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Wednesday, February 28, 2024
Daily Log
I woke up today early for me, a bit after nine, and read the
chapter on Theodor Herzl in Shlomo Avineri's The Making of
Modern Zionism. I tried going back to sleep, but never really
made it, spending over an hour thinking, mostly about memoirs and
the "obits" piece, which turned into an idea that I figure I should
write down, a possible chapter for my "Utopian Essays & Practical
Proposals" file (UEPP).
The idea is to build a "national registry": database, servers,
and tools, all built and paid for by the government, using open
source software. This would tie into several other UEPP topics,
including: subsidized open source development; universal free
computing infrastructure, with secure identification and strict
protocols on privacy and tracking; and various applications that
can be build thereupon. The Registry is an example of the latter.
Needless to say, in order for any of this to work, government has
to become much more trustworthy than it is now, or might ever be as
long as businesses and/or political organizations are allowed to
shape and exploit technology for their own gain. That is a daunting
challenge in its own right, so will largely be glossed over here.
But I will say that the ability to implement proposals like this
one, and have them accepted and used by large numbers of people,
not only depends on much greater trustworthiness, it would also
be a benefit of much better government.
The registry is a single, common repository for information
about all people under its domain (let's say nation, so citizens
and resident aliens, but could reference others). Each person,
living or dead, would have a permanent record, initially drawn
from public information. Other entities, like corporations, are
also to be represented. Each record would list relationships and
dates, minimally providing geneology and census data, so this
would suffice as a public resource that could replace private
ones like Ancestry.com.
Obviously, not all facts are known, so that needs to be noted,
and information added needs to be identified and validated to
whatever degree possible. There needs to be a system for adding
comment on all items in the record, and a process for deciding
what to keep, to question, and/or to prune from the records. In
addition to the structured entries, it should be possible to add
notes, including photos or other media, with their metadata.
The registry should be keyed to an identification system that
can be used for all practical purposes. That's a separate project,
and way beyond my competency to design, but would be useful for
lots of things. There is much resistance to developing any sort
of national identity system, although what we have now is worse,
a bunch of incompatible systems (some federal, some state, many
more imposed by the private sector), unreliable, hard to use,
susceptible to excessive tracking, impossible to coordinate (a
feature, if you believe the systems cannot be trusted).
The purpose of the identity system here is to keep track of
who submits data, and who is permitted to see and manage it.
One should generally be able to see and manage one's own data,
and/or delegate this to a guardian. There should be rules for
classes of data, where some is public, some is restricted, and
some is private (with a strict process for law enforcement and
admissibility in court). There should be a policy for disclosing
additional information some time after death.
One example of data that needs to be collected but should not
be exposed (at least by default) is contact information. One could
use this for secure messages without disclosing the recipient's
address. The process could be double-blind, so contact info can
only be disclosed in the message content. The process could also
evaluate the message for risks, notify the receiver whether the
sender has a history of bad faith, and/or require additional points
of identification or reference. This would be a big improvement
over current systems, which shake you down to provide bits of
information (like phone numbers) they've scraped from various
places.
Some data should be available for statistical aggregation, in
a form that validates the data without compromising the identity
of its sources. This might be an owner option, with the researchers
required to submit public proposals specifying their data request.
The database could conceivably grow to enormous dimensions. It
would be tempting to hang all sorts of ancillary information on it --
basically anything that can be organized primarily by person (e.g.,
medical histories, criminal records, taxes). That needs to be worked
out. What I'm more immediately interested in is the question that
occurs every time I read an obituary: who was this person? I find
standard obituary form very stultifying in this regard, especially
as they are mostly revenue schemes perpetrated by newspapers. This
might be a neat job for well-regulated AI: dig through the data,
and condense it into a sensible one-to-three paragraphs.
Obviously, you don't want to train AI on the whole database,
but the one thing it's most likely to be good for is sucking up,
sorting, and summarizing a lot of data fast. I don't know how
many people are interested in finding this out, but I'm guessing
a lot of people would find this interesting. And I like the idea
of blurring the boundary between the grandees the New York Times
writes about and those literally buried in the back pages of
their local (and fast disappearing) rags.
I didn't stop with this proposal. I also came up with a second idea,
not unrelated, and not one that had never occurred to me before, but
worth mentioning here: demand-only advertising. Back when I was working
in advertising, I got rather deep into the art and science of it all,
but later reverted to my initial instinct that it's one of the most
completely evil things in the world today. At one point, I started a
lexicon/keywords book, where I would write a page of two on a hundred
or so terms.
One of the first I wrote was on advertising. I can't find that
particular rant, but it started by denying that advertising is ever
free speech. It is expensive speech, but calculated to pay dividends
by manipulating people -- to shell out their money is merely the
most mundane of the ulterior purposes it serves. Still, I find
there are times when I'm desperate enough for information I'll go
seeking out ads, skeptical as I am.
So let's imagine a system where advertisers are prohibited from
pushing their messages, especially in media that you can't shut off
or easily ignore (radio is the worst in that respect) or at least
control the pace (with print you can usually skip ahead). But let
the advertisers package their pitches, and put them on a server you
can access when you finally want to.
We have a rough approximation of such a system today, in Amazon.
It could be better organized, with better query tools, and options
to buy elsewhere, as well as more warnings not to buy at all.
Actually, this is one of several areas where Amazon has made real
progress for us, only to run it as a predatory monopoly scam.
Their "Marketplace" isn't a wheel we need to reinvent. The best
solution would be to nationalize it, then make it more ethical.
Same for their warehousing/shipping business. They've proven the
efficiency advantages of scale. Breaking it up won't produce any
more efficiency; if anything, the opposite. But why can every
retailer enjoy the same level playing field? Or for that matter,
every manufacturer (cutting the middle men out)?
Monday, February 26, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
February archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 36 albums, 11 A-list
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.
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): [cd]: B+(***)
- Advancing on a Wild Pitch: Disasters, Vol. 2 (2023 [2024], Hot Cup): [bc]: A-
- Tanner Adell: Buckle Bunny (2023, Columbia, EP): [sp]: B+(***)
- Eric Alexander: A New Beginning: Alto Saxophone With Strings (2021 [2023], HighNote): [sp]: B+(**)
- Aunty Rayzor: Viral Wreckage (2023, Hakuna Kulala): [sp]: B+(***)
- Annie Chen: Guardians (2022-23 [2024], JZ Music): [cd]: B
- Daggerboard: Escapement (2022 [2024], Wide Hive): [cd]: B+(**) [03-08]
- DJ Finale: Mille Morceau (2023, Nyege Nyege Tapes): [sp]: A-
- Drain: Living Proof (2023, Epitaph): [sp]: B+(*)
- Emmeluth's Amoeba: Nonsense (2021 [2024], Moserobie): [cd]: A-
- Christian Fabian Trio: Hip to the Skip (2022-23 [2024], Spicerack): [cd]: B+(*)
- Friends & Neighbors: Circles (2022 [2024], Clean Feed): [sp]: B+(***)
- Romulo Fróes and Tiago Rosas: Na Goela (2023, YB Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Glass Beach: Plastic Death (2024, Run for Cover): [sp]: B-
- Gordon Grdina/Christian Lillinger: Duo Work (2023 [2024], Attaboygirl): [cd]: B+(***)
- Gordon Grdina's the Marrow: With Fathieh Honari (2023 [2024], Attaboygirl): [cd]: B+(***)
- Enrique Heredia Trio: Plays Herbie Nichols (2019-22 [2024], Fresh Sound): [sp]: B+(***)
- Kabeaushé: The Coming of Gaze (2023, Hakuna Kulala): [sp]: B+(*)
- Kabeaushé: Hold On to Deer Life, There's a Blcak Boy Behind You! (2023, Monkeytown): [sp]: B
- Noah Kahan: Stick Season (2022, Mercury/Republic): [sp]: B+(***)
- Kaze: Unwritten (2023 [2024], Circum/Libra): [cd]: B+(***)
- Anni Kiviniemi Trio: Eir (2023 [2024], We Jazz): [sp]: B+(***)
- Doug MacDonald: Sextet Session (2023 [2024], DMAC Music): [cd]: B+(**) [03-01]
- Eliza McLamb: Going Through It (2024, Royal Mountain): [sp]: B+(***)
- Chase Rice: I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go to Hell (2023, Broken Bow): [sp]: A-
- RVG: Brain Worms (2023, Ivy League/Fire): [sp]: B+(**)
- Sunny Five [Tim Berne/David Torn/Ches Smith/Devin Hoff/Marc Ducret]: Candid (2022 [2024], Intakt): [sp]: B+(***)
- Kali Uchis: Orquídeas (2024, Geffen): [sp]: A-
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Herb Geller: Fire in the West (1957 [2023], Jazz Workshop): [sp]: A-
- Ghetto Brothers: Power-Fuerza (1972 [2024], Vampisoul): [sp]: B+(*)
- If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. 1 (1920s-50s [2023], Death Is Not the End): [sp]: B+(*)
- If You Want to Make a Lover: Palm Wine, Akan Blues & Early Guitar Highlife, Pt. 2 (1920s-50s [2023], Death Is Not the End): [bc]: B+(**)
- Melba Liston: Melba Liston and Her 'Bones (1958 [2023], Jazz Workshop): [yt]: A-
- Los Mohanes: La Tumbia (2017 [2023], Moli Del Tro): [sp]: B+(*)
- Don Menza & Sam Noto: Steppin': Quartet Live (1980 [2023], Fresh Sound): [sp]: B+(***)
Old music:
- Abyssinia Infinite Featuring Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw: Zion Roots (2003, Network): [yt]: A-
- Afrorack: The Afrorack (2022, Hakuna Kulala): [sp]: A-
Grade (or other) changes:
- Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan (2023, Warner): [sp]: [was: B+(***)] A-
- Rodney Crowell: The Chicago Sessions (2023, New West): [sp]: [was: B+(**)] A-
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]
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Speaking of Which
Blog link.
