Music Week

Expanded blog post, September archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 34 albums, 7 A-list

Music: Current count 42939 [42905] rated (+34), 28 [30] unrated (-2).

New records reviewed this week:

• Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore: TexiCali (2024, Yep Roc): [sp]: A-
• Bacchae: Next Time (2024, Get Better): [sp]: B+(***)
• Rahsaan Barber & Everyday Magic: Six Words (2022 [2024], Jazz Music City): [cd]: B+(**)
• Andrew Barker/William Parker/Jon Irabagon: Bakunawa (2022 [2024], Out of Your Head): [sp]: B+(***)
• Beabadoobee: This Is How Tomorrow Moves (2024, Dirty Hit): [sp]: A-
• Geoff Bradfield: Colossal Abundance (2023 [2024], Calligram): [cd]: B+(***)
• Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch (2023 [2024], Pyroclastic): [cd]: A-
• The Chisel: What a Fucking Nightmare (2024, Pure Noise): [sp]: B+(*)
• Clairo: Charm (2024, Clairo): [sp]: B+(***)
• Greg Copeland: Empire State (2024, Franklin & Highland, EP): [cd]: B+(**)
• Elbow: Audio Vertigo (2024, Polydor): [sp]: B
• Fontaines D.C.: Romance (2024, XL): [sp]: B+(**)
• Future Islands: People Who Aren't There Anymore (2024, 4AD): [sp]: B+(*)
• Dylan Hicks & Small Screens: Modern Flora (2023 [2024], Soft Launch): [cd]: A-
• Illuminati Hotties: Power (2024, Hopeless): [sp]: B+(**)
• Jon Irabagon: I Don't Hear Nothin' but the Blues: Volume 3 Part 2: Exuberant Scars (2024, Irabbagast): [bc]: B+(**)
• Jon Irabagon Trio + One: Dinner & Dancing (2023 [2024], Irabbagast): [bc]: B+(***)
• Tom Johnson Jazz Orchestra: Time Takes Odd Turns (2023 [2024], self-released): [sp]: B
• Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America Volume 1 (2023-24 [2024], ESP-Disk, 2CD): [cd]: A-
• Allen Lowe & the Constant Sorrow Orchestra: Louis Armstrong's America Volume 2 (2023-24 [2024], ESP-Disk, 2CD): [cd]: A
• Shelby Lynne: Consequences of the Crown (2024, Monument): [sp]: B
• Rose Mallett: Dreams Realized (2024, Carrie-On Productions): [cd]: B+(***)
• Brian Marsella/Jon Irabagon: Blue Hour (2019-22 [2024], Irabbagast): [bc]: B+(*)
• Claire Rousay: Sentiment (2024, Thrill Jockey): [sp]: B+(*)
• Bria Skonberg: What It Means (2023 [2024], Cellar Live): [sp]: B+(**)
• This Is Lorelei: Box for Buddy, Box for Star (2022 [2024], Double Double Whammy): [sp]: B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

• Raymond Burke: The Southland Recordings 1958-1960 (1958-60 [2024], Jazzland): [sp]: B+(*)
• Gastr Del Sol: We Have Dozens of Titles (1993-98 [2024], Drag City, 2CD): [sp]: B+(**)
• Wayne Shorter: Celebration, Volume 1 (2014 [2024], Blue Note): [sp]: A-

Old music:

• Charles Bevel: Meet "Mississippi Charles" Bevel (1973, A&M): [yt]: B+(**)
• Bun B: Trill O.G. (2010, Rap-A-Lot): [sp]: B+(**)
• Raymond Burke: Raymond Burke 1937-1949 (1937-49 [2014], American Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Lil' Kim: The Naked Truth (2005, Atlantic): [sp]: B
• Nas: Stillmatic (2001, Columbia): [sp]: B+(***)
• Scarface: The Fix (2002, Def Jam South): [sp]: B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Gino Amato: Latin Crsossroads (Ovation) [09-01]
• Dawn Clement/Steve Kovalcheck/Jon Hamar: Dawn Clement/Steve Kovalcheck/Jon Hamar Trio (self-released) [09-06]
• Rebecca Kilgore: A Little Taste: A Tribute to Dave Frishberg (Cherry Pie Music) [10-28]
• Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra: Crescent City Jewels (Troubadour Jass) [08-30]
• Eric Person: Rhythm Edge (Distinction) [10-01]
• Claudio Scolari Project: Opera 8 (Principal) [04-05]

Speaking of Which

Blog link.

Opened file 2024-09-03 01:16AM.

Daily Log

Feeling sorry for myself, I posted this on Facebook:

Just unwrapped my first promo albums for release on my birthday, which got me to thinking about what to cook this year: an annual tradition which started c. 1995 in Boston, with a 20+ dishes study in Chinese, especially for Liz & Nina. As best I recall, I did Indian the next year, and again in 1998 in NJ (25+ dishes, easily the largest and possibly the best attended dinner of the series). Since moving to Wichita in 1999, I think I've only skipped two years (once at my brother's, where I did a beer can chicken, and once with Jerry for a Brookville Hotel field trip. I've done a couple domestic menus -- one with the "soul food" cookbooks, the other was just a hamburger cookout (well, six variants, three kinds of homemade buns, plus a nice array of sides). But most started as explorations into some national cuisine, of which there have been more than a dozen, from Mexico and Brazil to Thailand and Korea, but most centered around the Mediterranean. Last year was Spanish (probably not for the first time). I have no idea what to do this year, but after a year of being bummed out over my writing failures and housework disasters, I really could use a project with a reasonable chance of success. Plus, I've really done damn little cooking this year, so I figure I need this. So I'm looking here for inspiration and challenge. Any good ideas? (Picture below was labelled "birthday desserts 2021," which given the pecan pies -- one with chocolate, the other with bourbon -- was probably the "soul food" dinner; the coconut cake, on the other hand, has made multiple appearances, as has the flourless chocolate cake.)

I did some grocery shopping today, and will cook dinner tomorrow for Janice, Tim (+1), Ran, and Laura. Trying to do one of my "inventory reduction" menus, using up surplus from the freezer and pantry. Turns out I still have leftovers from last year's birthday dinner shopping, so that suggests a Spanish theme. Also, lots of opportunities in tapas-land for small dishes that can be prepped a day ahead, so I figure that's what I'm going to do starting tonight, and to hell with everything else. Speaking of Which is open and about 500 words, but I have little enthusiasm for working on it. Music Week is +15 now, and again, who cares?

I'll fill in the Spanish menu for tomorrow as I develop it. The only thing planned to start is dessert (strawberry shortcake). I also have some calf liver I really want to do, and something with shrimp. Plus I've decided to use up some leftover wine for sangria. Shopping today was limited to strawberries, cream, and some fresh veggies that may prove useful: yellow onion, red onion, red bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, russet potatoes, dill, oranges, mini-cucumbers.

After dinner, I added this comment:

Last couple dinners I cooked have been "inventory clearance specials," where I try to use up old stuff, mostly from the freezer. I did jambalaya-and-adjacent things a month or so ago, including a chocolate pecan pie like the one pictured. Seeing as I still have surplus shopping from last year's Spanish birthday dinner, I thought paella plus tapas might work, so I fixed that today. Fuller report to follow, but two notes for now: hip problem flared up severely yesterday, so this whole project was pretty painful; with no coherent plan, a menu formed opportunistically as I saw things I wanted to get rid of, and a lot of missteps and substitutes, literally everything (12 dishes) came out as good or better than expected.

Menu:

1. Oven-roasted potatoes
2. Paella, with chorizo, shrimp, green beans, and peas
3. Calf liver in almond sauce
4. Shrimp in "spicy" tomato sauce
5. Lamb meatballs in brandy sauce
6. Pisto manchego (zucchini/onion/tomato)
7. Shiitake mushrooms with garlic sauce (plus some sausage)
8. Pickled cucumbers
9. White bean salad
10. Tuna, egg and tomato salad
11. Strawberry shortcake with whipped cream
12. Sangria

New shopping for this meal (also onions, garlic, and some small tomatoes, used in multiple dishes):

1. Russet potatoes (3)
6. Zucchini, red bell pepper
8. Mini-cucumbers
11. Strawberries, heavy cream
12. Seltzer, peaches, pineapple, orange

Inventory used up in this meal (skipping staples, like olive oil, tomatoes, eggs, rice, stock, flour, sugar, and spices):

2. Chorizo, salsichon, shrimp, green beans (frozen), peas (frozen)
3. Calf liver
4. Shrimp
5. Ground lamb
7. Shiitake mushrooms (frozen)
9. Canned white beans
10. Canned tuna
12. Three bottles of leftover wine (pink moscato, white moscato, something red -- I cook with it but don't drink it, so we have a BYO policy, and get stuck with whatever gets left; frozen berries)

Daily Log

I started compiling a checklist, based on Dan Weiss's "Best 50 Rock Bands Right Now." Of bands 26-50, I haven't heard anything from 7, and have only heard A/A-records from 5 (7 albums total).

Another possible checklist: Questlove presents "only sixteen albums have been awarded the [Source five-mic] rating since the magazine started publishing in 1988" [my grades in brackets]:

1. A Tribe Called Quest, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990) [A-]
2. Eric B. and Rakim, Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em (1990) [B+(***)]
3. Boogie Down Productions, Edutainment (1990) [B+]
4. Ice Cube, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted (1990) [B+(**)]
5. Brand Nubian, One for All (1990) [A-]
6. De La Soul, De La Soul Is Dead (1991) [C+]
7. A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory (1991) [A-]
8. Nas, Illmatic (1994) [A-]
9. The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death (1997) [B+]
10. Outkast, Aquemini (1998) [A-]
11. Jay-Z, The Blueprint (2001) [B+]
12. Nas, Stillmatic (2001) [B+(***)]
13. Scarface, The Fix (2002) [B+(**)]
14. Lil' Kim, The Naked Truth (2005) [B]
15. Bun B, Trill OG (2010) [B+(**)]
16. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010) [A]

So, only 4 unheard, all in a row (2001-10). Questlove says "for me, the De La Soul and Tribe records, definitely."

