navy demoted Ronny Jackson after probe into White House behavior:
"Trump's former physician and GOP ally is now a retired captain, not
an admiral."
Jesse Drucker: [03-09]
How Trump's Justice Dept. derailed an investigation of a major
company: "The industrial giant Caterpillar hired William Barr
and other lawyers to defuse a federal criminal investigation of
alleged tax dodges."
Michael Gold: [03-10]
Trump vilifies migrants and mocks Biden's stutter in Georgia
speech.
Jessica M Goldstein:
The right-wing war on abortion has nothing to do with babies:
"Coverage of the recent controversy over IVF has made a perilous
omission: This is a battle over body autonomy." Related:
Alex Isenstadt: [03-11]
Ralph Reed's army plans $62 million spending spree backing Trump:
"Faith & amp; Freedom plans to spend big registering and turning out
evangelicals and handing out 30 million pieces of literature at
churches."
Josh Kovensky: [03-09]
Inside a secret society of prominent right-wing Christian men prepping
for a 'national divorce'.
Paul Krugman:
Eric Levitz:
[03-05]
Republicans' voter suppression obsession may end up helping . . .
Democrats? "The GOP convinced itself it could only win with a
smaller, whiter electorate. The polls show that's just not true."
[03-06]
Republicans just passed up the chance to win a historic landslide:
"If Republicans ever figure out how to nominate a normal human, Democrats
could be in trouble." You might think that, but Romney and McCain, who
were about as close as Republicans get to normal these days, lost to
Obama, and Bush didn't fare much better, leaving office with the lowest
approval rating at least since Nixon. Republican policies are moving
disasters, many so obviously defective even they don't dare campaign
on them. The only option, other than betraying their base(s), is to
deflect and dissemble, which they do mostly by generating rage. Even
that doesn't always work, but Trump was credibly crazy in 2016, and
pulled off a miracle, and when he did, he raised the stakes about
what winning meant. As long as he has a chance of winning -- and he
does have enough polls to keep that fantasy going -- he's the horse
the base wants to bet on, because he's the only one promising to
fulfill their fantasies. Until he loses as bad as Landon in 1936,
or at least Mondale in 1984, Republicans have little reason to
recalculate.
Daniel Lippman: [03-09]
Kellyanne Conway advocating for TikTok on Capitol Hill:
Trump failed to "drain the swamp," but his aides are learning to
earn there.
Alexandra Marquez: [03-10]
Lindsey Graham: Biden has 'screwed the world up every way you can':
I can't help but wonder how many people actually fall for this sort
of vague but indiscriminate line, which has become default for most
Republicans. Graham spouts more on foreign policy, where it's most
clear that he wants to "screw the world up" in ways even Biden hasn't
tried.
Stephanie Mencimer: [03-08]
Lara Trump is all about meritocracy: "That's why she got the
top job at the RNC."
Mary Jo Murphy: [03-07]
This book about Trump voters goes for the jugular: Another
review of Tom Schaller/Paul Waldman:
White
Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy. And another:
Nicole Narea: [03-06]
Mark Robinson, the North Carolina GOP nominee for governor, is off the
rails even by MAGA standards: "North Carolina has seen a politician
like Robinson before: Jesse Helms." More:
Anna North: [03-04]
Fetal personhood laws, explained: "The anti-abortion legal theory
that could jeopardize IVF around the country."
Charles P Pierce: Many recent
short posts, not all of which apply to this slot, but the first
couple do, and easier to keep them together, with more respect for
their author:
Greg Sargent:
Trump's angry rant about Biden's speech showcases MAGA's ugliest
scam.
Charles Sykes: [03-05]
Donald Trump, the luckiest politician who ever lived.
Ishaan Tharoor: [03-08]
Trump, Orban and the GOP's deep obsession with foreign demagogues:
This column includes an interview with Jacob Heilbrunn, author of
America Last:
The Right's Century-Long Romance with Foreign Dictators.
The century is just enough time to go back to Mussolini, lionized
as the guy who got the trains to run on time.
Liz Theoharis: [03-10]
The great unwinding: "The failing battle for health and healthcare
in these all too disunited states." Republicans are responsible for
this, and need to own it: "Since March 2023, 16 million Americans have
lost healthcare coverage, including four million children, as states
redefine eligibility for Medicaid for the first time in three years."
This is one of many areas where Democrats were able to expand the
safety net to ameliorate the horrors of the Covid-19 pandemic, but
as Republicans recovered from the panic, they've killed off these
much needed expansions as soon as possible.
Peter Wehner: [03-10]
If there's one thing Trump is right about, it's Republicans:
They'll follow him anywhere:
Mr. Trump is a human blowtorch, prepared to burn down democracy. So
is his party. When there's no bottom, there's no bottom.
The next 34 weeks are among the more consequential in the life of
this nation. Mr. Trump was a clear danger in 2016; he's much more of
a danger now. The former president is more vengeful, more bitter and
more unstable than he was, which is saying something. There would be
fewer guardrails and more true believers in a second Trump term. He's
already shown he'll overturn an election, support a violent insurrection
and even allow his vice president to be hanged. There's nothing he won't
do. It's up to the rest of us to keep him from doing it.
Biden's band-aid folly: Unveiled in Biden's State of the
Union address, q.v., but for this week, let's give it its own section:
Alex Horton: [03-08]
How the US military will use a floating pier to deliver Gaza aid:
"Construction will take up to two months and require 1,000 US troops
who will remain off shore, officials say. Once complete, it will
enable delivery of 2 million meals daily."
Jonathan Cook: [03-10]
Biden's pier-for-Gaza is hollow gesture.
Kareem Fahim/Hazem Balousha: [03-08]
Biden plan to build Gaza port, deliver aid by sea draws skepticism,
ridicule. Sounds like they had a contest to come up with the most
expensive, least efficient method possible to trickle life-sustaining
aid into Gaza, without in any way inhibiting Israel's systematic
slaughter.
Miriam Berger/Sufian Taha/Heidi Levine/Loveday Morris: [03-05]
The improbable US plan for a revitalized Palestinian security force:
Because the US did such a great job of training the Afghan security
force?
Noga Tarnopolsky: [03-09]
The Biden plan to ditch Netanyahu: "The 'come to Jesus moment' is
already here, according to Israeli and US sources." I don't give this
report much credit, but it stands to reason that eventually Biden will
tire of Netanyahu jerking him around just so he can further embarrass
both countries with what is both in intent and effect genocide. I do
see ways in which Biden's initial subservience is evolving into some
kind of passive-aggressive resistance. Rather than denounce Israel
for making reasonable aid possible, Biden has challenged Israel to
spell out what they would allow, and agreed even as these schemes are
patently ridiculous. It's only a matter of time until Israel starts
attacking American aid providers. For another piece:
Zack Beauchamp: [03-08]
Are Biden and the Democrats finally turning on Israel? "Biden's
new plan to build a pier on the Gaza coast seems to say yes. The
continued military aid to Israel says otherwise."
Biden's State of the Union speech: A section for everything
else related, including official and unofficial Republican responses:
Biden and/or the Democrats:
Perry Bacon Jr: [03-07]
Biden is failing at the most important task of his presidency.
Bacon's definition: "Biden has failed at the most important task
for a Democratic president in the 2020s: eliminating or at least
drastically reducing the chances of Trump or someone who shares
his radical beliefs being his successor." That may have been the
job, but it's really hard to see how he could have done it. When
I saw the headline, I filled in my own answer, which is that Biden
simply isn't a very good communicator. But Obama was, technically
at least, pretty much all you could hope for in a communicator,
and who listened to him? Bill Clinton was also pretty good. But
both were hobbled by a hostile media that relentlessly amplified
Republican countermessaging, and by the muddle created by their
own willingness to conform to conservative framing of issues --
is it any wonder that they were more successful at persuading
donors than voters? Franklin Roosevelt was the great communicator
among all presidents, but we no longer live in a world where
nominally Republican farmers (like, say, my grandfather) would
tune in to listen to him explain how banking worked, and believe
a word he said.
Jonathan Chait: [03-05]
Good riddance, Kyrsten Sinema, plutocratic shill: "She killed her
career by blocking bipartisan ideas that threatened the rich." The
Democrat-turned-independent from Arizona finally decided not to run
for a second term. Presumably she'll reap her rewards as a lobbyist,
not that she's likely to have much influence over anyone. More:
Timothy Noah:
The stealth budget cuts imperiling the Biden antitrust agenda.
Evan Osnos: [03-04]
Joe Biden's last campaign: A long New Yorker profile on
Biden, by just about the only writer who managed to get a biography
of Biden together before the 2020 election (and just barely).
Andrew Prokop: [03-08]
The media's coverage of Biden's age needs a rethink: "There's
been too much focus on trivialities."
John E Schwarz: [03-01]
Democratic presidents have better economic performances than Republican
ones: This has been true for so long you'd think everyone would be
acknowledging it.
Astra Taylor/Eleni Schirmer: [03-05]
The Biden administration has a chance to deliver student debt relief.
It must act.
Benjamin Wallace-Wells: [03-06]
Can Joe Biden fight from behind in a rematch against Donald Trump?
Legal matters and other crimes:
Elie Honig: [03-08]
Biden's looming nightmare pardons: Ever since this "former
federal and state prosecutor" started writing for Intelligencer,
his pieces have sounded like stealth briefs from the Trump legal
team, even if not things they would actually want to own. This
one at least assumes things not yet in evidence: that Trump is
actually tried and convicted and sentenced to jail time -- the
power may be to pardon, but all he's asking for is commutation
of prison time, not full pardons. As that's increasingly unlikely
before November, the assumption may also be that Biden wins then,
so has some breathing room before having to consider the issue,
which would leave plenty of time for this discussion, unlike now.
Josh Kovensky: [03-05]
Feds slap 12 new counts on Bob 'Gold Bars' Menendez: Senator
(D-NJ).
Ian Millhiser: [03-10]
Do Americans still have a right to privacy? "With courts coming
for abortion and IVF, it's hard not to wonder what the Supreme Court
will go after next."
Climate, environment, and energy:
Ukraine War:
Blaise Malley: [03-08]
Diplomacy Watch: Chinese diplomat shuttling to Russia, and Ukraine.
Turkey is also making efforts to mediate the conflict.
Francesca Ebel/Robyn Dixon: [02-29]
Putin threatens nuclear response to NATO troops if they go to
Ukraine.
Francesca Ebel/Serhiy Morgunov: [03-08]
Russia's opposition and Ukraine find it impossible to unite against
Putin.
Mark Episkopos: [03-08]
What will more aid to Ukraine accomplish? "There are limits to
what Kyiv can do, even with an indefinite flow of Western assistance."
Valerie Hopkins: [03-01]
Thousands turn out for Navalny's funeral in Moscow.
Daniel Larison: [03-05]
Victoria Nuland never shook the mantle of ideological meddler:
"Blurting out F-ck the EU' typified her blunt, interventionist style
throughout three presidential administrations."
Emily Rauhala: [03-07]
Sweden finally joins NATO in expansion spurred by Putin's Ukraine
war.
Lauren Wolfe: [01-16]
Putin's history lessons: Review of Yaroslav Trofimov:
Our
Enemies Will Vanish: The Russian Invasion and Ukraine's War of
Independence, which is somewhat tangential to the subhed
argument that Putin's rhetoric about the unity of Russia and Ukraine
has laid "the rhetorical groundwork for a forever war."
Amanda Yen: [03-11]
Hungary's Viktor Orban: Trump 'won't give a penny' to Ukraine if
elected. One of the stranger recent political dynamics is that
as Trump digs in more as the anti-war (and especially, anti-world-war)
candidate, Democrats are trying to rally support for Ukraine as
necessary to spite Trump here in America. Why they think that's
a winning strategy is beyond me. They could argue that unified
support for Ukraine would help them negotiate a better deal to
end the war, but first they need to be open to negotiating, which
so far doesn't seem to be the case. America has a bad history of
never negotiating reasonable exits from conflicts. Rather, in
Vietnam and Afghanistan, they negotiated deals where they just
slipped away, leaving their supposed allies to collapse, or in
Korea, where they signed a ceasefire but refused to call it an
end to the war. A reasonable deal with Russia is possible, and
it could lead to further reasonable deals in the future, in the
long run ending a conflict that the US has done as much or more
to fuel as Putin has. Trump may pull out, but he won't negotiate
a real deal, because he doesn't know how, and he doesn't care.
But even the bad deals I've mentioned were better for Americans
than the hopeless, pointless wars they escaped from. So even if
that's all Trump is promising, many people will see it as better
than Biden and the Democrats pouring endless resources into a
stalemate.
Around the world:
Other stories:
Michelle Alexander: [03-08]
Only revolutionary love can save us now: "Martin Luther King Jr's
1967 speech condemning the Vietnam War offers a powerful moral compass
as we face the challenges of our time."
Indivar Dutta-Gupta/Korian Warren: [03-04]
The war on poverty wasn't enough: "While Lyndon B Johnson's
effort made some lasting impacts, the United States still has some
of the highest rates of nonelderly poverty among wealthy nations."
As the article notes, Johnson's programs brought big improvements,
but the Vietnam War hurt him politically, and his successors lost
interest: e.g., Nixon's appointment of Donald Rumsfeld to run the
Office of Economic Opportunity. And while Republicans deserve much
of the blame, Democrats like Daniel Moynahan and Bill Clinton were
often as bad, sometimes worse.
Henry Farrell: [02-27]
Dr. Pangloss's Panopticon: A very thoughtful critique of Noah Smith's
"quite
negative review of a recent book by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson,
Power and Progress: Our 1000-Year Struggle Over Technology &
Prosperity. There are complex issues at dispute here, many
much more interesting than those that dominate this (and all recent)
posts. Dr. Pangloss (from Voltaire) stands in for techno-optimism:
the idea that unfettered innovation, accelerated as it is through
modern venture capitalism, promises to deliver ever-improving worlds.
Panopticon (from Jeremy Bentham) is an early form of mass surveillance,
a capability that technology has done much to develop recently, with
AI promising a breakthrough to the bottleneck problem (the time and
people you need to surveil other people).
Luke Goldstein: [02-23]
Crunch time for government spying: "Congress has a few weeks left
until a key spying provision sunsets. Both reformers and intelligence
hawks are plotting their strategies."
Oshan Jarow: [03-08]
The world's mental health is in rough shape -- and not getting any
better: "Guess where the US ranks?"
Sarah Kaplan: [03-06]
Are we living in an 'Age of Humans'? Geologists say no.
A recent proposal for delineating a stratigraphic boundary for
the Anthropocene, based on "a plume of radioactive plutonium
that circled around the world" in 1952, was proposed recently
and, at least for now, voted down. More:
Alvaro Lopez: [03-08]
The making of Frantz Fanon: Review of Adam Shatz's new book,
The
Rebel's Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon.
Also:
Rick Perlstein: [03-06]
The spectacle of policing: "'Swatting' innocent people is the latest
incarnation of the decades-long gestation of an infrastructure of
fear."
Dave Phillipps: [03-06]
Profound damage found in Maine gunman's brain, possibly from blasts:
"A laboratory found a pattern of cell damage that has been seen in
veterans exposed to weapons blasts, and said it probably played a
role in symptoms the gunman displayed before the shooting." Robert
Card was a grenade instructor in the Army Reserve for eight years.
He went on to shoot and kill 18 people and himself. Something not
yet factored into the "Costs of War" accounting. Another report:
Jeffrey St Clair: [03-08]
Roaming Charges: Too obvious to be real.
I ran across a link to this David Brooks [02-08]:
Trump came for their party but took over their souls. A normal
person would have little trouble writing a column under that headline.
Even Brooks hits some obvious points, like: "Democracy is for
suckers"; "Entertainment over governance"; and "Lying
is normal." But the one that really upsets Brooks is: "America
would be better off in a post-American world." The other maxim
that Brooks castigates Trump for is "Foreigners don't matter."
This leads to his rant against "isolationism," which inevitably
devolves into invoking the spectre of Neville Chamberlain.
Brooks celebrates the triumph of Eisenhower over Taft in 1952,
when "the GOP became an internationalist party and largely remained
that way for six decades" -- glorious years that spread capitalist
exploitation to the far corners of the globe, transforming colonies
into cronies ruled by debt penury, policed by "forever wars" and,
wherever the occasion arose, ruthless counterrevolutions and civil
wars.
Meanwhile, instead of enjoying the wealth this foreign policy
generated, America's middle class -- the solid burghers and union
workers who, as Harry Truman put it, "voted Democratic to live like
Republicans" -- got ground down into their own penury. The Cold
War was always as much about fighting democracy at home as it was
about denying socialism abroad, much as the "war on terror" was
mostly just an authoritarian tantrum directed against anyone who
failed to submit to America's globe-spanning military colossus.
Sure, it is an irony that blows Brooks' mind that it now seems
to be the Republicans -- the party that most celebrates rapacious
capitalism, is most devoutly committed to authoritarian rule, and
whose people are most callously indifferent to the cries of those
harmed by their greed -- should be the first give up on the game.
Of course, they weren't. The left, or "premature antifascists"
(as the OSS referred to us in the 1940s, before "communists and
fellow travelers" proved to be a more effective slur), knew this
all along, but that insight came from caring about what happens
to others, and solidarity in what we sensed was a common struggle.
It took Republicans much
longer to realize that globalized capitalism, under the aegis of
American military power, not only didn't work for them personally,
but that it directly led to jobs moving overseas, and all kinds
of foreigners flooding America. And since Republicans had put
so much propaganda effort into stoking racism and reaction, not
least by blaming Democrats (with their "open borders" and focus
on wars as "humanitarian") for loving foreigners more than their
own people.
I was pointed to Brooks' piece by a pair of
tweets: Simon Schama linked, adding: "Heartfelt obituary by
David Brooks for the expiring of last vestiges of the Republican
Party. No longer has supporters but 'an audience.' Lying normalised.
Total abandonment of internationalism." To which, Sam Hasselby added:
People have really memory-holed the whole Iraq catastrophe which
is in fact what normalized a new scale of lying and impunity in
American politics. It was also a lie which cost $7 trillion dollars,
killed one million innocent Iraqis, and displaced 37 million people.
Yet Iraq War boosters like Brooks still have major mainstream
media gigs, while Adam Schiff trounced Barbara Lee (the only member
of Congress to vote against the whole War on Terror) in a Democratic
primary, and Joe Biden became president -- finally giving up the
20-year disaster in Afghanistan, only to wholeheartedly embrace
new, but already even more disastrous, wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Music Week
March archive
(in progress).
Music: Current count 41938 [41900] rated (+38), 21 [22] unrated (-1).
I'm having a rough time getting anything done, which is my best
explanation for wasting most of last week on a still-unfinished
Speaking of Which -- posted well after midnight last, with
a few further adds flagged today. The most important add is the
link to Pankaj Mishra's
The Shoah after Gaza (also on
YouTube).
I've neglected pretty much everything and everyone else. My
apologies to anyone expecting a response from me. As I must have
noted already, I gave myself a month to write a quick, very rough
draft of my long gestating political book, with the promise that
if I couldn't pull it off, I'd shelve the idea once and for all,
and spend my waning days reading fiction -- forty years later,
I still have a bookmark 300 pages into Gravity's Rainbow,
and enough recollection I'm not sure I'll have to retrace --
while slipping in the occasional old movie and dawdling with
jigsaw puzzles (ok, I'm already doing the latter). I certainly
wouldn't have to plow through any nonfiction that might be
construed as research -- e.g., a couple items currently on
the proverbial night stand: Franklin Foer's book on Biden, or
Judis/Teixeira on the missing Democrats.
That month was supposed to be January, but the Jazz Critics
Poll and EOY lists lapped over without me starting, so I decided
I'd give it February. I still have no more than a fragment of a
letter stashed away in a
notebook entry, so
the obvious thing to do at this point is admit failure, and be
done with it. Aside from easing my mind -- the last six months
have been unbearably gloomy for my politics, my prognostications
turning markedly dystopian -- ditching politics might be good
news for those of you more interested in my writing on music.
Two small projects that I've also neglected are: a thorough
review of the
Francis Davis Jazz
Critics Poll website, which is missing some unknown quantity
of historical material (hopefully Davis has it stashed away),
and needs some modernization; I'm also behind on maintenance,
not to mention the long-promised redesign, of the
Robert Christgau
website. It would also make sense to reorganize my own data
along those same lines, as even now it's virtually impossible
for even me to look up what I've written about any musician.
I also have neglected house projects: the most pressing of
which is the imminent collapse of a chunk of ceiling in my wife's
study room. I used to be pretty competent at carpentry and home
improvement tasks. About all I can claim to have managed in the
last month has been replacement of two light bulbs, which took
me weeks (in my defense, both involved ladders and unconventional
sockets).
Nothing special to say about this week's music. A copy of the
year 2023 list has been
frozen, but I am
still adding occasional records to my
tracking file,
jazz and
non-jazz EOY lists, and
EOY aggregate, but mostly
just my own belatedly graded items. But I'm not very focused on what
I'm listening to, and often get stuck wondering what to play next.
I can't say I've reached the point of not caring, but I'm getting
there.
My most played record of the last couple weeks is The
R&B No. 1s of the '50s, especially the final disc, which
has left me with Lloyd Price's "I'm Gonna Get Married" as the
ultimate earworm. I should probably bump the whole set up to full
A. I played the last three discs while cooking on Saturday, and
I'm satisfied with them. Then I started Sunday and Monday with
disc 6. As this post lapsed into Tuesday, I was tempted again,
but had unfinished Vijay Iyer queued up.
Found this in a Facebook comment: "I'm not sure keeping up with
Tom Hull is possible. The very thought makes my synapses cry out,
'no mas, no mas.'" But from my view, they really just keep coming
poco a poco. During the long delay from listing out this file to
posting it -- mostly spent on the Speaking of Which intro -- I only
managed to collect four more reviews for next week: two marginally
A- jazz albums (Joel Ross, John Surman), and two more marginally
below A- (Vijay Iyer, Emile Parisien).
New records reviewed this week:
Black Art Jazz Collective: Truth to Power (2024,
HighNote): Fourth group album, 2016 debut started with six mostly
prominent mainstreamers -- Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax), Jeremy Pelt
(trumpet), James Burton (trombone), Xavier Davis (piano), and
Johnathan Blake (drums) -- up to nine this time: still a sextet,
but with Victor Gould, Rashaan Carter, and Mark Whitfield Jr.
taking over at piano-bass-drums for four tracks. Rich harmonically,
but still not much of interest happening here.
B [sp]
The Choir Invisible [Charlotte Greve/Vinnie Sperazza/Chris
Tordini]: Town of Two Faces (2022 [2024], Intakt):
Brooklyn-based trio of German saxophonist Charlotte Greve, Chris
Tordini (bass), and Vinnie Sperazza (drums), the group taking
the title of their initial 2020 album. Greve is also credited
with voice, but the real vocal here is Fay Victor's outstanding
blues, "In Heaven."
B+(***) [sp]
Djeli Moussa Condé: Africa Mama (2023, Accords
Croises): Kora playing griot from Conakry, Guinea; at least two
previous albums, more as Kondé.
B+(***) [sp]
Gui Duvignau/Jacob Sacks/Nathan Ellman-Bell: Live in
Red Hook (2022 [2024], Sunnyside): Bassist, fourth album
since 2016, born in France, moved to Morocco as an infant, then
grew up in Brazil, eventually winding up in New York, where he
recorded this trio with piano and drums.
B+(*) [sp]
Alon Farber Hagiga With Dave Douglas: The Magician: Live
in Jerusalem (2023 [2024], Origin): Israeli saxophonist
(soprano/alto), group name is Hebrew for "celebration," has used
it to frame his quintet and sextet albums since 2005, up to seven
here with their guest star, who brought two (of five) songs, and
plays some of his hottest trumpet since he left Masada. A group
this joyous deserves as better country.
B+(***) [cd]
R.A.P. Ferreira & Fumitake Tamura: The First Fist to
Make Contact When We Dap (2024, Ruby Yacht): Underground
rapper from Chicago, initials for Rory Allen Philip, formerly did
business as Milo, based in Nashville; producer has a handful of
collaborations since 2014. Music very sketchy here, but finds an
interesting groove. Twelve cuts, 32:16.
B+(***) [sp]
David Friesen: This Light Has No Darkness (2023
[2024]], Origin): Bassist, one should add composer as that's been
key to him leading fifty-some albums since 1975, and that's the
focus here, with this 12-part work arranged and orchestrated by
Kyle Gordon, using a 33-piece orchestra. Classically lush, way
too much for my taste.
B [cd]
The Fully Celebrated Orchestra: Sob Story (2023
[2024], Relative Pitch): Group led by alto saxophonist Jim Hobbs,
first appeared as a trio in 1996, last heard on the terrific 2009
Drunk on the Blood of the Holy Ones, back here as a quintet,
with Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) and Ian Ayers (guitar) joining Luther
Gray (drums) and original member Timo Sharko (bass).
B+(**) [sp]
Vanisha Gould and Chris McCarthy: Life's a Gig
(2022 [2024], Fresh Sound New Talent): Jazz singer, has a previous
self-released duo album but I could see this as her debut, wrote
one song plus lyrics to another, but the focus here is on seven
standards, most with just McCarthy's piano accompaniment (guest
viola on two: the original and "Jolene"). Given the right song,
like "What a Little Moonlight Can Do," and she doesn't need more.
B+(**) [sp]
Heems & Lapgan: Lafandar (2024, Veena Sounds):
Rapper Himanshu Suri, formerly of Das Racist and Swet Shop Boys,
third solo album (first since 2015). Lapgan is a producer with a
couple recent albums, draws on Indo-Pak heritage, Lollywood dance
beats, and transnational hip-hop. Beaucoup guests celebrate, and
flaunt, diversity. I should dig up a lyric sheet, but the many
word juxtapositions are exciting enough.
A [sp]
Katy Kirby: Blue Raspberry (2024, Anti-): Folkie
singer-songwriter, grew up in Texas, based in Nashville, second
album.