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.
Marina Bolotnikova/Kenny Torrella: [02-26]
9 charts that show US factory farming is even bigger than you
realize: "Factory farms aer now so big that we need a new
word for them."
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.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Daily Log
Clifford Ocheltree in Facebook on my Mingus review:
I liked the Mingus box a tad more, the music is solid BUT the set
saves me shelf space AND enabled me to sell off the individual CDs. In
essence the set became 'free' or no cost plus it does benefit from the
remastering. The Jasmine 50s could indeed be shorter but, as I
suggested about the 40s set, it provides context. Certainly, given the
price, it serves as an educational experience for those younger than
you or me.
I added this:
Packaging is so important in box sets that it's rather unfair just to
write a review of streaming the music. Also sheer length leads to
fatigue, which is one reason I'm so reluctant to even bother with
them. On the other hand, I'm suspicious that reviewers who are gifted
with the deluxe packages tend to be overly generous -- in part,
because I know that when I'm the beneficiary, I often do cut them some
slack. I could imagine myself bumping up the "Hot House" grade if I
had the proper set. As I noted in the review, the Mingus set was a big
time filler for me: my biggest disruption every day is figuring out
what to play next, and the boxes saved me a lot of that. Plus it was
the highest-rated Critics Poll album I hadn't heard, plus it's Mingus,
and I really love Mingus (the hostname of one of my computers). Even
with my cursory approach, I did learn a few things: I significantly
bumped my very low grades of "Mingus Moves" and "Cumbia," and I
finally heard the two last studio albums (more closely related to the
post-Mingus big bands than to his own albums, but still very
good). The "Changes" albums, which I bought on vinyl shortly after
they came out (and as such were probably my first Mingus) slipped a
bit from my memory, but not enough to downgrade them. So all-in-all, I
think, a fair and worthwhile review. But sure, packaging could have
made a difference. As would the ease of replaying individual discs.
Monday, February 19, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
February archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 36 albums, 3 A-list
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 Alberman Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- Carsie Blanton: Body of Work (2023, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
- Stix Bones/Bob Beamon: Olimpik Soul (2023 [2024], BONE Entertainment): [cd]: B+(*)
- Peter Bruun/Søren Kjærgaard/Josas Westergaard: Thēsaurós (2022, ILK): [bc]: B+(*)
- Mina Cho's Grace Beat Quartet: "Beat Mirage" (2023 [2024], International Gugak Jazz Institute): [cd]: B+(**)
- Commodore Trio: Communal - EP (2023 [2024], self-relesed, EP): [cd]: B+(*)
- Dogo Du Togo: Dogo Du Togo (2022, self-released): [sp]: B+(*)
- Jose Gobbo Trio: Current (2023 [2024], self-released): [cd]: B+(**)
- Mary Halvorson: Cloudward (2023 [2024], Nonesuch): [sp]: B+(**)
- Jon Irabagon: Survivalism (2024, Irabbagast): [bc]: B+(*)
- Jon Irabagon's Outright!: Recharge the Blade (2021 [2024], Irabbagast): [bc]: B+(**)
- Steven Kamperman: Maison Moderne (2023, Trytone): [cd]: A-
- Liquid Mike: Paul Bunyan's Slingshot (2024, self-released): [sp]: B+(**)
- Richard Nelson/Makrokosmos Orchestra: Dissolve (2023 [2024], Adhyâropa): [cd]: B+(**)
- Nondi_: Flood City Trax (2023, Planet Mu): [sp]: B+(*)
- Angel Olsen: Forever Means (2023, Jagjaguwar, EP): [sp]: B
- Public Image Ltd.: End of World (2023, PIL Official): [sp]: B+(*)
- Zoe Rahman: Colour of Sound (2023, Manushi): [sp]: B+(*)
- Andrew Rathbun: The Speed of Time (2022 [2023], SteepleChase) **
- Monika Roscher Bigband: Witchy Activities and the Maple Death (2023, Zenna): [sp]: B+(**)
- Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band: Vox Humana (2023, Jazzheads): [sp]: B+(***)
- Adam Schroeder/Mark Masters: CT! Adam Schroeder & Mark Masters Celebrate Clark Terry (2023 [2024], Capri): [cd]: B+(***)
- Matthew Shipp/Steve Swell: Space Cube Jazz (2021 [2024], RogueArt): [cdr]: B+(***)
- Rajna Swaminathan: Apertures (2021 [2023], Ropeadope): [sp]: B+(**)
- Tucker Brothers: Live at Chatterbox (2023 [2024], Midwest Crush Music): [cd]: B+(*)
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- George Cartwright's GloryLand PonyCat: Black Ants Crawling ([2024], Mahakala Music) **
- Late Night Count Basie (2023, Primary Wave): [sp]: B+(**)
- Charles Mingus: Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Studio Recordings (1973-78 [2023], Rhino, 7CD): [sp]: B+(***)
- Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie/Bud Powell/Charles Mingus/Max Roach: Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings (1953 [2023], Craft, 2CD): [sp]: B+(***)
- Sonny Rollins: Go West! The Contemporary Records Albums (1957-58 [2023], Craft, 3CD): [sp]: A-
Pharoah Sanders: Festival de Jazz de Nice, Nice, France, July 18, 1971 (1971 [2024], Kipepeo Publishing): [bc]: B+(***)
Old music:
- Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown: Sings Louis Jordan [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1973 [2019], Black & Blue): [sp]: B+(**)
- Millie Jackson: On the Soul Country Side (1977-81 [2014], Kent): [sp]: B+(***)
- The R&B No. 1s of the '50s (1950-59 [2013], Acrobat, 6CD): [cd]: A-
Grade (or other) changes:
- Sonny Rollins: Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders: Barney Kessel/Hampton Hawes/Leroy Vinnegar/Shelly Manne (1958, Contemporary): [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]
Daily Log
I wrote this in a letter to Michael Tatum. Obviously something I
should have filed in the book draft, but will hold here until then:
Book files opened, but I haven't found any time to work on them,
and the basic prep -- basically what to do with all the old stuff,
which needs to be cleared out so I can lay out the beams I hope to
build around, is daunting or, at least, given my discomfort with the
tools, depressing. But I do find myself thinking about it much of the
time, including every morning when I'm waking up, and keep coming up
with what seem like good ideas -- often fed by recent reading, as I've
finished Grandin and started into Geoghegan. Latest idea, given the
extreme pessimism I'm developing around Biden, is to add a new section
to the end of the book.
Lots of policy books are structured as long critiques of some major
problem, followed by a brief how-to-fix-it section, an
almost-never-convincing attempt to end on an optimistic note. But in
my case, the how-to-fix-it section was the point of the book, a major
integral part. To recap:
Thinking about American history (not a real title, but
basically the old four-eras model with some additional bells and
whistles, notes on concepts, methods, my skepticism about determinism,
etc.).
The history of the Republican Party, how they started with a
dialectic of principles and pragmatism, and evolved into completely
cynical assholes.
A "brief" survey of the many problem areas that have developed
while they were happily playing politics, and why their superficial
approach inevitably fails.
A section on the Democrats, which could turn into three: one on
how and why Democrats' attempts to compete politically by adopting key
elements of Republican rhetoric inevitably fail, because Republican
ideas are so fundamentally flawed, and because Democrats (unlike
Republicans) are expected to actually solve problems, not just pretty
them up; then develop a set of principles that can be used to solve
problems (chiefly by resurrecting the concept of public interest,
showing how that mostly involves social rights, and how the whole
point of democracy is to assert social rights and the public interest
against the corruption of private interests -- now wholeheartedly
embraced by the criminalized Republican Party; finally conclude with a
sketchy but more practical section on how Democratic candidates need
to think and talk in order to succeed in their mandate: which is to
win elections, and to solve problems, and to keep winning and
solving. This last section is where we get into disposing of the
various culture war wedge issues that Republicans dwell on (because,
well, they don't have anything else, because they don't care about
solutions, and they thrive on fear and chaos).
I could go back and expand the first three like the fourth. The
second, for instance, starts with Richard Nixon, as the "godfather" of
the modern Republican Party -- although it just occurred to me that he
could have been Jesus, turning Goldwater into John the Baptist, seeing
as how he was crucified, with Reagan spreading and sanitizing the
gospel like Paul, and Trump finally the resurrection (there are
actually books about this last bit, written by people who believe
it). The second is also where the problem of dysfunctional government
belongs, since that's largely the work of Republicans (unlimited
money, gerrymanders, packing the courts, etc.).