Music Week

Expanded blog post, September archive (in progress).

Tweet: Music Week: 36 albums, 7 A-list

Music: Current count 42905 [42869] rated (+36), 30 [34] unrated (-4).

Yesterday's Speaking of Which slacked off a bit, only citing 141 links, less than half of the previous week's 290 (although the word count only dropped by 28%, as I got off on more tangents; also last week included an extra day plus extra adds, whereas this one appeared on schedule, and I haven't tallied up what little I've added since).

Music Week is also coming in a day short. Rating count got a boost as my dive into Houston Person's old records carried over from last week, and led me to a new one. Also the A-list bounced back after only one record each in three of the last four weeks (but 7 for the week of August 20. Three of those came from promos I had been sitting on until their late August release dates. (An extra day would have added Patricia Brennan's Breaking Stretch, but that's banked for next week.)

I'm still updating the 2024 Jazz list, which has already reached a ridiculous A-list length (70+3 new music, 16+1 old music). I haven't sorted out the Non-Jazz yet, but at this point it's unlikely that I have half as many albums in any subdivision. Four pop records I tried I played multiple times before leaving them in the B+ ranks: Sabrina Carpenter, Lainey Wilson, Buoys, Magdalena Bay. The latter's Mercurial World was one of my favorite records of 2021, but only hints at that level toward the end. Same fate seems likely for Beebadoobee's This Is How Tomorrow Moves next week, but there's a lot to like there.

I started to write up a "to do" list in my Aug. 30 notebook entry, and hope to get back to it soon. I did cross a couple items off today already: I updated and did the indexing for August Streamnotes. I was surprised to find I have more patience for that kind of work early in the day.

Joan Didion's Where I was From is the first (of three) books I picked up in the brick-and-mortar bookstore last week. I've never read her fiction, but have read two books of political reporting: Political Fictions (2002), and Fixed Ideas: America Since 9.11 (2003), by which time she was a recovering Republican. Less of a memoir than I expected, but interesting as history, even as drawn from novels. I have more typical political books "on the nightstand" (Zack Beauchamp, Danielle Allen, Henry Farrell/Abraham Newman), but figured I could use a break.

New records reviewed this week:

• The Buoys: Lustre (2024, Sony): [sp]: B+(***)
• Bex Burch: There Is Only Love and Fear (2023, International Anthem): [sp]: A-
• Gunhild Carling: Jazz Is My Lifestyle! (2024, Jazz Art): [cd]: B+(***)
• Sabrina Carpenter: Short n' Sweet (2024, Island): [sp]: B+(***)
• Bill Charlap Trio: And Then Again (2024, Blue Note): [sp]: B+(***)
• Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Heal (2024, Top Dawg/Capitol): [sp]: B+(**)
• Girl in Red: I'm Doing It Again Baby! (2024, Columbia): [sp]: B+(**)
• The Haas Company [Featuring Frank Gambale]: Vol. 2: Celestial Latitude (2024, Psychiatric): [cd]: B+(**)
• Javon Jackson/Nikki Giovanni: Javon & Nikki Go to the Movies (2024, Solid Jackson/Palmetto): [cd]: A-
• Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk (2024, Mom + Pop): [sp]: B+(**)
• Mavi: Shadowbox (2024, Mavi 4 Mayor Music): [sp]: B+(**)
• Nicole Mitchell and Ballaké Sissoko: Bamako Chicago Sound System (2017 [2024], FPE): [sp]: A-
• Houston Person/Peter Beets: Live in Holland: Houston Person Meets Peter Beets Trio (2024, Maxanter): [sp]: A-
• Catherine Russell/Sean Mason: My Ideal (2023 [2024], Dot Time): [cd]: A-
• Taliba Safiya: Black Magic (2024, self-released, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
• Sault: Acts of Faith (2024, Forever Living Originals): [yt]: B+(*)
• Philip Weberndoerfer: Tides (2023 [2024], Shifting Paradigm): [cd]: B+(**)
• Lainey Wilson: Whirlwind (2024, BBR): [sp]: B+(***)
• Miguel Zenón: Golden City (2023 [2024], Miel Music): [cd]: A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

None.

Old music:

• Ashtyn Barbaree: Ashtyn Barbaree Debut EP (2018, self-released, EP): [bc]: B+(*)
• Ashtyn Barbaree: Better Luck Next Time (2022, self-released): [bc]: B+(*)
• Houston Person: Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (1972 [2004], Prestige): [sp]: B+(***)
• Houston Person: A Little Houston on the Side (1977-94 [1999], 32 Jazz): [sp]: B+(**)
• Houston Person: My Romance (1998, HighNote): [sp]: B+(**)
• Houston Person: Soft Lights (1999, HighNote): [sp]: B+(**)
• Houston Person: Blue Velvet (2001, HighNote): [sp]: B+(***)
• Houston Person With Ron Carter: Dialogues (2000 [2002], HighNote): [sp]: B+(**)
• Houston Person: Sentimental Journey (2002, HighNote): [sp]: B+(***)
• Houston Person: Social Call (2003, HighNote): [sp]: A-
• Houston Person: The Melody Lingers On (2014, HighNote): [sp]: B+(***)
• Houston Person: Something Personal (2015, HighNote): [sp]: B+(**)
• Houston Person: Rain or Shine (2017, HighNote): [sp]: B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

• Ashtyn Barbaree: Sent Through the Ceiling (Artists 3 60) [10-25]
• Anne Sajdera: It's Here (Bijuri) [09-20]

Speaking of Which

Blog link.

I opened this file about noon, Wednesday, August 28. First thing I did was to revise the template. Most obvious thing was to move the VP candidates (plus Biden) into the "and other D/R" sections. Also some minor rephrasing. The three Israel sections overlap some, but reflect different focuses: the first focuses on what Israel does directly, but also includes items on Israel's domestic politics; the second focuses on Israel's relationship to the US, and what American political elites think and do about Israel; the third focuses on the part of Israel's propaganda war directed at others, and their responses to the atrocities (the word "genocide" comes up here). Further subdivisions are possible, as is overlap, and sometimes I just try to keep articles by single authors together. I tend to put pieces on Israel's provocations with Lebanon, Iran, and their so-called proxies into the second section, as my view is that Israel's cultivation of regional enemies is mostly geared toward keeping the Americans looking at Iran and away from Gaza and the West Bank.

Ukraine and Russia still seems to need their own section, but the broader context is the notion of America as imperial hegemon, even if in fact it's defined more as an arms market where loyal customers are counted as allies, and anyone who goes DIY and/or shops on the black market is regarded as an enemy. For now, I'm putting pieces on the arms cartel in the World section, along with whatever scraps of world news that don't slot directly under Israel or Ukraine/Russia. In theory, I should be covering news that has nothing to do with America's imperial ego, but few such stories reach my attention. So, for now this remains a grab bag.

Three topical sections -- law, climate/environment, economy -- cover most of what crops up domestically (sometimes overflowing). "Other stories" is a catch all, from which I've broken out certain recurrent themes, which may on occasion be empty.

Sunday, early afternoon, eager to get to a delayed breakfast. With 82 links, 7415 words, this is way less than last week's 290 link, 15528 word monstrosity. And already I'm dead tired, disgusted, and just want to get it over with, so today's plan is to just go through the motions, and fuck it. In essence, I feel like I already know everything I need to know, at least about the 2024 elections, where we will try to fend off the grave peril of wrong-headed Republicans with the vague hopes of naïve and uncertain Democrats. At this point, further research and reporting is only likely to show that the Republicans are even worse than imagined, and also that the Democrats aren't quite as good as we hoped. Even that can be readily intuited from what we already know -- not to totally dismiss the "devil in the details," which I'm pretty sure will be quite appalling.

At this point, I'd much rather return to the woefully incomplete "to do" list I started in my August 30 notebook entry. At least there are some tasks on that list that I can reasonably expect to accomplish -- some within days, more in months, some that will (like so much else) inevitably slip through the cracks. Today's little bit of self-realization is that I'm basically an engineer: I deal with things by making plans to change them by practical measures in desirable directions.

Finally posted this after midnight. Link count way down this week, but word count not so much. Uncertain at this point how much (little) I managed to cover, but enough for now. Anything extra added on Monday will be flagged.

Monday evening: did add a few bits here and there, but nothing major.

Top story threads:

Israel:

• Mondoweiss:

  • [08-26] Day 325: As ceasefire talks falter, Israeli army orders evacuation of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital: "The only running hospital in central Gaza is threatened with closure after an Israeli evacuation order amidst ongoing military operations in the area. Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations resume in the wake of Hezbollah's retaliatory attack."

  • [08-29] Day 328: Israeli Foreign Minister calls West Bank invasion 'a war in every sense': "The Israeli army's large-scale assault on the northern West Bank has entered its second day. During a battle in Nur Shams refugee camp, the Israeli army killed wanted resistance fighter Muhammad Jaber 'Abu Shuja,' leader of the Tulkarem Brigade."

• Hanna Alshaikh: [08-30] Demystifying how the Hamas leadership works: "Media sources have misunderstood how the leadership of Hamas operates, drawing simplistic binaries between the 'moderate' Ismail Haniyeh and the 'extremist' Yahya Sinwar. In reality, Hamas decision-making is far more institutionalized."