B+(**) [sp]
Lapgan: History (2023, Veena Sounds): Hip-hop
producer, most likely Punjabi but no info as yet on how far
removed (seems to be based in Chicago), breakthrough is with
the new Heems album, which instantly validated this title.
B+(*) [sp]
Lapgan: Duniya Kya Hai (2021, Veena Sounds):
Earlier, beats "almost exclusively with sounds from India and
Pakistan."
B+(**)
Lapgan: Badmaash (2019, self-released): Digging
deeper, I find his name is Gaurav Nagpal (last name reversed for
Lapgan), his parents came from India (but where? samples are as
likely to come from Kerala as Punjab), he was born in Queens,
grew up near Chicago, and worked his way backwards into roots.
B+(**) [sp]
Les Amazones d'Afrique: Musow Danse (2024, Real
World): African supergroup, three brand-name Malian singers --
Mamani Keïta, Mariam Dumbia, Oumou Sangare -- plus 'French
music-industry veteran" Valerie Malot.
B+(***) [sp]
James Brandon Lewis Quartet: Transfiguration
(2022 [2024], Intakt): Tenor saxophonist, brilliant on his 2014
major label debut, has continued to impress ever since, including
landmark concept albums that won the Francis Davis Poll in 2021
and 2023. On the side, he's recorded a series of excellent working
group albums for this Swiss label. Quartet with piano (Aruán Ortiz),
bass (Brad Jones), and drums (Chad Taylor).
A- [sp]
Cecilia Lopez & Ingrid Laubrock: Maromas (2022
[2023], Relative Pitch): Electronics musician, from Argentina, based
in New York, more than a dozen releases since 2015, doesn't appear
to be related to bassist Brandon Lopez, but they did a 2020 duo
called LopezLopez. Duo here with the German saxophonist
(soprano/tenor), also New York-based. Sketchy, but interesting.
B+(**) [sp]
Corb Lund: El Viejo (2024, New West): Canadian
country singer-songwriter, twelfth album since 1995. Has a good
sound and good sense, but songs are a bit hit-and-miss (a tip
might be that his best album so far was called Songs My Friends
Wrote).
B+(***) [sp]
Brady Lux: Ain't Gone So Far (2024, 6483357 DK, EP):
Country singer-songwriter from Montana, reportedly "a genuine ranch
hand cowboy who works his ass off every day, and at night he writes
songs and saws a little fiddle when he can find the time." Sounds
really western, albeit without horses. Seven songs, 23:05.
B+(***) [sp]
Mali Obomsawin/Magdalena Abrego: Greatest Hits
(2024, Out of Your Head): Singer-songwriter/bassist from Abenaki
First Nation, started in the folk group Lula Wiles, released a
jazz-powered solo debut in 2022 I liked a lot (Sweet Tooth),
but title here made me wonder. Abrego is a guitarist based in
Hudson, NY, with not much before this, but adds appreciable heft
to the songs. Eight songs, 32:02.
B+(**) [bc]
QOW Trio: The Hold Up (2024, Ubuntu Music):
British trio -- Riley Stone-Longeran (tenor sax), Eddie Myer
(bass), Spike Wells (drums) -- second album after an eponymous
debut in 2020, basically a retro-bop band, name taken from a
Dewey Redman song, Wells old enough to have played with Tubby
Hayes. No complaints here if the saxophonist sounds a lot like
Sonny Rollins.
A- [sp]
Zach Rich: Solidarity (2021 [2024], OA2):
Trombonist, originally from Wichita, teaches in Colorado,
seems to be his first album. Postbop quintet with piano and
guitar, bass and drums, plus string quartet, plus extra horns
and voice on the second piece ("Broken Mirrors").
B+(*) [cd]
Dex Romweber: Good Thing Goin' (2023, Propeller
Sound): Rockabilly/roots guitarist, singer-songwriter, surprised
to hear that he died at age 56, leaving this album has his last --
ominously dedicated to his late sister and duo partner, Sara
Romweber (1963-2019). A mix of originals and covers, the latter
more often amusing (even if inadvertently so).
B+(*) [sp]
Ignaz Schick/Oliver Steidle: Ilog3 (2021 [2023],
Zarek): Germans, Schick started out as a saxophonist but credits
here are "turntables, sampler, pitch shifter/looper," in a duo
with the drummer ("percussion, sampler, live-electronics"). Third
duo album, starting in 2015. Some splendid noise.
B+(***) [bc]
Fie Schouten/Vincent Courtois/Guus Janssen: Vostok:
Remote Islands (2023, Relative Pitch): A treat for
Worldle devotees,
improvised music "inspired by Judith Schalansky's book Atlas
of Remote Islands: 50 Islands I Never Set Foot in and Never
Will. Schouten plays "bass clarinet, clarinet in A, basset
horn"; the others cello and keyboards, with Giuseppe Doronzo
joining in on baritone sax (4 of 12 tracks). Eleven are named
for islands (only a couple big enough to be Worldle answers),
the other for a bird ("Inaccessible Island Rail").
B+(**) [sp]
Håkon Skogstad: 8 Concepts of Tango (2023 [2024],
Øra Fonogram): Norwegian pianist, has taken tango as his art form,
with previous albums called Visions of Tango and Two Hands
to Tango. All original pieces here, played by a classical-sounding
group of band (piano, two bandoneons, string quartet plus bass).
B+(*) [cd] [03-15]
Sleater-Kinney: Little Rope (2024, Loma Vista):
Portland-based rock group, now down to a duo of singer-songwriters
Carrie Brownstein and Corrin Tucker, eleventh studio album since
1995. I've long respected their craft while finding one or both
of the voices intensely grating. Still, repeated exposure finds
me caring less than ever, although this has less than usual for
me to complain about.
B [sp]
Simon Spiess Quiet Tree: Euphorbia (2022 [2024],
Intakt): Swiss tenor saxophonist, debut 2011, eighth album,
group includes pianist Marc Méan (who wrote four pieces, same
as Spiess), and drummer Jonas Ruther (writer of one piece).
This sort of sneaks up on you.
B+(**) [sp]
Albert Vila Trio: Reality Is Nuance (2022 [2023],
Fresh Sound New Talent): Spanish guitarist, half-dozen albums
since 2006, this a trio recorded in Brussels with Doug Weiss (bass)
and Rudy Royston (drums). Nice, low-key feel, drummer excels.
B+(**) [sp]
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
Roberto Magris: Love Is Passing Thru: Solo/Duo/Trio/Quartet
(2005 [2024], JMood): Italian pianist, from Trieste, many albums
since 1990, has been rifling through old tapes recently, and has
come up with an exceptionally delightful one here. Recorded over
two dates. This works out to five solo tracks (including two takes
of "Lush Life"), plus two with drums and percussion (Enzo Carpentieri,
some Balinese), three more with bass (Danilo Gallo), and finally
three with tenor sax (Ettore Martin).
A- [cd]
Jack Wood: The Gal That Got Away: The Best of Jack Wood,
Featuring Guest Niehaud Fitzgibbon ([2024], Jazz Hang):
A classic crooner, "long a favorite in Southern California."
No dates given here, but "some of the Wood's finest recordings,"
with various groups, including Doug MacDonald and John Pisano
on guitar, some sweetened by the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra.
The featured guest is an Australian singer, who takes over for
two tracks, and is as adept as her host. I must admit that I
still have a soft spot for the style, especially on the songs
that it made timeless.
B+(***) [cd] [03-29]
Old music:
Gigi: Gigi (2001, Palm Pictures): Ethiopian singer
Ejigayehu Shibabaw, third album, got a boost on Chris Blackwell's
label, produced by Bill Laswell, with a roster of jazz greats
(Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Pharoah Sanders, Henry Threadgill,
Hamid Drake, Amina Claudine Myers) mixed in with Laswell regulars
and many Ethiopians. Laswell and Gigi married, following this up
with a dub remix, then Zion Roots, credited to Abyssinia
Infinite, with Gigi's full name as "featuring."
B+(***) [sp]
Gigi: Illuminated Audio (2003, Palm Pictures):
Some sort of dub remix of Gigi, omitting most of the vocals,
which was the Gigi part of the album. Also cuts out the jazz solos,
so you wind up with a lot of Bill Laswell ambient groove -- not
much, but pleasant enough.
B+(*) [sp]
Gigi: Gold & Wax (2006, Palm Pictures): Her
third, and final, album for Chris Blackwell's label, again with
Bill Laswell producing. A wide range of musicians -- including
Nils Petter Molvaer, Bernie Worrell, Aiyb Dieng, Foday Musa Suso,
Ustad Sultan Khan, and Buckethead -- integrate seamlessly with
the mesmerizing vocals.
A- [sp]
Barney McAll: Precious Energy (2022, Extra
Celestial Arts): Australian pianist, close to twenty albums since
1995, seems to have designed this to appeal to his featured guest,
alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, although the more critical collaborator
may be jazz-soul outfit Haitus Kayote. This starts with a Leon
Thomas/Pharoah Sanders homage, and ends with Coltrane, while
touching on planets Sun Ra and Stevie Wonder. That was Bartz's
golden age, but barely registers here over the zonked out vocals.
B [sp]
Pajama Party: Up All Night (1989, Atlantic):
Dance-pop vocal trio, released two albums, this debut and another
in 1991.
B+(**) [sp]
QOW Trio: QOW Trio (2020, Ubuntu Music): English
sax-bass-drums trio -- Riley Stone-Lonergan, Eddie Myer, Spike
Wells -- title song/group/album name from Dewey Redman, also dok
one from Joe Henderson, several standards (three from Cole Porter),
and two originals not far removed from their inspirations ("Pound
for Prez," "Qowfirmation").
B+(***) [sp]
Stacey Q: Greatest Hits (1982-95 [1995], Thump):
Dance-pop artist, Stacey Swain, opens with five resplendent remixes
of singles from her 1986 solo debut, then ignores two later albums,
going back to her early work in Q -- a "minimal synth/new wave"
group with Jon St. James and Ross Wood, and then SSQ (supposedly
emphasizing the singer's initials).
B+(***) [sp]
SSQ: Playback (1983, Enigma): Stacey S[wain]'s
pre-solo group, produced by guitar/synth player (and sometime
vocalist) Jon St. James, both previously in the band Q, first
and only album until a 2010 return.
B+(**) [sp]
SSQ: Jet Town Je T'Aime (2020, Synthicide):
A return to form for Stacey Swain and Jon St. James, 37 years
after their first (and hitherto only) album.
B+(*) [sp]
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Guillermo Gregorio: Two Trios (ESP-Disk) [2023-12-01]
- Mercer Hassy Orchestra: Duke's Place (Mercer Hassy) [04-15)
- Ellie Lee: Escape (self-released) [05-24]
- Matthew Shipp Trio: New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz (ESP-Disk) [04-05]
- Ronny Smith: Struttin' (Pacific Coast Jazz) [04-19]
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Sunday, March 3, 2024
Speaking of Which
I started this early, on Wednesday, maybe even Tuesday, as I
couldn't bring myself to work on anything else. There's a rhythm
here: I have twenty-some tabs open to my usual sources, and just
cycle through them, picking out stories, noting them, sometimes
adding a comment, some potentially long. By Friday night, I had
so much, I thought of posting early: leaving the date set for
Sunday, when I could do a bit of update.
I didn't get the early post done. Sunday, my wife invited some
friends over to watch a movie. I volunteered to make dinner, and
that (plus the movie) killed the rest of the day. Nothing fancy:
I keep all the fixings for pad thai on hand, so I can knock off
a pretty decent one-dish meal in little more than an hour. And I
had been thinking about making hot and sour soup since noticing
a long-neglected package of dried lily buds, so I made that too.
First actual cooking I had done in at least a month, so that felt
nice and productive.
This, of course, feels totally scattered. I'm unsure of the
groupings, and it's hard for me to keep track of the redundancies
and contradictions. And once again, I didn't manage to finish my
rounds. Perhaps I'll add a bit more after initially posting it
late Sunday night. But at the moment, I'm exhausted.
My wife mentioned an article to me that I should
have tracked down earlier, but can only mention here: Pankaj Mishra:
[03-07]
The Shoah after Gaza. Mishra grew up in a "family of upper-caste
Hindu nationalists in India," deeply sympathetic to Israel, so his
piece offers a slightly distant parallel to what many of us who
started sympathetic only to become dismayed and ultimately appalled
by what Israel has turned into. Beyond that, the piece is valuable
as a history of how the Nazi Judeocide -- to borrow Arno Mayer's
more plainly factual term in lieu of Holocaust or Shoah -- has been
forged into a cudgel for beating down anyone who so much as questions
let alone challenges the supremacy of Israeli power.
There is also a
YouTube video of Mishra's piece.
On Facebook, I ran across this quote attributed to Carolina
Landsmann in Haaretz:
We (Israelis) continue to approach the world from the position of
victim, ignoring the 30,000 dead in Gaza, including 12,000 children,
assuming that the world is still captive to its historic guilt toward
Israel without understanding that this is over. The era of the
Holocaust has ended. The Palestinians are now the wretched of the
earth.
It's impossible to go back to the pre-Oct 7 world. To the blame
economy between the Jews and the world, which gave the former moral
immunity. Enough; it's over. Every era draws to a close. The time has
come to grow up.
There was a time, and not that long ago, when I still thought
that the experience of victimhood would still temper the exercise
of Israeli power: sure, Israel was systematically oppressive, and
Israeli society was riddled with the ethnocentrism we Americans
understand as racism, but surely they still had enough of a grip
on their humanity to stop short of genocide. That's all changed
now, and it's coming as quite a shock -- no doubt to many Israelis
as they look at their neighbors, but even more so to Americans
(not just Jews but also many liberals who have long counted on
Jews as allies).
It's hard to know what to do these days, beyond the call for
an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and the constant need
to remind anyone who's still echoing the Israeli hasbara that
it's genocide, and by not opposing it, they're complicit. It may
be unfair to go so far as to make placards about "Genocide Joe" --
he's just in thrall, having fully adapted to the peculiar gravity
of the Israel lobby when he arrived in Washington fifty years ago --
as there is still a difference (maybe not practical, but certainly
in spirit) between him and the people in Israel (and some Republicans
in Congress) who really are committed to genocide. But in times like
this, nice sentiments don't count for much.
Another important piece I noticed but skipped over on Sunday:
Aaron Gell: [03-03]
Has Zionism lost the argument? "American Jews' long-standing
consensus about Israel has fractured. There may be no going back."
There is a lot to unpack here. It's worth your time to read the
interview with Ruth Wisse, with her absolutist defense of Israel,
then the digression where the author considers the charge that Jews
who doubt Israel are becoming non-Jews, ending in a reference to
the Mishnah, specifically "by far the hardest to answer: If I
am only for myself, who am I? Many Zionists long justified
their project as providing a haven from anti-semitism, but their
exclusive focus on their own issues, turning into indifference
or worse towards everyone else, has finally turned Israel into
the world's leading generator of anti-semitism.
Wisse insists that "the creation of the state changes the entire
picture, because now to be anti-Zionist is a genocidal concept. If
you're an anti-Zionist, you're against the existence of Israel . . .
the realized homeland of nine million people." But later on, Gell
notes: "I've spoken to dozens of anti-Zionists over the past few
months, and not a single one thought Israel should cease to exist."
They have various ideas of how this could be done, in part because
they've seen it work here:
American Jews are justifiably proud to live in a successful multiethnic
democracy, imperfect though it is. As citizens of a nation in which Jews
are a distinct minority, we owe our well-being, our prosperity, and, yes,
perhaps our existence to the tolerance, openness, and egalitarianism
of our system of government and our neighbors. No wonder we shudder at
Israel's chauvinism, its exclusionary nationalism, its oppression. It's
all too obvious how we'd fare if the United States followed Israel's
lead in reserving power for an ethnic or religious majority. Seen in
this light, what's surprising isn't that some American Jews are
anti-Zionists; it's that many more aren't.
I've been reading Shlomo Avineri's 1981 book (paperback updated
with a new preface and epilogue 2017), The Making of Modern
Zionism: The Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State, which
offers a highly sympathetic survey of most of the reasons people
have come up with to justify and promote Zionism. I'm still in
the last profile chapter, on David Ben Gurion, before the initial
epilogue, "Zionism as a Permanent Revolution." Immediately previous
were chapters on Jabotinsky (who built a cult of power based on
fascist models and used it to flip the script on race, promoting
Jews as the superior one) and Rabbi Kook (who reformulated Zionism
as God's will).
Ben Gurion's major contribution was the doctrine of "Hebrew
labor," where Jews would fill all economic niches in the economy,
leaving native Palestinians excluded and powerless. This was a
significant change from the usual practice of settler colonialism,
which everywhere else depended on impoverished locals for labor.
Ben Gurion's union bound Jews into a coherent, self-contained,
mutual help society, including its own militia, well before it
was possible to call itself a state. But in doing so, he excluded
the Palestinians, and plotted their expulsion -- his endorsement
of the 1937 Peel Commission plan, his campaign for the UN partition
plan, and finally his "War of Independence," remembered by
Palestinians as the Nakba.
Ben Gurion was an enormously talented political figure, and his
establishment of Israel through the 1950 armistices, the citizenship
act, and the law of return, was a remarkable achievement against
very stiff odds. He might have gotten away with it, but he couldn't
leave well enough alone. He always wanted more, and he cultivated
that trait in his followers. And while he feared the 1967 war, his
followers launched it anyway, and in the end -- even as his fears
had proven well founded -- he delighted in it. Like Mao, he so loved
his revolution he kept revitalizing it, oblivious to the tragedy it
caused. I expect the book, with its "permanent revolution" epilogues,
will end on that note.
There is a lot of wishful thinking in the early parts of Avineri's
book -- most obviously, Herzl's fairy-tale liberalism, but also the
socialism of Syrkin and Borochov, which could have been developed
further in later years, but it's appropriate to end as it does, with
the real Israeli state. Great as he was, Ben Gurion made mistakes,
and in the end the most fateful was allowing Jabotinsky and Kook,
or more precisely their followers, into the inner sanctumm, from
which they eventually prevailed in shaping Israel into the genocidal
juggernaut it has become. The path from Jabotinsky to Netanyahu is
remarkably short, passing straight through the former's secretary,
the same as the latter's father. The other intermediaries were Ben
Gurion's rivals of 1948, Begin and Shamir, who became favored tools
in driving the Palestinians into exile, and future prime ministers.
Less obvious was Ben Gurion's decision to invite the Kookists
into government, but what politician doesn't want to be reassured
that God is on his side? Rabbi Kook was succeeded by his son, Zvi
Yehuda Kook, whose Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) was the
driving force behind the West Bank settlements, leading directly to
Smotrich and Ben Gvir. The first casualty in Ben Gurion's schemes
was the socialism that unified the Yishuv in the first place. That
was what gave Israel its foundational sense of justice, a reputation
that is now nothing but ruins.
Initial count: 174 links, 8,842 words.
Updated count [03-05]: 193 links, 10,883 words.
Top story threads:
Israel:
Mondoweiss:
[02-26]
Day 143: Gaza famine is 'man-made,' says UNRWA Chief: "UNRWA says
that the famine in northern Gaza can be avoided if more food convoys
are allowed in, but Israel continues to hold up over 2000 aid trucks.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu reaffirms plans to invade Rafah, where 1.5
million Gazans have sought shelter."
[02-27]
Day 144: Israel and Hamas contradict Biden claim that Gaza ceasefire
is close: "A proposed ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is
reported to include a temporary 40-day truce, the release of 40 Israeli
captives in return for 400 Palestinian prisoners, and the entry of
humanitarian aid and mobile shelters into Gaza."
[02-28]
Day 145: Hamas warns Israel and US of 'political machinations' amid
ceasefire talks: "UN humanitarian officials say that thousands of
Palestinians in Gaza are 'just a step away from famine' by May. Russia
calls on UNSC members to refrain from endorsing Washington's resolution
on Gaza, denouncing it as 'a license to kill' for Israel."
[02-29]
Day 146: Israeli forces massacre civilians waiting for humanitarian
aid: "Israeli tanks and warplanes reportedly targeted civilians
waiting for aid, killing at least 77 and wounding hundreds. Meanwhile,
international aid groups say airdrops of aid are so "negligible" that
they "perpetuate the overall blockade strategy."
[03-01]
Day 147: No ceasefire in sight despite international condemnation
of Israel's 'flour massacre': "US blocks a UN Security Council
resolution condemning Israel for its massacre against Palestinians
attempting to receive humanitarian aid in Gaza, saying that the
incident "still needs to be investigated."
[03-02]
Day 148: UN reports at least 14 cases of Israel firing on Palestinians
waiting for aid in Gaza: "UN calls for an investigation following
Thursday's "flour massacre" where Israel killed at least 115 Palestinians
waiting for aid and injured more than 760. The need for aid is becoming
even more dire as starvation worsens in northern Gaza."
[03-03]
Day 149: Palestinian children die of malnutrition as Israel blocks
aid into Gaza: "US airdrops of food and aid in Gaza have been
described as "performative BS" that "fools no one." Meanwhile, Hamas's
delegation has arrived in Cairo for ceasefire talks as Ramadan is due
to start next Sunday."
James Bamford: [02-26]
Israel's far right finally gets the war it has always wanted:
"Billed as a response to the October 7 Hamas attack, the conflict in
Gaza has increasingly become a war to eliminate all Palestinians --
a longtime goal of Israel's homegrown fascists."
Mariam Barghouti: [02-27]
In Jenin, brazen Israeli raids fuel fiercer Palestinian resistance:
"Incessant Israeli incursions into Jenin refugee camp since October
7 have killed nearly 100 Palestinians, including many civilians. But
as repression surges, the children of the Second Intifada are taking
up arms." Which is, of course, a self-perpetuating process, where
Palestinians are torn between the urgent need to defend themselves
and their inability to muster the arms to do so. So the main effect
is, as Israeli leaders seem to wish, to intensify the Israeli drive
to genocide.
Nina Berman: [02-29]
Violating intimacies: "Israeli soldiers have photographed themselves
posing with the lingerie of Palestinian women they have displaced or
killed in Gaza. They join a long line of conquest images, from Abu
Ghraib images to the spectacles of Jim Crow-era lynchings." But we've
been seeing pictures like this, or more commonly just gratuitous
vandalism, for decades now -- from what used to be advertised as
"the most moral army in the world."
Sarah Dadouch: [02-29]
As besieged Gaza grows desperate, donors drop aid from the sky.
Elias Feroz: [02-26]
Thirty years after Baruch Goldstein's massacre, his followers are now
carrying out a genocide: "His legacy of bloodshed continues in
Gaza and the West Bank as his followers are now in power."
Shatha Hanaysha: [02-28]
Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians, including Tubas Brigade leader in
northern West Bank.
Ellen Ioanes:
Gideon Levy: [03-03]
Gaza's night of death and hunger.
Niha Masih/Annabelle Timsit: [03-03]
US plans more airdrops into Gaza amid hope for Ramadan cease-fire:
This has got to be the least cost-effective means of delivering aid
humanly possible. That the US cannot trust Israel to safely deliver
aid via trucks speaks volumes about how little faith America has in
its so-called closest ally.
Chris Floyd tweeted (?): "OK, why don't you
set up a depot on the beach, supply it via the US Navy, and deliver
the aid throughout Gaza with military trucks under escort? That
would be pulling out all the stops. Otherwise, you're just putting
on a PR show with pitiful dribs and drabs." I don't take this as a
serious proposal. It's more of a thought experiment. If the US did
this, would Israel be deterred from attacking relief distribution?
And, to defend its deterrent threat, would US troops be allowed to
return Israeli fire?
The same question applies to airdrops, which thus far Israel has
not attempted to shoot down. But the airdrops are so inefficient
they'll do little to blunt Israel's starvation weapon. Ships and
trucks could make a real as well as a symbolic difference. Still,
if Biden had the guts to send the Navy in, why wouldn't he do the
right thing and start by insisting on an Israeli ceasefire? The
only way relief is going to work is if it won't be attacked by
Israel. Until the bombing stops, nothing good, or even decent,
can happen.
Mahmoud Mushtaha: [02-29]
These words are penned in hunger from northern Gaza. I have little
energy to go on: "From the daily indignity of searching for food
to the extreme dangers of doing journalistic work, life in this dark
corner of the earth has become impossible."
Marcy Newman: [03-02]
How Israeli universities are an arm of settler colonialism:
Review of Maya Wind: Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli
Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom.
Dean Obeidallah: [02-27]
"Nothing has compared to what we're seeing": Hala Gorani on the toll of
covering Gaza war: Interview with the NBC News journalist and author
of But You Don't Look Arab: And Other Tales of Unbelonging.
Yumna Patel: [02-27]
New reports confirm months of Israeli torture, abuse, and sexual violence
against Palestinian prisoners.
Jeremy Scahill/Ryan Grim/Daniel Boguslaw: [02-28]
"Between the hammer and the anvil": "The story behind the New
York Times October 7 exposé." This was the story by Anat Schwartz
that charged Hamas fighters with rape during their short-lived
jailbreak. This article was a big deal in the first week of the
war, when writers who meant well were so quick to condemn Hamas
when they should have been more alert to Israel's initial moves
toward genocide. (In particular, I remember a piece by Eric Levitz
finding the charges credible because "soldiers of all armies rape" --
an insight he didn't follow up on when Israel started sending their
soldiers into Gaza.) For another piece on this:
Ishaan Tharoor: [03-01]
Gaza's spiraling, unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Philip Weiss:
Oren Ziv:
[02-26]
'People say I'm naive, antisemitic, a traitor': Israeli teen jailed
for draft refusal: "Conscientious objector Sofia Orr explains why
she never wavered in her decision despite the crackdown in Israel
against opponents of the war."
[03-01]
Israeli settlers cross into Gaza, build 'symbolic' outpost: "Dozens
of settlers and right-wing activists stormed Erez Crossing, building
two wooden structures while soldiers and police stood aside." This is
a very disturbing development, but follows Israel's now common police
practice of permitting and even encouraging encroachments and mob
violence against Palestinians. Still, one would expect that in a war
zone, the IDF would insist on imposing discipline on its own troops.