The first is where I lay out the tool kit: introduce my model, then
mention other models, then lay out the underlying concepts, and how
they develop as myths. At some point I may simply list a bunch, with
one-paragraph framing. Some will take a bit more, like
liberal/conservative, left/right, etc.
The third is most in flux. Originally I was thinking of policy
areas, with macro first, then things like health care, climate change,
education, and inequality. Now I'm wondering if change itself isn't
the problem area, so start with technology, and then show how it is
shaped and given force by business. After that, well, it's mostly
capitalism, impinging on most aspects of daily life. But recent events
have brought war front and center, so that has to fit in somewhere
(not as some primordial force, as many are inclined to believe, but,
like it's oft-bound cousin politics, as struggle against
equality).
Anyhow, the latest idea is to tack on a 5th (or 7th?) section,
which is what I really think will happen if (and most likely when) my
plans and pleas in the second half of the book are defeated (or more
likely just ignored). There's something tantalizing about ending with
a premature I-told-you-so. Saving it up for the end might also make
the third section less grim (or at least shorter).
I know, I should probably save this off, and paste it into the book
file, and expand in place.
The preceding took a bit over an hour (the time of one record),
just off the top of my head. The idea is to spend a month writing like
that, to see what it looks like then. Maybe not all off the top of my
head -- may do some minor fact-checking to minimize the gross errors,
but mostly, figuring that way I can keep track of the overall
structure, so it makes sense and balances out. Then we can decide to
go/no go.
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Speaking of Which
Blog link.
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.]
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Daily Log
Christgau Consumer Guide notes (my grades in brackets, - earlier,
+ after review:
- Aesop Rock: ITS: Integrated Tech Solutions (Rhymesayers '23) B+ - [B+(***)]
- Dogo du Togo: Dogo du Togo (self-released '22) *** + [B+(*)]
- Jack Harlow: Jackman (Atlantic '23) A- - [B+(*)]
- Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings (1953, Craft '23) A + [B+(***)]
- Millie Jackson: On the Soul Country Side (Kent) A- - [B+(***)]
- James Kahn: By the Risin' of the Sea: Shanties for Our Times (self-released) *** - []
- Jim Kweskin: Never Too Late: Duets With My Friends (StorySound) *** - []
- The Mountain Goats: Jenny From Thebes (Merge '23) B+ - [B+(**)]
- Meshell Ndegeocello: The Omnichord Real Book (Blue Note '23) * - [B+(*)]
- Nirvana: Live at the Paramount (Geffen) ** - []
- Okuté: Okuté (Chulo '21) A- - [B+(***)]
- Bill Orcutt: Music for Four Guitars (Palilalia '22) A- - [B+(**)]
- The Paranoid Style: The Paranoid Style Presents: The Interrogator (Bar/None '24) A - [A-]
- Sleater-Kinney: Little Rope (Loma Vista '24) B+ - []
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
February archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 51 albums, 2 A-list
Music: Current count 41828 [41777] rated (+51), 23 [21] unrated (+2).
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:
- Colby Acuff: Western White Pines (2023, Sony Music Nashville): [sp]: B+(***)
- Jim Alfredson: Family Business (2021 [2023], Posi-Tone): [sp]: B+(**)
- Bill Anschell: Improbable Solutions (2020-23 [2024], Origin): [cd]: B+(*)
- Alex Anwandter: El Diablo En El Cuerpo (2023, 5 AM): [sp]: B+(**)
- Atmosphere: Talk Talk EP (2023, Rhymesayers Entertainment): [sp]: B+(**)
- Bad Bunny: Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Manana (2023, Rimas Entertainment): [sp]: B+(**)
- Barbie: The Album (2023, Atlantic): [sp]: B+(***)
- Berlioz: Jazz Is for Ordinary People (2023, self-released, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
- Jaap Blonk/Damon Smith/Ra Kalam Bob Moses: Rune Kitchen (2022 [2023], Balance Point Acoustics): [sp]: B+(*)
- Brothers Osborne: Brothers Osborne (2023, EMI Nashville): [sp]: B+(*)
- Burial: Dreamfear/Boy Sent From Above (2024, XL, EP): [sp]: B+(*)
- Tré Burt: Traffic Fiction (2023, Oh Boy): [sp]: B+(*)
- Willi Carlisle: Critterland (2024, Signature Sounds): [sp]: B+(**)
- Jordan Davis: Bluebird Days (2023, MCA Nashville): [sp]: B+(*)
- John Dierker/Jeff Arnal: Astral Chronology (2022-23 [2023], Mahakala Music, EP): [bc]: B+(**)
- Drake: For All the Dogs (2023, OVO Sound): [sp]: B
- Ana Frango Elétrico: Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua (2023, Mr Bongo): [sp]: B+(**)
- Andy Emler MegaOctet: No Rush! (2023, La Buissonne): [bc]: B+(**)
- Ilhan Ersahin/Dave Harrington/Kenny Wollesen: Your Head You Know (2023, Nublu, EP): [bc]: B+(*)
- Peter Erskine and the Jam Music Lab All-Stars: Bernstein in Vienna (2021 [2024], Origin): [cd]: B+(**)
- Greg Foat & Eero Koivistoinen: Feathers (2023, Jazzaggression): [sp]: B+(*)
- Hardy: The Mockingbird & the Crow (2023, Big Loud): [sp]: B+(**)
- Ayumi Ishito: Ayumi Ishito & the Spacemen Vol. 2 (2020 [2023], 577): [os]: B+(*)
- Maria João & Carlos Bica Quartet: Close to You (2019-21 [2023], JACC): [bc]: A-
- Cody Johnson: Leather (2023, Warner Music Nashville): [sp]: B
- Ruston Kelly: The Weakness (2023, Rounder): [sp]: B+(*)
- Knower: Knower Forever (2023, self-released): [sp]: B
- Tony Kofi & Alina Bzhezhinska: Altera Vita (For Pharoah Sanders) (2023, BBE, EP): [sp]: B
- Ella Langley: Excuse the Mess (2023, Sawgood): [sp]: B+(*)
- Metric: Formentera II (2023, Metric Music International): [sp]: B+(***)
- Mokoomba: Tusona: Tracings in the Sand (2023, Out Here): [sp]: B+(**)
- Nickel Creek: Celebrants (2023, Thirty Tigers): [sp]: B-
- Old Crow Medicine Show: Jubilee (2023, ATO): [sp]: B
- Dave Pietro: The Talisman (2023 [2024], SteepleChase): [sp]: B+(**)
- Dougie Poole: The Rainbow Wheel of Death (2023, Wharf Cat): [sp]: B+(*)
- Noah Preminger/Kim Cass: The Dank (2023, Dry Bridge, EP): [bc]: B+(**)
- Nicky Schrire: Nowhere Girl (2023, Anzic): [sp]: B+(*)
- Laura Schuler Quartett: Sueños Paralelos (2021 [2023], Antidrò): [sp]: B+(**)
- Sparks Quartet [Eri Yamamoto/Chad Fowler/William Parker/Steve Hirsh]: Live at Vision Festival XXVI (2022 [2023], Mahakala Music): [bc]: B+(**)
- Peter Stampfel/Eli Smith/Walker Shepard: Wildernauts (2024, Don Giovanni): [sp]: B+(**)
- Tani Tabbal Quartet: Intentional (2022 [2023], Mahakala Music): [bc]: B+(***)
- Truth Cult: Walk the Wheel (2023, Pop Wig): [bc]: B+(*)
- Turnpike Troubadours: A Cat in the Rain (2023, Bossier City): [sp]: B
- Morgan Wallen: One Thing at a Time (2023, Big Loud): [sp]: B+(*)
- Stephen Wilson Jr.: Søn of Dad (2023, Big Loud): [sp]: A-
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Tubby Hayes: No Blues: The Complete Hopbine '65 (1965 [2023], Jazz in Britain): [bc]: B+(***)
- Jeffrey Lewis: Asides & B-Sides (2014-2018) (2014-18 [2023], self-released): [sp]: B+(***)
- Lou Reed: Hudson River Wind Meditations (2007 [2024], Light in the Attic): [sp]: B+(**)
- Taylor Swift: 1989 (Taylor's Verison) (2023, Republic): [sp]: B+(***)
- Barbara Thompson: First Light (1971-72 [2023], Jazz in Britain): [bc]: B
Old music:
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]
Monday, February 12, 2024
Daily Log
Music Week got delayed. I did the cutover more/less on schedule,
but thought I should catch up with some delayed bookkeeping, and it
got the better of me: turns out I hadn't done the indexing not just for
January but also for
December and
November of
2023. Those were
all big months, and I still hadn't finished adding December to the
artist directory when
the clock ran out on Monday. Needless to say, hadn't written any
text by they, either (although I did manage to add a postscript to
Speaking of Which). Prospects for a Tuesday post are pretty
good, which may even include the January indexing.
I noticed
this post to the Expert Witness group on Facebook, from Elizabeth
Nelson Bracy, auteur behind the Paranoid Style, with a new album out,
The Interrogator.