• Julian Borger/Sufian Taha: [08-31] 'There was no mercy, even on children': trauma in the West Bank after Israeli raids: "Israel accused of using a 10-year-old girl as a human shield as it carried out its devastating attack on the occupied Palestinian territory."

• Juan Cole: [08-31] Israeli PM Netanyahu says recovering hostages not a priority, occupies Philadelphi Corridor instead.

• Dave DeCamp: [08-28] Israeli forces launch major assault on the West Bank, killing at least 10 Palestinians: "Israel's foreign minister said the territory should be dealt with the same as Gaza and called for the evacuation of Palestinians."

• Georgia Gee: [08-30] What is Hashomer Yosh, the latest settler group his with US sanctions? "The government-backed organization, which brings volunteers to Israeli farming outposts, is a major driver of violent land theft in the West Bank."

• Tareq S Hajjaj: [08-28] 'We won't leave our people': the medical workers refusing to evacuate central Gaza's last functioning hospital: "Medical staff at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital are refusing to abandon their patients after an Israeli evacuation order. 'If we leave our positions, we will fail ourselves and our society,' a doctor at the hospital told Mondoweiss."

• Ellen Ioanes: [08-30] Israel has launched a major operation in the West Bank. Here's what to know. The main thing to know, which never quite gets stated clearly here, is that this is all Israel's doing, with most of the violence initiated by settler-vigilantes, knowing that the IDF will back them up and amplify their violence.

  Since the October 7 Hamas raid on Israel, at least 660 Palestinians and 15 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank, according to the United Nations. It's a smaller number than the more than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza over the past 10 months, but it is still a reminder of how intense ongoing violence in the West Bank is.

  You hear much about "Israel's right to self-defense," but nobody talks about Palestinians having such a right, nor does Israel agree that they have any rights at all. Nonetheless:

  Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank are recognized as occupied territory under international law, and therefore Israel is obligated to protect the people living there. Israel denies that it is occupying Palestinian lands, but just last month, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel is occupying Palestinian lands and should end that occupation immediately.

  Israel's recent escalations in the West Bank, including aircraft bombing refugee camps, suggests their intent to extend genocide to the West Bank (as some Israelis, not quoted here, have urged).

• Lubna Masarwa: [08-30] West Bank attacks: To western leaders, there are no red lines for Israel's slaughter: "Emboldened by the US and other western powers, Israel feels it can get away with unleashing hell on all Palestinians."

• Dana Mills: [08-30] 'Israelis are frustrated, but do they want to stop the war? Not exactly': "Rallying around the flag, low trust in government, rebounding support for Netanyahu: Dahlia Scheindlin unpacks Israel's peculiar public opinion trends." Interview with the author of a 2023 book, The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel: Promise Unfulfilled. Also on her book:

  • Peter Eisenstadt: Book review.

• Qassam Muaddi: [08-30] The new status quo after Israel's assault on the northern West Bank: "Israel's old policy of containing armed resistance in the West Bank is over. Palestinians are now wondering whether the war on Gaza has expanded to the West Bank."

• Adam Rasgon/Gabby Sobelman/Vivek Shankar/Thomas Fuller: [09-01] Discovery of 6 dead hostages in Gaza spurs protest and division in Israel: "The Israeli military said Sunday that Hamas had killed the hostages before they were discovered by Israeli troops on Saturday."

• Bel Trew: Stripped and held at gunpoint, the Gaza schoolboys 'forced to be Israel's human shields': "Palestinians as young as 12 describe how they were forced to inspect houses and roads to look for tunnels and militants, sometimes dressed in military fatigues, in a practice an Israeli NGO warns is 'broadly used' and 'systemic'.

• Vivian Yee/Bilal Shbair: [08-22] The war in Gaza is making thousands of orphans: "Extended families, hospital staff and volunteers are stepping in to care for Gaza's many newly orphaned children, some of whom are injured, traumatized and haunted by memories of their parents." A point so obvious few bother to make it -- especially the ones who work so hard to deny that Palestinians are human.

• Oren Ziv: [08-29] 'If you try to defend yourself, you're dead': a West Bank village's night of terror: "Palestinians in Wadi Rahal were left to pick up the pieces after settler-soldiers from a nearby outpost stormed the village and killed one resident."

• Mairav Zonszein: [08-13] Israeli society is in a deepening state of contradiction: "Israelis blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging them into endless war -- and are at a loss for how to carve a way out." I'd have to quote the entire article to give you a sense of how hopelessly circular the thinking of most Israelis is on their war, their political system, and their cloistered society. There are lots of people who hate Netanyahu for one thing or another, but few if any who are willing to rethink Israel's founding paradigm of Iron Wall security. They've never gotten to the point of thinking about what comes next, and have no idea how to proceed (although an expanded war against Hezbollah seems to be popular). If only Israel had a friend who could guide them to something more viable.

America's Israel (and Israel's America):

• Michael Arria: [08-29] 'I think we've reached a tipping point': James Zogby on Uncommitted and the DNC: "James Zogby speaks to Mondoweiss about the DNC's snub of the Uncommitted movement, and what it will take for Washington to shift on Palestine."

• Michael Crowley/Eric Schmitt/Edward Wong: [08-29] Inside the frantic US efforts to contain a Mideast disaster: "A bigger disaster may have been avoided, even as the region continues to teeter on the brink of wider war."

• Daniel DeCamp: [08-28] Biden was told Gaza pier would undermine efforts to get Israel to allow more aid into Gaza. Source here is:

  • Jamal Kanj: [08-29] How Blinken's disinformation perpetuates the suffering in Gaza.

  • Dan Lamothe: [08-27] Biden approved Gaza pier despite internal pushback: Primarily from USAID staff, who expressed concerns "that the Biden administration's focus on the pier undercut the agency's advocacy for opening more land crossings."

• Joe Gill: [08-23] Kamala Harris's speech killed any hope she would end the Gaza genocide. Only if you hoped that she would use the bully pulpit provided by her nomination to publicly oppose what Israel is doing. Regardless of her feelings, I don't see any political advantage in her breaking with Biden and/or Israel, while to do so could invite peril. She is, after all, running a popular front campaign against Donald Trump, who is clearly an even worse option if you style yourself as "pro-Palestinian," so her present course doesn't hurt her much there. On the other hand, she needs to hold onto "pro-Israel" donors, many with long ties to the Democratic Party but so singly focused on Israel that they could well defect to Trump.

  There is still some reason to hope that when she is free to make policy, and freed of the obligation to follow Biden, that she will do a better job of restraining Netanyahu than Biden has done. There is some evidence to support this hope -- she has been more disciplined than Biden in calling for ceasefire, and she has been more credible in recognizing the harm done to Palestinians -- as well as the reasoning revealed in the logic of her campaign. What's much harder to gauge is how much she could (and should) influence Israel policy as vice-president. I could only speculate on that, and I don't want to, other than to point out that only Israel (which right now, and for the foreseeable future, means Netanyahu) can stop the genocide, and really needs to change much more.

  Even as president, the only thing Harris could do would be to tip Netanyahu's cost-benefit analysis toward less egregious policies (which could still be pretty awful). Even if Harris were tempted to burn all of her good will with Israel and institute maximum-level sanctions, Israelis are at least as likely to respond by hunkering down like North Korea as by reforming like South Africa -- and with their arsenal and in confirmation of their paranoia, they could turn more militant than North Korea.

  I just got a refresher course on Bush's Iraq war propaganda from reading Lapham's Age of Folly, and could easily imagine recycling it to gin up a regime change operation in Israel, but nobody's going to do it: the architects of that folly were then-and-now staunch fans of Israel, while those who thought better (or who painfully learned their lesson) are likely to point out that a "splendid little war" against Israel can go wrong in many more ways than the Iraq one did -- for one thing, Israel actually has WMD; also, while that line about "Saddam gassing his own people" hit its target, hardly anyone thinks to think of Palestinians as Israel's "own people" -- the dehumanization is far too complete for that.

  Also on Harris and Israel (allowing me to compartmentalize and exclude these articles from her section):

  • Hala Alyan: [08-28] This is who Kamala Harris fails.

    It is maddening how people advocating the freedom of Palestinians are spoken about, as though their invocation of the genocide were the real problem, the downer, the Trump enabler. It implies that mentioning this administration's material support to massacre Palestinian civilians is what ruins the vibes, not the act of sending billions of dollars in unconditional military aid to Israel. It is an obnoxious magic trick that makes naming the crime the crime.

  • Michael Arria: [08-30] Harris says she won't stop Biden's policy of sending weapons to Israel: "In an interview with CNN, Harris said she supports a ceasefire deal but made it clear that she would not stop sending Israel weapons if elected."

  • Jamelle Bouie: [07-30] Kamala Harris can't escape Gaza any more than Joe Biden can.

  • M Gessen: [08-10] Kamala Harris is speaking. Is she listening?

  • Farah Stockman:

    • [08-12] Harris should take divisions over Gaza seriously.

    • [08-20] The Democratic Party has been avoiding this fight for too long.

  • Jonah Valdez: Harris will continue to ignore US law and arm Israel, if elected: "In her first major TV interview during her campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris signaled no change from Biden on Israel policy."

While I was writing the [PS] on Risen, I sketched out some "unsolicited advice" I would give the Harris campaign, if I could possibly see any way to get the message through. (Down there, I talk a bit about why I've never been able to do anything like that, then went off on another tangent where I could have just offered a parade of failing examples.) Anyhow, makes more sense to move that comment up here (although by the time I post this it will probably be redundant to other comments in this section.