In 1948, Ben Gurion deemed this so important that he ordered the IDF
to turn on the previously independent right-wing EZL/LEHI militias,
forcing them to submit to state control. Netanyahu, on the other
hand, seems to see right-wing mobs as helping drive his relentless
drive to extremism, which is clearly the point here.
By the way:
Killing of aid seekers part of a 'decades-long pattern' of Israeli
violence: Per Human Rights Watch.
Israel vs. world (including American) opinion: This week we
lead off with a singular act of self-sacrifice, by an American, an
active duty serviceman, Aaron Bushnell, in front of the Israeli embassy
in Washington. I feel like I should add an opinion, but I don't really
have one. My inclination is to view him as just another casualty of
the more general madness, so not a hero or martyr or even a fool,
but I'm also not so callous as to look the other way -- especially
when so many people do have things to say.
Other stories:
Spencer Ackerman: [03-28]
The anti-Palestinian origins of the War on Terror: Interview
with Darryl Li, who wrote the report
Anti-Palestinian at the core: The origins and growing dangers of
US anti-terrorism law.
Ammiel Alcalay: [02-28]
War on Gaza: How the US is buying time for Israel's genocide:
"As the US ambassador to the UN recently made clear in a rare moment
of honesty, Washington is fully committed to facilitating Israel's
destruction of the Palestinians."
Kyle Anzalone: [03-01]
US vetoes UN resolution condemning Israel for flour massacre.
Muhannad Ayyash: [02-26]
Boycotting Israel could stop the genocide: At this point, this
is probably just wishful thinking: "the world must ensure Tel Aviv's
legal, economic and political isolation." The nice thing about BDS
was that it provided a forum for grass-roots organizing against the
apartheid regime in Israel: something that individuals could start
and grow, and eventually recruit more powerful organizations, while
ultimately appealing to the better consciences within Israel itself.
That it worked with South Africa was encouraging.
But it was always
going to be a much more difficult reach in Israel -- I could insert
a half-dozen reasons here -- and it never came close to gathering
the collective moral, let alone financial, force it had with South
Africa. Now, about all you can say for it is that it allowed people
of good will to express their disapproval without promoting even
more violence. I would even agree that it's still worth doing --
Israel deserves to be shamed and shunned for what it's doing, now
more than ever. And, as we witness what Israel is doing, many more
people, indeed whole nations, may join us.
But will boycotting stop
the genocide now? Maybe if the US and NATO banded together and put
some serious teeth in their threats, some Israelis might reconsider.
But sanctions usually just push countries deeper into corners, from
which they're more likely to strike back than to fold. I'm not about
to blame BDS for Israel's rampant right-wing -- their racism dates
back further than any outsider noticed -- but they would claim their
ascent as the way of fighting back against foreign moralizers. Even
if we could count on eventually forcing some kind of reconciliation,
the people in power in Israel right now are more likely to double
down on genocide. It's not like anyone in the Nazi hierarchy saw the
writing on the wall after Stalingrad and decided they should call
the Judeocide off, lest they eventually put on trial. They simply
sped up the extermination, figuring it would be their enduring
contribution to Aryan civilization.
Jo-Ann Mort: [02-28]
BDS is counter-productive. We need to crack down on Israeli settlements
instead: "A future peace depends on drawing a line between Israel
proper and the illegal settlements in Palestinian territory." This
article is so silly I only linked to it after the Ayyash piece above.
It does provide some explanation why BDS failed, but it doesn't come
close to offering an alternative. Israel has been continuously blurring
and outright erasing the Green Line ever since 1967. (It started with
he demolition of the neighborhood next to the Al-Aqsa Mosque's western
wall, just days after the 7-day war ended.) There is no way to force
Israel to do much of anything, but few things are harder to imagine
them acceding to is a return to what from 1950-67 were often decried
as "Auschwitz borders."
Phyllis Bennis:
Amena ElAshkar: [02-28]
Gaza ceasefire: Talk of an imminent deal is psychological warfare.
I haven't bothered linking to numerous articles about an imminent
ceasefire deal because, quite frankly, possible deals have never been
more than temporarily expedient propaganda, mostly meant to humor the
hostage relatives and the Americans. If Israel wanted peace, they could
ceasefire unilaterally, and having satisfied themselves that they had
inflicted sufficient damage to restore their Iron Wall deterrence,
leave the rubble to others to deal with. The hostages would cease to
be a bargaining chip, except inasmuch as not freeing them would keep
much needed international aid away. So why is Netanyahu negotiating
with Hamas? Mostly to squirrel the deal, while he continues implementing
his plan to totally depopulate/destroy Gaza.
Paul Elle: [02-26]
The Vatican and the war in Gaza: "A rhetorical dispute the Church
and the Israeli government shows the limits -- and the possibilities --
of the Pope's role in times of conflict." On the other hand, if you
look at the Pope's recent comments on "gender theory," you'll realize
that he has very little to offer humanity, and that a Church that
follows him could be very ominous. (For example, see [03-02]
Pope says gender theory is 'ugly ideology' that threatens humanity.)
Sometimes I'm tempted to take heart in that the Catholic Church is one
of the few extant organizations to predate, and therefore remain somewhat
free of, capitalism. But in it the spirit of Inquisition runs even
deeper.
Madeline Hall: [02-28]
Israeli genocide is a bad investment: For one thing, Norway has
divested its holdings of Israeli bonds.
James North:
Peter Oborne: [02-27]
These ruthless, bigoted Tories would have Enoch Powell smiling from
his grave: "The recent spate of vile anti-Muslim rhetoric from the
Tories shows they have decided that stoking hatred against minorities
is their only way to avoid electoral annihilation." Also in UK:
Charles P Pierce: [02-29]
The US has enabled Netanyahu long enough: "Two democracies,
hijacked for alibis."
Vijay Prashad: [02-14]
There is no place for the Palestinians of Gaza to go.
Barnett R Rubin: [03-02]
Redemption through genocide: "The ICJ ruled that Israel's Gaza
campaign poses a plausible and urgent threat of genocide. Future
historians of Jewish messianism may recount how in 2024 "redemption
through sin" became "redemption through genocide," with unconditional
US support."
Sarang Shidore/Dan M Ford: [02-29]
At the Hague, US more isolated than ever on Israel-Palestine.
Adam Taylor: [02-29]
Democrats grew more divided on Israeli-Palestinian conflict, poll
shows. Interesting that the Democratic split has always favored
"take neither side," from a peak of 82% down to 74% before Gaza blew
up -- the 12% drop since looks to be evenly split. Republicans, on
the other hand, never had any sympathy for Palestinians, and became
more pro-Israeli since (56% would "take Israel's side," vs. 19% for
Democrats).
Philip Weiss: [02-28]
PBS and NPR leave out key facts in their Israel stories: "Pundits
and reporters in the mainstream media have a double standard when it
comes to Israel and all but lie about apartheid, Jewish nationalism,
and the role of the Israel lobby."
America's empire of bases and proxy conflicts, increasingly
stressed by Israel's multifront war games:
Juan Cole: [03-03]
How Washington's anti-Iranian campaign failed, big time.
Dave DeCamp: [02-29]
US officials expect Israel to launch ground invasion of Lebanon:
"Administration officials tell CNN they expect a ground incursion
in late spring or early summer." The logic here is pretty ridiculous,
and if it's believed in Washington, you have to wonder about them,
too. Israel had a lot of fun bombing Lebanon in 2006, but their
ground incursion was a pure disaster. There's no possible upside
to trying it again. The argument that Netanyahu will, for political
expediency, enlarge the war in order to keep it going "after Gaza,"
overlooks their obvious desire to "finish the job" by doing the
same to Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank.
Sasha Filippova/Kristina Fried/Brian Concannon: [03-01]
From coup to chaos: 20 years after the US ousted Haiti's
president.
Jim Lobe: [03-01]
Neocon Iraq war architects want a redo in Gaza: "Post-conflict
plan would put Western mercenaries and Israel military into the
mix, with handpicked countries in charge of a governing 'Trust.'"
Pic is of Elliott Abrams, who was the one in charge of US Israel
policy under Bush, and who pushed Sharon's unilateral withdrawal
of settlements from Gaza, so that Gaza could be blockaded and
bombed more effectively. That directly led to Hamas seizing power
in Gaza, so one could argue that Abrams already had his "redo in
Gaza."
The Michigan primaries: Of minor interest to both party
frontrunners, so let's get them out of the way first. Trump won
the Republican primary with 68.1% of the votes, vs. 26.6% for
Nikki Haley, splitting the delegates 12-4 (39 more delegates will
be decided later). Biden won the Democratic primary with 81.1% of
the vote, vs. 13.2% for an uncommitted slate, which was promoted
by Arab-Americans and others as a protest vote against Biden's
support for Israel's genocide in Gaza. Marianne Williamson got 3%,
and Dean Phillips 2.7%. Everyone's trying to spin the results as
much as possible, but I doubt they mean much.
Next up is "Super Tuesday," so here's a bit of preview:
Trump, and other Republicans:
David Brooks: [02-29]
The GOP returns to its bad old self: He means the "America First"
party of the 1930s: nativist, isolationist, recoiling in dread of the
New Deal, and willing to suffer repeated defeats rather than offer
anything constructive. He contrasts that to the bullish, globalist
part of Eisenhower and Reagan (and the Bushes?), which Trump has
totally eclipsed, and is likely to remain in place even when Trump
is gone.
Russ Choma: [03-03]
A large percentage of Republican primary voters can't stomach
Trump. Nowhere near large enough to prevent him from running
away with the nomination, but the question is whether they are
numerous (and resolute) enough to sink him against Biden. "The
AP report did find, however, that just because those voters said
they didn't want to vote for Trump -- ever -- it didn't mean they
were Biden voters." Haley is not a tenable candidate because she
can't even crack a 50% approval rate within the Party.
Rachel M Cohen: [03-03]
The anti-abortion playbook for restricting birth control:
"Contraception, like IVF, poses problems for those claiming personhood
begins at conception." Filed under Republicans, because they own the
anti-abortion movement now, and are stuck with it.
Ryan Cooper: [02-29]
Mitch McConnell, Senate arsonist.
Thomas B Edsall: [[01-17]
The deification of Donald Trump poses some interesting questions:
First exhibit is a video titled "God Made Trump."
Susan B Glasser: [02-22]
The crazy collapse of the House GOP's impeachment case against Biden:
"'A Big Russian Intelligence Op' flops on Capitol Hill."
Karen Greenberg: [02-29]
Trump's justice: "Justice delayed is democracy denied." Four
sections on Trump, followed by one on Guantánamo.
Margaret Hartmann:
[02-29]
Old-man Trump yells at Biden over Melania Late Night joke.
[03-01]
Trump complains migrants use languages 'nobody speaks'.
[03-01]
Trump's most unhinged plans for his second term: Updated, a
neverending project. To recap: Give the president unchecked power
over federal agencies; Restore the president's authority to bypass
Congress; Appoint a special prosecutor to 'go after' Biden; Use
the Justice Department to get revenge on all of his enemies;
Expand presidential immunity; Purge the civil service; Install
thousands of loyalists throughout the federal government; Fill
his cabinet with people like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon;
Round up, detain, and deport millions of undocumented immigrants;
Deploy US troops for 'war' on the southern border; End birthright
citizenship; Construct 'freedom cities'; Put flying cars in
Americans' driveways.
Alexander Hinton: [02-26]
I went to CPAC as an anthropologist to understand MAGA -- what I saw
was "shocking".
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling:
Sarah Jones: [02-29]
Republicans can't be trusted to protect IVF.
Pema Levy: [03-01]
How Todd Akin's "legitimate rape" debacle previewed the abortion agenda
of today's GOP.
Chris Lewis: [02-29]
Ken Cuccinelli and the persuasive, pervasive politics of cruelty.
Jason Linkins:
A year of Republicans lying about abortion.
Sarah Longwell:
What 17 of Trump's 'best people' said about him: Quotes from his
cabinet members and other high officials in his administration.
Carlos Lozada: [02-29]
What I learned when I read 887 pages of plans for Trump's second
term. Lozada was last seen bragging about "reading books so you
don't have to," and he proves that in spades here. No doubt his
outline only scratches the surface, still I'm left wondering less
what they want to do than what kind of damaged psychology drives
one to imagine wanting to do such things.
Michael Podhorzer: [02-20]
It was never a civil war: "The threat posed by Trump and the MAGA
movement, like the Confederate States, is not 'conservative' or even
'extremist' but criminally anti-democratic."
Tom Schaller/Paul Waldman: [02-28]
How to end Republican exploitation of rural America: "The authors of
the upcoming book White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy
explain how rural voters can build a national political movement and
improve their local economies." Inadvertent humor here when the authors
explain that rural voters don't need to switch to Democrats so much as
they should find "better Republicans." By the way, this also just
appeared:
Paul Krugman: [02-26]
The mystery of white rural rage: Reviews the same book. I think a
big part of the problem is that Democrats simply don't try to organize
in impoverished rural areas, partly because they don't expect to win
in the short term, and largely because they'd rather put their efforts
toward upscale suburban districts. One reason is that readily organized
constituencies like unions are scarce in rural America. But well before
they consider organizing voters, they search for donors, and that's
where the suburbs seem like much riper targets. A good example of this
was in 2017, when Trump appointments opened up House districts in Kansas
and Georgia. Democrats puts tons of money into the latter (where they
lost), and virtually nothing into Kansas (where they also lost, but with
a terrific candidate managing to carry Wichita, but losing bad in the
adjacent rural areas). On some level, most Democrats actually understand
that they have much to offer impoverished rural areas, but they do so as
outsiders, more focused on their donors and their issues, and unwilling
to put the work in to building a representative local party.
- Nathan J Robinson: [03-04]
Are rural white people the problem?: Another review of the
Schaller-Waldman book.
Tatyana Tandanpolie: [02-28]
New book details how "incensed" Trump and Melania clashed in the
White House.
Katrina vanden Heuvel: [02-27]
If Trump wins, he'll be a vessel for the most regressive figures in US
politics.
Andra Watkins: [03-01]
Project 2025 is more than a playbook for Trumpism, it's the Christian
Nationalist manifesto: "The right intends to force every American
to live their definition of a good life through government edict."
Li Zhou: [02-29]
Trump's immigration policies are his old ones -- but worse: Some
section heads: Mass deportations; Raids; Detention camps; Suspending
refugee resettlement; Ending Temporary Protected Status programs;
Making seeking asylum harder; Ending DACA; Reviving family separation
hasn't been ruled out; Attacks on birthright citizenship.
Mitch McConnell, 82, announced he will step down as Republican
Leader in the Senate in November. This led to some, uh, appreciation?
Ryan Cooper: [02-29]
Mitch McConnell, Senate arsonist.
Jack Hunter: [02-29]
Sorry AP: Mitch McConnell is no Ronald Reagan: "The paper
deploys the usual neoconservative trope that their foreign policies
are the same. They are not." Still, I hate it when critics think
they're being so clever in claiming that old Republicans were so
sensible compared to the new ones. Reagan's "willingness to talk
to America's enemies" didn't extend much beyond Russia, and that
only after the door had been opened by Gorbachev. He left nothing
but disasters all over Latin America and the Middle East through
Iran and Afghanistan.
Ed Kilgore: [02-29]
Mitch McConnell's power trip finally comes to an end.
Ian Millhiser: [02-29]
How Mitch McConnell broke Congress.
John Nichols: [02-29]
Good riddance to Mitch McConnell, an enemy of democracy: Sorry to
have to break this to you, but he isn't going anywhere. He'll serve
out the rest of his six-year term. He's not giving up his leadership
post out of a sudden attack of conscience. He's doing it so some other
Republican can take over, and possibly do even worse things than he
would have done. By holding out until November, he's giving Trump the
prerogative of hand-picking his successor -- assuming Trump wins, of
course.
David A Graham:
Mitch McConnell surrenders to Trump: That's more like it, but at
least he's given himself some time. If Trump wins in November, there'll
be no fighting him. And if Trump loses, why should he want to be the
one stuck cleaning up the mess?
Andrew Prokop: [02-28]
How Mitch McConnell lost by winning.
Jane Mayer: [2020-04-12]
How Mitch McConnell became Trump's enabler-in-chief: Sometimes
an old piece is the best reminder. Had McConnell a bit more foresight
and backbone, he could have swung enough Republican votes to convict
Trump over Jan. 6, and followed that with a resolution declaring
Trump ineligible to run again, according to the 14th Amendment --
such a resolution was discussed at the time, and would undoubtedly
be upheld. Sure, it would have been unpopular among Republicans at
the time, but popular will has almost never entered into McConnell's
political calculus.
Biden and/or the Democrats:
Zack Beauchamp: [02-27]
Biden has been bad for Palestinians. Trump would be worse.
"On Israel, the two are not the same." Probably true, but this really
isn't much comfort. Biden is effectively an Israeli puppet, with no
independent will, or even willingness to caution Netanyahu in public,
and as such has had no effect on moderating Israel's vendetta -- and
may reasonably be charged with not just supporting but accelerating
it. For instance, Biden did not have to send aircraft carriers into
the region, threatening Iran and provoking Yemen and Lebanon. Nor did
he have to accelerate arms deliveries when a ceasefire was obviously
called for. As for Trump, sure, he doesn't even know the meaning of
"caution." He is largely responsible for Netanyahu believing that he
can get away with anything.
Dave DeCamp: [03-03]
Poll: Majority of Democrats want a presidential candidate who opposes
military aid to Israel: With Marianne Williamson unsuspending
her campaign, there actually is one, but will anyone find out?
Isaac Chotiner: [02-28]
Does the Biden administration want a long-lasting ceasefire in Gaza?
Interview with John Kirby, Biden's National Security Council spokesman,
explaining that Biden only wants whatever Netanyahu tells him to want.
It's like a form of hypnosis, where Hamas is the shiny object that so
captures America's gaze that it will support Israel doing anything to
it wants as long as it's saying it's meant to eliminate Hamas. Sure,
Biden understands that Palestinians are suffering, and he implores
Netanyahu to make them suffer less, but he can't question his orders.
The key to this is that he buys the line that Hamas is a cancer that
can be excised from the Palestinian body politic, allowing Israel to
regain its security. I hesitate to call that the Israeli line: sure,
they developed it with their targeted assassinations (they go back
at least as far as Abu Jihad in 1988), but Israelis never claimed
one strike would suffice -- they tended to use metaphors like "mowing
the grass"). It was only the Americans, with their romantic conceits
about their own goodness and the innate innocence of ignorant savages,
that turned this systematic slaughter into magical thinking. Israelis
don't think like that. They understand that Hamas (or some other form
of militant backlash) is the inevitable result of their harsh occupation.
And, their consciences hardened by constant struggle (including their
carefully cultivated memory of the Holocaust), they're willing to live
with that brutality.
If they can't distinguish Hamas from the mass of
people they've emerged from, they see no reason to discipline their
killing. They figure if they destroy enough, the problem will subside.
Even if it inevitably erupts again, that's later, and they'll remain
eternally vigilant. There are no solutions, because they don't want
to accept the only possible one, which is peaceful coexistence. But
silly Americans, they need to be told stories, and it's amazing what
they'll swallow.
Mitchell Plitnick: [03-01]
Biden memos show Palestine advocacy is working: "Two recent
presidential orders show the Biden administration is feeling the
heat from months of protests against his support for Israel's
genocide in Gaza."
Alexander Ward: [03-01]
'We look 100 percent weak': US airdrops in Gaza expose limit to Biden's
Israel policy.
Fareed Zakaria: [03-01]
Biden needs to tell Israel some difficult truths. Only he can do it.
Erica L Green: [03-03]
Kamala Harris calls for an 'immediate cease-fire' in Gaza:
Promising title, but fine print reveals it's only the "six-week
cease-fire proposal currently on the table," and that she's
calling on Hamas, not Israel, the ones who are actually doing
all of the firing, and who have already broken off talks on
that particular proposal. A cease fire, especially where the
war is so one-sided, doesn't need to be negotiated: just do it
(perhaps daring the other side to violate it, but the longer
it lasts, the better). Sure, prisoner exchanges have to be
negotiated, but not cease-fire, which is just common sense.
Frank Bruni: [03-03]
How Democrats can win anywhere and everywhere.
Michelle Goldberg: [03-01]
The Democrat showing Biden how it's done: Gretchen Whitmer,
governor of Michigan. This follows on recent columns by Goldberg:
Ezra Klein: [02-16]
Democrats have a better option than Biden: Starts by heaping
considerable praise on Biden and his accomplishments of the last
three-plus years, then lowers the boom and insists that he should
step aside, not so much because one reasonably doubts that he can
do the job for more years, but that he's no longer competent as a
candidate. (Never mind that Trump is far from competent, in any
sense of the term. He's a Republican, and one of our many double
standards, we don't expect competency from Republicans, or for
that matter caring, or even much coherence.) He goes into how
conventions work, and offers a bunch of plausible candidates.
It's a long and thorough piece, and makes the case as credibly
as I've seen (albeit much less critically of Biden than I might
do myself).
Klein's columns are styled as "The Ezra Klein Show," which are
usually just interviews, but this one is monologue, with multiple
references to other conversations. He's had a few other interviews
recently with political operatives, a couple adding to his insight
into Democratic prospects, plus a couple more I'll include here.
(Also see the pieces I listed under Ukraine.)
Paul Musgrave: [03-03]
An inside look at how Biden's team rebuilt foreign policy after
Trump: Review of Alexander Ward: The Internationalists: The
Fight to Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump.
Bill Scher: [02-29]
"Nightmare in America": How Biden's ad team should attack Trump:
"In 1984, Ronald Reagan's reelection campaign ran a series of ads
that evoked how different life felt in America compared to under
his opponent's administration four years prior. Today, Joe Biden
should do the same." Sure, there's something to be said here, if
you can figure out how to say it. But Trump's going to be pushing
the opposite spin, in many cases on the same set of facts, all the
while pointing out the extraordinary efforts his/your enemies took
to hobnob his administration and persecute him since he was pushed
out of office. He's just as likely to embrace the Left's notion of
him as their worst nightmare. Note that page includes a link to a
2020 article, which also cites Reagan: Nancy LeTourneau:
Are you better off than you were four years ago?
John E Schwarz: [03-01]
Democratic presidents have better economic performances than Republican
ones.
Legal matters and other crimes:
Climate and environment:
Ukraine War:
Connor Echols: [03-01]
Diplomacy Watch: Russia could be invited to Ukraine-led peace talks.
I don't really buy that "Ukraine's shift is a sign of just how dire
the situation is becoming for its armed forces," but I do believe
that Russia can more/less hold its position indefinitely, that it can
continue to exact high (and eventually crippling) costs from Ukraine
indefinitely, and that it can survive the sanctions regime (which the
US is unlikely to loosen even in an armistice. All of this suggests
to me that Zelensky needs to approach some realistic terms for ending
the war, then sell them as hard to his "allies" as to Putin, and to
the rest of the world.
Anatol Lieven/George Beebe: [02-28]
Europeans' last ditch clutch at Ukrainian victory: "France's
Macron raised the idea of Western troops entering the fray, others
want to send longer range missiles."
Olena Melnyhk/Sera Koulabdara: [02-29]
Ukraine's vaunted 'bread basket' soil is now toxic: "Two years
of war has left roughly one-third of its territory polluted, with
dire potential consequences for the world's food supply."
Will Porter: [02-28]
Russia claims first Abrams tank kill in Ukraine.
Ted Snider: [03-01]
How the West provoked an unprovoked war in Ukraine. The ironies
in the title at least merit quotes around "unprovoked." The important
part of the story is the relatively underreported period from March,
2021 when Biden added $125 million of "defensive lethal weapons" on
top of $150 million previously allocated under Trump, up to the eve
of the March 2022 invasion, when "Putin called Ukraine 'a knife to
the throat of Russia' and worried that 'Ukraine will serve as an
advanced bridgehead' for a pre-emptive US strike against Russia."
It is unlikely the US would ever launch such a strike, but Ukraine
had by then given up on the Minsk accords and was preparing to take
back Donbas. Had they succeeded, Crimea would be next, and that
(plus excessive confidence in his own military) was enough for
Putin to launch his own pre-emptive attack.
Marcus Stanley: [02-28]
Biden officials want Russian frozen assets to fund Ukraine war:
"Not only will this prolong the conflict, but rock confidence in the
Western-led world economic system."
Ishaan Tharoor: [02-28]
Foreign troops in Ukraine? They're already there.
Ezra Klein:
[2022-03-01]
Can the West stop Russia by strangling its economy? Transcript
of an interview with Adam Tooze, doesn't really answer the title
question but does provide a pretty deep survey of Russia's economy
at the start of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. One minor note: I think
Tooze said "Kremlinologists" where you read "the criminologists of
the modern day have five, six, seven, eight different groups now
that they see operating around Putin."
PS: Unrelated to Russia, but for another Klein interview with Tooze,
see: [2022-10-07]
How the Fed is "shaking the entire system".
Around the world:
Other stories:
Lori Aratani: [03-01]
Boeing in talks to reacquire key 737 Max supplier Spirit AeroSystems:
Boeing spun the company off in 2005, including the Wichita factory my
father and brother worked at for decades.
Marina Bolotnikova/Kenny Torrella: [02-26]
9 charts that show US factory farming is even bigger than you
realize: "Factory farms are now so big that we need a new
word for them."
Related here:
Rosa Brooks: [02-20]
One hundred years of dictatorship worship: A review of a new book
by Jacob Heilbrunn: America Last: The Right's Century-Long Romance
With Foreign Dictators [note: cover has it "America First" in
large white type, then overprints "Last" in blockier red].
Daniel Denvir: [02-28]
The libertarians who dream of a world without democracy: Interview
with Quinn Slobodian, who wrote the 2018 book Globalists: The End
of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism, and most recently,
Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World
Without Democracy.
Adam Gopnik: [02-19]
Did the year 2020 change us forever? "The COVID-19 pandemic
affected us in millions of ways. But it evades the meanings we
want it to bear." A review, which I haven't finished (and may
never) of the emerging, evolving literature on 2020.