I reviewed it last week, and liked it well
enough to give it an A-, evidently without displaying the enthusiasm
that grade usually denotes. A couple days ago, I heard from a frequent
correspondent, who offered me a
YouTube playlist of their 2013 debut, The Power of Our Proven
System, a five-song EP I noted as unheard in my database. The
letter included this: "I'm into Elizabeth Nelson's work even less
than you are, and certainly less than Christgau and his brood."
I played it three times, but only watched some of the videos --
which were collages of newsreel footage with bits of Nelson looking
pensive and/or quizzical but not singing -- and wrote up a B+(***)
review. So I wrote that just before the Nelson post appeared.
One more bit of background. Christgau's
reviews are very favorable (grades: A-, A, A-, A-, A, A, A). He
hasn't reviewed The Interrogator yet, but that's probably the
only record I got to before seeing his review, so it's unsurprising
that my reviews should trail and reflect his (my grades: ***, A-, ***,
***, A-, ***, ***, A-, A-; the reviews are more likely to note that
the good music isn't that great, and that my slowness as grasping
lyrics preclude analysis of her undoubtedly serious stances). I
could write several more paragraphs here using Nelson as a prism
for exploring where and why Christgau and I diverge (and after 50
years of engagement, I doubt I'm the only one who ever diverges,
although his eight years of seniority seemed like much more at
the start). For now, let me just quote from one of his early
reviews, that pretty much established the theme for everything
since (emphasis added):
Faster and louder, slower and more reflective, better recorded with
a better drummer, this five-song EP is where Elizabeth Nelson fully
vents her contempt for the 60s, structural injustice, the 60s, escapist
liberalism, a charismatic mentor who brainwashed her with reason, the
60s, and the musical style she and her husband mean to be better
at than anybody else in the world except maybe Sleater-Kinney. Her
motto: "Don't think twice, it's all over now." Her self-promo:
"Glam-rock for the end times."
The bold part there is the content, which I don't recall ever
parsing (in the songs, that is, which might add some depth and/or
detail beyond the review), which Christgau clearly admires, and
which I have some doubts about (which 60s? whose 60s? and who was
that mentor? -- Richard Hofstadter? mine was Robert Paul Wolff,
and that makes a big difference). As for the music, don't get me
started on Sleater-Kinney.
Anyhow, the post:
Hey gang,
Long-time member, first-time commenter here.
A lot of you are very nice people and I've enjoyed hearing your
thoughts about music. A few of you are extremely toxic towards me, and
that's enough for me to decide to leave the group. Before I do, I did
just wanna say this:
No individual anywhere is under the remotest obligation to enjoy or
even tolerate the Paranoid Style LP 'The Interrogator' or any of our
other records. I couldn't be more okay with that. However: Weaponized
comments like "I think she's just too smart for me" or "I just don't
want to read a peer reviewed journal to understand a rock song" or
"she talks pretty good, but . . ." are standard issue reactionary dog
whistles. If that isn't clear enough you might need to do some
reflections on yr group chat. It's basically the 2016 Trump campaign
in microcosm.
For those special few: Have I taken screenshots of all of the
ill-considered, misogynistic, potentially career-ending comments
you've written about me? Of course. Will I do anything with them?
Probably not. But trust and believe that I will remember all of the
mean things you've said over the years regardless.
Mostly, I just want to say to Jon LaFollette that I DO think he is
smart enough for the Paranoid Style. As someone who also went to
::checks notes:: Indiana University for grad school -- and I was a
mediocre student!! -- I think he's actually in a uniquely good position
to get my songs. That he doesn't like the material is totally
groovy. That he chooses to dunk on any achievement my band and I have
by pissing in the punch with his snarky slights just bums me out. To
him I say: Respectfully, dude, you don't have to listen to my
music. It's not a mandate. Last I checked, this is America. You can go
and listen to any of the other zillions of albums released in the last
ten seconds. Or pick up your guitar and work on your own alt-rock
choogle. Write a better song than whatever I've put out. Release a
record. Send it to me and I'll happily -- HAPPILY -- review it.
Nelson out.
Nelson gets a fair amount of press from the Expert Witness group,
not just for her group's music but often for her writing. I haven't
read a lot of the latter, partly because it seems like a lot of it
is her catching up on stuff I'm old enough to have lived through, but
mostly because I don't read much on music except for brief scans for
prospecting. But I can remember when I was catching up myself, and
how much I was into serious criticism at the time, so I liked seeing
her on that track.
I don't recall any past hostility to her from the
EW group: most are fans, some big (the new album has been getting
advance hype for 3-6 months now), maybe the occasional reservation
(I don't recall uttering any myself). But evidently what brought
this to a head was a seemingly innocuous
post by Steve Alter, linking to the
Pitchfork review: "The score [7.4] is too low, but the words are
pretty good." What kicked this off was a comment by Jon R. LaFollette:
Am I the only one who doesn't feel nearly smart enough to understand
what the fuck this band is singing about half the time?
That was all I saw in the feed. I didn't recognize it as toxic
at the time, but it did make me wonder whether talking about how
smart Nelson is hasn't become some kind of cliché. Hadn't I just
done that? (My summary line in my EP review: "straitlaced indie
rock with copious smarts, a formula [they] have stuck doggedly
with.") I'm reminded of people at parties who flip off a lot of
names and concepts when they corner you: are they really so smart,
or just being pretentious? I've never had that reaction to Nelson,
but the more the cliché hardens into expectation, the more likely
someone will turn it over.
So I took LaFollette's comment to be a harmless joke. (Four
emojis weighed in: two hearts, two laughing/howling/hard to tell.)
Hardin Smith responded with "I always keep a thesaurus and a big
bottle of Prevagen handy when I listen to their stuff." LaFollette
countered with "I just don't want to read a peer-reviewed journal
in order to understand a rock song, ya know?" I'd score both of
these as dumb (after having to google "Prevagen," so maybe add an
esoteric to that): no one does that, and who even thinks such a
thing? My rule of thumb on lyrics is if you get them, they're a
plus or minus, but if you don't, they didn't matter.
None of this seems toxic, at least until Timothy Bracy -- Nelson's
husband and the principal non-singer in the band -- jumps in with
(directed to LaFollette): "Are you so smart that you got into law
school (vaulting achievement that) or too dumb to grasp a fucking
rock song? Clowntime." Further down, he explains:
With all due respect, Jon has been making the same nasty, belligerent,
not very funny joke about every thing Elizabeth has released for seven
years, and we have sat there and quietly consumed his abuse on the
principle that "what is the point in engaging?" At a certain juncture,
seeing your wife get repeatedly dragged by a mean, spirited anonymous
(to me) individual gets hard to take- try it sometime. I think if you
put yourself in my position you might be able to understand this. Why,
exactly, does this person have license to throw snarky,
personal-seeming elbows without consequences or pushback? Is that your
definition of a healthy critical ecosystem? Having said that, not my
best moment or rhetorical highpoint.
I perhaps should have ended that quote after the first line, but
the rest backtracks a bit, so is fair to include. This elicited a
thoughtful reply from Alter, and a reiteration from Bracy (which I
will excerpt):
However, I think you are underrating the extent to which Jon's ongoing
(and it has been ongoing) critique HAS been of a gratuitous and
particularly personal nature. He obviously hates Elizabeth's music-
which is fine- but he seems also to hate the very idea of the band
even existing, and he's extremely caustic about it.
Adding the following on 02-15, but thematically this belongs here.
LaFollette finally apologized:
I apologize to Elizabeth and Tim for my snarky comments about their
music. I should have just kept my mouth shut as I know how hard the
grind is for bands on the up-and-come. Far from my finest moment and I
take responsibility for it. But to accuse me of dog-whistling for
misogynists everywhere is a step too far. And as for supposedly being
so damn smart, I went to the same school that gave Mike Pence a law
degree. They let anyone in the club.
Joe Lunday, the group admin, also commented:
I second Barrett's comment. I also understand that the Bracys may have
been added by a group member nearly nine years ago, and perhaps
knowing nothing about the group, not considered that it would mean
reading the chatter of people who are discussing your work. To respond
to some of those comments with ad hominem attacks, macho bluster and
empty threats isn't cool. If we're going to sometimes have artists in
the group, they should consider that mobilizing the base in this way
in a gang-up on a group member - based on the most ungenerous reading
of slightly snarky criticism - isn't a fair use of their clout with a
significant number of people in the group.
Given Facebook's "significance" algorithm, Barrett Whitener's
comment appears after Lunday's seconding. Here it is:
As I said earlier, this sucks, and I'm truly sorry Elizabeth, whose
work as a musician and a critic I admire like crazy, was unhappy with
some comments. That said, this is a group where opinionated fans of a
renowned music critic talk about music. Musicians (and certainly
recording artists, and most certainly artists whose work is liable to
come up here) shouldn't be too surprised if some sharp elbows get
thrown sometimes.
I thought I might have had more to say about this, but a two-day-old
Facebook rant suddenly seems like ancient history.
Sunday, February 11, 2024
Speaking of Which
Blog link.
It's pretty exhausting trying to wrap this up on Sunday evening,
early enough so I can relax with a bit of TV, a few minutes on the
jigsaw puzzle, a few pages in my current book, and maybe a bit of
computer Mahjong before I run make to get a jump on Monday's Music
Week. After a night's sleep, chances are good that I'll think of
some introductory text, and stumble across a couple stories I
initially missed. If I do, I'll add them and mark them accordingly,
with that red right-margin border.