Anyhow, my advice to the Harris campaign is this:

When asked about Gaza, don't start with your rote mantra about "Israel's right to defend itself." Anyone who cares has already heard that a million times already and will instantly turn you off and never credit another word you way. What you have to start with is acknowledgement of the immense suffering the war has caused, to both sides if you really must (and you don't really have to get into numbers here), and insist that the war has to stop, as soon as possible. You can mention the hostages at this point, if you really must, but understand that the hostages were taken to negotiate a ceasefire, not for prisoner swaps. End the war, and the hostages (what few are left; like Trump, Netanyahu only admires those who didn't allow themselves to be captured) will be freed (while there will still be thousands of Palestinians in Israel's concentration camps; even if they have to replenish them, they're a renewable resource). And then, after stressing the importance of peace, and human rights, and dignity and security for all (sure, both-sides this, but make sure you don't slight the Palestinians), then segue to how you're working around the clock with Israel to make peace happen, on terms, of course, that fully take into account Israel's security and well-being (including, if you really must, its much-abused "right to self-defense").

I'm not even asking her to say anything different from what she's already saying. Just put it in a different order, so it gets heard not just by pro-Israel donors but by genuinely concerned Americans (the donors are smart enough to wait to the end for their reassurance; they've been speaking in code for aeons now). Also, Harris has a bit of unique value-added here. I think most people realize that Israel is completely in charge of their war: they started it (long before Oct. 7, which was merely a hiccup they decided to magnify), and they alone can end it, which they will only when they decide they've had enough, that it serves no further purpose.

For nearly everyone else, all you can do is speak up, bear witness, demonstrate, maybe vote (but almost never directly), all of which is ultimately directed at making Israeli leaders think better, whether through conscience or through self-interested cost-benefit analysis (which is what BDS aims at). We've spent a lot of energy trying to get Biden, Harris, other prominent Democrats to do what we've been doing, which is to speak out, but they are actually very different from us: they don't have to speak out, because they're close enough to speak to, if not the right people, at least to people closer to the right people, to make their appeals personal.

Unfortunately, the few people in that position are severely compromised, but their loyalty should earned them the right to a hearing. And in some cases, they have some power to tip that cost-benefit analysis. Harris is already in that general orbit, which is part of the reason why she has to be discreet in public, in order to operate in private. We should respect that, but she should also give us some sign that we can trust her discretion. Reframing her answer does that, or at least helps. And electing her president will increase her leverage -- assuming she wants to use it.

I think she can and will, but when she does, she will be subtle and disciplined about it. Netanyahu is a bully, someone who has taken great delight in humiliating American presidents (going back to his Wye River sleight-of-hand with Clinton, and his pre-emptive attack on Gaza between Obama's election and inauguration, but he found Trump such an easy mark that when Biden came along he found he could finally get away with being sadistic), but I'd venture a guess that she has some experience in handling his type. Still, there is no way she can simply dictate terms. The best she can do is to look for tolerable compromises, which she's more likely to find and sell by being sympathetic to Israel than by becoming a clear-headed critic of Zionist settler-colonialism.

That won't necessarily, or even likely, lead to good solutions, but damn near anything would be better than blank-check support for genocide -- which is where we're at, and where we're stuck, until someone in a position to do something thinks better of it. (I've spent 20+ years racking my brain for solutions that would help a bit while still being acceptable to the racist-paranoid mindset of contemporary Zionism. My "pro-Palestinian" friends hate this line of thought, but I see no other as possible, at least within any reasonable time frame.)

Unfortunately, I fear that no one in such a position -- and we can comfortably include Kamala Harris in that sharply circumscribed circle -- is able to think better of it. They wouldn't be allowed the chance if they could. So we have every reason to be profoundly pessimistic about Israel, about America's relationship with Israel, and about the possibility that Harris might finally change course. Still, I give her slightly better odds than Trump, and with no other alternatives this cycle, I'm inclined to cut her considerable slack. But we can't stop talking about the problem, and we do need to remain aware that she is still very much a part of it.

• Daniel Levy: [08-27] The US diplomatic strategy on Israel and Gaza is not working: Well, it never has worked. It took Ben Gurion almost six months to realize Eisenhower was serious about Israel leaving Sinai in 1956, and that was pretty much the last time any American insisted on a point. Maybe Carter's opposition to Israel's first Lebanon war -- which Reagan allowed the rerun in 1982, much to everyone's eventual embarrassment. And sure, there was some mutual make-believe, like Israel accepting the UN "land for peace" resolutions, or the nods to a "two-state solution." But from Clinton on, no one took the charades seriously. Netanyahu not only stopped playing, he took advantage of American timidity to make himself look like he's the strong one. Meanwhile, the Americans look like weak fools with no principles or even interests, while being complicit in war crimes and crimes against human rights.

• Branko Marcetic: [08-29] Biden may be the president who kills the two-state solution: "Israel is only doing this because it has learned that there is nothing it can ever do that would make Biden cut off the weapons and military support it needs to carry on its spree of violence."

• Taha Ozhan: [08-27] Israel is rudderless, and Washington is going down with the ship.

• Jeremy Scahill:

  • [09-01] How the US enabled Netanyahu to sabotage a Gaza ceasefire.

  • [08-30] Israel's violent invasion of West Bank parallels the early stages of war on Gaza: UN rapporteur on Palestine. One thing to note here (and I have no idea how credible this reporting is) is:

    On Thursday, Abdel Hakim Hanini, a senior Hamas official, suggested that the group was preparing to engage in suicide bombings inside Israel, a tactic that became common during the Second Intifada, which spanned 2000-2005, but had ended almost entirely after 2006 when Hamas and other groups announced an end to the practice.

    "The resistance in the West Bank has begun changing its tactics and returning to martyrdom operations to strike at the occupation within the occupied interior," Hamas said in a statement outlining Hanini's announcement. "The resistance's change in tactics is a result of the settlers and the occupation government crossing red lines in their crimes against the Palestinian people." Hanini also called on the security forces of the Palestinian Authority to participate in a popular uprising against Israeli occupation forces and settlers.

    This is exactly what Netanyahu's right-wing allies have been hoping (or should I say agitating?) for: a panic and pretense to extend Israeli military operations and significantly increase their destructive force. One might as well call this genocide -- Israel is less concerned with counting scalps than with reducing the infrastructure that makes life viable, so that ultimately whatever Palestinians are still alive will realize that their only hope is to emigrate, emptying the land for more settlers. It would be a sad mistake for any Palestinians to invite such a savage response, but it would also be a sign of hopelessness -- a desperate resolve, once cornered, to make their menacers pay as dear a price as possible. And make no mistake, while there is no doubt that Palestinians would suffer far worse, a surge of Palestinian violence would take a toll that ordinary Israelis aren't used to. During the second intifada, Israeli casualties rose to such an extent that Israel's kill ratio sunk to around 4-to-1, as opposed to typical ratios between 10-to-1 and 100-to-1. (For comparison, the kill ratio since and including Oct. 7 is at least 30-to-1, and probably double that, yet Israel's leaders are showing no signs that their blood lust is abating.)

• Donald Shaw/David Moore: [08-27] AIPAC officially surpasses $100 million in spending on 2024 elections.

• Yoana Tchoukleva: [08-31] An arms embargo on Israel is not a radical idea -- it's the law: "Halting military aid to Israel is the bare minimum the U.S. can do to stop the Gaza genocide. An arms embargo is not only supported by 80% of Democratic Party voters, it is demanded by international and U.S. law."

Israel vs. world opinion:

• Bryce Greene/Lara-Nour Walton: [08-26] NYT uncritically reported Israel's version of Golan bombing.

• Alex N Press: [08-29] Universities are cracking down on free speech over Gaza: "The school year is kicking off, and American universities are starting the semester with scaling back students' First Amendment rights, with the goal of stopping criticisms of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza."

• Richard Silverstein: [09-01] AI social media campaign for Israeli genocide: "Pro-Israel apologists employ AI to generate social media disinformation."

Election notes:

• Ed Kilgore: [08-28] Five mistakes to avoid when looking at 2024 election polls. Or better yet, don't.

• Rick Perlstein: [08-28] The election story nobody wants to talk about: "A Q&A with David Neiwert, America's foremost writer and thinker on far-right extremism, on what might happen if Trump wins -- or loses."

• Theodore Schleifer: [09-01] Who are the biggest donors to Trump and Harris? "In presidential politics, campaigns are powered by billionaires. Here is a look at the most influential givers."

Trump:

• Alex Abad-Santos: [08-29] Your guide to the Brittany Mahomes-Donald Trump drama, such as it is: "Why everyone suddenly cares about Brittany Mahomes' politics." Everyone?

• Margaret Hartmann:

  • [08-29] What Trump said in his vulgar and unhinged Truth Social spree: You may be wondering, which one? Turns out there are several here, some with memes, at least one with video. One could do a whole book of things like this. The hard part is figuring out when to stop. At what point is the horse you're flogging well and truly dead?

  • [08-30] The history of Trump pretending to be Superman: "Lex Luthor is based on Trump, but that hasn't kept him from repeatedly posing as the Man of Steel."

• Sarah Jones:

  • [08-30] Misogyny is about power: A pretty generic title, but filed here because the first line is: "Donald Trump's supporters in search of apparel have no shortage of options." The generalization is also true, and one can go even wider and explore the intoxication of power and how seeking to solve problems through its application is not just bad philosophy but should more properly be regarded as a form of mental illness. But back to Trump:

    By attacking Harris's gender, Trump demonstrates his own masculinity and makes himself seem more and more like the strongman that he -- and his followers -- believes the U.S. needs. Trump was the vehicle for a vengeance fantasy in 2016, and that remains true in 2024. To followers, his pursuit of raw power is a means to bully liberals and the left into submission. . . . The sexual remarks that Trump reposted this month are a way for him and his followers to put the vice-president back in her place.