Sean Illing: [03-03]
Are we in the middle of an extinction panic? "How doomsday
proclamations about AI echo existential anxieties of the past."
Interview with Tyler Austin Harper, who wrote about this in the
New York Times:
The 100-year extinction panic is back, right on schedule.
I could write a lot more on this, especially if I referred back
to the extinction controversies paleontologists have been debating
all along, but suffice it to say:
- Short of the Sun exploding, there is zero chance of humans
going extinct in the foreseeable future. People are too numerous,
widespread, and flexible for anything to get all of us. (Side
note: the effective altruist focus on preventing extinction
events is misguided.)
- Human population is, however, precariously balanced on a mix
of technological, economic, political, and cultural factors which
are increasingly fragile, and as such subject to sabotage and other
disruptions (not least because they are often poorly understood).
Any major breakdown could be catastrophic on a level that affects
millions (though probably not billions) of people.
- Catastrophes produce psychological shocks that can compound
the damage. By far the greatest risk here is war, not just for its
immediate destruction but because it makes recovery more difficult.
- People are not very good at evaluating these risks, erring often
both in exaggeration and denial.
The Times piece led to some others of interest here:
Chris Lehman: [03-01]
Border hysteria is a bipartisan delusion: "Yesterday, both President
Biden and Donald Trump visited Texas to promise harsher immigration
policies."
Andrea Mazzarino: [02-27]
War's cost is unfathomable. I mentioned this in an update
last week, but it's worth mentioning again. She starts by
referring to "The October 7th America has forgotten," which was
2001, when the US first bombed Afghanistan, following the Al-Qaeda
attacks of that September 11. In 2010, Mazzarino founded the
Cost of War Project, which, as economists are wont to do,
started adding up whatever they could of the quantifiable costs
of America's Global War on Terror and its spawn. Still, their
figures (at least
$8 trillion and counting, and with debt compounding) miss
much of the real human (and environmental) costs, especially
those that are primarily psychic.
For instance, would we have the gun problem that we have had
we not been continuously at war for over two decades? Would our
politics have turned so desperately war-like? Certainly, there
would have been much less pressure to immigrate, given that war
is the leading producer of refugees. Without constant jostling
for military leverage, might we not have made more progress in
dealing with problems like climate change? The list only grows
from there.
One constant theme of every
Speaking of Which is the need to put aside the pursuit of
power over and against others and find mutual grounds that will
allow us to work together cooperatively to deal with pressing
problems. There are lots of reasons why this is true, starting
with the basic fact that we could not exist in such numbers if
not for a level of technology that is complex beyond most of
our understandings and fragile, especially vulnerable to the
people who feel most unjustly treated. Our very lives depend
on experts who can be trusted, and their ability to work free
of sabotage. You can derive all the politics you need from
this insight.
Michelle Orange: [03-01]
How the Village Voice met its moment: A review of Tricia Romano's
The Freaks Came Out to Write, a new "oral history" (i.e.,
history presented in interview quotes). I rushed out and bought a
copy, and should probably write my own review, even if only because
she left me out. More:
Rick Perlstein: [02-28]
Kissinger revisited: "The former secretary of state is responsible
for virtually every American geopolitical disaster of the past
half-century."
Deanne Stillman: [02-21]
Mothers, sons, and guns: Author wrote a book about Lee Harvey Oswald
and his mother, recounted here, in light of high school shooter Ethan
Crumbley and his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, who was convicted for her
role leading up to the shootings.
David Zipper: [03-01]
Driving at ridiculous speeds should be physically impossible:
As someone who grew up with a great love of auto racing, I'd argue
that driving at ridiculous speeds has always been physically
impossible, even as limits have expanded with better technology.
Of course, "ridiculous" can mean many different things, but I'd
say that's a reason not to try to legislate it. I've long thought
that the 55 mph speed limit was the biggest political blunder the
Democrats made, at least in my lifetime. (Aside from Vietnam.)
Not only did it impose on personal freedom -- in a way that, say,
European levels of gasoline taxes wouldn't have done -- but it
induced some kind of brain rot in American auto engineering, from
which Detroit may never have recovered. (I can't really say. After
several bad experiences, I stopped buying their wares.)
Ironically, this political push for mandating "speed limiters"
(even more euphemistically, "Intelligent Speed Assistance") on new
cars is coming from tech businesses, who see surveillance of driving
as a growth area for revenue. This fits in with much broader plans
to increase surveillance -- mostly government, but it doesn't end
there -- over every aspect of our lives. Supposedly, this will save
lives, although the relationship between speeding and auto carnage
has never been straightforward, and much more plausible arguments
(e.g., on guns) go nowhere. My great fear here is that Democrats
will rally to this as a public health and safety measure, inviting
a backlash we can ill afford (as with the 55 mph speed limit, which
helped elect Reagan).
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Monday, February 26, 2024
Music Week
February archive
(finished).
Music: Current count 41900 [41864] rated (+36), 22 [20] unrated (+2).
Running late this week, but managed to get most things done that
had to be done. Still, I'm a frazzled, nervous wreck as I try to wrap
up this introduction, so don't expect much.
I didn't get done with
Speaking of Which by bedtime Sunday, so (once again) posted
what I had, with the promise of a Monday update. But I've made
very little progress on that today, so I don't know where that
leaves us. I still expect to post this by bedtime Monday evening,
even if it's in a similar state of disarray. There is some chance
of further updates on Tuesday, but right now I'm growing sick of
all of it.
[PS: Updated Tuesday.]
I did wrap up the
February Streamnotes
file (except for the last Music Week, which I may still manage to
add, and the indexing, which I certainly won't get done in time).
At least the empty March Streamnotes file is opened.
I also managed to save off my
frozen year 2023 list.
Subsequent additions to the
active one will be flagged in
a distinctive color.
It looks like I added 91 such post-freeze records to the
year 2022 file.
I added a few more lists to the
EOY aggregate, most notably
the long
Aquarium Drunkard list, which pointed me to a few items and suggested
many more. I had trouble focusing on things last week, so rated count
was down, but A-list exploded from 2 last week to 9 this week (plus
two upgrades from revisits -- I've been meaning to return to Bryan and
Crowell; also, but not yet, Brandy Clark and Tyler Childers. That helped the
Non-Jazz A-list catch up with the
Jazz, now 84-83.
New records reviewed this week:
Acceleration Due to Gravity: Jonesville: Music by and for
Sam Jones (2023 [2024], Hot Cup, EP): Nonet led by bassist
Moppa Elliott, best known for his "bebop terrorist" group Mostly
Other People Do the Killing. Similar swagger here, ripping through
seven pieces (22:01) by or for the esteemed bebop bassist (1924-81).
B+(***) [cd]
Advancing on a Wild Pitch: Disasters, Vol. 2 (2023
[2024], Hot Cup): Bassist Moppa Elliott again, the highly recommended
2022 release of Disasters, Vol. 1 credited to his old band,
Mostly Other People Do the Killing. Back to a quintet here, with
Sam Kulik (trombone), Charles Evans (baritone sax), Danny Fox (piano),
and Christian Coleman (drums). Title reflects on his heritage, with
seven songs (36:01) each "named after towns in Pennsylvania that
experienced historical disasters." Sounds like unfinished bebop
from the 1950s, riffing over barely-controlled swing.
[PS: Not clear why I got the PR sheet but no CD, as I did with
Jonesville. Release so far seems limited to digital and LP.]
A- [bc]
Tanner Adell: Buckle Bunny (2023, Columbia, EP):
Debut mixtape, eight songs, 23:59, slotted country but hip-hop
to the core, or maybe that should be vice versa?
B+(***) [sp]
Eric Alexander: A New Beginning: Alto Saxophone With
Strings (2021 [2023], HighNote): Mainstream saxophonist,
always played tenor (as far as I recall), usually in conventional
quartets (although he's done a lot of work on the side, including
the larger One for All group), but tried his hand with strings
in 2019, arranged this time by Bill Dobbins. Still, this seems
much like his typical quartet outing, with his usual group: David
Hazeltine (piano), John Webber (bass), Joe Farnsworth (drums).
B+(**) [sp]
Aunty Rayzor: Viral Wreckage (2023, Hakuna Kulala):
Bisola Olungbenga, from Nigeria, first album, working with producers
Titi Bakorta (from Congo), Ill Gee (Uganda), Scotch Rolex (Japan),
DJ Chris Fontedofunk (Brazil), Debmaster (France), Slimcase (Nigeria),
and Kabeaushe (Kenya), rapping in Yoruba (and some English) over
razor-sharp electrobeats. Last cut (feat. Bakorta) adds a delightful
bit of soukous guitar to the mix.
B+(***) [sp]
Annie Chen: Guardians (2022-23 [2024], JZ Music):
Jazz singer-songwriter, originally from Beijing, based in New York
since 2013, third album since 2014, eight pieces, the latter four
fashioned as "Guardians Suite." Backed by a sextet, including alto
sax/flute/bass clarinet, guitar, drums, violin/viola, bass/meh, and
accordion/piano. Way too operatic for me.
B [cd]
Daggerboard: Escapement (2022 [2024], Wide Hive):
Group led by Gregory Howe (percussion) and Erik Jekabson (trumpet),
third album, previous group Throttle Elevator Music, Howe was the
label founder in 1996. Cover also notes as "featuring" -- Henry
Franklin (bass), Matt Clark (piano), and Mike Clark (drums) -- but
eleven more musicians are pictured, including three violins, cello,
and perhaps the most famous, Babatunde Lea (congos).
B+(**) [cd] [03-08]
DJ Finale: Mille Morceau (2023, Nyege Nyege Tapes):
From Kinshasa, Congo, solo debut from a member of Afrofuturist
collective Fulu Miziki (Lingala for "music from garbage"), like
them on Uganda's premier electroclash label, overruns you with
beats that bang on metal, and are even more surprising when they
don't.
A- [sp]
Drain: Living Proof (2023, Epitaph): Hardcore
punk band, second album, ten songs, 25:07. Short, but still a
bit longer than the joke lasts.
B+(*) [sp]
Emmeluth's Amoeba: Nonsense (2021 [2024], Moserobie):
Danish alto saxophonist Signe Emmeluth, third group album, with guitar
(Karl Bjorå), drums (Ole Mofjell), and piano (Christian Balvig). Free
jazz with a lot of sharp edges and resonant ripples.
A- [cd]
Christian Fabian Trio: Hip to the Skip (2022-23
[2024], Spicerack): Funk/fusion grooves, led by electric bassist
with Matt King (keys) and Jason Marsalis (drums).
B+(*) [cd]
Friends & Neighbors: Circles (2022 [2024],
Clean Feed): Scandinavian freebop quintet, sixth album, with André
Roligheten (tenor sax), Thomas Johansson (trumpet), Oscar Grönberg
(piano), Jon Rune Strøm (bass), and Tollef Østvang (drums), each
writing at least one song.
B+(***) [sp]
Romulo Fróes and Tiago Rosas: Na Goela (2023, YB
Music): Brazilian singer-songwriters, latter also plays guitar,
former has ten albums since 2004.
B+(**) [sp]
Glass Beach: Plastic Death (2024, Run for Cover):
Indie rock band from Seattle, second album. Very complex, in ways
I respect the craft for without taking any pleasure in the music,
or whatever else they're trying to accomplish.
B- [sp]
Gordon Grdina/Christian Lillinger: Duo Work
(2023 [2024], Attaboygirl): Duo, guitar/midi-guitar and drums,
both on top of their game, with some intriguing dissonance early.
B+(***) [cd]
Gordon Grdina's the Marrow: With Fathieh Honari
(2023 [2024], Attaboygirl): Grdina plays oud here, along with
Mark Helias (bass), Hank Roberts (cello), and Hamin Honari
(percussion), son of the Canada-based Persian singer.
B+(***) [cd]
Enrique Heredia Trio: Plays Herbie Nichols (2019-22
[2024], Fresh Sound): Spanish drummer, has several previous records,
including a 2016 Plays the Music of Bob Zieff, and a previous
(but different) trio. This with Pere Soto (guitar) and Xavi Castillo
(bass), playing nine pieces by the short-lived Nichols (1919-63,
with most of his recordings 1955-57).
B+(***) [sp]
Kabeaushé: The Coming of Gaze (2023, Hakuna Kulala):
Singer-rapper from Kenya, first album.
B+(*) [sp]
Kabeaushé: Hold on to Deer Life, There's a Blcak Boy Behind
You! (2023, Monkeytown): Second album, goes psychedelic.
B [sp]
Noah Kahan: Stick Season (2022, Mercury/Republic):
Singer-songwriter, originally from Vermont, folkie with some pop
appeal, third album -- the first of three iterations to date, as
newer releases, cashing in on chart success and a Grammy nomination,
pile on way beyond these original thirteen songs. I'm impressed, a
little, anyways.
B+(***) [sp]
Kaze: Unwritten (2023 [2024], Circum/Libra):
Quartet of Satoko Fujii (piano), Natsuki Tamura (trumpet),
Christian Pruvost (trumpet), and Peter Orins (drums), seventh
group album since 2011, first one billed as "completely
improvised," which may excuse some temporary regrouping as
they explore.
B+(***) [cd]
Anni Kiviniemi Trio: Eir (2023 [2024], We Jazz):
Finnish pianist, reportedly US-based but recorded this debut album
in Oslo with Eero Tikkanen (bass) and Hans Hulbaekmo (drums), all
her compositions.
B+(***) [sp]
Doug MacDonald: Sextet Session (2023 [2024],
DMAC Music): Guitarist, goes back a ways but has been especially
prolific since 2014. Mainstream, with a bit of swing, sextet
includes trumpet (Aaron Janik), tenor sax (Doub Webb), piano
(Josh Nelson, bass, and drums.
B+(**) [cd] [03-01]
Eliza McLamb: Going Through It (2024, Royal
Mountain): Singer-songwriter, described as "LA-based pop culture
icon," which seems to mean she's had a song ("Porn Star Tits")
that went viral on TikTok. Intimate songs have some depth. "16"
goes: "We pretend that you're trying/ 'I Don't know what to do
with you'/ You say it often/ Almost sounds like a good excuse/
For doing nothing."
B+(***) [sp]
Chase Rice: I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell
(2023, Broken Bow): Country singer-songwriter from Florida, sixth
album since 2010, the one on Columbia (2014) a platinum hit, but
three later albums on Broken Bow didn't come close. Title from two
songs, both against the grain, as is most of the filler, where the
down home is spiced with stratospheric guitar.
A- [sp]
RVG: Brain Worms (2023, Ivy League/Fire): Initials
for Romy Vager Group, for the singer-songwriter-lead guitarist,
from Melbourne, Australia.
B+(**) [sp]
Sunny Five [Tim Berne/David Torn/Ches Smith/Devin Hoff/Marc
Ducret]: Candid (2022 [2024], Intakt): Alto sax, two
guitars (Torn and Ducret), drums/electronics and electric bass.
This lineup might once have suggested fusion, but I have no clear
idea of with what? Maybe Berne et al. just see the hardcore/metal
instrumentation as something loud to improv with.
B+(***) [sp]
Kali Uchis: Orquídeas (2024, Geffen): Dance-pop
singer-songwriter Karly Marina Loaiza, from the Virginia side of
DC, father Colombian, returned there while she was in high school,
fourth album, second mostly in Spanish. Ends with a piece ("Dame
Beso/Muévete") that would jump out even on a Kenyan guitar paradise
album. Multiple plays show it's not alone.
A- [sp]
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
Herb Geller: Fire in the West (1957 [2023],
Jazz Workshop): Alto saxophonist (1928-2013), inspired by Benny
Carter, played in big bands in the early 1950s, led his first
session in 1954, released this classic sextet session on Jubilee
in 1957, establishing himself as a superb arranger, with Kenny
Dorham (trumpet), Harold Land (tenor sax), Lou Levy (piano),
Ray Brown (bass), and Lawrence Marable (drums), turning the
fire up on "West coast cool jazz." Original title and artwork
for an album I know from the 2003 CD That Geller Feller.
A- [sp]
Ghetto Brothers: Power-Fuerza (1972 [2024], Vampisoul):
South Bronx Puerto Rican group, only album, reissue billed as "one
of the best Latin funk albums ever recorded," eventually moves in
that direction, but only after a number of efforts at Beatles-like
harmonies don't quite hit the mark.
B+(*) [sp]
If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues &
Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. 1 (1920s-50s [2023], Death Is Not
the End): Twenty-six oldies, dates lack precision but specify "late"
both for 20s and 50s, from southern Ghana and environs, influence
extending east to Nigeria and west to Liberia.
B+(*) [sp]
If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues &
Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. 2 (1920s-50s [2023], Death Is Not
the End): Twenty-six more oldies, again nothing but a broad range of
dates.
B+(**) [sp]
Melba Liston: Melba Liston and Her 'Bones (1958
[2023], Jazz Workshop): Trombonist (1926-99), from Kansas City,
started playing in all-female big bands during the war, then broke
in with Gerald Wilson, then moved on to Dizzy Gillespie and Quincy
Jones, where she became most valued as an arranger. This is the
only album she led -- well, aside from her Randy Weston co-credit,
Volcano Blues (1993), still the first item showing up when
you search her. This combines two sessions, one with Ray Bryant
(piano), the other with Kenny Burrell (guitar), bass, drums, and
three more trombonists each (Benny Green, Al Grey, and Benny
Powell with Burrell; Jimmy Cleveland, Slide Hampton, and Frank
Rehak with Bryant). A real delight.
A- [yt]
Los Mohanes: La Tumbia (2017 [2023], Moli Del
Tro): Colombian duo, Faunes Efe (bass/guitar) and Joseph Muñoz
(field recording/sampler), first album, originally self-released,
picked up on a Belgian label. Engaging electronica, falls down
at the end.
B+(*) [sp]
Don Menza & Sam Noto: Steppin': Quartet Live
(1980 [2023], Fresh Sound): Tenor saxophonist, from Buffalo (b. 1936),
played in big bands with Maynard Ferguson and Louie Bellson, with
more than a dozen albums as leader, joined here by the trumpet player,
also from Buffalo (b. 1930), who played with Woody Herman, Stan Kenton,
Count Basie, and others, headlining a handful of albums. A blistering
live gig here from a club in Toronto, with Dave Young (bass) and Terry
Clarke (drums).
B+(***) [sp]
Old music:
Abyssinia Infinite Featuring Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw:
Zion Roots (2003, Network): A one-shot album I only
just noticed, looks like a vehicle for the featured Ethiopian
singer (she wrote six songs, the other four trad.), engineered
by Bill Laswell. Not rasta, but ethio-soul, subtle and beguiling.
A- [yt]
Afrorack: The Afrorack (2022, Hakuna Kulala):
Electronic music from Uganda, someone named Bamanya, who built
"Africa's first DIY modular synthesizer, a huge wall of home-made
modules and FX units. Recapitulates many of the sounds of the
pioneers of electronic music, then finds layers of rhythm they
never dreamed of.
A- [sp]
Grade (or other) changes:
Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan (2023, Warner): Country
singer-songwriter, though this second label album (after two
self-releaseds) topped the rock charts as well as country and
folk. Solid, unassuming, workman-like -- attributes that only
deeepen with multiple replays.
[Was: B+(***)] A- [sp]
Rodney Crowell: The Chicago Sessions (2023, New West):
Country singer, emerged as a thoughtful songwriter with his 1978 debut,
seems like his albums have only gotten easier over the years. This was
recorded in Jeff Tweedy's Chicago studio, and came so easy they didn't
even bother thinking up a title for it. Made it easy to underappreciate,
too.
[was: B+(**)] A- [sp]
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Albare: Beyond Belief (AM) [02-12]
- Ian Carey & Wood Metal Plastic: Strange Arts (Slow & Steady) [03-22]
- Stephan Crump: Slow Water (Papillon Sounds) [05-03]
- Remy Le Boeuf's Assembly of Shadows: Heartland Radio (SoundSpore) [03-16]
- David Leon: Bird's Eye (Pyroclastic) [03-08]
- Queen Esther: Things Are Looking Up (EL) [04-09]
- Ron Rieder: Latin Jazz Sessions (self-released) [03-04]
- Jeremy Rose & the Earshift Orchestra: Discordia (Earshift Music) [03-01]
- Jacob Shulman: High Firmament/Ferment Below (Endectomorph Music, 2CD) [03-01]
- Julia Vari Feat. Negroni's Trio: Somos (Alternative Representa) [02-16]
- Fay Victor/Herbie Nichols SUNG: Life Is Funny That Way (Tao Forms, 2CD) [04-05]
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Speaking of Which
Once again, I failed to finish my rounds by end-of-Sunday, so
I'm posting what I have, with the expectation that I'll add more
on Monday (look for red right-border stripes). One thing I didn't
get to but seems likely to be worthwhile adding is
No More Mister Nice Blog. That's where I first ran into the
Katie Glueck article, and I see relevant posts on many of this
week's politics articles.
Charles P Pierce also has worthwhile takes on most of this.
This appeared after my cutoff, but is a good overview of
everything else that follows: Andrea Mazzarino: [02-27]
War's cost is unfathomable, where she starts by referring to
"The October 7th America has forgotten," which was 2001, when the
US first bombed Afghanistan, following the Al-Qaeda attacks of
that September 11. In 2010, Mazzarino founded the
Cost of War Project, which, as economists are wont to do,
started adding up whatever they could of the quantifiable costs
of America's Global War on Terror and its spawn. Still, their
figures (at least
$8 trillion and counting, and with debt compounding) miss
much of the real human (and environmental) costs, especially
those that are primarily psychic.
For instance, would we have the gun problem that we have had
we not been continuously at war for over two decades? Would our
politics have turned so desperately war-like? Certainly, there
would have been much less pressure to immigrate, given that war
is the leading producer of refugees. Without constant jostling
for military leverage, might we not have made more progress in
dealing with problems like climate change? The list only grows
from there.
One constant theme of every
Speaking of Which is the need to put aside the pursuit of
power over and against others and find mutual grounds that will
allow us to work together cooperatively to deal with pressing
problems. There are lots of reasons why this is true, starting
with the basic fact that we could not exist in such numbers if
not for a level of technology that is complex beyond most of
our understandings and fragile, especially vulnerable to the
people who feel most unjustly treated. Our very lives depend
on experts who can be trusted, and their ability to work free
of sabotage. You can derive all the politics you need from
this insight.
Initial count: 154 links, 7,499 words. Updated count: 178 links, 8,813 words.
Top story threads:
Israel: The genocide continues.
Reported casualty figures, as of 2/23, show 1,147 Israelis killed
on October 7, plus 576 Israelis killed since. Palestinian deaths --
certainly undercounted -- are 29,514 in Gaza + 380 elsewhere in Israel.
Since Oct. 7, Israelis are killing more than 51 Palestinians in Gaza
for every soldier lost. No breakdown between soldiers lost in invading
Gaza vs. elsewhere, but the latter numbers are probably very small.
The kill ratio increases to 65-to-1 using the 38,000 estimate "when
accounting for those presumed dead."
Mondoweiss:
Yuval Abraham: [02-23]
Settlers and army blocking West Bank roads to Palestinians:
"Makeshift barriers erected since October 7 have sealed off dozens
of Palestinian communities."
Samer Badawi: [02-19]
Laying the groundwork for Gaza's permanent exodus: "With Egypt
reportedly preparing for an influx of refugees and UNRWA on the
brink of collapse, Israel's second Nakba fantasies could soon
become reality."
Zack Beauchamp: [02-20]
How Israel's war went wrong: "The conflict in Gaza has become "an
era-defining catastrophe." It's increasingly clear what -- and who --
is to blame."
Josh Breiner/Bar Peleg: [02-22]
Israeli Nova partygoer was misidentified as Hamas terrorist on
October 7 and killed by Israeli forces. More examples like
this are likely to come out. When Israel reduced its Oct. 7 death
count from 1,400 to under 1,200, one wonders how much of that was
bad counting, and how much reclassifying?
Isaac Chotiner: [02-24]
"Trying to project the death toll from Israel's military campaign
over the next six months." On a
report from Johns Hopkins University Center for Humanitarian
Health and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
I suspect their "worst case scenario" isn't nearly as bad as it
could get. But even with a ceasefire today, they're projecting
over 15,000 "excess deaths" in the next six months.
Osama Gaweesh: [02-24]
Buffer zone in Sinai: Is Sisi preparing to displace the Palestinians?
Yousef Khelfa: [02-20]
My medical colleagues in Gaza are exhausted, and terrified of what is
to come: "When I left Gaza two weeks ago, my colleagues at the
European Hospital in Khan Younis were already overwhelmed. Now, they
are terrified Israel will invade the hospital and kill patients like
they did at nearby Nasser Hospital."
Ibtisam Mahdi: [02-17]
The obliteration of Gaza's multi-civilizational treasures:
"Israel's war has brought ruin to thousands of years of rich heritage
in Gaza, with Palestinian experts decrying the destruction as a cultural
genocide."
Nicole Narea: [02-23]
Netanyahu's postwar "plan" for Gaza is no plan at all: "Netanyahu's
plan is wildly disconnected from US priorities -- and reality."
Jonathan Ofir:
Oren Ziv: [02-20]
Rugs, cosmetics, motorbikes: Israeli soldiers loot Gaza homes en
masse: "Soldiers describe how stealing Palestinian property has
become totally routine in the Gaza war, with minimal pushback from
commanders."
Israel vs. world opinion:
Ben Armbruster: [02-22]
US intel has 'low confidence' in Israel's UNRWA claims.
Michael Arria: [02-22]
The Shift: US vetoes UN ceasefire resolution again: "Joe Biden
has stepped up public criticisms of Israel to save his faltering
electoral prospects in Michigan, but there remains an incredible
disconnect between these words and his administration's ongoing
support for Israel's genocidal attack on Gaza."
Moustafa Bayoumi: [02-17]
As Biden ignores death in Gaza, the 'Dark Brandon' meme is unfunny
and too real.
Miguel A Cruz-Díaz: [02-23]
On the shame of living through times of genocide. The article,
about "suicidal ideation," is not exactly what I imagined from the
title, but I'm not wired to take other people's tragedies personally.