But if you want a pull quote right now, it's probably this:
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.
Initial counts: 145 links, 5,485 words.
Top story threads:
Israel:
Mondoweiss:
[02-05]
Day 122: Endless killings and despair in Gaza: "Biden urges Congress
to 'swiftly pass' a $118bn bipartisan deal that includes $14.1bn in
military aid to Israel after the ICJ ordered Israel to halt its ongoing
attacks on civilians in Gaza."
[02-06]
Day 123: New testimonies emerge of Israel torturing detained
Palestinians in Gaza: "Euro-Med publishes new testimonies of
Palestinian detainees subjected to dog attacks, forced nudity, and
sexual harassment in Israeli jails, as Israeli soldiers continue
posting images and videos of themselves committing atrocities in
Gaza."
[02-07]
Day 124: Hamas proposes 135-day truce to exchange captives and end
war: "Potential ceasefire deal still at discussion stage, as
U.S. President Joe Biden calls Hamas counter-proposal "a little
over the top." Israel continues to bomb Rafah and Khan Younis in
Gaza, as Israeli forces raid the West Bank, killing one teenager."
[02-08]
Day 125: Israel rejects ceasefire proposal, plans to expand ground
invasion into Rafah: "Israel rejected a Hamas proposal for a
ceasefire, which included the return of Israeli captives held in
Gaza, and is preparing instead to expand its ground invasion to
Rafah, where 1.9 million Palestinians are seeking refuge."
[02-09]
Day 126: U.S. claims it won't support 'unplanned' ground operation
in Rafah, Israel escalates attacks anyway: "Even Joe Biden admits
that Israel's conduct in Gaza is "over the top," while the Israeli
army has continued to intensify its attacks following Netanyahu's
rejection of Hamas's most recent ceasefire proposal."
[02-10]
Day 127: Growing international alarm over Israeli plans to invade
Rafah: "Israel has announced its intention to push ahead with
its plans to invade Rafah in the southernmost Gaza Strip, where
1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering. Rafah's mayor, Ahmed
al-Sufi, warns any military action there would result in a
'massacre.'"
[02-11]
Day 128: Israeli snipers kill Palestinians at Nasser Hospital; gear
up for Rafah invasion: "Hamas says an Israeli attack on Rafah
would end any exchange talks for captives. The siege of the Al-Amal
and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis enters its third week, three
patients die due to Israel blocking oxygen tanks from entering."
Richard Hardigan: [02-10]
Polls show broad support in Israel for Gaza's destruction and
starvation: "Nearly 58 percent of respondents in one poll
said they think the IDF is using 'too little firepower' in Gaza."
Maryam Jamshidi: [02-05]
Biden executive order on West Bank violence more likely to be used
against Palestinians than Israeli settlers.
Tarif Khalidi/Mayssoun Sukarieh: [02-04]
Leader of the underground tells all: "Yahya al-Sinwar's autobiographical
quasi-novel Thorns and Carnations shows the Hamas leader has lived
a life focused on faith and an obsessive project to build an infrastructure
of resistance in Gaza."
Middle East Monitor: [02-11]
Israeli soldiers steal over $54m from Gaza bank.
Tamam Mohsen: [01-10]
The Gaza genocide is just an instrument in Israel's larger colonial
project.
Loveday Morris: [02-10]
Young Israelis block aid to Gaza while IDF soldiers stand and
watch.
John Mueller: [02-05]
After a spate of warnings, Israel went down the 9/11 path anyway:
"Overreaction has unleashed a fury that has sucked away sympathy and
likely spawned a new generation of terrorism."
Jeremy Scahill:
Israel's ruthless propaganda campaign to dehumanize Palestinians.
Richard Silverstein: [02-09]
Netanyahu: IDF to expel 1.5 million Gazans in Rafah: "Ground invasion
to start within two weeks." It's hard to imagine how this plan might work,
other than to knock down the walls separating Gaza from Egypt, making it
impossible for Egypt to control the border.
Ishaan Tharoor: [02-09]
Netanyahu's delusional, deadly quest for 'total victory'.
Eric Toler, et al: [02-06]
What Israeli soldiers' videos reveal: cheering destruction and mocking
Gazans: "The footage provides a rare and unsanctioned window into
the war."
Sharon Zhang: [02-09]
As Israel starves Gaza, 1 in 10 children under 5 are now acutely
malnourished.
Oren Ziv: [02-08]
Meet the settlers targeted by Biden's sanctions -- and their victims:
"Palestinians and Israelis who've experienced the settlers' attacks
first-hand see the move as a positive but wholly insufficient step
toward accountability."
Israel vs. world opinion:
Ben Armbruster: [02-08]
Media downplays lack of evidence in UNRWA employee scandal.
More on UNRWA:
Zubayr Alikhan: [02-08]
The unthinkability of slave revolt: "Those who say that Israel knew
about the plans for October 7 all along are repackaging an old colonial
trope which believes that the natives are too docile, too submissive,
too cowardly, and too inferior to revolt against their oppressors."
Donald Earl Collins: [02-11]
Western narcissism and support for genocidal Israel go hand in
hand.
Masha Gessen: [02-07]
The limits of accusing Israel of genocide: "Two recent court cases
failed to stop the mass violence in Gaza, but they gave center stage
to facts and historical interpretations that, in Western countries,
at least, are often relegated to the margins."
Omar Karmi: [02-01]
Gaza genocide turns into PR disaster for US.
Julianne McShane: [02-09]
At Hillary Clinton's panel on sexual violence, a clash over the war
in Gaza: Once again, she's stepping up to aid Israel's propaganda
machine in its genocide promotion.
Mitchell Plitnick: [02-09]
Dehumanization and misinformation in service of genocide: "The
dehumanization of Muslims and Arabs combined with outright misinformation
about October 7 is the engine powering the genocide in Gaza."
Alex Skopic/Nathan J Robinson: [02-07]
Islamophobia will poison this country: "The U.S. media is once again
presenting the vicious dehumanizing caricatures that make it easier to
oppress and wage war on people."
Philip Weiss:
[02-09]
CNN bias toward Israel starts at the top.
[02-11]
Weekly Briefing: Biden buckles (under the weight of 28,000 Palestinian
deaths): I've said all along that the genocide will stop only when
Israeli authorities develops a conscience, or at least a sense of shame.
No evidence of that in Israel, so we're looking at Biden, who thus far
has remained politically subservient, but his complicity in genocide
is taking a toll -- on his polls, if not necessarily on a conscience
that has exhibited much flexibility over fifty-some years. It's hard
to remember the last time any American president cajoled Israel into
doing something its leader didn't want -- maybe GWH Bush dragging
Shamir to the peace table at Madrid in 1991, only to endure endless
haggling over the shape of the table (but enough Israelis took note
of American displeasure to replace Shamir with Rabin, leading to the
Oslo breakthrough). It would take a much clearer break to make any
impression on Netanyahu or his voters, and Biden would need to grow
a backbone as well as a conscience (something Eisenhower showed when
he backed Ben Gurion out of Sinai in 1956-57 -- yeah, it took that
long, even through a presidential election). But "buckled" is a bit
optimistic here. 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.
PS: For an examples of Biden's "buckling," see:
Netanyahu's already assured him there's no problem, but plans will
go ahead. Something else he can buckle for.
William Youmans: [02-08]
The Sunday talk shows on Israel-Gaza: The blob still reigns:
"Unsurprisingly, numbers show how one-sided and detached America's
elite newsmakers really are."
America's expansion of Israel's world war:
Trump, and other Republicans:
Nicole Narea: [02-09]
Nevada's primary and caucuses didn't change the race. They did wreak
avoidable chaos. "Trump won, Haley lost, and Nevada botched its
key role in the GOP primary."
Isaac Arnsdorf: [02-09]
Trump, using false comparisons with Biden, demands dismissal of documents
charges.
Devlin Barrett/Perry Stein: [02-11]
The Trump trials: Double hearings Thursday, awaiting Supreme Court
action.
Jonathan Chait:
EJ Dionne Jr: [02-11]
Let's just say it: The Republican problem is metastasizing.
The long-time columnist is a little slow on the draw, as he
implicitly admits in citing a 2012 op-ed from Thomas E
Mann/Norman J Ornstein:
Let's just say it: The Republicans are the problem.
Tom Engelhardt: [02-06]
A Trumpian Bacchanalia in 2024? The long-time editor wrote a
prescient book in 1995 called The End of Victory Culture: Cold
War America and the Disillusioning of a Generation, and went
on to found
TomDispatch and edit a long list of
books chronicling the political, economic, and moral decay of the
American empire. Now, he envisions a sequel:
And if Donald Trump were to be elected, we would also find ourselves
in an almost unimaginable version of -- yes! -- defeat culture (and
maybe that will have to be the title of the book I'll undoubtedly
never write after I turn 80 and am headed downhill myself).
But don't make me go on! Honestly, you know just as well as I do
that, if the man who only wants to "drill, drill, drill" ends up back
in the White House, you can more or less kiss this country (which
already happens to be the biggest oil producer and natural gas
exporter around) and possibly this planet goodbye. And if he doesn't . . .
well, you may have to kiss it goodbye anyway.