    As I've observed on many occasions, the essence of conservatism is the belief that each person has a proper place, and a passion to use force to keep people there.

  • [08-28] The 'pro-life' policies hurting women: These specific examples mostly come from Arkansas, but they are part of a much wider trend. Filed here to keep the author's articles together, but also because Trump is the single person most responsible for allowing things like this to happen. Remember that in November. And don't believe anything he says to the contrary . . . or to be safe, anything he says at all.

• Ed Kilgore:

  • [08-29] No, Trump wouldn't win California if Jesus counted the votes. Another example of the neverending quest to debunk the nonsense Trump spouts.

  • [08-30] Trump keeps flipping and flopping on abortion.

• Casey Michel: [09-01] Trump is making new, sketchy foreign business deals: "From Saudi Arabia to Serbia, despots are cozying up, likely in preparation for a second term." Every one of these deals is an advertisement for ending Trump's political career. If I was a TV exec, I'd hire Michael Moore to turn this story into a documentary. At this point it would be a rush job to beat the election, which would make it a public service as well as useful history. He could always redo it as a film later, especially with a happy ending: Trump loses, the business deals crash, he finally goes to jail. And if worse comes to worse, he could continue it as a series, because crooks like Trump don't just stop of their own accord. They have to be busted.

• Ben Lefebvre: [08-30] 'Political poison': How Trump's tariffs could raise gasoline prices.

• Chris Lehmann: [08-28] The Trump campaign is now running on pure contempt: "Both Trump and JD Vance are incapable of hiding their lack of basic humanity."

• Shawn McCreesh: [09-01] Meandering? Off-script? Trump insists his 'weave' is oratorical genius. "Former President Donald J Trump's speeches often wander from topic to topic. He insists there is an art to stitching them all together."

• Nicole Narea: [08-23] Does RFK Jr. dropping out of the presidential race help Trump? "The weirdest 2024 candidate endorsed Trump."

• Nia Prater:

  • [08-27] RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard are joining the Trump transition team: I noted this story last week, dismissing it with "sounds like something, but probably isn't." Here I should note that while it probably isn't, it could actually be something. Kennedy and Gabbard have a lot of traits that discredit them as presidential candidates, but the one thing they do have is pretty consistent antiwar track records, which they are not just committed to, but are eager to use against Biden and Harris, who are not exactly invulnerable to such charges. Moreover, they can say that they left the Democratic Party because they opposed how hawkish the Party had become -- so hawkish that even Trump would be a safer and more sensible foreign policy option. It remains to be seen how credible they'll be, because, well, on most other issues they're nuts, but on this one, they could be more credible than Trump himself to people with real concerns. I've said all along that if Biden doesn't get his wars under control, he will lose in November. The switch to Harris gives Democrats a partial reprieve, but the one thing she is most seriously vulnerable on is the suspicion that Democrats are going to continue saddling us with senseless and hopeless foreign wars. Kennedy and Gabbard could be effective at driving that point home -- sure, not to rank-and-file Democrats, who are generally much more dovish than their leaders, and who are even more wary of Republicans on that count, but to the "undecideds," who know little, even of what little they know.

  • [08-29] What does Jack Smith's new indictment against Trump mean?

  • [08-30] Trump throws another Hail Mary on the hush-money case.

• Andrew Prokop: [08-30] The Trump Arlington National Cemetery controversy, explained: "Shoving, insults, politicizing soldiers' gravesites." For more on this:

  • Jonathan Chait: [08-28] Trump honors 'suckers and losers' with illegal Arlington Cemetery photo op: "His goal in the Arlington visit was to smooth over his political liability by creating the false image that he actually cares about the honor of fallen soldiers. Instead, he confirmed once again that he doesn't."

  • Steve M: [08-30] Trump's Arlington stunt reveals how much Republican voters hate us.

• Nikki McCann Ramirez:

  • [08-27] Trump's campaign is running TV ads around Mar-a-Lago to make him happy: "Coddling the former president is quickly becoming a top priority for his campaign."

  • /Asawin Suebsaeng: [08-28] Trump goes full fascist in Truth Social posting spree: "One campaign official says staffers are relieved that the former president has largely isolated his social media presence to his own app."

• James Risen: Why the media won't report the truth about Trump: "The political press has doubled down on horse-race coverage of the election, overlooking the threat Trump poses to democracy." The mainstream press does a half-assed job of covering nearly everything and everyone, but they seem to be exceptionally inept when it comes to Donald Trump. I have a few theories about why, and I'd love to see an article that explored them, but this piece, with its historical review of election books from 1960 on, never gets to the point. One clue to the problem appears in the title: the idea that there is such a thing as "truth about Trump." Sure, it's a natural idea for the star writer for a publiciation that prides itself on muckracking. But is there any such thing?

  Sure, Trump has a history, so journalists can write about what he's said and done in the past, and how rarely one has anything to do with the other. Still, few journalists are up to the task of sorting fact from fraud from utter bullshit, which seems to exist in such profusion for no better reason than to camouflage underlying meaning -- if, indeed, there is any, for like Churchill's "armada of lies" you only have his word that there is some "precious truth" somewhere. The only sensible way to report on what Trump says would be to put the quotes into a table, each one followed by a note explaining the fallacy. (Feel free to apply the technique to other politicians.) The revelation about Trump is that there is nothing else leftover. Journalists stuck with following him around can file each day's article under the same headline: "Trump lies again." Or, if they want to mix it up a bit, "Trump is a pompous asshole (again)."

  Having disposed of the horse's orifices, journalists might consider doing some actual reporting. The first thing they need to work on is making the campaign more transparent: Who are the operatives? How does their polling direct messaging? What psychology does the messaging attempt to manipulate? Where is the money coming from? And what do donors expect for their money? Who's thinking about staffing? What are all those eager staff-in-waiting plotting to do? Again, it's fair to ask these same questions of Democrats, but you really need to start with Trump, because with him the real interests are buried so extra deep.

  One mistake many people make is to assume that presidents and administrations go hand-in-hand. While the president has to sign off on who does what, and can oversee an administration through cabinet meetings, directives, and the occasional staff shake up, harmony requires a degree of focus that Trump simply is incapable of. If Trump wins, he will quickly sign off on whatever slate of generic Republican functionaries and donors he's presented with, and they will go off and try to do whatever they've long wanted to do.[*] Sure, they may be a bit Trumpier this time than they were in 2016, but that's just fashion sense. All Republicans, including Trump, have been marching to the same ideological drumbeat for decades (as popularized by Fox News, and articulated by their "think tanks," in forms like "Project 2025").

  Trump is the Republicans' leader not because he leads (except in the fashion sense) but because he's the perfect diversion: he keeps the media focused on side-issues and trivia, all the while cultivating an air of deniability, as in how can you possibly believe he believes in anything? Given how many of his fans seem to be in on the joke, it's really quite amazing that so few journalists can figure it out. (Of course, they wouldn't last long if they did, nor would anyone who did and still had an ounce of self-respect stick around, so you might say that natural selection favors gullible journalists on the Trump beat.)

  The main reason for wanting Trump to lose is to avoid having to survive four more years of Republican administration, but Trump as president presents its own discomforts, chiefly in the form of embarrassment. As president, most of what he would do may be harmless -- he'll watch a lot of TV, tweet, golf, pose for pictures, talk nonsensically, waddle absent-mindedly, hold campaign rallies even after being term-limited, make occasional "perfect phone calls," and run his family grafts (or, like the government, allow them to be run in his name). Any president can stupefy, but no one else has ever come close to his level. If this were a purely aesthetic matter, I might not mind seeing the exalted office of the presidency reduced to buffoonery. But the office has too much power to entrust anyone like him, let alone to someone whose worst instincts are reinforced by the malevolence of his party.

  [*] Journalists would be well advised to dig up John Nichols' 2017 quickie, Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse: A Field Guide to the Most Dangerous People in America. The book on Trump's initial cabinet picks was soon obsoleted as several subjects self-destructed almost instantly, but it's a useful empirical account of on how Trump picks "the best people" and why.

  [PS]: After writing the above, I got a spam pitch for donations from The Intercept, which I might as well quote at length:

  When Donald Trump announced his third campaign for the White House, leading voices in the journalism industry vowed that the press couldn't fail in its coverage of Trump again.

  This time, the media would aggressively investigate Trump while focusing coverage on the threat that he poses to democracy, we were told. The stakes for the nation in the election, not just the odds of who was likely to win the campaign, would be put front and center.

  But with 66 days until the election, it's clear that the major national news media hasn't changed a bit.

  Horse-race coverage is back in full force, with breathless reports on every trivial social media spat or tick in poll numbers running on an endless loop 24/7 -- while the threat Trump poses to democracy is now relegated to an afterthought.

  The Intercept rejects this failed approach to political journalism. Every day, we're reporting on what the candidates really stand for, how their policies will impact your life, and how billionaire campaign donors stand to benefit.

  Risen's article, which I had just found so wanting, was obviously their best idea on how to do this, so I thought, maybe, write them a letter? I did, following my quote with a few more thoughts:

  I realize that this, like most things, is easier to complain about than to fix. The subject is vast and deep, and perversely rooted in the minds of people who don't read and are immune to analysis. I could imagine this taking a whole book just to explain: perhaps a sequel to Manufacturing Consent as something like Manufacturing Faux Divisions in the Theater of the Absurd.