(I was tempted to say "for empathy," but I can imagine even if I only
rarely feel.) But the title is evocative. I don't advise you feeling
shame for what other people -- and not just the perpetrators, but
also those making excuses, or just shrugging their shoulders -- are
doing, but they definitely should feel ashamed (and if not, should
learn).
Emily Davies/Peter Hermann/Dan Lamothe: [02-27]
Airman who set self on fire grew up on religious compound, had
anarchist past: Aaron Bushnell, whose protest echoed that of
Buddhist monk
Thich Quang Duc during the Vietnam War.
Yves Engler: [02-21]
The reasons for Canada's 'unwavering' support for Israel:
"Canada's remarkable fidelity to an apartheid state committing
genocide is driven by imperial geopolitics, settler solidarity,
Christian Zionism and the Israel lobby in Canada, and the
weaponization of antisemitism."
Richard Falk: [02-25]
In Gaza, the west is enabling the most transparent genocide in
human history.
Jonathan Freedland: [02-23]
Hamas and Netanyahu are a curse on their peoples. Yet amid the horror,
there is a sliver of hope: The "sliver" seems to be [02-23]
Gaza ceasefire talks underway in Paris, but this ignores the
core fact of this "war," which is that you don't need to negotiate
a ceasefire when only one side is shooting. Just do it. Israel can
even declare that if Palestinians do keep shooting rockets at Israel,
there will be reprisals (short in time, but severe). That would be
understandable. But negotiations just does something Israel claims
it doesn't want to do, which is to elevate Hamas as the representative
of the people of Gaza.
The headline suggests that both Netanyahu and
Hamas are unfortunate political choices, but Netanyahu was a choice,
at least of the limited electorate within Israel, and there's plenty
of reason to believe he's doing exactly what those who voted for him
want. Hamas was never elected, because Palestinians have never been
free to choose their own leaders. The West Bank is, well, complicated,
but Gaza should be simple: all Israel has to do is stop attacking and
step away. They've more than punished Hamas. They've destroyed most
of the region's infrastructure. For at least the next 20 years, the
only way people will be able to live in Gaza is through foreign aid,
which they will basically have to beg for. If Israel takes itself out
of the picture, and lets the UN organize a proper democratic government
there, Hamas will release the hostages, and quietly disappear. (Sure,
Hamas may still survive in the West Bank, and among exiles, but that
shouldn't be Gaza's fault. Hamas has no life except as resistance to
Israeli power.)
The idea that some people who got to power purely through the use
of terror -- and that's every bit as true of Netanyahu as of Hamas
(and only slightly less for the Saudis and Americans and other parties
invovled) -- can settle something in Paris that will bring peace to
Gaza is absurd. Freedland writes: "To grasp it, the Palestinians need
to be free of Hamas and Israelis free of Netanyahu." Swap those and
you start to enter the realm of the possible: Palestinians need to be
free of Netanyahu, which for Gaza at least is easy to do. And that
would also make Israelis free of Hamas (except, of course, in the
areas where they're still determined to rule rough over Palestinians,
because such rule always begets resistance -- if not by Hamas, then
by the next bunch that bands together to stand up for freedom and
against injustice).
Thomas L Friedman: [02-27]
Israel is losing its greatest asset: acceptance: This is one of
those "if even Thomas Friedman sees a problem . . ." pieces. Israelis
have a handicap here: they're so conditioned to expecting that the
whole world hates them, they can't imagine how much worse it can get,
or how that might impact them. They figure as long as the US stays
in line, no problem. And they figure the US is way too big to worry
about its own diminishing acceptance.
Mehdi Hasan: [02-21]
Biden can end the bombing of Gaza right now. Here's how.
Robert Inkalesh: [02-23]
Why the US must enage Hamas politically: I don't agree with this now,
but I do believe that I do believe that America's refusal to accept the
results of the 2006 Palestinian Authority elections -- I believe Israel,
which had always preferred Hamas to the secular-socialist PLO, was only
following the American lead -- was largely responsible for pushing Hamas
back into violent rebellion, including the desperate attacks of Oct. 7.
There is, of course, much room for debate as to how to apportion blame
for the continued repression and resistance. Israel's behavior is fully
consistent as a white settler colony overseeing a rigidly racist system
of control -- call it "Apartheid" if you like, but it differs in some
from the disgraced South African system, and often for the worse. It
reflects a demented and ultimately self-destructive worldview, but
they are pretty clear on what they're doing, and why. As for Americans,
they're much harder to explain. Having developed two (or maybe three)
such rigidly racist systems, then dismantled them without ever owning
up to their crimes, they're amazingly ingenious at lying to themselves
and others -- hypocrisy is much too superficial a word -- for the way
they so easily rationalize and romanticize Israeli brutality as high
moral dudgeon.
Jake Johnson: [02-22]
"I think we should kill 'em all," GOP Rep. Andy Ogles says of
Palestinians in Gaza. Makes him exhbit A (but not the only
one) in:
Robert Lipsyte: [02-22]
I'm heartbroken by the war in Israel.
Mitchell Plitnick: [02-23]
Biden won't let Israel's rejection of a Palestinian state interfere
with his delusions.
Philip Weiss: [02-21]
The context for October 7 is apartheid, not the Holocaust: "The
Israel lobby is attempting to indoctrinate Americans that the context
for the October 7 attack is the Holocaust. This is a misrepresentation.
The Palestinians had nothing to do with the Holocaust."
America's expansion of Israel's world war:
Spencer Ackerman:
Samar Al-Bulushi/Ahmed Ibrahim: [02-21]
US inks deal to build up to 5 bases in Somalia.
Giorgio Cafiero: [02-19]
Will Egypt suspend the Camp David Accords?
Dave DeCamp: [02-22]
$14 billion US aid package for Israel crafted to prepare for
'multi-front war,' not just Gaza.
Julia Gledhill: [02-23]
The new 'defense industrial strategy' is a boon for the arms makers,
not so much for regular Americans.
Eldar Mamedov: {02-23]
The EU's flagging credibility in the Middle East.
Ishaan Tharoor:
[02-21]
The world confronts Israel over its occupation of Palestinian
lands: "There is a growing global perception that Israel is at
odds with the international system and reliant on the United States
to shield it from further censure."
[02-23]
In Ukraine and Gaza, twilight for the 'rules-based order':
"Western leaders may see in Ukraine the defense of the 'rules-based
order' against Russian brutishness, but in the ongoing calamity in
Gaza, it's easy to also see its breakdown."
[02-27]
Netanyahu's 'day after' plan for Gaza is unviable: "Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled a blanket rejection of any
solutions that empower the Palestinians." Or to allow Palestinians
any measure of dignity anywhere near Israel's vaunted Iron Wall. No
one anywhere should credit Netanyahu as having any legitimacy to rule
over Palestinians. I don't see any way to force his government from
power, but he and it should be shamed and shunned with every option,
including ICJ charges and sanctions. Sure, other governments treat
their minorities with insufficient respect, but no other works so
relentlessly to destroy their livelihood, and often their lives.
Trump, and other Republicans: Well, South Carolina is done
and dusted -- see [02-24]
Trump defeats Haley in South Carolina primary, 60.1% to 39.2%
(at the point with 92% counted). Also, if you care,
How different groups voted in the South Carolina primary, according
to exit polls. Nothing terribly surprising there, except perhaps
that Trump had his best age split in 17-29 (66% vs. 63% for 65+).
[PS: The final delegate split was 47 Trump, 3 Haley.]
Liz Anderson: [02-13]
The crack-up of the Michigan GOP: "The trouble is, when the
working-class WCN [White Christian Nationalists] takes over a party,
their lack of and contempt for managerial skills, their conspiratorial
mindset, and their inability to assume personal responsibility for
their failures leads to organizational failure and financial crisis."
Also on the Michigan GOP:
Zack Beauchamp: [02-24]
The South Carolina primary is a joke. It tells us something deadly
serious: "Trump's seemingly inevitable romp to victory in Nikki
Haley's home state reveals how strong his hold on the GOP is -- and
how dangerous he remains to democracy."
Jackie Calmes: [01-22]
I watched a Trump rally so you don't have to. But you need to know
what he's saying.
Igor Derysh: [02-23]
Experts trash Trump's "insultingly stupid" filing asking Judge Cannon
to dismiss case: "Trump invoked presidential immunity and other
arguments that have already been rejected by other courts."
David Freedlander: [02-22]
The Swiftboater coming for Biden: "With co-pilot Susie Wiles,
Chris LaCivita has brought discipline to the Trump campaign. Is that
enough to win?"
Margaret Hartmann: [02-21]
Trump doubles down on making Navalny's death about him.
Christopher Hooks: [02-25]
The human toll of Greg Abbott's war at the border.
Ed Kilgore:
Charisma Madarang: [02-23]
Trump claims he's 'being indicted for the black population': "The
ex-president additionally said 'the Black people like me' because he
has been indicted four times." So, like, they can relate to a guy who
has spent $50 million on lawyers to stay out of jail (for months, maybe
even a year or two)?
Ben Protess/Jonah E Bromwich: [02-24]
Donald J Trump is racing against time to find a half-billion dollar
bond.
Jennifer Rubin:
[02-21]
Trump idolizes Putin, the man who killed Navalny and invaded Ukraine.
After being horrible for years, Rubin's conversion to anti-Republicanism
was more convincing than most, but she's lost her marbles here. Trump
doesn't idolize Putin. Trump only worships himself. Maybe he has a bit
of grudging admiration for Putin, as a guy who gets away with doing
things he can only dream of. Maybe he thinks Putin might be a fun guy
to pal around with, like Jeffrey Epstein, but if so he's almost dead
certain wrong. (Does Putin really strike you as the kind of guy who'd
enjoy Trump's company?) Trump throws these gestures out mostly just
to wind up the Russiagate libs, knowing they'll react hysterically,
and knowing that when they do, that'll just reinforce the sense of
his base that he's a straight shooter, one of the very few people in
national politics who's not under the spell of the warmongering Deep
State. Meanwhile, Rubin is only winding up her base, giving them
talking points that seem archly moral but are instantly recognized
by anyone not in the clique as hypocritical at best and quite likely
seriously dangerous.
[02-25]
Dim or disloyal? Republicans again ensnared in possible Russian plot.
And here she goes again, although here we should also note how easy it
is for Russian agents to play Republicans. After all, if you want to
swindle someone, the easiest possible mark is someone who's convinced
in his own con.
Praveena Somasundaram: [02-25]
Koch network ends financial support for Nikki Haley's presidential
bid: Regular people may get a chance to vote in America, but
only for candidates who have been vetted and backed by the very
rich. And when that backing falters, the candidates have little
choice but to withdraw (er, "suspend"). Having lost what appeared
to be her two best chances (Trump-averse New Hampshire and her
home state of South Carolina), and now the biggest source of her
funding, she has no chance of winning, and little of making much
of a showing. Sure, as long as she's nominally in the race she'll
continue to trounce Ron DeSantis (who still got 0.4% in South
Carolina), and she's still got the fawning PR coming from
Jim Geraghty and
Kathleen Parker.
Matt Stieb: [02-22]
Was the Biden Crime Family informant a Russian asset?
Kate Sullivan: [02-18]
Trump launches sneaker line a day after judge's order to pay nearly
$355 million.
Tatyana Tandanpolie: [02-23]
Bipartisan Wisconsin ethics commission refers Trump PAC for felony
prosecution over alleged scheme: "Officials find evidence Trump's
Save America committee skirted campaign finance laws to take down
disloyal GOPer."
CPAC: The erstwhile conservative (more like fascist)
organization held their annual conference last week, headlined
by Donald Trump, so we'll offer this as a Republicans overflow
section. Before we get serious, probably the best introduction
here is: [02-23]
Jimmy Kimmel on CPAC: 'A who's who of who won't accept the results
of the election'.
Biden and/or the Democrats:
Perry Bacon Jr: [02-26]
Criticizing a president is always okay -- even one running against
Trump: If you care about issues, you should say so, even when
it's politically inexpedient. Otherwise, you lose your credibility,
and any hope for eventual success. You reduce politics to a game,
signifying nothing. If that's your view of it, you may already be
a Republican -- although they've adopted some truly obnoxious issue
stands, they're really just saying whatever they think gives them
a slight advantage, because all they're really intererested in is
power: seizing it, keeping it, cashing in on it.
Aaron Boxerman/Jonathan Weisman: [02-24]
Biden caught in a political bind over Israel policy: "His steadfast
support of the Gaza war effort is angering young people and Arab Americans
in an election year. But any change risks alienating Jewish voters." Not
really: recent
polling has Jewish Americans favoring a ceasefire 50-34%. That's
not as high as support for a ceasefire from Americans in general,
but not enough to justify the NYT's antisemitic trope of painting
"the Jews" as responsible for Biden's colossal blunder.
Jackie Calmes: [02-14]
Biden's polls aren't great. How much is the media's fault?
Ben Davis: [02-21]
Biden visited East Palestine a year after Trump. This doesn't bode
well.
William Hartung: [01-31]
Tone deaf? Admin brags about 55% hike in foreign arms sales:
"Washington's sanitized view of unleashing $80.9 billion in weapons
on the world, especially now, is a bit curious."
Eric Levitz: [02-23]
Biden is weak -- and unstoppable: "It will be hard to convince
the president that he isn't the best of his party's bad options."
Norman Solomon: [02-25]
Joe Biden's moral collapse on Gaza could help Donald Trump win.
I'm not going to not vote for Biden in November even though I regard
him as not just naive and/or negligent but materially complicit in
the most crime against humanity in recent decades, but only because
I fully realize that Trump would even be worse (as, indeed, his four
years as president amply demonstrated). Still, by all means, tank
Biden's polls and trash his prospects, at least until he starts to
reverse course. And also note that lots of people are not fully
apprised of how awful Trump has been on Israel in particular and
on world war in general -- indeed, he is campaigning, Wilson-like,
on having "kept us out of war" and steering us away from the path
to "world war" that Biden is heading (even though, sure one might
even repeat Wilson-like, he's done more than anyone to pave that
path). If Biden fails to get his war under control, enough people
are likely to fall for Trump's line to tip the election. Also
linked to by Solomon:
Robert Wright: [02-23]
Biden's tough love deficit: Two years after Ukraine, and 20 weeks
after Gaza, turned into massive wars:
There are lots of differences between those two events and between
the wars they've brought, but there's one important commonality: how
President Biden has reacted. In both cases he has come to the aid of
a friend in need and done so in a way that wasn't ultimately good for
the friend. Biden is good at showing love and catastrophically bad at
showing tough love.
With both Ukraine and Israel, the US has massive leverage -- by
virtue of being a critical weapons supplier and also in other ways.
And in both cases Biden has refused to use the leverage to try to end
wars that are now, at best, pointless exercises in carnage creation.
I'll add that both of these wars were advertised long before they
broke out, coming out of long-standing conflicts, and only surprising
to the those in Washington who pretended that peace can be secured
simply by buying American arms and covering them with clichés about
deterrence and sanctions. Most of the fault belongs to presidents
before Biden: to Bush and Trump for indulging Israel's most right-wing
fantasies (and Obama for not resisting them, reinforcing the idea that
American reservations are not things Israelis need to take seriously);
to Obama's pivot toward a renascent Cold War (after Clinton and Bush
expanded NATO to Russia's doorstep); and to Trump for his half-assed
mishandling of Ukraine, Russia, China, and everything else. On the
other hand, every president inherits the mistakes of his predecessors.
Thanks to Trump, Biden wound up with more than usual, but it was his
job to fix them. In some cases he tried, and has even had some success.
In others, he failed, sometimes not even trying. But here, he's made
bad situations worse, and seems incapable of even understanding why.
Legal matters and other crimes:
Climate and environment:
Eric Levitz: [02-21]
Why you probably shouldn't blow up a pipeline. Reaction to
Andreas Malm's book, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, and the
subsequent movie. My rejection of such notions is so deep-seated --
I'm still anti-Luddite, even after having developed some appreciation
for the intractable
problems they faced -- I've never had to wrestle with the
issues, nor do I expect that I ever will. But I won't be surprised
to see a rising tide of sabotage -- they've already coined the term
"ecoterrorism" for this eventuality -- as climate distress worsens,
especially if major powers are unwilling to reform and continue to
set the standard for dealing with problems through repression and
violence. [PS: Note, however, that in Kim Stanley Robinson, in his
novel, The Ministry for the Future, expects to see a lot of
"ecoterrorism," and sees it as promoting necessary changes.]
Economic matters:
Dean Baker: [02-21]
The sham "The economy is awful" story: Per Baker's
tweet: "Too bad they [New York Times] weren't allowed to run these
when Donald Trump was in the White House." Next in my Twitter queue
was
Kevin Erdmann: "It's really crazy how interest rate casual stories
get canonized without the slightest interest or curiosity in facts.
EVERY story about housing will stipulate that the Fed's rate hikes
slowed down sales." The chart shows that sales spiked after the worst
of the pandemic in 2020, while interest rates were still low, and
declined as interest rates increased, but since 2022 they're basically
back to pre-pandemic levels, albeit with higher interest rates.
Farrah Hassen: [02-23]
The rent's still too high! "A new Harvard study found that
half of U.S. renter households now spend more than 30
percent of their income on rent and utilities. And rent
increases continue to outpace their income gains. . . . Last
year, homelessness hit an all-time national high of 653,100
people."
Ukraine War:
Responsible Statecraft: [02-22]
The Ukraine War at two years: By the numbers.
Kyle Anzalone: [02-22]
US officials see Ukraine as an active and bountiful military research
opportunity.
Medea Benjamin/Nicolas JS Davies: [02-25]
After two grueling years of bloodshed, it's time for peace in
Ukraine.
- Aaron Blake: [02-27]
Zelensky's increasingly blunt comments about Trump: This isn't
a good sign, but Trump has always wanted Zelensky to wade into the
American political fray -- on his side, of course, but it's not
like he can't play opposition just as well. Zelensky is careful to
portay his interests as America's own, but Trump is unflappable in
that regard.
Joe Buccino: [02-22]
Ukraine can no longer win. This piece appeared in the Wichita
Eagle right after the Doran piece, below. Added here after I wrote
the Doran comment, but let's list it first.
Peter Doran: [02-24]
Ukraine can win -- here's how: Author works for Center for European
Policy Analysis (CEPA), one of our leading war tanks, out here to buck
up the troops by, well, quoting Winston Churchill and Henry V. He's
wrong on many levels, starting with the notion that anyone can win at
war these days. Even when he has a point (that Russia's "manpower pool"
isn't inexhaustible) he misses it (that it's still much deeper than
Ukraine's). He points to the unpopularity of the war in Russia, the
suggestion being that Putin will buckle if the West only shows we're
firmly resolved to win, but hasn't Putin proven much more effective
at stifling dissent than the democratic West has? Aside from greater
resolve, he insists the keys to winning are faster deliveries of even
more sophisticated weapons systems, and even tighter sanctions. How
did the war planners miss that? He insists on "a clear and compelling
definition of victory in Ukraine that advances our national interests."
Note nothing here about the well-being of the Ukrainian people, who
bear the primary costs of continued war. His definition? "The
requirements of this victory include the Russian military ceasing to
kill Ukrainians, departing Ukrainian territory and not threatening
the existence of the country in the future." It should be obvious
by now that the only way to achieve any way of this is through a
negotiated settlement that leads not just to a ceasefire but to an
enduring stable relationship between Russia, Ukraine, and the West.
That may require lesser steps -- a ceasefire would be a good start --
but also means giving up impossible definitions of victory.
Steven Erlanger/David E Sanger: [02-24]
Hard lessons make for hard choices 2 years into the war in Ukraine:
"Western sanctions haven't worked. Weapons from allies are running low.
Pressure may build on Kyiv to seek a settlement, even from a weakened
position."
Ben Freeman: [02-22]
The Ukraine lobby two years into war.
Joshua Keating: [02-22]
Are Ukraine's defenses starting to crumble? "What Ukraine's biggest
setback in months tells us about the future of the war."
Serhiy Morgunov/David L Stern: [02-25]
Zelensky says 31,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed since invasion.
His first public disclosure since Dec. 2022 ("up to 13,000"). He's also
claiming 180,000 Russian troops have been killed. When the New York Times
reported this story
(31,000
Ukrainian soldiers killed in two years of war, Zelensky says,
they also noted that Zelensky's number "differs sharply from that
given by U.S. officials, who have said the number is closer to
70,000."
A
leaked Pentagon document had estimated deaths at 15,500-17,000
Ukrainian soldiers, and 35,000-42,500 Russian soldiers. That doesn't
count at least 10,000 Ukrainian civilians killed. For more figures,
some exaggerated, some minimized, see Wikipedia's
Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Marc Santora: [02-24]
Ukraine's deepening fog of war: "Two years after Russia's full-scale
invasion, Ukrainian leaders are seeking a path forward in teh face of
ferocious assaults and daunting unknowns."
Paul Street: [02-22]
500,000 dead and maimed in Ukraine, enough already: It's been a
long time since I've seen any figures for war in Ukraine, so this
one caught me off guard.
Marc A Thiessen: [02-22]
If Republicans want to help Trump, they should pass Ukraine aid now.
I never cite him, mostly because he's pure evil (he got his start as
Cheney's torture apologist), but my local paper loves his columns, so
I run into him constantly, and occasionally read enough to reconfirm
my judgment. But this one is especially twisted, so I offer it as an
example of the mind games regular Republicans play to manipulate the
deranged Trumpian psyches -- in effect, to keep them reliably evil.
The pitch is that Republicans should keep the war going so Trump can
fulfill his "I'll have that done in 24 hours" campaign promise once
he's elected. Of course, if Trump does win, Thiessen will do his most
to sabotage any peace moves, but in the meantime the war goes on and
Biden gets the blame.
Katrina Vanden Heuvel/James Carden: [02-23]
10 years later: Maidan's missing history.
Walt Zlotow: [02-24]
First 2 years of US proxy war against Russia finds both US and Ukraine
in downward spiral.
Navalny/Assange:
The Observer: [02-17]
The Observer view on Alexei Navalny's murder: Putin must be shown he
can't kill with impunity: "Russia has been exposed as a rogue
state that is a menace to the rest of the world." Isn't the Guardian
supposed to be the flagship of Britain's left-leaning press? But I
cringe any time I see an "Observer view" editorial, perhaps because
so many of them are so full of spite yet so futile, combinations of
hypocrisy and bluster. After fulminating for twelve paragraphs, they
finally explode: "It's time to get real with Russia." So, like, no
more patty-cakes? Like 74 years of "cold war" that actually started
with US and UK troops fighting the revolution on Russian soil? That
went on to using Afghan proxies to snipe at Russians in the 1980s?
That after a brief respite when Yeltsin tried to adopt America's
prescription of "shock treatment" nearly self-destructed Russia?
That was followed by the relentless expansion of NATO combined with
economic warfare including crippling sanctions?
When they wail, "After
Navalny, it's time to drop any lingering illusion that Putin's Russia
is a normal country, that it may be reasoned with." If Russia is not
"a normal country," and I'll grant that it isn't, perhaps that's
because no one in the US/UK has tried to reason with it in dacades?
Navalny is part of the price of this hostile rivalry, and unless he
was some sort of spy, he wasn't even a price the US/UK paid. He was
just collateral damage, like thousands of Ukrainians and Russians
maimed and killed in Ukraine, the millions displaced, the many more
who are denied food and fuel due to sanctions, and the millions of
Russian subjects who are denied free political rights because they
are living under a state whose security is constantly being attacked
by the West.
Andrew Cockburn: [02-19]
Tears for Navalny. Assange? Not so much.
Ellen Ioanes: [02-20]
Where does the fight for a free Russia go now? "Yulia Navalnaya
picks up her husband's battle against Putin."
Fred Kaplan: [02-21]
Even if you hate Julian Assange, the US attempt to extradite him
should worry you.
Margaret Sullivan: [02-20]
The US justice department must drop spy charges against Julian
Assange: 'You don't have to like him or WikiLeaks to recognize
the damage these charges create."
Walt Zlotow: [02-22]
Julian Assange is Biden's Navalny.
Other stories:
Mac William Bishop: [02-23]
American idiots kill the American century: "After decades of
foreign-policy bungling and strategic defeats, the US has never
seemed weaker -- and dictators around the world know it." This is
a pretty seriously wrong-headed article, its appeal to the liberal
publisher based on the MAGA movement, prominent Republicans, Elon
Musk and Tucker Carlson for making America weak, the effect simply
to "advance Putin's agenda." The key to American influence around
he world was always based on nothing more than the perception that
we would treat the world fairly and generously -- unlike the old
colonial empires of Europe, or the new militarism of the Axis, or
the growing Soviet-aligned bloc. Sure, the US was never all that
innocent, nor all that charitable, but in the late 1940s seemed
to compare favorably to the others. The US squandered its moral
standing and good will pretty rapidly, and as the article notes,
is losing the last of it with Biden's wholehearted support for
Israeli genocide.
Nick Estes: [02-19]
America's origin story is a myth: Daniel Denvir interviews Estes,
author of Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota
Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance.
David French: [02-25]
What is Christian nationalism exactly? NY Times
opinion columnist, self-described
Never-Trump Conservative, professes as evangelical Christian,
claiming the authority to explain his wayward brethren -- the flock
Chris Hedges wrote about in his 2007 book, American Fascists:
The Christian Right and the War on America -- or at least to
make fine distinctions between his kind and the others, who he's
more inclined to dub "Christian supremacists." That works almost
as well as Hedges' "Fascists" to identify the dictatorial and
vindictive powers they aspire to, without implicating Christians
who practice tolerance and charity, and allowing new nationalists
to express their love for American diversity (as opposed to the
old ones, wallowing in xenophobia and racism).