And that would be defeat culture, big time.
Garrett Epps: [02-05]
It's not just the border: The Trump-Abbott-Republican nullification
crisis is here.
Naomi Fry: [02-06]
Donald Trump's chaos, straight to your in-box: "Political fund-raising
e-mails are often touched by hysteria, but the former President's are
unique -- wildly remixing favorite phrases into a fevered Surrealist
cut-up."
Margaret Hartmann: [02-08]
Rudy Giuliani's most eye-popping claims from his bankruptcy hearing.
Ed Kilgore: [02-09]
Nikki Haley couldn't even win the Virgin Islands caucus: "Trump
won big and swept the four delegates at stake."
Noel King: [02-09]
What the business community thinks of a Trump economy reboot:
"The economy did well under Trump the first time around." Really?
"Here's why some CEOs are worried about the sequel." Interview
with Economist columnist Henry Tricks.
Paul Krugman: [02-08]
Can America survive a party of saboteurs? But Republicans aren't
just saboteurs. They're extortionists. A big part of their campaign
pitch is: elect us, or we'll make a stink and wreck government at
every opportunity. But electing them doesn't end the sabotage. It
merely shifts it into less public spheres, where they can ultimately
do more damage. They are effectively nihilists, believers in nothing
but their own infallible grasp of power. The only way to survive a
party like that is to starve it of power, including publicity.
Kelly McClure: [02-09]
Trump brags to NRA about lax gun control during his time in
office. Again, see Steve M.: [02-10]
Trump on guns: The ad writes itself.
Bill Scher: [02-08]
Fear of immigrants has broken the Republican Party: "The
Congressional Republican chaos over the border and how it's delaying,
if not sinking, aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan is more proof
that the GOP's nativist turn is not the surefire political winner
conservatives think it is." Another foolish defense of Washington
orthodoxy, if you ask me. The nativism may be unpopular among the
capitalists Republicans love to cater to, but it does energize
the Republican base, and the rich are hard-pressed to gain votes
for tax breaks and deregulation elsewhere, so they've developed
a cynical tolerance for right-wing bigotry. Given that Trump has
already rode the issue to the nomination, the "chaos" is nothing
more than a dispute over tactics. On the other hand, anyone who
thinks that support and encouragement for foreign wars is a
"surefire political winner," which seems to be Scher's point,
is a total fool. Republicans smell victory in November because
the Democrats are playing these two issues exactly wrong.
Margaret Sullivan: [01-25]
We must start urgently talking about the dangers of a second Trump
presidency.
Li Zhou:
Biden and/or the Democrats:
Michael Arria: [02-09]
The Shift: Biden and Michigan. The "swing state" is especially
crucial for Biden's reelection. Few broad-spectrum Democrats will
leave Biden for Trump no matter how much they oppose Biden's support
for Netanyuahu's genocide, but many Arab-Americans voted Republican
before Trump's racism drove them away, and they know all too well
how war against Muslims abroad comes home to harass them, so it's
not implausible they could tilt the election. Also:
Brakkton Booker: [02-06]
South Carolina Dems wanted to prove they should be first. The turnout
was underwhelming.
Ross Douthat: [02-10]
The question is not if Biden should step aside. It's how.
Good title, but I have so little respect for the messenger I
almost didn't bother. Sure, his notion that Biden should hold
back and throw the nomination open at the convention, without
endorsing anyone, has some merit. It would deny the rank and
file any real say, but would avoid bruising primaries, and
most importantly the scramble for donors that tends to be so
critical. The nominee might not be the best possible, but not
the worst, either. Still, it smacks of desperation, and few
insiders would be willing to give up easily. I don't see it
happening.
Jill Filipovic: [01-22]
Biden is whiffing it on the most important issue for Democrats:
"He needs to campaign a lot harder on abortion rights -- and how it's
inextricably tied to the threat Trump poses to democracy."
Jonathan Martin: [02-04]
Forget No Labels. Biden's third-party peril is on the Left.
Andrew Prokop: [02-08]
Biden and Trump are both old. Only one got a special counsel memory
test. The special prosecutor's report seems designed to fend off
Republican criticism for not indicting Biden by feeding them political
talking points.
Matt Stieb: [02-08]
Marianne Williamson ends campaign in the most Marianne Williamson
way possible.
Benjamin Wallace-Wells: [02-04]
Joe Biden's weird perception problem: "For the President and his
campaign staff, the problem is tactical. How can he pull this off?
There is no shortage of advice."
Lots of people have unsolicited advice for the Biden campaign,
which frankly seems to need one, but New Republic came up with a
bundle of them this week -- enough to break out from the news
items above, so let's collect them here.
Legal matters and other crimes:
Climate and environment:
Delger Erdenesanaa: [02-08]
Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist, wins his defamation suit:
I still don't approve of defamation suits, but anything that knocks Mark
Steyn and National Review down a notch must be counted a win --
the other defendant, Rand Simberg, doesn't ring a bell, but Competitive
Enterprise Institute sounds awful fishy. I'm aware of, but haven't read,
Mann's books, most recently The New Climate War: The Fight to Take
Back Our Planet (2021).
Umair Irfan:
Sarah Kaplan: [02-09]
Why this is one of the planetary shifts scientists are most worried
about: Disruption of the complex AMOC (Atlantic Meridional
Overturning Circulation) system, which circulates water in the
North Atlantic.
Economic matters:
Ukraine War:
Around the world:
Other stories:
Al Jazeera: [02-02]
Ex-CIA software engineer who leaked to WikiLeaks sentenced to 40
years: "Joshua Schulte had been found guilty of handing over
classified materials in so-called Vault 7 leak.
Nicholson Baker: [01-31]
No, aliens haven't visited the earth: "Why are so many smart people
insisting otherwise?"
Harry Brighouse: [02-05]
What's wrong with free public college? Some reasonable points,
but I'm not much bothered that a right to free higher education
would benefit the middle class more than poorer students. Lots of
worthwhile programs do the same, but we shouldn't, for example,
give up on airline safety just because the beneficiaries skew up.
Elizabeth Dwoskin: [02-10]
How a liberal billionaire became America's leading anti-DEI crusader:
Profile of Bill Ackman. Another rich guy with money to burn, but
how does having donated to Clinton and Obama make him any kind of
liberal?
Nicholas Fandos: [02-10]
What to know about the race to replace George Santos: "The
special House election in New York pits Mazi Pilip, a Republican
county legislator, against Tom Suozzi, a former Democratic
congressman." In other words, the Democrats nominated the most
anodyne white guy possible, while the Republicans calculated
that the best way to advance their racist, sexist, nativist
agenda was by nominating a black female Jewish immigrant from
Ethiopia.
Abdallah Fayyad/Nicole Narea/Andrew Prokop: [02-09]
7 questions about migration and the US-Mexico border, answered.
More border:
Rebecca Gordon: [02-11]
Banning what matters: "Public libraries under MAGA threat."
Joshua Keating: [02-06]
Welcome to the "neomedieval era": "Nations like the US have more
firepower than ever before -- but they also appear weaker than ever.
The upshot is a world that feels out of control."
Clare Malone: [02-10]
Is the media prepared for an extinction-level event? "Ads are
scarce, search and social traffic is dying, and readers are burned
out. The future will require fundamentally rethinking the press's
relationship to its audience."
AW Ohlheiser: [02-08]
What we've learned from 20 years of Facebook.
Nathan J Robinson:
Jeffrey St Clair: [02-09]
Roaming Charges: Comfortably dumb. Harsh on Biden. Quote:
Sen. Chris Murphy on the failed Border/Ukraine/Israel deal:
"They are a disaster right now. How can you trust any Republicans
right now? They told us what to do. We followed their instructions to
the letter. And then they pulled the rug out from under us in 24 hrs."
["They"? You got nothing but embarrassed.]
It's instructive that MAGA has threatened to "destroy" James
Lankford, the rightwing Senator from Oklahoma who wrote a border
closure bill that gave them 99% of what they wanted and Democrats are
lining up behind Biden for endorsing a bill that betrayed everything
he'd ever promised on immigration.
Bryan Walsh: [02-10]
Taylor Swift, the NFL, and two routes to cultural dominance:
My minor acknowledgment of the week's overweening culture story,
not that I have anything to say about it. Cultural dominance isn't
what it used to be LVIII years ago, when the Chiefs I remember
fondly -- Len Dawson, Otis Taylor, Ed Budde, E.J. Holub, Buck
Buchanan -- got butchered by the Green Bay Packers (IV was much
more satisfying), while the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan,
and James Brown were regularly outdoing themselves. These days,
even the largest stars seem much smaller than they did when I
was fifteen, because we now recognize that the world is so much
larger. I haven't watched football since the 1980s (or baseball
since the 1990s), and while I still listen to quite a bit of
popular music, I doubt that any new artist has occupied as much
as 1% of my time since 2000. I've listened to, and clearly like,
Taylor Swift, but I hardly recognize her song titles, and
certainly couldn't rank them (as
Rob Sheffield did, 243 of them). I suppose you could chalk that
up to age, but I'm feeling the least bit nostalgic. I reviewed more
than 1,600 records last year. In 1966, I doubt I heard more than 10 --
supplemented, of course, by KLEO and TV shows like Shindig!
and Hullabaloo,
but the universe I was conscious of extended to at most a couple
hundred artists. Back then, I thought I could master it all. Now
I know I never stood a chance.