  Paradoxically, if one reported as I suggest on both Harris and Trump, it would probably be devastating for her while merely annoying to him, for much the same reason as focusing on corruption killed Hillary Clinton while letting Trump off the hook -- that we hold her to higher standards, because she presents as worthy of them, whereas he's just Trump.

  By the way, my theory there was that voters saw both candidates as really horrible choices, but also saw an opportunity to get rid of one of them, and seized on that opportunity to vote Hillary off the island. To some extent, that worked against Trump in 2020, but he had other things buoying him up, and he refused to take the hint. If I was a campaign strategist, I'd try to figure out how to raise consciousness of this election as the voters' opportunity to finally rid us of his oppressive presence.

  I doubt anything will come of this, because it never does. I've written a dozen or so unsolicited advice letters over the years, and never gotten any meaningful response. (Two letters I wrote early on did elicit responses that changed my life, but they were more in the form of dismissive harrangues: Eugene Genovese convinced me to give some serious study to Marxism, and Robert Christgau invited me to write for the Village Voice. Come to think of it, aggressive letters may work better for me. I once wrote a letter to Steve Ballmer, that got me a job interview at Microsoft in 1984. They ran me through an assembly-line gauntlet of middle managers from Xerox PARC who couldn't square the timid, uncredentialed programmer they saw with the prick who had written the letter, so they passed. Had they taken a chance, it would have changed my life, and possibly theirs. I quite possibly would have developed into a millionaire tech entrepreneur, instead of becoming a free software diehard who hates every fiber of their being.)

  Sorry for that diversion, but that was something I've long wanted to get off my chest. What I meant to write next was that I woke up this morning trying to figure out how to pass some unsolicited advice to the Harris campaign:

• Matthew Stevenson: [08-30] Trump IPOs his presidency:

  Why does anyone think Donald Trump is actually running for president? Granted, he's the Republican nominee and is on the ballot in all fifty states, but the only election day that interests Trump is the one around September 20. On that day (or perhaps a few days later) the lockout period on his Trump Media shares (for which he paid nothing) expires and he will be free to dump his gifted 57.6% stake (114,750,000 shares) on scheming billionaires (for example, the Saudis, Vladimir Putin, a Mexican drug cartel, etc.) who might have an interest in the first $2.4 billion IPO (initial public offering) of a prospective American presidency.

  Trump isn't so much a candidate these days as a walking conflict-of-interest whose bumper stickers might well read: "Trump-Vance 2024: On Sale September 20."

Vance, and other Republicans:

• Zack Beauchamp: [08-27] An inside look at how the far right is mainstreaming itself: "A radical troll got unmasked -- and then spilled the beans." On Jonathan Keeperman.

• Michael C Bender: [08-31] JD Vance's combative style confounds Democrats but pleases Trump: "Over dozens of events and more than 70 interviews, Mr. Vance's performances as Donald Trump's attack dog have endeared him to his boss, even if America is broadly less enthusiastic." I noticed this because the headline elicited considerable ridicule on X. In particular, Andrew:

  We weren't confounded @nytimes. We're disgusted. We're mortified for our country that this weird misogynistic sociopath abomination could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. And that you keep writing headlines line this while our democracy burns to the ground.

  Some more comments:

  • JFC another misleading headline from the rag @nytimes. At this point, MSM are committing election interference with their overt biased reporting. What happened to journalistic integrity. We are NOT confounded, not in the least.
  • JD Vance's Combative style? The man is a twerp. Nobody thinks he's even the least bit impressive. He is -10 unfavorable and Trump is crapping his diaper over it.
  • Every single Democrat I know is delighted that Vance is on the ticket. He's one of the least effective politicians in recent memory.

  Of course, the comment roll degenerates quickly once the right-wing bots get into action: "That's a lot of propaganda but you are the Communist Party. I never voted Republican but I'm not voting for the candidate of no choice backed by the war party." If this "I never voted Republican" line seems to come gratuitously out of the blue, Steve M wrote an eye-opening post on this phenomenon: [09-02] A charitable explanation for the latest New York Times reporting failure (a different one, but quel coïncidence), following up on [09-01] A failed attempt at humanizing Trump? It worked on your paper's reporter.

  One helpful commenter did point us to this:

  • Ben Smith: [05-05] Joe Kahn: 'The newsroom is not a safe space': An interview with the New York Times Executive Editor, who says:

    It's our job to cover the full range of issues that people have. At the moment, democracy is one of them. But it's not the top one -- immigration happens to be the top [of polls], and the economy and inflation is the second. Should we stop covering those things because they're favorable to Trump and minimize them?

    The problem isn't that they're reporting on issues "favorable to Trump," but that they're accepting that slant as fact instead of exposing it as nonsense. They do that because they so readily accept Republican framings at face value, when most of them are not just partisan distortions but bald-faced lies. Of course, it's not just Republicans they favor. They'll carry water for any well-heeled lobby (Israel is a perennial favorite). Kahn goes on to brag that the Times offers "a much more favorable view of Biden's conduct over foreign policy at a difficult time than the polling shows the general public believes." Again, he's consciously catering to powerful interests, while slighting honest reporting that the public sorely needs.

• Kevin T Dugan: [08-29] The right-wing crusade against DEI isn't actually working.

• Gary Fineout/Kimberly Leonard: [08-30] Ron DeSantis is struggling to maintain power in Florida following presidential campaign flop.

• Margaret Hartmann: [08-28] JD Vance blames staff for disastrous doughnut-shop visit:

  Last week, J.D. Vance took a break from saying weird things about childless people to visit a doughnut shop in Valdosta, Georgia. Presumably, the Trump campaign wanted to show off how well the VP nominee connects with regular people. Instead, it got a viral video that has been compared unfavorably to an infamously cringeworthy episode of The Office.

  This story also provides context for a New Yorker cartoon.

• David Sirota: [08-29] Project 2025 started a half-century ago. A Trump win could solidify it forever. Minor point, but both sides are tempted to indulge in arguments of this form: that this election is some kind of tipping point wherre the wrong way will lead to permanent, irreversible horrors. While I can't categorically say that's impossible, it seems pretty unlikely. The biggest problem with Project 2025 is that it's mostly unworkable. Indeed, most conservative policies are bound to fail: some are just designed that way (presumably to make government look bad, or at least hapless), some attempt to do impossible things, and many create feedback loops (or blowback) that erode them from within. The last three Republican presidencies have ended with remarkably low approval ratings, and their rate of collapse has been accelerating (Reagan-Bush lasted 12 years, Bush-Cheney 8, Trump 4; by contast, Democratic presidencies have tended to end with a feeling of satisfaction, like a feeling that we've recovered enough we can afford to go out and do something stupid again).

  Of course, there is a difference between right and left here. Democrats' fear that incremental changes, while not so troubling to start with, could eventually turn catastrophic, as in the Republican packing of the Supreme Court. In another major example, it took 30+ years for the repeal of Taft-Hartley to be turned into a serious union-busting tool -- which radically undermined the Democratic Party's political base, leading politicians like Bill Clinton to turn for corporate support, and further alienate the party base. Project 2025 would like to do lots of things like that, but the one thing that looms largest there is the attack on the civil service system.

  On the other hand, right-wing paranoia is often just that. For example, Stephen Miller has a pinned tweet warning:

  If Democrats win they will:
  Eliminate the filibuster
  Pack SCOTUS
  Make DC a state
  Import a new electorate with full voting rights
  Declare dissent "hate speech," punishable with jail time
  Enforce a vast censorship & surveillance regime
  Make their power over you PERMANENT.

  The first three sound like pretty reasonable ideas, as they would expand democracy (well, restore is more like it, as they'd reverse currently undemocratic practices). The last four are not on any Democratic agenda, even as "blue sky" wish list items. (Ok, the one about "hate speech" is being done to criminalize dissent over Israel, but that's being driven by AIPAC, and mostly behind closed doors.) On the other hand, those four points do smell a lot like things Republicans would be keen on doing (they'd be deporting and stripping rights, but that's effectively the same).

  I had to go back and qualify my paranoia comment, because some of their fears are that Democratic programs might not just work but become so popular that they can't be repealed or rolled back: there are several big examples, like Social Security and Medicare, as well as numerous smaller ones.

• Ramon Antonio Vargas: [08-31] Ex-beauty contestant condemns JD Vance for use of embarrassing video: "Viral video of Caitlin Upton from 2007, which led to her considering suicide, used by Vance to mock Kamala Harris."

• Ryan Grim: [08-31] Project 2025 roots date back half a century: Interview with David Sirota on "how a memo from 1971 laid the groundwork for enshrining corporate corruption in American politics." I'll spare you the suspense and note that the "memo" was the famous Lewis Powell letter, which pretty much everyone who's tracked the history of right-wing think tanks, direct mail, and lobbying operations at least references and often starts with. Still fits the definition of "smoking gun." Interview also goes into Sirota's longer-term project, a series of podcasts called Master Plan: Legalizing Corruption.

Harris:

• The CNN interview:

  • John Cassidy: [08-30] Kamala Harris's political calculus takes shape in first major interview: "The Vice-President and her advisers clearly believe that being accused of flip-flopping is a lesser threat to her campaign than being cast as too radical."

  • Moira Donegan: [08-30] Was Kamala Harris's big interview a success? Sort of.

  • Branko Marcetic: [08-30] Kamala Harris's CNN interview didn't inspire confidence.

  • Erik Wemple/Perry Bacon Jr./David Von Drehle: [08-30] Was CNN's big Kamala Harris interview a dud? "Or have the Democrats become a party that runs against the mainstream news media?"