By the way, one term I haven't seen, but seems more to the point,
is Republican Christianists (or, I guess, Christianist Republicans):
those who enbrace the Republicans' cynical pursuit of coercive power
at all costs, while justifying their lust and avarice as a divine
mission. This piece led me to some older ones:
Katie Glueck: [02-19]
Anti-Trump burnout: The resistance says it's exhausted: "Bracing
for yet another election against Donald Trump, America's liberals
are feeling the fatigue. "We're kind of, like, crises-ed out," one
Democrat said." Well, if one Democrat said it, that's exactly
the sort of thing you can count on the New York Times to blow up
into a page one issue. Genocide in Palestine? Not so much. Reading
their own paper, they don't seem to understand that Trump is out of
power, and has been for 3.5 years now. Sure, he still talks a lot,
but that's all he is. Trying to shut him up, even if we wanted to,
not only isn't worth the effort, but would make things even worse.
For most of us, there's nothing much we can do except wait until
November, then vote against him.
Sarah Jones: [02-22]
The right to a private life is under attack: Starts with the
Alabama ruling on IVF (see Cohen, Millhiser, and others, above),
but of course the Trump-supporting Christian Nationalists want
much more than that: they want to run nearly every aspect of your
life:
Our private freedoms are linked to public notions of equal citizenship.
Conservatives attack the former in order to undermine the latter. It's
an unpopular strategy, but as the scholar Matthew Taylor told Politico,
"These folks aren't as interested in democracy or working through
democratic systems as in the old religious right because their theology
is one of Christian warfare." This is total war, and not just on women.
Anyone who fails to conform is at risk.
More, especially on the IVF backlash:
Taylor Lorenz: [02-24]
How Libs of TikTok became a powerful presence in Oklahoma schools:
"The owner [Chaya Raichik] of the far-right social media account, who
sits on a state advisory panel, has drawn attention since the death
of a nonbinary student near Tulsa." I could have filed this under
Republicans (above), as that's her mob, but didn't want to bury it
under the usual graft and bullshit. Related here:
Garrison Lovely: [01-22]
Can humanity survive AI? Long piece I haven't spent much time
with as yet, although the subhed "Capitalism makes it worse" is
certainly true. I don't know how good and/or bad AI will be, but
it's generating a lot more press than I can follow, including:
Kelly McClure: [02-23]
Ex-NRA chief funneled millions of dollars into his own pockets,
according to a NYC jury: "Wayne LaPierre and other NRA executives
were found liable for financial misconduct."
Anna North: [02-23]
Mascuzynity: How a nicotine pouch explains the new ethos of young
conservative men: "Stimulants, hustle culture, and bodybuilding
are shaping young men's drift to the right." Not obvious to me why
this has become "a gateway to right-wing politics." Unless, that is,
you're broadening the definition of right-wing from servants of
hierarchy/oligarchy to plain old, all-around assholes.
Rick Perlstein: [02-21]
The neglected history of the state of Israel: "The Revisionist
faction of Zionism that ended up triumphing adhered to literal fascist
doctrines and traditions." This is, of course, directly relevant to
what's happening in the Israel section above. The relationship is not
just temperamental and ideological: Netanyahu's father was Jabotinsky's
secretary and confidant.
Alissa Quart: [02-21]
US media is collapsing. Here's how to save it. She's director of
something called
Economic Hardship Reporting Project
Aja Romano: [02-18]
An attempt to reckon with True Detective: Night Country's bonkers
season finale: Noted in the breach, as a remarkably bad review
of a season and series where I'm hard pressed to find any points
to agree with, either in praise (mostly of seasons one and three,
where the flaws are most obvious) or in panning (seasons two and
four, where the messes swamp out the positives). But I will say
that the "bonkers season finale" was much more satisfying than any
I imagined to that point. I at least took the political point, which
is that the power of the rich, and the hopelessness of the people
they carelessly grind down and toss aside, are never as complete as
they imagine.
At the same time, I was also watching
A Murder at the End of the World, which was, if anything, even
messier (though just a close second for bone-chilling cold), and
again mostly acquitted itself with a politically-charged "bonkers
finale": the murders were orchestrated by AI, but the context was
corporate megalomania, as represented by a billionaire obsessed
with control and life-extension. Speaking of which:
Jeffrey St Clair: [02-23]
Roaming Charges: Somewhat immature: Title is Brig. Gen. Anthony
Mastalir, commander of U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific, describing
the "rules of engagement for orbital warfare," which is to say nobody
agrees on any rules, or even knows what they are or should be. But
who's that going to stop?
Ben Wray: [02-24]
It's time to dismantle the US sanctions-industrial complex: "The
US has built up an elaborate machinery for waging economic warfare on
its rivals with little or no public debate. This sanctions-industrial
complex is a disguised form of imperialism and a dangerous source of
global instability."
Li Zhou: [02-23]
America's first moon landing in 50 years, explained.
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Monday, February 19, 2024
Music Week
February archive
(in progress).
Music: Current count 41864 [41828] rated (+36), 20 [23] unrated (-3).
I posted a long
Speaking of Which just before bedtime late Sunday night.
I didn't quite get through my usual rounds, so added some more
stuff today, which in turn pushed this out late, again. Still
unclear how far I'll get Monday night.
Fortunately, I don't have much to say about music this week.
The rated count is down, but I hit up several boxes, including
the big Mingus one I saw little point in but enjoyed anyway,
and yet another iteration of the Massey Hall Quintet/Trio.
Also, another big r&b oldies box, again not ideal but
quite thoroughly enjoyed.
Very little progress to report on EOY lists, websites, book
projects, or anything else. The links, of course, are in the
usual place.
New records reviewed this week:
Joe Alterman: Joe Alterman Plays Les McCann: Big Mo &
Little Joe: (2023, Joe Alterman Music): Pianist, from
Georgia, half-dozen albums since 2009, leads a trio with Kevin
Smith (bass) and Justin Chesarek (drums), playing eleven Les McCann
compositions, including one written with Alterman in 2021. This
came out a few months before McCann (88) died in December.
B+(**) [sp]
Carsie Blanton: Body of Work (2023, self-released):
Singer-songwriter, originally from Virginia, based in New Jersey,
seven albums 2005-21, decided to "undress" 15 songs catalog songs
here, releasing them one-per-month digitally, finally compile them
on vinyl. So, I gather, it's a bit like the Taylor's Version
remakes, but on a much lower budget.
B+(**) [sp]
Stix Bones/Bob Beamon: Olimpik Soul (2023 [2024],
BONE Entertainment): Billed as a "jazz meets hip-hop EP," the
leaders' credits are drums and percussion, respectively (the
former aka Franklin Brown), the band adding trumpet, sax, guitar,
keybs, bass, and vocalists Abiodun Oyewole and Khadejia Bass. Eight
songs, 31:??, some fancy funk, but the mix could be sharper.
B+(*) [cd]
Peter Bruun/Søren Kjærgaard/Josas Westergaard:
Thēsaurós (2022, ILK): Danish drums-piano-bass
trio, playing "an ambitious work" composed by Bruun, in seven parts
(83:07).
B+(*) [bc]
Mina Cho's Grace Beat Quartet: "Beat Mirage"
(2023 [2024], International Gugak Jazz Institute): Korean pianist,
based in Boston, fifth album, quartet with Max Ridley (bass),
Yeongjin Kim (drums), and Insoo Kim (Korean traditional percussion).
B+(**) [cd]
Commodore Trio: Communal - EP (2023 [2024],
self-released, EP): Hype sheet credits Joel Tucker (guitar)
first but neither cover nor spine mentions him. Joined here
by Brandan Keller (tuberg bass) and Justin Clark (drums),
for five tracks (20:24) of what they call "improvised art
rock."
B+(*) [cd]
Dogo Du Togo: Dogo Du Togo (2022, self-released):
Massama Dogo, from Lome, in Togo, but now based in DC area.
B+(*) [sp]
Jose Gobbo Trio: Current (2023 [2024],
self-released): Brazilian guitarist-singer, lyrics here by Deuler
Andrade, moved to Iowa in 2011 and on to Illinois, where he teaches.
Appears to have some previous albums, but I can't find them in
Discogs. With bass (Max Beckman) and drums (Jay Ferguson). Voice
barely registers over the rhythm, which is all important.
B+(**) [cd]
Mary Halvorson: Cloudward (2023 [2024], Nonesuch):
Guitarist, Braxton student at Wesleyan, started with a trio album
in 2008, and expanded in various directions, eventually winning a
MacArthur genius grant, and topping the 2022 Francis Davis poll
with a pair of albums (Amaryllis was the actual winner, but
many voters wanted to include the more string-focused Belladonna).
This one is a sextet, with trumpet (Adam O'Farrill), trombone (Jacob
Garchik), bass (Nick Dunston), drums (Tomas Fujiwara), and vibes
(Patricia Brennan), with no vocals and only a bit of violin (guest
spot for Laurie Anderson). The state-of-the-art compositions are
fashionably tricky, the horns add some weight, the vibes a bit of
levity. Many critics seem to be impression, but still seems rather
nebulous to me.
B+(**) [sp]
Jon Irabagon: Survivalism (2024, Irabbagast):
Saxophonist, based in Chicago, best known for "bebop terrorist"
group MOPDTK but has a substantial, widely scattered discography
on his own. Visited a "munitions bunker in South Dakota" to get
the isolated ambiance for this album of solo soprillo sax -- at
33cm (13in), the smallest of all saxophones, pitched a fifth
higher than sopranino, a full octave above soprano. Nonetheless,
Irabagon spends a fair amount of time here finding more guttural
sounds in lower registers, contrast to the high notes, which are
never what you'd call flighty.
B+(*) [bc]
Jon Irabagon's Outright!: Recharge the Blade
(2021 [2024], Irabbagast): Group name refers back to a 2008 album
of that name, followed by another (Unhinged) in 2012 --
neither especially successful, as I recall, so I don't really
get the thinking behind giving this totally different group an
old group name. Leader plays soprano sax here, with Ray Anderson
(trombone), Matt Mitchell (piano/keyboards), Chris Lightcap (bass),
and Dan Weiss (drums), plus a couple guest spots.
B+(***) [bc]
Steven Kamperman: Maison Moderne (2023, Trytone):
Dutch clarinetist, half-dozen album since 1999, describes this as
"music inspired by the house, life, and passions of Theo van Doesburg,"
the artist and architect (1883-1931) who in 1917 founded the magazine
De Stijl, which advanced abstract art and modernist style,
effectively qualifying as a "school." The pieces are supported by
piano (Albert van Veenendaal), electric guitar (Paul Jarret), and
viola (Oene van Geel). Mostly chamber jazz befitting a museum, but
this really sharpens up when Jarret takes the lead and Kamperman
introduces some much-needed percussion.
A- [cd]
Liquid Mike: Paul Bunyan's Slingshot (2024,
self-released): Indie band from Marquette, Michigan, several
albums since 2021. They run through 13 crisp songs in 25:31.
B+(**) [sp]
Richard Nelson/Makrokosmos Orchestra: Dissolve
(2023 [2024], Adhyâropa): Guitarist, member of Aardvark Jazz
Orchestra since 1993, released his own Large Ensemble project
in 2011, returns here with a 15-piece group. Three complex
and lush pieces, 39:22.
B+(**) [cd]
Nondi_: Flood City Trax (2023, Planet Mu):
Electronics producer Tatiana Triplin, from Johnstown, Pennsylvania,
looks to have two previous EPs, another self-released digital album,
and some kind of mixtape/remix related to this.
B+(*) [sp]
Angel Olsen: Forever Means (2023, Jagjaguwar, EP):
American singer-songwriter, six generally well-regarded albums since
2012, released this four song, 16:02 EP.
B [sp]
Public Image Ltd.: End of World (2023, PIL Official):
Original Sex Pistol John Lydon, 67 when this came out, eleventh
group album, eight years after previous. He's managed to keep a
consistent sound since 1978, and occasionally to channel some
rage against "liars, fakes, cheats and frauds."
B+(*) [sp]
Zoe Rahman: Colour of Sound (2023, Manushi):
British pianist, father Bengali, eighth album since 2001, brother
Idris Rahman plays sax, with several other horn players, bass,
and drums. Richly detailed, sometimes to excess.
B+(*) [sp]
Andrew Rathbun: The Speed of Time (2022 [2023],
SteepleChase): Tenor saxophonist, based in Brooklyn, more than
a dozen albums since 1999, quartet with Gary Versace (piano),
John Hébert (bass), and Tom Rainey (drums), all original pieces.
B+(***) [sp]
Monika Roscher Bigband: Witchy Activities and the Maple
Death (2023, Zenna): German guitarist, fourth Bigband
album since 2011. Discogs lists genres as: dark jazz, jazz-rock,
psychedelic rock. I was thinking prog rock as light opera --
Roscher sings throughout, in English (not that I followed much
of it) -- although the big band was built to play jazz, which
does a nice job of shading the straightforward beat.
B+(**) [sp]
Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band: Vox Humana
(2023, Jazzheads): Bronx-born drummer, graduated from Berklee,
joined Mongo Santamaria in 1983, headlined a 1993 album with
Tito Puente and Paquito D'Rivera, has led Latin jazz big bands
at least since 2007, naming a 2012 album Multiverse.
Runs through a lengthy songbook, starting with "Caravan,"
hitting "Let the Good Times Roll" and "I Love You Porgy," and
perhaps most successfully, Steely Dan's "Do It Again."
B+(***) [sp]
Adam Schroeder/Mark Masters: CT! Adam Schroeder & Mark
Masters Celebrate Clark Terry (2023 [2024], Capri): Big band
arrangements of thirteen Terry tunes, Schroeder playing baritone sax,
Masters not in the band but with a long career as an arranger. You
may recall that Terry played trumpet both for Duke Ellington and
Count Basie before leading his own bands, offering plenty of hints
for how this works -- largely splitting the difference.
B+(***) [cd]
Matthew Shipp/Steve Swell: Space Cube Jazz
(2021 [2024], RogueArt): Piano and trombone duets, improvised,
first time recording together. A bit sparse, though both have
plenty to say.
B+(***) [cdr]
Rajna Swaminathan: Apertures (2021 [2023], Ropeadope):
Indian percussionist, plays mrudangam, also sings (as does co-producer
Ganavya), second album, with Utsav Lal (piano) and a raft of famous
jazz musicians: Adam O'Farrill (trumpet), Anna Webber (tenor sax),
Miles Okazaki (guitar), Stephan Crump (bass).
B+(**) [sp]
Tucker Brothers: Live at Chatterbox (2023 [2024],
Midwest Crush Music): Brothers Joe (guitar) and Nick (bass), with
sax (Sean Imboden) and drums (Carrington Clinton) at a club in
Indianapolis. No song credits, but I always recognize "Caravan."
Groove band, nice set.
B+(*) [cd]
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
George Cartwright's GloryLand PonyCat: Black Ants Crawling
([2024], Mahakala Music): Alto/tenor saxophonist, best known for the
group Curlew (1980-2003?), based in Minneapolis these days, no
recording date given, but it's a live trio date from Clown Lounge,
with Adam Linz (bass) and Alden Ikeda (drums) and is released (as
have several previous Cartwright albums) in the label's "Reissue
Series."
B+(**) [bc]
Late Night Count Basie (2023, Primary Wave, EP):
The "Count" is in small print, and tends to get overlooked. The
songs mostly originate with Basie (well, not "St. Thomas"), and
three are credited to his ghost band (Scotty Barnhart, director,
with various featured guests), the others to others, as is obvious
when Talib Kweli starts rapping over "Didn't You." And "One O'Clock
Jump" gets an encore. All in 23:32, but it definitely swings, and
jumps.
B+(**) [sp]
Charles Mingus: Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Studio
Recordings (1973-78 [2023], Rhino, 7CD): I didn't feel much
need for this -- and, needless to say, Rhino didn't gift me a copy,
so no obligation there -- but looking for something to play while
trying to get something else written, this seemed like a pretty nice
way to spend 5 hours, 49 minutes. One pass [broken up, with a bit of
rechecking, as it turned out], although I've heard most of this before.
Starts off with a revitalizing young quartet -- featuring George Adams
and Don Pullen, who continued on their own, including a fabulous 1986
album called Breakthrough -- but his health deteriorated fast,
and he died of ALS at 56 in 1979. Mostly straight reissues, the
breakdown:
- Mingus Moves (1973, Atlantic; [1993], Rhino):
Introduces great 1970s quartet with George Adams, Don Pullen, and
Dannie Richmond, plus trumpet (Ronald Hampton), marred by a very
unfortunate vocal track.
[was: B-] B+(**)
- Changes One (1974 [1975], Atlantic):
Quintet session (with Jack Walrath on trumpet), produced masterpieces:
"Remember Rockefeller at Attica," "Sue's Changes," "Duke Ellington's
Sound of Love"; even one vocal, George Adams' gravel "Devil Blues."
A
- Changes Two (1974 [1975], Atlantic): Most pointed
title: "Free Cell Block F, 'Tis Nazi U.S.A.'; includes a piece by
Walrath, a reprise of "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" with a Jackie
Paris vocal; and another tribute, "For Harry Carney."
A-
- Three or Four Shades of Blues (1977, Atlantic):
Five older pieces, starting with "Better Get Hit in Your Soul"
and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," with a raft of guest soloists.
B+(*)
- Cumbia & Jazz Fusion (1976-77 [1978]):
Two side-long Latin extravaganzas with typical moves and layers.
[was: B-] B+(*)
- Me Myself an Eye (1978, Atlantic):
At this point he no longer played, so this was done with a long list
of studio musicians: the 30:20 "Three Worlds of Drums," and three
older pieces, offering a taste of future legacy bands.
B+(***)
- Something Like a Bird (1978 [1980], Atlantic):
Leftovers from the big band session, the sprawling, near-classic
31:24 title piece, and an elegiac "Farewell Farewell," issued
posthumously.
A-
Vinyl box has an 8th LP of outtakes, which are included inline
in the CD and digital editions.
B+(***) [sp]
Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/Bud Powell/Charles Mingus/Max
Roach: Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings
(1953 [2023], Craft, 3CD): Mingus and Roach started their own label,
Debut Records, in 1952, so they grabbed these tapes, redubbed the
bass parts, and released them on three 10-inch records, two credited
to "The Quintet" (with the saxophonist identified as Charlie Chan),
the other a hornless Bud Powell Trio set, already hyped as "the
greatest jazz concert ever." The Quintet eventually came out on an
CD (OJC-44), with the trio as Jazz at Massey Hall, Volume Two
(OJC-111), with sound, like most Parker bootlegs, pretty dicey. I've
never been much impressed, even after a 2012 remaster answered most
of the sound issue. The overdubs, too, were controversial, so when
Jazz Factory released their 1-CD Complete Jazz at Massey Hall
in 2003, they went back to the original tapes. This edition tries
to have it both ways, again combining the original Quintet and Trio
sets on one CD, but also providing the overdubs on a 2nd CD. (Vinyl
splits the first CD into 2-LP, with the overdubs on a 3rd.) Sound
is pretty decent here, but it's still more typical than exemplary.
B+(***) [sp]
Sonny Rollins: Go West! The Contemporary Records Albums
(1957-58 [2023], Craft, 3CD): The label exists primarily to produce
luxury vinyl reissues of famous jazz albums, but they also release
their remastered wares on CD and digital, so it's possible to stream
them, and they get a lot of notice. This collects albums recorded for'
Contemporary: Way Out West (1957) and Sonny Rollins and the
Contemporary Leaders. The former, a trio with Ray Brown and Shelly
Manne leading off with "I'm an Old Cowhand," is one of his best-known
records, and has already been given the Craft treatment. The latter,
adding extras (piano, guitar, vibes on one track), is less focused,
except when Rollins plays, who continues to show uncanny skill for
building on standards. The third disc collects the alternate takes,
which were initially added to the OJC CDs. It may be the best of the
bunch.
A- [sp]
Pharoah Sanders: Festival de Jazz de Nice, Nice, France,
July 18, 1971 (1971 [2024], Kipepeo Publishing): British
label, banner says "A fundraising project to help Kenyans in need,"
Bandcamp page offers 46 bootlegs from various venues/dates. This
is a quintet with the tenor saxophonist, piano (Lonnie Liston Smith),
bass (Cecil McBee), drums (Jimmy Hopp), and percussion (Lawrence
Killian). I picked this one out from the list, figuring it would
be really nice to hear some vintage Sanders. It hit that spot from
the start with a no-vocal 21:30 "The Creator Has a Master Plan."
B+(***) [bc]
Old music:
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: Sings Louis Jordan [The Definitive
Black & Blue Sessions] (1973 [2019], Black & Blue):
Blues singer-guitarist from Louisiana (1924-2005), played drums after
WWII, and started recording singles for Peacock in the late 1940s.
Album discography doesn't start until just before this one, a Paris
session with jazz musicians, including Milt Buckner (organ), Jay
McShann (piano), and Arnett Cobb (tenor sax). No new insights into
either Brown or Jordan as blues, but the songs are hits, and Cobb
is a real plus.
B+(**) [sp]
Millie Jackson: On the Soul Country Side (1977-81
[2014], Kent): Hard-belting soul singer, debut 1972, found her
concept with 1974's Caught Up, with a focus on cheating
songs that suggested country music -- partly acknowledged on her
1981 album Just a Lil' Bit Country. This repeats six songs
from that album (omitting four). The other songs include a couple
duets with Isaac Hayes. Some songs are country enough for novelties,
but most keep a respectful distance. Puzzling, as respect really
isn't her thing.
B+(***) [sp]
The R&B No. 1s of the '50s (1950-59 [2013],
Acrobat, 6CD): Another decade's worth of hits, most justly famous,
some as blues but more in the early development of rock and roll,
with some novelties and other oddities in the mix. The syrupy
strings of "Mona Lisa" is the first song that feels out of place
(the first of only two Nat King Cole songs). Another surprise was
Elvis Presley showing up, although "Hound Dog" sounds great after
"Let the Good Times Roll." That kicked off a period where white
artists, and we're not just talking ones who famously sounded black
but others like the Everly Brothers, Jimmie Rodgers, Paul Anka, and
David Seville --a sudden wave of integration that mirrored my own
experience. It wouldn't be hard to edit this down to a solid-A set
(probably 4-CD). And it would still be rewarding to stream through
the rest.
A- [cd]
Grade (or other) changes:
Sonny Rollins: Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders:
Barney Kessel/Hampton Hawes/Leroy Vinnegar/Shelly Manne
(1958, Contemporary): I thought I should recheck this.
[was: B+] B+(***) [r]
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Bob Anderson: Live! (Jazz Hang) [03-29]
- Lynne Arriale Trio: Being Human (Challenge) [03-01]
- The R&B No. 1s of the '50s (1950-59, Acrobat, 6CD) [2013]
- Dave Rempis/Pandelis Karayorgis/Jakob Heinemann/Bill Harris: Truss (Aerophonic/Drift) [04-23]
- Håkon Skogstad: 8 Concepts of Tango (Øra Fonogram) [03-15]
- Jack Wood: The Gal That Got Away: The Best of Jack Wood, Featuring Guest Niehaud Fitzgibbon (Jazz Hang) [03-29]
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Speaking of Which
Another week, dallying on work I should be doing, eventually finding
a diversion in the world's calamities, reported below.
Note, however, that I didn't manage to finish my
usual rounds by end-of-Sunday, so posted prematurely, and will
try to follow up on Monday, the new pieces flagged like this one.
Initial counts: 151 links, 7,009 words.
Updated: 171 links, 7,780 words.
Top story threads:
Israel:
Mondoweiss:
[02-12]
Day 129: Israel bombards Rafah, killing more than 60 in a night:
"67 Palestinians, including babies and children, were killed Sunday
night as Israel intensified bombing in Rafah, where over 1 million
Palestinians are sheltering, in preparation for a ground invasion
that experts warn would amount to genocide."
[02-13]
Day 130: U.S. Senate votes to send additional $14 billion to Israel
as catastrophic ground invasion of Rafah appears imminent: "As
Palestinians prepare for a catastrophic ground invasion of Rafah,
the U.S. Senate votes to send an additional $14 billion to Israel.
Amnesty International warns Palestinians in southern Gaza are "facing
the real and imminent risk of genocide."
[02-14]
Day 131: Israeli snipers force dozens to evacuate Nasser Hospital in
Khan Younis, Israel steps up bombing in Lebanon: "As ceasefire
negotiations enter their second day in Cairo, fighting around Nasser
Hospital in Khan Younis is intensifying -- with dozens of Palestinians
who have been sheltering inside forced to evacuate by Israeli sniper
attacks."
[02-15]
Day 132: Israel bombards Nasser hospital, reports of Egypt preparing
'buffer zone' ahead of Gaza expulsion: Israel bombarded Nasser
Medical Complex in Khan Younis, killing and injuring patients and
those sheltering inside. Egyptian human rights group reports
construction underway on detention zone ahead of a possible mass
expulsion from Gaza into Sinai.
[02-16]
Day 133: Israel cuts electricity to critical Nasser Hospital patients,
forces staff to evacuate: Medicins Sans Frontiers reports "an
unknown number of dead and wounded" following Israel's attack on
Nasser Hospital. UNRWA says 84% of Gaza health facilities have been
impacted by Israeli attacks, and 70% of civilian infrastructure has
been damaged.
[02-17]
Day 134: Biden claims to push for temporary ceasefire, as US authorizes
more weapons to Israel: "After several days of reported negotiations,
Hamas says it will not accept anything less than complete ceasefire,
blames Israel for stalling a ceasefire agreement."
[02-18]
Day 135: Israel's war on Gaza's hospitals continues: "Nasser
Hospital, the second-largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip,
was forced closed Sunday following an Israeli siege, storming,
and arrest of medical staff and patients. Meanwhile, Israel also
bombed Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis."
Kyle Anzalone: [02-16]
Israel Military says Hamas will not be defeated in Gaza offensive:
But it will continue, as long as possible, because Hamas is just
systematic of the real target, the Palestinian people. We refer to
what Israel is doing in Gaza as "genocide" because, well, that's
clearly the intent, but even the Nazis left a million or so Jews
alive, and several times more beyond their war zone. Palestinians
will also survive, and will remember, and struggle to return. No
doubt the Israelis fully understand that: Hamas is the Palestine
they most need, because it's the force that justifies perpetual
struggle, and that's what distinguishes and lifts Israelis above
diaspora Jews.