I know I promised, but what the hell:
Li Zhou: [02-06]
The Grammys' Beyoncé snubs speak to a deeper problem: Beyoncé
was snubbed? "They're emblematic of how the awards have failed Black
artists." As someone who has never had any expectation of Grammy
ever doing anything right, I find the very notion that anyone could
be so certainly deserving of a win as to be snubbed baffling.
Sorry for doing this to you, but I'm going to quote a Donald Trump
tweet (quoted by
Matthew Yglesias, reposted by Dean Baker, my emphasis added):
2024 is our Final Battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the
Deep State, we will expel the warmongers from our government,
we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the Communists,
Marxists, and Fascists, we will throw off the sick political class
that hates our Country, we will rout the Fake News Media, we will
Drain the Swamp, and we will liberate our country from these tyrants
and villains once and for all!
Yglesias responded: "This stuff is demented but it also serves
to deflect attention from the boring reality that what he's going
to do is cut rich people's taxes, raise prescription drug prices,
let companies dump more shit in the water, etc etc etc." There's
a lot of hyperbole in this pitch, but who can doubts that there
are warmongers in the cururent government, that they are pushing
us into more perilous foreign entanglements, and that Biden isn't
likely to restrain much less break from them. There's good reason
to doubt that Trump can fix this, but if he wants to campaign on
the promise, many people will find slim chance preferable to none.
Moreover, the rest of his pitch is coherent and forceful, and is
likely to resonate with the propaganda pitch much of the media --
and not just the shills at Fox -- have been pushing over the last
decade.
Countering that Trump won't really do this just feeds into the
paranoia over the Deep State -- which, to be sure, thwarted him in
2017, but this time he knows much better what he's up against.
Worse still is arguing that his actual government will be boring,
with a side of petty corruption, just shows you're not listening,
and also suggests that you don't much care what happens. If Trump
did nothing more than check off Yglesias's list, he'd still be a
disaster for most Americans. But at the very minimum, he's going
to do much more than that: he's going to talk, and he's going to
talk a lot, and he's going to bring more people into government
and media who are going to add ever more vicious details to the
mass of hate and pomposity he spews. And even though lots of us
are going to recoil in horror, we'll still have to stuggle to
survive being inundated by it all, all the while suffering the
glee of our tormenters.
Of course, the "Final Battle" and "once and for all" is as over
the top as the Book of Revelation he's taken to heart. But that it
can't happen won't make them any less determined, or dangerous, or
dreadful.
Thursday, February 08, 2024
Daily Log
I was working on the "Reading Obits" piece and wondered whatever
happened to my old minister, from the several years when we regularly
attended Glen Park Christian Church. I heard a lot of sermons --
almost all based on verses from the Gospels -- and he baptised me,
but I actually got to know him a bit when he counselled me toward
the Boy Scouts God & Country Award. I found this obituary:
Kenneth D. Cable, Manhattan, Kansas, Sept. 21, 2019, age 84.
It says he had been "president of Manhattan Christian College for
25 years, retiring in 2005," and cites other experience in religious
education, but doesn't mention previous ministry, or living in
Wichita. I found several other obituaries for "Ken Cable," but
this seems by far the most likely. I don't see a birth date, but
1935 would have made him 27-30 when I knew him, which seems about
right.
I posted this comment on Facebook, about The R&B No. 1s
of the '40s -- Clifford Ocheltree suggested that the first two
discs were B+, the last two A.
The first two discs are more scattered, or idiosyncratic. One suspects
that the separate race charts were created to reflect the segregated
markets -- not the race of the artists -- so the mix starts very mixed
(most egregiously with "White Christmas," although almost everything
else is interesting). The third disc seems better because it's mostly
Louis Jordan. Whether you need that or not is a separate issue. But
the formalization of a black market gave black artists an opportunity
they took advantage of, and thoroughly conquered. In the 1950s, blacks
moved into the white market, and again excelled. Many of us who were
born around 1950 were quite aware of the Jim Crow world, but saw it as
decrepit, ignorant, and pathetic/vicious -- compared to which blacks
seemed to be supremely talented. I noticed that first in baseball,
then more generally in athletics, but music soon followed. While I
didn't get back to the 1940s until much later, it soon became clear
that this was the period when music changed history.
Ocheltree, who I've only known as a resident of New Orleans, replied:
Tom, you and I are roughly the same age and I certainly grasp the
various issues of a Jim Crow world. But my experience was quite
different. My next door neighbors at our home in Chicago were
African-American (quite well to-do but still). My parents, hardly
liberal, made it very clear we were to treat them with the same level
of respect that we showed to all adults. On the other side we had a
white family of hard core Civil Rights advocates. Just about every
major leader in that movement spent time in their house. My parents
insisted my brother and I meet and speak with them. And I will not
mention our maid / nanny who was Otis Rush's aunt. My exposure to
music and people was certainly unique for the time. As for a "period
when music changed history" I'm in full agreement. Which may be why I
favor sets like this which illustrate and provide a context for that
change.
Monday, February 05, 2024
Music Week
Expanded blog post,
February archive
(in progress).
Tweet: Music Week: 34 albums, 6 A-list
Music: Current count 41777 [41743] rated (+34), 21 [16] unrated (+5).
Very late start here, but I don't have much to say, so let's
just get it out of the way.
I published another
Speaking of Which Sunday evening. Came out with more links
than usual (141), but fewer words (4726), so I didn't do much
commenting. Today I added another 1000 words of introduction,
but only 5 more links. Look for the red stripe in the right
margin. The new words try to explain why some of the things
people say to frame what Israel and the US are doing in ways
that further genocide and poison any prospect for peace.
I'm about 100 pages into Greg Grandin's The End of the Myth:
From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America.
I thought about quoting several sections that seem particularly
relevant to the present, especially about how the notion of an
expandable frontier, driven by new settlement, leads to racism
at home, war abroad, and genocide for whoever gets caught in the
middle. In America this is the dynamic of Jefferson's "Empire of
Liberty," of Jackson's "Indian Removal," and of Polk's "Mexican
War." Many people understand Israel (like America, South Africa,
and Algeria) as an example of attempted Settler Colonialism, but
few people have noted the significance of Ben Gurion's refusal in
1948 to declare or, even after defining armistices in 1950-51,
define Israel's borders -- even though Ben Gurion had lobbied
hard to get the UN to approve a partition plan with defined
borders.
I'm struggling to revise an old blog post I wrote about "reading
obituaries" for possible inclusion in a book some friends are intent
on publishing, and I'm tearing my hair out over my inability to focus
on that task, or indeed on much of anything. That in turn has left
everything else on hold.
I figured I'd wrap up the
EOY aggregate once I
counted Robert Christgau's
Dean's List: 2023. It's out now, and I've split it up into
essay and
list,
but I haven't counted it yet. I also haven't updated the Consumer
Guide database and added the links from the list file to the database.
Later this week.
I did add a few things to the EOY aggregate, like the
Free Jazz Collective Album of the Year and
individual critic lists for their writers who didn't vote in the
Francis Davis JCP --
I've taken names, 11 of them, compared to the 7 who did vote.
I'd also like to point out that Mark Lomanno is doing a very nice
Month in Review series. It's perhaps a bit more mainstream than the
monthly columns Phil Freeman writes for Stereogum and Dave Sumner
for Bandcamp Daily, but is a very welcome development. I've been
neglecting my
2024 music tracking file, but with
both labels and release dates, it makes updating too easy to ignore.
Also note that Paul Medrano is making an effort to track all
2024 New Jazz Music Releases, also in very usable format.
I hope some readers here will find a way to help him out.
I also want to recommend one of the very best EOY reports I've
seen this year, Tris McCall's
Pop Music
Abstract 2023, which is basically a whole year's worth of
well-written reviews. I added all of the albums cited to my EOY
Aggregate (code: tmr:+), even after I realized that not all of
them were positive reviews; e.g.:
Sigur Ros -- Atta Oh god no.
Which was even more to the point than even my own B−
review. But also take a look at his Lemon Twigs review, which does
a marvelous job of putting into words what I was thinking when I
simply jotted down C+.
Rated count is significantly down this week, to which I can only
say, "whew!" Two 4-CD boxes, though, that I actually bought, and
possibly cut them some slack (certainly gave them more time) as a
result.
Still lots of technical glitches around the office and home, but
I did get my main computer's speakers working, so I'm able to start
playing downloads and Soundcloud and YouTube links again.
One thing I didn't do last week was pay any attention to my demo
queue, for for that matter to 2024 releases (although five snuck in
anyway, including one A−).