• Perry Bacon Jr.:

  • [08-18] Harris should talk to journalists more. Particularly the wonky ones. "Not talking to the media or taking questions from virtually anyone for weeks further erodes democracy."

  • [08-27] Is Harris pandering to the center too much? Or just the right amount? "Ambiguity is bad. We should know how our president would govern. But it is also good, in that it might allow Harris to win."

  • [08-29] Republican judges are blocking Biden's agenda. Harris's could be next. "The deep hostility that GOP-appointed judges have for Democratic use of executive power is a huge problem."

• Eric Levitz: [08-30] Kamala Harris's big housing plan has a big problem: "Affordable housing comes at a cost." I wouldn't be surprised to find one can poke holes in Harris's plan (which I haven't studied any further), but most of these points strike me as wrong-headed. I rented up to 1985, and have owned a series of houses since then. Still, I can't say much about them as investments -- my record has been pretty mixed. But what I can say is that owning made a big difference to me psychologically, because I really hated the power that landlords held over me as a tenant. On the other hand, owning gives me the freedom to build, to tailor, to make my home work for me. Levitz seems to be arguing that renting is more cost-effective, and in some ways it may be. And I'm sure there are other arguments at play here (e.g., renters are more mobile, which makes labor markets more efficient). But there's more to it.

  PS: Levitz tried to sum up his article in a pair of tweets:

  • Harris wants housing to be more affordable -- and a good vehicle for building wealth. Yet the cheaper housing becomes, the worse it will perform as an investment.

  • A frustratingly large number of people are reading this tweet and concluding, "He must be arguing that we should keep housing unaffordable to prop up home values; I should express outrage about that imaginary claim, instead of reading the piece" (which argues the exact opposite)

    On the merits, there is little question that liberals should prioritize making housing cheaper. There is nothing progressive about putting property owners' return-on-investment above less privileged Americans' access to shelter. Further, promoting homeownership as a wealth building strategy also fails many homeowners. Concentrating one's savings in a single asset is a perilous investment strategy, especially for America's least privileged groups.

  This dual nature is so locked into our thinking about housing it's hard to see anyone debunking it, least of all a politician. Still, why not start by treating this as two separate problems, which have been confounded in the interests of a special interest group (the real estate industry, which seeks to drive up prices, and finds it useful to disguise inflation as appreciation). I can think of a dozen programs that would help in one way or another, but they hinge on breaking the conceptual hold of this dual nature -- one so strong that even Levitz can't see his way out of. Of course, one could simply cut the Gordian knot and blame it all on capitalism, and you can certainly make that case, but that's too easy an answer, and too simple a solution.

• John McWhorter: [08-29] 'Joy' is a euphemism for a word no one wants to say out loud: I clicked on the title for the most basic of reasons, which is to find out who is saying such a thing, and why? (Third edit, as my first was filled with expletives.) This isn't the first time I've done that and found this bloke dangling from the hook. His mission in life is to help conservative white folk feel better about their racism -- a task he has expanded beyond his columns to include books like Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America. And there he's said the "word no one wants to say," but evidently it's ok for him to say (guess why?). He starts by asking us to compare Harris joy with a list of white alternatives he finds no joy in (from Gretchen Whitmer to Beto O'Rourke, how hard do you think he looked? did he even have any idea what to look for? or does he just assume the euphemism is commutative?). I mean, this is a guy who thought Woke Racism was clever, so does he really know what joy means? And why can't he imagine that joy is just a personality attribute that any individual can exhibiti and/or find? Why does everything have to trace back to race? Oh yeah, that's his business model.

• Christian Paz: [08-28] How is Kamala Harris getting away with this? "The nominee is pivoting hard to the right on immigration, so why do progressives say they can live with it?" My answer is something along the lines of "a candidate's gotta do what she's gotta do." I'm in no position to second-guess, much less micromanage, her campaign. I wouldn't be allowed to anyway, and the noise I might create is just spurious. Sure, when she says or does something I really object to, I'll speak up (cf. the sections this and every week on Israel), but I don't see any point in getting hysterical about it. Candidates says lots of things during campaigns that never turn real.

  Besides, I really don't care about immigration per sé. It's not a left-right issue (unlike equality, freedom, justice, and peace). I have a problem with mistreating immigrants (which is something Republican do and want to do much more of). I have a problem with forcing people to emigrate (which is mostly done by war, by repression, by economic hardship, and increasingly by climate, which are all issues Republicans are on the wrong side of). I think that people should have a "right to exile," because everyone should have a right to live in a country that is safe and supportive -- as some countries demonstrably are not -- but that doesn't mean that other countries have an obligation to accept just anyone (I'm trusting that somewhere someone will be agreeable, without coercion). But I accept that there borders between countries, and that governments ("of, by and for the people" that live therein) should regulate them, subject to some fairly universal standards of decent conduct. I doubt that it's possible (never mind desirable) to make those borders totally impermeable, but I do believe that it's better to manage affairs legally than it is to drive them underground. (That the US has millions of "illegal immigrants" suggests that they didn't do a very good job of managing things legally.)

  I personally don't fear immigrants, and I don't have a lot of patience or understanding for people who do (who for the most part strike me as ignorant clods; although most that I know would make exceptions for the immigrants they actually know -- it's only the hypothetical others that provoke their kneejerk reactions). But I do fear the political issue, which dovetails so neatly with much more delirious and dangerous right-wing demagoguery, so I don't mind artful efforts to defuse the issue. I can't really tell whether Harris' pivot qualifies, not least because I'm not the audience she's pitching. I do know that it is very difficult to pass any new law on immigration, so her proposals are going to be kicked around many blocks before anything becomes real. As with everything else she proposes, we'll take it seriously when the time comes. Until then, the only thing that really matters is that she beats Trump.

  Since we're on immigration, here are some more pieces:

  • Nicole Narea:

    • [08-27] Biden's plan to shield undocumented spouses of Americans is on hold. Here's what to know.

    • [08-27] What immigration policies do Americans actually want? "Trump-style immigration restrictions have gone mainstream among 2024 voters." As I read this, the data doesn't really warrant the subhed, but Republicans have harped on the issue so relentlessly that they've raised the expectation (at least in the media) that something has to be done -- as in the song, "there's something happening here, what it is isn't exactly clear."

Walz, Biden, and other Democrats:

• Daniel Han: [08-30] From 'a nobody' to the Senate: George Helmy is ready to replace Bob Menendez.

• Umair Irfan: [08-26] Why Democrats aren't talking much about one of their biggest issues: "Climate change was a huge issue for Democrats in the the 2020 election. Voters care less now."

• Mitchell Plitnick: [08-31] Why Democrats refused to allow a Palestinian speaker at the DNC: "The Democrats did not allow a Palestinian speaker at the DNC because they did not want to encourage any possible sympathy for the Palestinian people who are facing a genocide fully supported by the Biden-Harris administration." Sympathy would have been cheap, hardly a step above "thoughts and prayers." And while Israel has worked tirelessly at dehumanizing Palestinians, few Democrats actually buy their arguments. They mostly ignore them, because if they didn't, they'd have to confront the savage facts of Israel's caste system, which is at odds with their cherished "only democracy in the Middle East." I think the decision was the logical result of three precepts: They see the DNC, as both parties have for at least 30 years now, as an infomercial, and want to squeeze every last drop of value out of it, so they add speakers who enhance their brand, and reject any who might hurt them. (The rejection of the Teamsters leader, simply for having spoken at the RNC, was arguably worse than not slotting a token Palestinian.) They believed that even admitting concern, much less culpability, for anything bad on their watch would hurt them, and Gaza was a major sore point -- and frankly one that many of them could (and should) feel embarrassed over. And as the party of the left (if only because Republicans left them with no other choice), they were terrified of losing critical donors -- wealthy pro-Israel donors are most likely to break to Trump, whereas there was little risk in losing the anti-genocide masses to Trump. Also a fourth one: this year at least, the defense of democracy doesn't seem to allow much room for the practice of democracy, so the notion that everyone in the party should get a say just got squashed (without much complaint from the rank and file).

• Lavanya Ramanathan/Christian Paz: [09-01] Democrats' vibes are excellent. Can they turn that into votes?

• Bernie Sanders: [08-29] The 'far-left agenda' is exactly what most Americans want.

Supreme Court, legal matters, and other crimes:

• Marin Cogan: [08-30] Why a leading expert on gun violence is sounding alarms about the 2024 election: "A small but worrying segment of the US public believes in using political violence, says Dr. Garen Wintemute." Interview.

• Kevin T Dugan: [08-31] Why the Telegram prosecution may move the Overton window on free speech: "France's path-breaking arrest of Pavel Duov worries a Stanford professor." Interview with Daphne Keller.

  • Ellen Ioanes: Why Telegram's CEO was detained in France.

• Elie Honig: [08-30] Trump's fate will determine Merrick Garland's legacy. Seems like a funny way of putting it, as if the legacy means more than the fate.

• Ian Millhiser:

  • [08-26] The huge stakes in the Supreme Court's new abortion case: "Oklahoma v. HHS could potentially blow up much of Medicare and Medicaid if the justices decide to wild out."

  • [08-28] Georgia's MAGA elections board is laying the groundwork for an actual stolen election: "A new lawsuit hopes to stop them."

Climate and environment:

• Holly Buck: [08-31] A climate disinformation focus takes us the wrong way.

• Benji Jones: [08-29] What the heck is "corn sweat" and is it making the Midwest more dangerous? After reading the article, and noting that the illustration has nothing to do with anything in the article, I have to ask: compared to what?