Avishay Artsy: [02-16]
The looming ground assault on the last "safe" zone in Gaza:
Never have scare quotes been more warranted.
Dave DeCamp: [02-15]
Egypt building walled camp in Sinai Desert to absorb Palestinian
refugees from Gaza: Cites report by:
Irfan Galaria: [02-16]
I'm an American doctor who went to Gaza. What I saw wasn't war -- it
was annihilation.
Tareq S Hajjaj: [02-13]
Rafah on the precipice: "Palestinians in Rafah are dreading
Israel's impending invasion, but there is nothing we can do to
ensure our safety. If the army surrounds us, we have nowhere left
to go. We will be forced to endure the fire and look death in the
face."
Shatha Hanaysha: [02-15]
From the cities to the countryside, armed resistance is spreading in
the West Bank: "Armed resistance in the West Bank had been
concentrated in larger cities, but since October 7 it is spreading.
'Resistance in Azzun used to be non-armed,' a resident of the small
town tells Mondoweiss. 'Then everything changed after October 7.'"
Ellen Ioanes/Nicole Narea: [02-15]
Hospitals are supposed to be safe. Not in Gaza. "Israel's raid on
Nasser Hospital in Khan Yuonis might break international humanitarian
law." Might?
Nicole Narea: [02-12]
Israel's dangerous escalation in Rafah, explained.
Jonathan Ofir: [02-15]
Former Mossad official: Children in Gaza over the age of 4 deserve
to be starved: Interview with Rami Igra.
Meron Rapoport: [02-13]
'Change in Israel will only happen when there are costs that force
our eyes open': "Oct. 7 has 'broken a contract' between the army
and gov't, but has yet to shake key parts of Israeli society into a
different paradigm, says scholar Yagil Levy."
Daisy Schofield: [02-11]
Israel has ramped up attacks on Jenin Camp in the West Bank.
Richard Silverstein:
Brett Wilkins: [02-14]
Israel jails Palestinian human rights lawyer Diala Ayesh without
charge: "How is this not hostage-taking?"
Israel vs. world opinion:
Spencer Ackerman: [02-14]
The children of Gaza were not killed for democracy: "Absolutely
nothing about Israel's U.S.-sponsored genocide has to do with democracy.
Biden needs to stop staining democracy with the blood of children."
AlJazeera: [02-18]
Brazil's Lula compares Israel's war on Gaza with the Holocaust.
Michael Aria: [02-15]
The Shift: AIPAC targets Bush and Bowman: "AIPAC is poised to
spend $100 million this election cycle, as they look to oust the
few House members who criticize Israeli policy."
Ramzy Baroud: [02-16]
The unrepentant West: Germany's Olaf Scholz and the right to commit
genocide in Gaza.
Dave DeCamp:
Eoghan Gilmartin: [02-16]
Why Spain opposed the West's punishment of UNRWA.
Marc Martorell Junyent: [02-18]
Munich dispatch: Gaza "wind blowing against the West": "EU foreign
policy chief Josep Borrell warns the world smells hypocrisy as Israel
readies death blow in Rafah." Well, it's much worse than hypocrisy,
but that tiny concern shows that the public relations disaster is
starting to sink in, even as far as the EU's top security mandarins.
David Kattenburg: [02-13]
Dutch court orders government to stop providing F-35 parts to
Israel.
Daniel Larison: [02-13]
Biden's calls for Israel to mind the laws appear feeble, and
ignored.
Shaul Magid: [02-14]
The forgotten history of American Jewish dissent against Zionism:
"In resurrecting stories of non- and anti-Zionist
critics, a new book shows American Jews how questioning Israel is
deeply rooted in their community." The book is Geoffrey Levin:
Our Palestine Question: Israel and American Jewish Dissent
1948-1978. Note: Magid's own book, The Necessity of Exile:
Essays From a Distance, is one of several reviewed here:
By the way, here's a quote from Magid's book:
But what if instead, we began to explore a new ideology of Jewish
self-determination? One that doesn't begin with the proprietary
narrative of Zionism? One that doesn't lay claim to the land of
the Jews at the exclusion of others? What if we separated the
Jewish homeland from the notion of a Jewish state (as Hannah Arendt
suggested in her essay "To Save the Jewish Homeland")? What if the
concept of shared sovereignty was not perceived as Jews giving away
"their" land to Palestinians, but as recognition of the equal
rights of Palestinians to the land -- that is, an acknowledgment
that the right of Palestinian self-determination is equal to the
right of Jewish self-determination, and that the proprietary nature
of the Zionist claim is abolished? What if we did away with the
"Arab Question" altogether since the very notion assumes Jewish
ownership and sovereignty, just as the "Jewish Question" once
implied Jews' second-class status in Europe because of their
resistance to assimilation?
Of course, this hypothetical was never seriously entertained by
the actual Zionists, who plotted to seize power from the outset --
Herzl's book, after all, was titled The Jewish State. Nor
were the Palestinians, at least as long as they held the majority,
inclined toward sharing. (Sure, there were dissenting voices, on
both sides, especially among communists, but they never had real
power.) Sharing power is something all sides can conceivably agree
to. Dominance, on the other hand, can only be seized, and with it
inevitably resisted. Israel remains unwilling to share anything,
only because they haven't been forced to realize that dominance
is unsustainable. After all, they've gotten away with it for 75
years since seizing power in 1948. They realize it takes harsh
measures, and that they risk turning themselves into international
pariahs, but they're getting away with it. Some of them may even
figure that when they are so shunned and shamed they're unable to
sustain their policies of apartheid and genocide, they'll still be
able to settle for equality -- a deal the overwhelming majority of
Palestinians were already hoping for decades ago. But for now, most
repeat the threat that, if given the opportunity, Palestinians would
do unto Israelis as Israelis have done unto them. Whether that line
is just propaganda or paranoia varies from person to person. But we
others should realize that denying Israel license to deny and destroy
Palestinian humanity, by taking the weapons of genocide away, will
do no serious harm to the Israeli people. All that would do is to
prod Israelis to negotiate a more equitable sharing of power, and
with it recognition of everyone's humanity. And if we fail to do so,
we will be cursing Israelis as well as Palestinians to an eternity
of dread and doom.
By the way, looking at Magid's book led me to another similar
but perhaps even more pointed book, by Daniel Boyarin:
The No-State Solution: A Jewish Manifesto. (Not many reviews,
but Jewish Currents published
Two paths for diasporism, and First Things (a right-wing
journal previously unknown to me) went with
Anti-Zionism goes woke.
Jeff Merkley/Dick Durbin/Elizabeth Warren/Chris Van
Hollen/Peter Welch: [02-16]
The US should immediately mobilize 'Operation Gaza Relief':
Five Senators, three of whom just voted to send Israel $14.1B more
ammo and to prohibit the US from giving any funds to UNRWA, the UN's
already-active relief and works agency. Supposedly a direct American
operation would be tolerated by Israel while continuing its systematic
destruction of Gaza. But most certainly it would become an instrument
of Israel's genocidal aims, making the US even more complicit. Until
there is a ceasefire, relief isn't even feasible. By the way, students
of Israeli history will recall that Israel twice agreed to ceasefires
during the 1948-50 war. The reason they did so was that they ran low
on ammo, and the ceasefire bought time to rearm. The only thing that
will cause Israel to slow down its assault is blocking its resupply
of arms and ammunition.
Ed Rampell: [02-11]
Israelism bucks blind faith in Israeli occupation, apartheid
and "the Jewish Disneyland": Reviews a documentary by Erin Axelrod
and Sam Eilertsen.
Mazin Qumsiyeh: [02-18]
Pathetic state of our world: Also includes many more links.
Paul Rogers: [02-13]
The US could stop the horror in Rafah today. Why won't it?
Hamza Ali Shah: [02-16]
Western governments share responsibility for Israel's crimes.
Ishaan Tharoor:
Daniel Warner: [02-16]
If a mother can be found complicit in her son's murders, shouldn't
states be held complicit in a "plausible" genocide?
Philip Weiss: [02-18]
Weekly Briefing: Why any decent person supports a ceasefire, but
not Biden: "Americans are overwhelmingly for ceasefire by 4 to 1,
and Democrats by more than 7 to 1. The reason Biden can't life a finger
in the face of genocide is that he is afraid of alienating the Israel
lobby as a force for his reelection. It's that simple."
America's expansion of Israel's world war:
Trump, and other Republicans:
Jamelle Bouie: [02-16]
Trump owns Dobbs and everything that comes with it. Bouie also,
recently, also wrote: [01-27]
Dobbs overturned much more than Roe v. Wade.
Josh Dawsey/Ashley Parker: [02-16]
Inside Trump's ouster of Ronna McDaniel as RNC chair.
Nia Prater: [02-16]
Trump banned from his company, fined $355 million for fraud:
"Plus nearly $100 million in interest." [PS: Some reports stick
with the base figure, while others add the interest in to get to
$454 million.] The ban is for three years.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were also fined, and banned for two
years each.
More on this:
Susan B Glasser: [02-15]
Trump's threat to NATO is the scariest kind of gaffe: It's real.
Not really. Trump neither understand what NATO was designed to do --
to divide Europe with the Russians, while occupying the West on the
cheap simply by controlling their armed forces (while allowing the
UK and France a bit of leeway to fight their colonies), or what it
ultimately became in the post-Soviet period: an arms cartel. Well,
he half-understands the latter part, which he sees as a protection
racket: pay up, or we'll toss you into a revived version of the
Hitler-Stalin Pact. But there's very little chance of him acting
on that. The Deep State, which he has no clue how to deny -- even
if he wanted to, which he probably doesn't -- wouldn't let him.
But the rhetoric plays well to the "America First" yahoos, because
it makes him look tough and superior, not dependent on the expensive
good will of pampered (and mostly useless) allies. Moreover, his
rhetoric makes the liberal Blob types squirm, and it's easy to
blame them for all the recent wars gone bust -- while exempting
the macho hotheads, like himself.
Melvin Goodman: [02-16]
Never forget who Donald Trump really is.
Ed Kilgore: [02-15]
What the polls say today: Does Haley still have a shot in South
Carolina? Nope. The poll average is 64% Trump, 31% Haley.
Nationwide, it's 74% Trump, 19% Haley.
Heather Digby Parton: [02-14]
Lara Trump's takeover of the RNC turns the GOP into a second Trump
Organization.
Andrew Prokop: [02-15]
Trump's big day in court: The Georgia and New York state cases
had hearings. Later on these cases:
Jake Tapper: [02-16]
'Yes Jared, we're still doing this': Tapper reacts to Kushner's
comments about Saudi crown prince: Video here. For more in print:
Michelle L Price: [02-14]
Jared Kushner, former Trump adviser, defends business dealings with
Saudi Arabia. The "business dealings" included accepting a $2B
investment into his hedge fund.
Li Zhou: [02-14]
Republicans' baseless Mayorkas impeachment sets a disturbing
precedent: "It weaponizes the practice in a new way."
More on this:
Biden and/or the Democrats:
Gabriel Debenedetti: [02-17]
Too old? Biden World thinks pundits just don't get Joe: "The
president's friends and aides play media critic amid a political
mess." They're probably right, but it's hard for outsiders to see,
because Biden has never been a very good communicator, and that's
never sunk in deep enough to save his latest gaffes from being
attributed to obvious age. David Ogilvy
advised: "develop your eccentricities while you are young. That
way, when you get old, people won't think you're going gaga." But if
they hadn't paid attention, that's what they'll think anyway, since
that's the easiest answer. But people who have paid attention often
come to a different appreciation of Biden. I was surprised when, as
Biden was just sewing up the 2020 nomination, to see the "Pod Save
America" guys appear on Colbert and profess not just support for
Biden -- as any practical Democrat would -- but love. I take that
to be the point of Franklin Foer's The Last Politician (on
my nightstand but still unread as, well, I'm pretty upset with him
since he sloppily endorsed Israeli genocide).
Elie Honig: [02-16]
The real Biden documents scandal (it's not the old-man stuff).
Paul Krugman: [02-13]
Why Biden should talk up economic success: I'm pretty skeptical
here. Two big problems: one is that people experience the economy
differently, so it's hard for most people to see how the big stats
affect them personally, and the latter requires more personalized
messaging; the other is that lots of people think the economy does
wonderfully on its own, and that politicians can only muck it up.
They're wrong, but telling people they're stupid or naive is a
rather tough sell. What Biden should be doing is talk about case
examples. He should identify problems, like high prices (drugs is
a good one; gasoline is less good, but still affects people), low
wages (minimums, unions, etc.), rent, debt, pollution, corruption,
fraud, etc. -- the list is practically endless -- and talk about
what he has done, and what he is still trying to do, to help with
these problems. And also point out what businesses, often through
corrupt Republicans, are doing to make these problems even worse.
Every one of these stories should have a point, which is that the
Democrats are trying hard but need more support to help Americans
help themselves, and to keep Republicans from hurting us further.
But just throwing a bunch of numbers up in the air doesn't make
that point, at least in ways most people can understand, even if
you're inclinled to believe Biden, which most people don't. And
isn't that the rub? There are lots of good stories to be told,
but Biden is such an inept communicator that he's never going to
convince people.
Miles Mogulescu: [02-10]
Biden's unqualified aid to Israel could hand Trump the presidency:
I think this is true, even though anyone who knows anything knows
that it was Trump who gave Israelis the idea that Washington would
blindly support any crazy thing right-wing Israelis could dream up,
and that was what increasingly pushed Hamas into the corner they
tried to break out of on Oct. 7. However, Biden didn't so much as
hint at any scruples over Israel, even after raging vengeance turned
into full genocide. At this point, the war in Ukraine is slightly
less of an embarrassment, but also shows the Biden administration's
inability to think their way out of war. As I said last week, if
Biden can't get his wars under control, he's toast.
John Nichols: [02-16]
Michigan just became the first state in 6 decades to scrap an infamous
anti-union law.
Ari Paul: [02-16]
The media is cheering Dems' rightward turn on immigration.
Christian Paz: [02-12]
Yes, Democrats, it's Biden or bust: "Even if voters or the
establishment wanted to, there really isn't a viable process to
replace Biden as the nominee." More "replacement theory":
Paul Rosenberg: This also led me to a couple
of older articles also on tactics.
Dylan Saba: [02-15]
Democrats are helping make the US border look more and more like
Gaza.
Robert J Shapiro: [02-12]
Based on incomes, Americans are a lot better off under Biden than
under Trump.
Norman Solomon: [02-16]
Dodging Biden's moral collapse is no way to defeat Trump.
Paul Starr: [02-15]
It's the working class, stupid: Review of John Judis/Ruy Teixeira:
Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Story of the Party in the
Age of Extremes. I've been thinking about the same problem,
so picked up a copy of the book, but haven't rushed to get into it.
After all, these guys aren't exactly known as geniuses. Their 2002
book, The Emerging Democratic Majority, tried to flip Kevin
Phillips' 1969 book on how demographic trends favored Republicans,
and didn't fare so well -- it's easier to be optimistic than to be
self-critical. Starr lets them off easy, noting that he wrote a
similar essay five years earlier
(An
Emerging Democratic Majority), so it's nice to have that
reference.
Matt Stieb: [02-15]
Biden picks up key Putin endorsement: Eliciting suspicion by
Democrats that he's playing some kind of devious reverse psychology
game, although his explanation ("[Biden] is a more experienced,
predictable person") sounds eminently reasonable. Of course, it
would have been more sensible to just dodge the questions, maybe
even to admit that covert support for Trump in 2016 was a blunder.
In their rush to demonize him -- which Navalny's death once again
sends into overdrive -- people forget that he is the kind of guy,
secure in his own power, that one can do business with, at least
if you approach him with a measure of respect. Unfortunately,
that seems to be a lost art in Washington, supplanted by a cult
of power projection with no concern for doing right.
Legal matters and other crimes:
Climate and environment:
Economic matters:
Ukraine War:
Blaise Malley: [02-16]
Diplomacy Watch: Putin's ceasefire suggestion turned down.
Zack Beauchamp: [02-13]
The moral and strategic case for arming Ukraine: "Congress should
have approved Ukraine aid yesterday." Deep down, I don't buy either
of these arguments. I'm not dead set against sending arms to Ukraine,
but the focus needs to be on negotiating a ceasefire and a peace that
fairly reflects the needs of the people impacted by the war. Longer
term, it needs to develop peaceful cooperation between Russia, Europe,
and the world, which involves, but is far from limited to, easing the
tensions caused by NATO enlargement. The last year has pretty clearly
shown that the military ambitions of both Russia and Ukraine will not
be met, making further fighting exceptionally pointless.
Connor Echols: [02-16]
New poll: Nearly 70% of Americans want talks to end war in
Ukraine.
Carlotta Gall/Marc Santora/Constant Méheut: [02-17]
Avdiivka, longtime stronghold for Ukraine, falls to Russians.
Keith Gessen: [02-15]
Can Ukraine still win? "As Congress continues to delay aid and
Volodymyr Zelensky replaces his top commander, military experts
debate the possible outcomes." But haven't both sides already lost
more than they could ever have hoped to gain?
Marc Martorell Junyent:
[02-16]
Dispatch from Munich: VP Harris warns against 'isolationism':
"The Biden administration is intent on impressing to the annual
security conference that it is the steward of 'international rules
and norms.'" The term "isolationism" was invented in the 1940s,
and applied retroactively to pretty much every American as far back
as George Washington who was reluctant to send American troops to
far away lands (as John Quincy Adams put it, "to find dragons to
slay"), as if the only alternative to military adventurism was
burying one's head in the sand. That's never been true, yet they
still keep trotting the cliché out, imagining they're making a
point.
[02-17]
Munich Dispatch: After Adiivka, Zelensky insists Russians are
losing: "Meanwhile, the German chancellor joins European heads
in promising more money to Ukraine and NATO."
Rand Paul: [02-15]
Seizing Russian assets: A feel good bill that will absolutely
boomerang: "A Senate measure under consideration would breed
contempt and prolong the war in Ukraine."
Olivia Rosane: [02-19]
With $280 billion in profits, oil giants are 'main winners of the
war in Ukraine'.
Valerie Hopkins/Andrew E Kramer: [02-16]
Aleksei Navalny, Russian opposition leader, dies in prison at 47.
I don't have any real opinions on Navalny, other than that his arrest
and death reflects badly on Russia's political and justice systems,
and therefore on their leader, Vladimir Putin. Like most people with
any degree of knowledge about Russia, I don't have much respect let
alone admiration for Putin. I could easily imagine that, if I were
Russian, I would support whatever opposition seems most promising
against Putin, and that may very well mean Navalny, but not being
Russian, I also realize that it's none of my business, and I take
a certain amount of alarm at how other Americans have come to fawn
over him. I don't think that any nation should interfere in the
internal political affairs of another, and I find it especially
troubling when Americans in official positions do so -- not least
because they tend to be repeat offenders, using America's eminence
as a platform for running the world.
On the other hand, I don't believe that nations should have the
right to torture their own people over political differences. There
should be an international treaty providing a "right to exile" as
an escape valve for individuals who can no longer live freely under
their own government. Whether Navalny would have taken advantage of
such a right isn't obvious: he did return to Russia after being
treated for poisoning in Germany, and he was arrested immediately
on return, so perhaps he expected to be martyred. That doesn't
excuse Russia. If anything, that the story had such a predictable
outcome furthers the indictment.
More on Navalny:
Speaking of prominent political prisoners, there's been
a flurry of articles recently on Julian Assange:
Around the world:
Other stories:
Keith Bradsher: [02-12]
How China built BYD, its Tesla killer.
Tim Fernholz: [02-15]
How the US is preparing to fight -- and win -- a war in space:
"Meet the startup trying to maintain American military dominance in
space." Author previously wrote Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk,
Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race (2018). Few ideas are more
misguided than the notion that anyone can militarily dominate space.
Chalmers Johnson illustrated that much 20 years ago by imagining
the result of some hostile actor launching "a dumptruck full of
gravel" into orbit: it would indiscriminately destroy everyone's
satellites, and everything dependent on them (including a big
chunk of our communications infrastructure, and such common uses
as GPS, as well as the ability to target missiles and drones).
Lydialyle Gibson: [02-12]
We have treatments for opioid addiction that work. So why is the
problem getting worse?
Umair Irfan: [02-14]
Carmakers pumped the brakes on hybrid cars too soon.
Ben Jacobs: [02-13]
The race to replace George Santos, explained: Written before
Tuesday's vote, which gave the seat to Democrat Tom Suozzi, who
was favored in polls by 3-4 points, and won by 8 (54-46).
Sarah Jones: [02-14]
The anti-feminist backlash at the heart of the election.
Eric Levitz: [02-18]
How NIMBYs are helping to turn the public against immigrants:
"(In this house, we believe that high rents fuel nativist backlashes."
Charisma Madarang: [02-13]
Jon Stewart skewers Biden and Trump in scathing 'Daily Show' return:
I watched the opening monologue segment, and must say I didn't laugh
once. It was about how much older Stewart is now than when he retired
from the show 20 years ago, which was when Biden was the same age
Stewart is now. And, yes, Trump's pretty old too. The most annoying
bit was when Stewart, repeatedly, referred to being president as "the
hardest job in the world." That it most certainly is not. As far as
I can tell, it looks like a pretty cushy job, with lots (probably
too many) people constantly at your beck and call, keeping track of
everything and everyone, and preparing for every eventuality. It may
be overscheduled, but Trump showed that doesn't have to be the case,
and Biden doesn't seem to spend a lot of time in public, either. It
may be dauntingly hard to fully comprehend, and the responsibility
that comes with the power may be overwhelming, but Trump, and for
that matter Biden, don't seem to be all that bothered. Maybe we
should have presidents who know and care more, but history doesn't
suggest that it makes much difference. Once they get their staffs
in place, the bus pretty much drives itself. (Or, in Trump's case,
wrecks itself, repeatedly.)
Later on, Stewart brought in his "team of reporters," tending
to all-decisive diners in Michigan -- the sort of comedians who
developed careers out of the old Daily Show, like Samantha
Bee and John Oliver -- and sure, they were pretty funny, albeit in
stereotypical ways (naïve/inept Democrats; vile/evil Republicans).
More on Jon Stewart:
Jeet Heer: [02-16]
Jon Stewart is not the enemy: "You don't defeat Trump by rejecting
comedy." I agree with the subhed, but I'm still waiting for the comedy.
For what it's worth, I think Messrs. Colbert, Myers, and Kimmel have
done great public service over the last eight years in reminding us
how vile, pompous, and utterly ridiculous Trump has always been, and
I thank their audiences for robustly cheering them on. (It's nice to
know you're not alone in thinking that.) Myers even does a pretty good
job of reminding us that all Republicans are basically interchangeable
with Trump, which is a message more people need to realize.
Ciara Moloney: [01-29]
What peace in Northern Ireland teaches us about 'endless' conflicts:
"If the international community can underwrite war, it can also underwrite
peace and justice." Nathan J Robinson linked to this in a
tweet, pace a quote from Isaac Herzog: "You cannot accept a peace
process with neighbors who engage in terrorism."
Kevin Munger: [02-16]
Nobody likes the present situation very much. Unclear where
this is going, but it's something to think about:
I think that the pace of technological change is intolerable,
that it denies humans the dignity of continuity, states the
competence to govern, and social scientists a society about
which to accumulate knowledge.
Dennis Overbye: [02-12]
The Doomsday clock keeps ticking: The threat of nuclear weapons
is real, but the metaphor is bullshit. The clock isn't ticking. It's
just a visual prop, meant to worry people, to convey a sense of panic,
but panic attenuates over time. So if 7 minutes haven't elapsed since
the clock was set 77 years ago, why should we worry now? We clearly
need a different system for risk assessment than the one behind the
doomsday clock. We also need some much better method for communicating
that risk, which is especially difficult, because there are actually
dozens of different risks that have to be represented, each with their
own distinct strategies for risk reduction. I'm not willing to enter
that rabbit hole here, other than to offer a very rough swag that the
odds of any kind of nuclear incident in the next 12 months are in the
1-2% range (which, by the way, I regard as alarmingly high, given the
stakes, but far from likely; my greatest uncertainty has to do with
Ukraine, where there are several serious possible scenarios, but the
avoidance of them in 2023 and the likelihood of continued stalemate
suggests they can continue to be avoided; by the way, I would count
Chernobyl as an above-threshold incident, as it caused more damage,
and more fallout, than a single isolated bomb; it should be understood
that there is a lot more danger in nuclear power than just the doomsday
scenario).
Jared Marcel Pollen: [02-14]
Why billionaires are obsessed with the apocalypse: Review of
Douglas Rushkoff's book,
Surival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires.
Aja Romano: [02-15]
Those evangelical Christian Super Bowl ads -- and the backlash to
them -- explained.
Also:
Brian Rosenwald: [02-14]
The key to understanding the modern GOP? Its hatred of taxes.
Review of Michael J Graetz: The Power to Destroy: How the Antitax
Movement Hijacked America. The reviewer, by the way, had his own
equally plausible idea, in his book:
Talk
Radio's America: How an Industry Took Over a Political Party That
Took Over the United States.
Becca Rothfeld: [02-15]
The Alternative is just the book economists should read --
and won't: "Journalist Nick Romeo lays out eight examples of
what we gain when we think about morality alongside money." The
book's subtitle: How to Build a Just Economy.
Matt Stieb: [02-13]
The millionaire LimeWire founder behind RFK Jr.: "Mark Gorton has
done his own research on JFK, LBJ, vaccines, and the 2024 election."
Li Zhou:
The New Yorker: [02-17]
Our favorite bookstores in New York City: From the days after
I turned 16, got a driver's license, and dropped out of high school,
up until perhaps as late as 2011 (i.e., when Borders show down),
I spent large parts of my life carousing around bookstores -- at
least two, often more like four times a week. (Since then, I mostly
just
do this.) I fell out
of the habit here in Wichita (which still has Watermark Books, and
a Barnes & Noble), but what really got me was find most of the
bookstores I regularly sought out when visiting New York City had
been turned into banks (Colisseum Books was especially saddening).