Economists and the economy:

• David Dayen:

  • [08-14] Collapsing mortgage securities. Broken processes. No accountability. Sound familiar? "Faulty credit ratings were a cause of the 2008 crisis. One whistleblower complaint argues that the same dynamic is happening again."

  • [08-29] Three events that speak to the Harris economic agenda: "The Mars-Kellanova merger, the Kroger-Albertsons court case, and the monopolization lawsuit against RealPage all bolster her case against price-fixing."

Ukraine and Russia:

• Kelley Beaucar Vlahos: [08-30] Diplomacy Watch: F-16 crashes, Zelensky says they need more: "Russia digging in, officials say no interest now in talking even as Kyiv seems keen."

• Jack Detsch/Amy Mackinnon: [08-21] Biden's Ukraine strategy is missing in action: "Lawmakers are frustrated at the lack of a coherent plan as Biden prepares to leave office." A plan suggests some expected series of steps, but US policy seems to be a fixed attitude, held fast in the belief that the longer they than can stretch the war out, the more they'll degrade Putin and Russia, but they don't see any risks in doing so, or potential benefits to reconciliation. That strikes me as naive and short-sighted, but it does help the US arms cartel, and props up oil and gas prices to the extent that they can reduce Russia's market share.

• Mark Episkopos: [08-27] Ukraine & the West are crossing red lines. Why isn't Russia reacting? "Putin's aces -- non-Western countries unaligned with the US -- are also preventing him from upping the ante."

• Luke Harding: [09-01] Ukrainian drone attacks hit power stations and refineries in Russia: "Russia plays down overnight strikes as its forces make incremental gains in Donbas and launch missiles at Kharkiv."

• Ellen Ioanes: [08-26] Zelenskyy's new plan to end the war, explained: "The plan is short on detail but aims to push Russia to negotiate." Nothing here suggests that he understands how negotiating works.

• Joshua Keating: [08-28] Did Ukraine just call Putin's nuclear bluff? "By invading Russia, Ukraine was also sending a message to America." Some questions -- like: "are Russia's threats still working?"; "are there any more 'red lines'?"; "does Putin have a breaking point?" -- should make one doubt the questioners more than their objects. If Putin can resist going berserk when one of his "red lines" is crossed, that should suggest he's someone one can reason with, while raising doubts about the "ally" who's brazenly attempting to provoke a wider and deadlier war.

• Anatol Lieven: [08-27] How the Russian establishment really sees the war ending: "An inside look at what Russia expects -- and doesn't -- in a cease-fire with Ukraine."

• Dylan Motin: [08-27] Why Macron went full hawk on Ukraine and then backed down: "The French president wants to go his own way, but as usual there are limits to what he can do."

• Stephen M Walt: The murky meaning of Ukraine's Kursk offensive: "A short-term success doesn't necessarily have any long-term effects."

The World and/or America's empire:

• Andrew Bacevich: [08-25] Whose century was that? Reprint from 2009.

• Gil Barndollar/Matthew C Mal: [09-01] America isn't ready for another war -- because it doesn't have the troops: "The US military's recruiting crisis, explained." Maybe they should consider fewer wars? The only "crisis" I see here is that anyone is foolish enough to think that not being able to find and recruit enough "suckers and losers" (as Trump calls them) is a real problem.

• William Hartung: [08-28] The last thing we need is a Palantir inspired foreign policy.

• Jonathan Hoffman/Benjamin Giltner: [08-30] The US military's anti-Houthi campaign still isn't working: "American forces play whack-a-mole in the Red Sea while the Biden administration ignores addressing the conflict's origins." This is just one of many problems that a Gaza ceasefire would fix.

• Sarang Shidore: [08-21] Dangerous China-Philippine clashes could be expanding: "Serious incidents in the South China Sea are spreading well beyond the Second Thomas Shoal, pulling the US in deeper."

• Hadley Spadaccini: [08-27] Managing low expectations: Jake Sullivan's big trip to China: "Don't expect a lot of tangible outcomes from the national security advisor's first official visit to Beijing."

• Kelley Beaucar Vlahos: [08-31] US soldiers injured in raid during 'non-combat' mission in Iraq: "More evidence that America is at war without saying it's at war, in the Middle East."

• Adam Weinstein: [08-30] Shame: Afghanistan withdrawal politics miss the point of everything: "Fixating on final moments is preferable to facing the absolute failure of the war."

• Robert Wright/Andrew Day: [08-29] Has Biden's China chip war backfired? "Huawei, which was a target of the previous administration, too, appears to have roared back with success."

Other stories:

• Henry Farrell: I had these tabs saved off last week, but didn't find them in time.

  • [08-12] Seeing like a Matt: "The intellectual blind spots of anti-anti-neoliberalism." Matt is Yglesias, who has a series of articles defending neoliberalism against its enemies, cited here: [07-11] What was neoliberalism?; and [07-23] Neoliberalism and its enemies.

  • [08-21] Illiberalism is not the cure for neoliberalism: "Democrats should be reading Danielle Allen, not Deneen." In addition to the Yglesias pieces, this cites James Pogue: [08-19] The Senator warning Democrats of a crisis unfolding beneath their noses, where the Senator is Chris Murphy [D-CT], which in turn refers back to Chris Murphy: [2022-10-25] The wreckage of neoliberalism, as well as where Patrick J Deneen enters the picture -- his books are Why Liberalism Failed (2018) and Regime Change: Toward a Postliberal Future (2023).

    I don't have a good picture of what neoliberalism is: in economics it seems to be an attempt to dress up laissez-faire as something new (and therefore not yet discredited); in politics it wears two dresses, as sleight-of-hand magic for liberals and as unfettered plundering for conservatives; and in foreign policy (or "geopolitics"), it seems to be the good cop teamed with the neoconservative bad cop; and on the left/liberal side it is something self-evident to favor or oppose (the right/conservative side doesn't much care for the term, so the few people, like Yglesias, who advocate neoliberalism wind up trying to defend something significantly different from what most leftists attack as neoliberalism, a distinction blurred by how readily they lapse into cartoonish anti-leftism).

    Much of the piece is about Danielle Allen's book, Justice by Means of Democracy, which turns on points I don't quite grasp the subtlety of -- partly, no doubt, because I've never made much sense of Rawls, but also because I don't believe conservatives when they claim to discern some true "public interest" they've spend much of their lives destroying. On the other hand, I am inclined to lean into the notion that more democracy is the answer, especially if it results in better justice. I'm intrigued enough to order a copy. I also looked up the following:

    • Matthew Anzarouth/Jack Silvers: [05-07] Justice by means of democracy: a conversation with Danielle Allen.

    • Ezra Klein: [04-14] This philosopher wants liberals to take political power seriously: Interview with Allen (transcript).

    • Thad Williamson: [2023-12-07] Democracy in the real world: "Theories of justice map what a good society should look like, but they generally offer few details about how to get there." A review of Allen's book.

• Anna North: [08-29] Kids today: your guide to the confusing, exciting, and utterly new world of Gen Alpha.

• Igor Shoikhedbrod: [08-31] Why socialists shouldn't reject liberalism: An interview with Matt McManus, the author of the forthcoming book The Political Theory of Liberal Socialism.

• Jeffrey St Clair: [08-30] Roaming Charges: Genocide with a smile. Starts with Harris, but ranges widely, including:

  • "In CNN interview, Vice President Harris says she will appoint Republican to her cabinet": First I heard of this sounded less like a commitment than another cock-eyed suggestion by Bill Scher (Kamala Harris should pledge to appoint a Republican to her cabinet, followed by Which Republicans might serve in a Harris cabinet), but I figured that was just Scher being Scher. I think committing to a type is dumb, as well as self-crippling. (Remember how Clinton wanted a woman as Attorney General, then wound up with Janet Reno as his 3rd pick?) On the other hand, looks like there will be plenty of Republican applicants even without a commitment: see Alex Gangitano: More than 200 Bush, McCain, Romney aides endorse Harris.
  • Notes that among states ranked by life expectancy, Biden won all of the top 10, but Trump won 9 of the bottom 10.
  • "Democracy in the post-Citizens United era: A mere 50 'mega-donors' have pumped more than $1.5 billion into the election, so far."
  • "On Tuesday, southern Iran recorded a heat index of 82.2°C and a dew point of 36.1°C, provisionally the highest ever globally."
  • I'll register a strong dissent on St Clair's dis of Philip Larkin's jazz writing. I don't know much about Larkin's poetry (or whatever), but Larkin's All What Jazz: A Record Diary, 1961-1971 is a personal favorite.

Obituaries

Books

Music (and other arts?)

• Alex Abad-Santos: [08-23] All the nonsense you need to know about Sabrina Carpenter: "The singer's new album, Short n' Sweet, is full of the sexy clown wordplay she's known for." Perhaps unfortunately, I still believe that you don't have to read a dissertation to decide whether you like a pop album, so after a quick glance, I skipped over this and just played the album (four times, as it turned out; verdict in Music Week tomorrow).

• Carrie Battan: [08-21] Sabrina Carpenter's funny, feisty Short n' Sweet.

• Dean Baker: [09-01] [responding to josh ryan-collins: Part of the job of a progressive government is to shift the public narrative towards the idea that the state can improve people's lives. Pretending the govt budget is like a households', as in this economically illiterate video, reinforces the idea that it can't.]
  I would argue that it's even more important for a progressive government to explain to people that the government structures the market to determine winners and losers, with things like patent/copyright monopolies, rules of corporate governance, and trade deals.
  [Seems to me these points aren't exclusive, or even alternatives.]

Local tags (these can be linked to directly): music.

Original count: 141 links, 10959 words (13527 total)

Current count: 146 links, 12150 words (14996 total)

Aug 2024