So I'm pleased to see this article, and also to note that the only
store listed I've actually been in was the Barnes & Noble. Not
that I'm actually likely to get back there any time soon -- most
of the people I knew there have departed, and I haven't traveled
since the pandemic hit -- but at least one can again entertain the
thought.
Also, some notes found on ex-Twitter (many forwarded by
@tillkan, so please do yourself
a favor and follow her; my comments in brackets):
John Cassidy:
When 2 headlines are worth 10,000 word[s].
[Image
of Wall Street Journal page. Headlines: "Biden Presses Netanyahu to
Accept Plan"; "U.S. Is Preparing to Send Bombs, Other Arms to Israel"]
Tony Karon:
Judge Biden by what he does, not by what he says. Israel can't sustain
its genocidal war without the US munitions Biden keeps sending, while
offering the equivalent of "thoughts and prayers" for the Palestinian
civilians they'll kill [link to:
US to send weapons to Israel amid invasion threat in Gaza's
Rafah]
Nathan J Robinson:
The worst serial killer in history killed nearly 200 children. A
true monster. Unfathomable evil.
So far Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu have killed over 10,000
children. Their evil reaches a whole other level of depravity.
[Commenters belittle the comparison by pointing to the usual list
of political monsters -- Hitler, Stalin, Mao -- without realizing
that they're only adding to the list (which should, by the way,
also include Churchill, Nixon, and GW Bush). Where Netanyahu ranks
on that list is open to debate, but that he is morally equivalent
isn't. As for Biden, he's certainly complicit, a facilitator, but
things he's directly responsible for are relatively minor even if
undeniably real (e.g., strikes against Yemen, Iraq, Syria; general
poisoning of relations with Iran and Russia). I'm less certain
that Stalin and Mao belong, at least the mass starvation their
policies caused: that result was probably not intended, although
both did little to correct their errors once they became obvious.
Churchill's relationship to starvation is more mixed: the Bengal
famine was mostly incompetence and lack of care, much like Stalin
and Mao, but his efforts to starve Germans were coldly considered
and rigorous.]
Ask a question, or send a comment.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Music Week
February archive
(in progress).
Music: Current count 41828 [41777] rated (+51), 23 [21] unrated (+2).
I did the weekly changeover at more or less the usual time --
late Sunday evening, or maybe early Monday, the last thing usually
being unpacking, which I've been avoiding lately. I've gotten real
tired of the bookkeeping that keeps me on top of what's coming and
going, and never more so than at the present moment. I figured
Monday should be a relatively open day for once, and remembered
that I had skipped the indexing for
January Streamnotes,
so I thought I'd knock that out of the way and catch up. Problem
was: I hadn't done
December and
November either.
At the end of Monday, I was still stuck in December, having
written nothing.
Hence the delay to Tuesday. When I got up, I felt up to
trying to finish, but didn't get January done until 9PM, at
which point I still had to write this introduction. The
indexing consists of monthly lists organized by year:
2023 is
complete now, and
2024 is
a new file, with just January. Worse is the
Artist Index,
which lists all 23,272 records that I've written about in
Streamnotes, since that
fateful day in 2007 when Rhapsody gave me a subscription
and I decided to be generous and write down notes on whatever
I listened to. In 2014, I swept my other reviews
(Jazz Prospecting and
Recycled Goods) into a single
Streamnotes archive, as the promos and purchases thinned out,
and I filled my empty time with streaming.
It's never been clearer to me that my indexing scheme is too
laborious and error-prone. What isn't clear is whether I'm up
to the fairly substantial programming project that is clearly
called for, especially given the probability that I won't be
able to do this much longer. Given that I've reviewed and rated
what I'm fairly certain is an all-time personal record of 1,711
albums released or discovered in 2023, I'm tempted to just bow
out on top. And note that I just had to fix 4 errors in the
source for that number, my
2023 tracking file. It's
a never-ending struggle around here.
Actually, I did manage a small bit of writing on the side
yesterday and today -- just not here. Monday I wrote a postscript
to the weekend's
Speaking of Which, where I point out that reputedly smart
people (Matthew Yglesias was named but is far from alone)
simply don't understand the Trump campaign. This postscript
adds to what I previously identified as my "pull quote":
But if Biden can't get his wars under control by October, I fear he's
toast -- and will be deserving of the loss, even if no one else
deserves to beat him. After all, the ball is in his court.
My political writing scarcely gets noticed in my own house, so I'm
under no illusions about my ability to influence the world. But I do
insist, to anyone willing to listen, that our great fear isn't what
might happen in November, but what's actually happening day-by-day
here and now. My post starts each week with links to Mondoweiss's
daily reports, which given the time gap are up each day before
I am. That's as good a place to start as any, although you can also
track
Middle East Monitor,
+972,
Middle East Eye,
AlJazeera,
Antiwar.com,
Tikun Olam,
Popular Resistance,
and no doubt there are many others. The reporting in the Washington Post
and New York Times is also pretty damning, even if their opinion writers
remain under Israel's spell. The enormity of the atrocities
Israel is committing is staggering, something that will redound to
the long-term embarrassment of everyone not opposing not opposing
it now. (Note: only three Democrats voted against the
$95B military military aid bill; 19 Republicans opposed, with
most objecting to the larger Ukraine component. Van Hollen gave
a good speech declaring Israelis to be "war criminals," but voted
for the aid anyway.)
I did manage to get my political book file reopened last week,
but haven't managed to do any work on it. I've promised myself
one solid month of focus on it, which hasn't started yet, but is
still the plan. Meanwhile, I have another essay I need to wrap up
this week. And, well, there are always distractions. I spent a
good chunk of time today writing an obscure notebook entry --
something even I don't consider important enough to blog about,
but wanted to keep as a thought experiment. It has to do with
my Old Music review of the Paranoid Style, below, and a fracas
over on Facebook that made me question what I had written. If
you know what I'm talking about, and care, you can probably
look it up. Most likely I will eventually turn it into a
Q&A answer, since that's
where it started.
Too late to try to say anything about the
EOY Aggregate, but
I'm essentially done with it. I factored in all of the albums
that I had give grades to but hadn't previously picked up. I
added in Christgau's
Dean's List. I did a search for country music lists I had
missed, and found quite a few. (A bunch of this week's records
come from that work, including the Stephen Wilson Jr. pick.
Diminishing returns from that work, as the other two albums
pictured actually came from my demo queue. The Maison
Moderne review came after the cutoff, but I figured I
had the image space.) The
legend is up to 612
lists now. Maybe I'll check to see what's missing, and find
a few gaps, but it's pretty much all there.
Usual freeze date is end of February, so I'm not feeling much
pressure to wind it up. Just the opposite: fatigue. As bookkeeping
tasks go, it's at most an hour's work.
I'm very impressed with Greg Grandin's The End of the Myth,
and should write some about it.
New records reviewed this week:
Colby Acuff: Western White Pines (2023, Sony Music
Nashville): Country singer-songwriter, from Idaho, second album,
claims he's "too Idaho for Texas, too Texas for Nashville." Good
songs, and sings them hard.
B+(***) [sp]
Jim Alfredson: Family Business (2021 [2023],
Posi-Tone): Organ player, has a previous album from 2009, gets
the red carpet treatment from his new mainstream label here,
with headliners Alex Sipiagin (trumpet), Diego Rivera (tenor
sax), Michael Dease (trombone), Will Bernard (guitar), and
EJ Strickland (drums).
B+(**) [sp]
Bill Anschell: Improbable Solutions (2020-23 [2024],
Origin): Pianist, based in Seattle, debut 1995, adds electronics
to the mix here, with guitarist Brian Monroney joining the trio
on five (of nine) tracks, extra percussion on three, moving into
fusion the the finale.
B+(*) [cd]
Alex Anwandter: El Diablo En El Cuerpo (2023, 5 AM):
Singer-songwriter from Chile, started as vocalist for Teleradio Donoso,
based in Los Angeles, sixth album. Big beats carry the day.
B+(**) [sp]
Atmosphere: Talk Talk EP (2023, Rhymesayers
Entertainment): Hip-hop duo from Minneapolis, started out in 1997,
still underground, despite the "EP" in the title this runs 10
songs, 40:20. Two guest spots for Bat Flower; one more shared
by Buck 65 and Kool Keith.
B+(**) [sp]
Bad Bunny: Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Manana
(2023, Rimas Entertainment): Puerto Rican, major reggaeton star,
fifth album, first album in 2018 rose to 11 on US pop chart (1
Latin), second album hit 2, this makes 3 straight number ones.
I've played them all, and never really connected -- seems to be
a case where my lack of Spanish hurts (or it could just be the
record's lack of beats). I took my sweet time getting to this one,
because, well, it doesn't seem to have generated much buzz (EOY
lists: 7 Complex, 17 Billboard, 32 Rolling Stone, 53 Uproxx Critics
Poll, very little else), and because it's really long (22 tracks,
81:18). Gave me time enough to wax and wane, with stretches making
me think this could really work, only to be followed by doubts it
will ever work for me.
B+(**) [sp]
Barbie: The Album (2023, Atlantic): Original songs
keyed to the Greta Gerwig-directed movie, produced by Mark Ronson,
Kevin Weaver, and Brandon Weaver, with six singles (out of 17 songs),
starting with Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night." The dance pop could be
tuned up a bit, but some of the novelty songs (including the Billie
Eilish, "Pink," and "I'm Just Ken") hit their mark.
B+(***) [sp]
Berlioz: Jazz Is for Ordinary People (2023,
self-released, EP): All Discogs has to say is "Bassist." But the
album credits list two composers: Robin Edward Phillips (piano,
keyboards) and Jasper Edward Attle (producer), along with Sam
Miles (saxophone) and Jihad Darwish (sitar/bass). Five songs,
15:15, jazzy instrumentation but some other postmodernist feel.
B+(*) [sp]
Jaap Blonk/Damon Smith/Ra Kalam Bob Moses: Rune Kitchen
(2022 [2023], Balance Point Acoustics): Dutch "sound poet," voice
and electronics here, backed with bass and drums.
B+(*) [sp]
Brothers Osborne: Brothers Osborne (2023, EMI Nashville):
Country duo, T.J (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) and John (lead guitar,
background vocals), from Maryland, fourth studio album since 2016,
debut went gold, commercially it's been downhill since there. Not to
be confused with the Osborne Brothers, a bluegrass group that ran
from 1953-2005, with Bobby dying last year, and Sonny in 2021. These
youngsters are more country-rock, with a little something.
B+(*) [sp]
Burial: Dreamfear/Boy Sent From Above (2024, XL,
EP): British electronica producer William Bevan, has a couple albums
from 2006-07, since then has mostly released two-sided singles, like
this one (12:53 + 13:23). Seems more energetic than recent efforts.
Also weirder.
B+(*) [sp]
Tré Burt: Traffic Fiction (2023, Oh Boy):
Singer-songwriter, from Sacramento, third album, slotted folk
because he landed on John Prine's label, but not much resemblance,
with tags on Bandcamp all over the map.
B+(*) [sp]
Willi Carlisle: Critterland (2024, Signature Sounds):
Folkie singer-songwriter, previous album (Peculiar, Missouri)
seemed like a breakthrough, but struggles here, ending with a spoken
word bit of Ozark folklore.
B+(**) [sp]
Jordan Davis: Bluebird Days (2023, MCA Nashville):
Country singer-songwriter, second album.
B+(*) [sp]
John Dierker/Jeff Arnal: Astral Chronology (2022-23
[2023], Mahakala Music, EP): Bass clarinet/tenor sax with percussion,
electronics, and field recordings. Both have spotty discographies,
including a previous album together in 2002. This one is short (4
tracks, 21:48, but engaging and intense.
B+(**) [bc]
Drake: For All the Dogs (2023, OVO Sound): Canadian
rapper, middle name for Aubrey Graham, debut EP 2009, breakthrough
album 2010, eighth studio album, all number ones, which he's parlayed
into a substantial business empire, while losing virtually all of his
critical cachet. I can't begin to explain either why he's so popular,
or so disliked by critics: AOTY gives him a career rating of 68 over
311 reviews, with this album scoring 50 for 13. Other than pointing
to the extreme length -- 23 songs (84:50), expanded in the Scary
Hours Edition to 29 (108:46) -- during which very little stands
out (a rare exception is a feature for Sexyy Red and SZA that goes:
"shake that ass for Drake/ now shake that ass for me"; that segues
into Lil Yachty chanting, "just another late night for my bitch").
Not awful, but not by much.
B [sp]
Ana Frango Elétrico: Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua
(2023, Mr Bongo): Brazilian singer-songwriter, Ana Fainguelernt,
third album. Some snappy dance moves.
B+(**) [sp]
Andy Emler MegaOctet: No Rush! (2021 [2023],
La Buissonne): French pianist, albums since 1982, initial Mega
Octet in 1990, ten musicians credited here, including trumpet,
tuba, three saxes, guitar (Nguyen Lê), bass, drums, percussion
(including marimba, tabla).
B+(**) [bc]
Ilhan Ersahin/Dave Harrington/Kenny Wollesen: Your Head You
Know (2023, Nublu, EP): Saxophonist, Turkish roots but born
in Sweden, based in New York, albums since 1996; Harrington plays
guitar, bass, keyboards, and electronics, with Wollesen on drums.
Three tracks (18:47).
B+(*) [bc]
Peter Erskine and the Jam Music Lab All-Stars: Bernstein
in Vienna (2021 [2024], Origin): Drummer, best known for
Weather Report, but his best work is clearest in piano trios, and
he's long had a thing for big bands. Pianist Danny Grissett is
musical director here, leading a septet of sax, guitar, harmonica,
violin, and bass through Leonard Bernstein's most popular show
tunes.
B+(**) [cd]
Greg Foat & Eero Koivistoinen: Feathers (2023,
Jazzaggression): British pianist, all electric here (Rhodes, Roland,
Prophet, Moogs), with the Finnish tenor saxophonist, and rhythm
(bass, drums, extra percussion). Nice groove album, the sax a plus
but not as dominant as you'd expect (or hope for).
B+(*) [sp]
Hardy: The Mockingbird & the Crow (2023,
Big Loud): Country singer-songwriter Michael Hardy, from Mississippi,
based in Nashville, second album after several EPs and mixtapes
(dubbed Hixtape). Has a rep as a hard rocker, which isn't
especially in evidence here until the crow comes out. I prefer
the "poor boy from Mississppi," but don't mind a little noise
(although I am wary of the redneck chauvinism). I don't really
approve of the effort to muscle up country music into arena rock,
but this makes a case. [Docked a notch for the finale.]
B+(**) [sp]
Ayumi Ishito: Ayumi Ishito & the Spacemen Vol. 2
(2020 [2023], 577): Japanese tenor saxophonist, graduated from
Berklee, Vol. 1 came out in 2021, group includes synthesizer,
theremin, guitar/bass, and drums, with voice scattered about,
haunting (or mocking?) the spaciness.
B+(*) [os]
Maria João & Carlos Bica Quartet: Close to You
(2019-21 [2023], JACC): Portuguese singer, counted in the quartet
with bassist Bica, keyboards (João Farinha), and guitar (Gonçalo
Neto or André Santos). Leads with four covers, disconcertingly
weaving Paul Simon into Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," scatting
around "Norwegian Wood," followed by the Bacharach-David title
song, and Lennon/Ono's "Oh My Love," then three originals (one
with a Yeats text), and "What a Wonderful World." I was tempted
to write the openers off as merely eccentric, but the title song
is especially striking, and the originals find a nice musical
balance, which lets the finale end as it should.
A- [bc]
Cody Johnson: Leather (2023, Warner Music Nashville):
Country singer from Texas, ninth album since 2006, third on a major
label. A voice and band as credible as most of his lot, but didn't
write any of these twelve songs -- most conventional, "Jesus Loves
You" should make you more than a little nervous.
B [sp]
Ruston Kelly: The Weakness (2023, Rounder):
Singer-songwriter, originally from South Carolina, briefly married
to Kacey Musgraves, third album since 2018, slotted country but I
don't particularly hear that. I do hear some songs.
B+(*) [sp]
Knower: Knower Forever (2023, self-released):
Duo of Genevieve Artadi (vocals) and Louis Cole (drums), albums
since 2010 (at first under the artists' names), many more credits
here, mostly electropop, when it peeks out from under the strings.
B [sp]
Tony Kofi & Alina Bzhezhinska: Altera Vita (For
Pharoah Sanders) (2023, BBE, EP): Tenor sax and harp
duet, she also goes as AlinaHipHarp, actually just a 5:34 single,
so I shouldn't have bothered, but it showed up in an album list,
and is quite nice, as far as it goes.
B [sp]
Ella Langley: Excuse the Mess (2023, Sawgod):
Country singer-songwriter, from Alabama, follows up several
singles with a solid eight-song, 25:09 album.
B+(*) [sp]
Metric: Formentera II (2023, Metric Music
International): Electropop band from Toronto, ninth studio
album since 2001, sequel to their 2022 album; Emily Haines
is the vocalist, who co-wrote the songs with guitarist James
Shaw. Songs are catchy and engaging.
B+(***) [sp]
Mokoomba: Tusona: Tracings in the Sand (2023, Out
Here): Tonga group from Zimbabwe, third album (per Discogs) since
2012. Not far removed from the chimurenga popularized in the 1980s,
but only picks up real groove power toward the end.
B+(**) [sp]
Nickel Creek: Celebrants (2023, Thirty Tigers):
Progressive bluegrass trio, released five albums 1993-2005,
disbanded, regrouped for a 2014 album, then this one. I heard
nothing notable here until "Where the Long Line Leads." Fades
back into oblivion, and stays there a long time. Every now and
then my ears prick up, suggesting something of interest, most
soon souring. Maybe that's what they mean by "progressive"?
B- [sp]
Old Crow Medicine Show: Jubilee (2023, ATO):
Nashville-based country string band, eighth studio album since
2004. Some gospel flourishes this time.
B [sp]
Dave Pietro: The Talisman (2023 [2024], SteepleChase):
Alto saxophonist, half-dozen albums 1994-2008, only a couple since.
Mainstream lineup with Scott Wendholt (trumpet), Gary Versace (piano),
Jay Anderson (bass), and Billy Drummond (drums).
B+(**) [sp]
Dougie Poole: The Rainbow Wheel of Death (2023,
Wharf Cat): Country-ish singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, third
album, some good songs, ends on a soft note.
B+(*) [sp]
Noah Preminger/Kim Cass: The Dank (2023, Dry Bridge,
EP): Duets, sax/clarinet/flute/synth and bass/guitar. Eight short
pieces, 20:06.
B+(**) [bc]
Nicky Schrire: Nowhere Girl (2023, Anzic): Jazz
singer-songwriter, born in London, grew up in Cape Town, studied
in New York, wound up in Toronto, debut album 2012. I'm not seeing
song credits, but the only one I recognize is "Heart Like a Wheel,"
which focuses the remainder for McGarrigles fans.
B+(*) [sp]
Laura Schuler Quartett: Sueños Paralelos (2021
[2023], Antidrò): Swiss violinist, debut 2018, with Tony Malaby
(tenor sax), Hanspeler Pfammatter (synthesizer), and Lionel Friedli
(drums), leaning free (last title is "Baby It's Freejazz").
B+(**) [sp]
Sparks Quartet [Eri Yamamoto/Chad Fowler/William Parker/Steve
Hirsh]: Live at Vision Festival XXVI (2022 [2023],
Mahakala Music): Piano, sax/flute, bass, drums; quartet released
an album as Sparks in 2022, so are following it up with a
live set here.
B+(**) [bc]
Peter Stampfel/Eli Smith/Walker Shepard: Wildernauts
(2024, Don Giovanni): Folk "supergroup" releases their eponymous
debut, but I had to look the others up: Discogs shows side-credits
for both, mostly playing banjo, including Have Moicy 2. The
leader's voice remains instantly recognizable, even as tattered as
it is, even as backup ("Picking Dandelions"). Some covers, like the
opener "Crazy Arms," and "There Stands the Glass," register right
away. Others will take more dedication.
B+(**) [sp]
Tani Tabbal Quartet: Intentional (2022 [2023],
Mahakala Music): Drummer, only a couple albums as leader but has
side credits starting in 1981 with Roscoe Mitchell, later with
David Murray, then was in James Carter's quartet during its prime
period. Here with Joe McPhee (tenor sax/poetry), Adam Siegel (alto
sax), and Michael Bisio (bass).
B+(***) [bc]
Truth Cult: Walk the Wheel (2023, Pop Wig):
Emo/hardcore band from Baltimore, second album after a 2018 EP,
eleven songs, 27:22. Heavy enough I set the "metal" flag, but
sharp enough I let them have their say.
B+(*) [bc]
Turnpike Troubadours: A Cat in the Rain (2023,
Bossier City): Country band from Oklahoma, sixth album since 2007,
steady, pleasant performers, fiddle helps with the old timey feel,
don't have much to say, but at least what they have to say isn't
bad.
B [sp]
Morgan Wallen: One Thing at a Time (2023, Big Loud):
Country singer-songwriter, from Sneedville, Tennessee, third studio
album since 2018, seems like much more, sprawling from 14-songs
(45:11) to 30-songs (96:53) to 36-songs (111:36). Huge bestseller,
Billboard's number one album for 2023. I've avoid this due
to anticipated fatigue and poor reputation, but a very cursory
stream does little credit to either excuse. He writes (with help)
ordinary songs, gives them fashionably tradish arrangements, and
has an agreeable voice. No one will ever mistake him for Merle
Haggard (or, for that matter, Don Williams), but you can drink,
or I can write, with him in the background, and never give him
a serious thought, even if you happen to pay some attention.
B+(*) [sp]
Stephen Wilson Jr.: Søn of Dad (2023, Big Loud):
Country singer-songwriter, from Indiana, first album, about his
father, got a little carried away (21 songs, 90 minutes). Still,
the first three songs set the stage, showing an interest in social
realism and demonstrating sonic tricks (including that "strong
Southern drawl" but also booming guitar with a bit of fiddle) to
sustain the effort. As for his daddy complex, I have my doubts --
what kind of father teaches his age-5 son to box? not mine, but
but I can't say much more in his favor. I keep wondering whether
I should revisit Zack Bryan, a good album, but one where
the length ultimately wore me down. But even if it earns its
reputation, I'd be very surprised if will hold up this well.
A- [sp]
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
Tubby Hayes: No Blues: The Complete Hopbine '65
(1965 [2023], Jazz in Britain): British tenor saxophonist, one of
the few real bebop masters, lived fast and died young (1935-73).
With Kenny Powell (piano), Ron Mathewson (bass), and Dick Brennan
(drums), with Hopbine host and fellow tenor saxophonist Tommy
Whittle joining for a couple of jousts. Burns intense and long
(7 tracks, 95:39), though sometimes the mic seems to wander off.
B+(***) [sp]
Jeffrey Lewis: Asides & B-Sides (2014-2018)
(2014-18 [2023], self-released): Antifolk singer-songwriter, got
started with a self-released cassette in 1998, has a couple albums
suggesting career development, then reverts to DIY obscurity, like
his recent series from 2019 Tapes through 2022 Tapes --
on Bandcamp but not enough to review. In 2022, he scraped together
a 7-track EP called When That Really Old Cat Dies, which has
since all but disappeared, even from Google, evidently supplanted
by this miscellany, extending the EP to 10 songs, 31:12, finally
showing up on Spotify (after I failed to find it just a week ago).
Doesn't add much, but did get "The Guest List" a couple more spins.
B+(***) [sp]
Lou Reed: Hudson River Wind Meditations (2007 [2024],
Light in the Attic): An hour-plus of ambient electronica, as far off
his beaten path as Metal Machine Music, and certainly more
age-appropriate for what appears to have been his last album. And
good enough that he could have had a decent career had he started
in this vein decades earlier -- not that you or I would have heard
of him.
B+(**) [sp]
Taylor Swift: 1989 (Taylor's Version) (2023,
Republic): Her fifth album in 2014, now the fourth to get the
"Taylor's Version" treatment, which doesn't seem to be anything
more than a scam to make more money off back catalogue while
giving less of it to Big Machine. I'm not making judgments on
that, although I'm also not arguing with anyone who wants to
argue against on ethical and/or artistic grounds. I streamed
the original, liked it enough for a B+(***), but don't remember
a single song, and have no desire compare versions. It's as if
I'm hearing a new album for the first time, although it seems
unfair to the rest of the world not to list it among reissues.
Original grade seems about right.
B+(***) [sp]
Barbara Thompson: First Light (1971-72 [2023], Jazz
in Britain): British saxophonist (1944-2022), had played with Howard
Riley, Michael Gibbs, and Neil Ardley before this, also the rock band
Colosseum (she married their drummer, Jon Hiseman), but became better
known after 1978 with her Paraphernalia groups. This starts with two
Group E pieces, with her on soprano sax and alto flute, and Peip Lemer
singing (21:10). That's followed by a big band piece (26:38), then
five tracks with her Jubiaba group (29:39; the group finally released
an album in 1978). The vocals add to the mess of the first two sets.
Jubiaba is also messy, but explodes in rhythm often enough to raise
your hopes.
B [bc]
Old music:
The Paranoid Style: The Power of Our Proven System
(2013, Misra, EP): A reader sent me this
YouTube playlist so I could "check it off my list," like
this one (updated
but not regularly maintained). This was
evidently the first of three EPs later combined in unhelpful ways
(like a 2013 Misra cassette), a five-song (21:59) digital release,
each with its own video (which I've played through several times,
but never managed to watch through). Straitlaced indie rock with
copious smarts, a formula Elizabeth Nelson and Timothy Bracy have
stuck doggedly with, even through full albums like 2016's Rolling
Disclosure and the new one, The Interrogator -- both
recommended.
B+(***) [yt]
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Alon Farber Hagiga With Dave Douglas: The Magician: Live in Jerusalem (Origin) [02-24]
- David Friesen: This Light Has No Darkness (Origin) [02-24]
- Roberto Magris: Love Is Passing Thru: Solo/Duo/Trio/Quartet (2004, JMood) [03-01]
- Zach Rich: Solidarity (OA2) [02-23]
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