New records reviewed this week:
- Ben Allison/Steve Cardenas/Ted Nash: Tell the Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols (2022 [2024], Sonic Camera): [sp]: B+(***)
- Chuquimamani-Condori: DJ E (2023, self-released): [bc]: B+(*)
- City Girls: Raw (2023, Quality Control/Motown): [sp]: B+(**)
- Isaiah Collier: Parallel Universe (2023, Night Dreamer): [sp]: B+(***)
- Craven Faults: Standers (2023, The Leaf Label): [sp]: B+(***)
- Charley Crockett: Live from the Ryman Auditorium (2022 [2023], Son of Davy): [sp]: A-
- DJ Danifox: Ansiedade (2023, Principe): [sp]: B+(**)
- DJ K: Panico No Submundo (2023, Nyege Nyege Tapes): [sp]: B+(*)
- Chad Fowler/George Cartwright/Kelley Hurt/Christopher Parker/Luke Stewart/Steve Hirsh/Zoh Amba: Miserere (2023, Mahakala Music): [bc]: B+(**)
- Chad Fowler/Shanyse Strickland/Sana Nagano/Melanie Dyer/Ken Filiano/Anders Griffen: Birdsong (2022 [2024], Mahakala Music): [bc]: B+(**)
- Jayda G: Guy (2023, Ninja Tune): [sp]: B+(***)
- Tim Hecker: No Highs (2023, Kranky): [sp]: B+(***)
- Abdullah Ibrahim: 3 (2023 [2024], Gearbox): [sp]: B+(*)
- Jonas Brothers: The Album (2023, Republic): [sp]: B+(*)
- Lia Kohl: The Ceiling Reposes (2023, American Dreams): [sp]: B+(**)
- Jamie Leonhart: The Illusion of Blue (Side A) (2022, self-released, EP): [sp]: B-
- Jamie Leonhart: The Illusion of Blue (Side B) (2022, self-released, EP): [sp]: B-
- Bonnie Montgomery: River (2023, Gar Hole): [sp]: B+(*)
- Ulysses Owens Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): [sp]: B+(**)
- The Paranoid Style: The Interrogator (2024, Bar/None): [sp]: A-
- Luciana Souza & Trio Corrente: Cometa (2023, Sunnyside): [sp]: B+(**)
- David Tamura + Toadal Package: Final Entrance (2023, JPN): [bc]: B+(**)
- Azu Tiwaline: The Fifth Dream (2023, IOT): [sp]: A-
- Mark Turner Quartet: Live at the Village Vanguard (2022 [2023], Giant Step Arts): [sp]: B+(**)
- Wiki & Tony Seltzer: 14K Figaro (2023, Wikset Enterprise): [sp]: B+(***)
- Eri Yamamoto: Colors of the Night Trio (2022 [2023], Mahakala Music): [bc]: B+(**)
Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:
- Borga Revolution! Volume 1: Ghanaian Dance Music in the Digital Age, 1983-1992 (1983-92 [2022], Kalita): [sp]: B+(***)
- Borga Revolution! Volume 2: Ghanaian Dance Music in the Digital Age, 1983-1996 (1983-96 [2023], Kalita): [sp]: A-
- The Dave Brubeck Quartet: Live From the Northwest, 1959 (1959 [2023], Brubeck Editions): [r]: B+(***)
- Duke Ellington: All the Hits and More 1927-54 (1927-54 [2023], Acrobat, 4CD): [cd]: A
- Kantata: It's High Time Now (1986 [2023], BBE): [sp]: B+(***)
- Papa Yankson: Party Time (Odo Ye Wu) (1989 [2023], Kalita): [sp]: B+(***)
Old music:
Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
- Duke Ellington: All the Hits and More 1927-54 (Acrobat, 4CD)
- Christian Fabian Trio: Hip to the Skip (Spicerack) [02-01]
- Gordon Grdina/Christian Lillinger: Duo Work (Attaboygirl) [02-16]
- Gordon Grdina's the Marrow: With Fathieh Honari (Attaboygirl) [02-16]
- Doug MacDonald: Sextet Session (DMAC Music) [03-01]
- The R&B No. 1s of the '40s (1942-50, Acrobat, 4CD)
Sunday, February 04, 2024
Speaking of Which
Blog link.
No introduction for now. I really need to be working on other
things. This is driving me crazy. Right now, all I really want is
to move it out of the way.
Initial count: 141 links, 4726 words. Revised: 146 links, 5723
words.
After posting, I ran into a couple items that merit additional
comments, mostly because they exemplify the kind of shoddy thinking
that promotes war (or vice versa).
Harlan Ullman: [01-31]
We don't need a Tonkin Gulf Resolution for the Red Sea. Headline
is ok, but the hawks don't need one because Biden is escalating the
war on his own authority -- as presidents have tended to do ever since
the "blank check" war authorization Johnson secured in 1964. But nearly
everything else here is wrong-headed or at least seriously muddled. The
bit that got to me was "Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, diabolically
designed to elicit an Israeli overreaction." He seems to be saying
that Israel had no agency in the matter. And now the Houthis, having
"plagiarized Hamas' Oct. 7 attack," have tricked the US into bombing
Yemen, risking escalation into a broader regional war -- for which,
no doubt about this, Ullman will find sinister designs in Tehran.
Of course, there is a perverse kernel of truth to this: Israel and
the U.S. are such dedicated believers in security through deterrence
that they feel obliged to meet any challenges with overwhelming force,
with scarcely a thought given to collateral victims, let alone to how
the resulting atrocities damage their credibility and their own psyches.
But given their massive investments in intelligence gathering, in war
gaming, and in propagandizing, it's hard to accept that their warmaking
is merely a conditioned reflex, something that a marginal ideologue
with a martyr complex could simply trigger. (As
Laura Tillem put it: "Bin Laden was a hypnotist who said look into
my eyes, you will now pour all your resources down the drain.")
Rather, they must somehow believe that terror suffices to suppress
the aspirations of the disempowered people who inconveniently occupy
parts of the world they feel entitled to rule. Still, they feel the
need to paint themselves as innocent victims -- a claim that is only
plausible in the wake of a sudden outburst, which is why Netanyahu on
10/7, like Bush on 9/11, seized the opportunity to take the offensive
and do horrible things long dreamed of but rarely disclosed.
By the way, Ullman lays claim to have been the guy who thought up
the "shock and awe" strategy that promised to instantly win the war
against Saddam Hussein. It didn't, perhaps because only the dead were
truly shocked and awed. The rest simply learned that they could survive,
and resolved to fight on. But imagine, instead, the kind of people who
got excited by the Powerpoint presentation. Those were the people, from
Bush to the Pentagon to their affiliated "think tanks," who, intent on
proving their own superiority, brought death and havoc to 20 countries
over 20 years. Most were genuinely envious of Israel, which they saw
as the one government truly free to impose its superior power on its
region and their unfortunate peoples. So now that Israel has finally
moved from systematic discrimination reinforced withsporadic terrorism
to actual genocide, they're giddy with excitement. Ullman advises them
to "act boldly to cripple Houthi and Islamic militant capabilities,"
but he's also advising a measure of stealth, unlike the "real men go
to Tehran" crowd.
The second piece I wanted to mention came from Democracy Today:
[02-05]
U.S. & Israel vs. Axis of Resistance: Biden Strikes New Targets
in Middle East as Gaza War Continues. The transcript includes an
interview with Narges Bajoghli, an "expert" who likes to throw about
the term "Axis of Resistance." Evidently, this is enough of a thing
that it has its own
Wikipedia page (as does
Iran-Israel proxy conflict, linked to under "Purposes for the Axis").
The term "Axis of Resistance" is internally incoherent and externally
malicious. "Axis" implies organization and coordination of a power bloc,
which hardly exists, and even where possible is informal. "Resistance"
is something that arises locally, wherever power is imposed. Palestinians
resist Israeli power, wherever it is felt, sometimes violently, mostly
non-violently, but in Israeli-controlled territories to little or no
effect. When Israel occupied Lebanon, resistance was generated there as
well, most significantly coalescing into Hezbollah. Resisters may come
to feel solidarity with others, and may even help each other out, but
resistance itself is a limiting function of power. "Axis of Resistance"
was nothing more than a rhetorical twist on Bush's "Axis of Evil."
What makes the term dangerous is that it's being used to organize a
coherent picture of an enemy that Israel can goad America into waging
war against. (Israelis have no wish to be the "real men" invading Iran,
but would be happy to cheer Americans on, especially as a hopeless war
there would deflect qualms about genocide.)
Bajoghli isn't as fully aligned with the hawks as Ullman is, but
inadvertently helps them by buying this significant propaganda line.
A realistic analysis would see that there are obvious opportunities
to breaking up this "axis": Iran wants to end its isolation, and be
able to trade with Europe and America (as, it was starting to do
before Trump broke the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions); Assad
would do virtually anything except surrender power for stability;
Yemen and Lebanon have been wracked by civil wars for decades,
mostly because local power is fragmented while foreign powers
have been free to intervene. These and many other problems could
be solved diplomatically, but what has to happen first is to turn
the heat down, by demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and beyond, along
with discipline against the pogroms in the West Bank. Israel needs
to see that their dreams of a "final solution" to the Palestinians
are futile: there is no alternative to living together, in peace,
with some tangible sense of justice. Not everyone on every side is
going to like that, but a democracy of all should be able to come
to that conclusion.
Top story threads:
Israel:
Mondoweiss:
Shatha Abdulsamad: [01-30]
War on Gaza: Defunding UNRWA is a war against all Palestinians.
The speed with which the US and other nations acted to defund UNRWA
shows that they could have acted with similar resolve to withdraw
funding for Israel's genocidal war. That they haven't done so shows
that they hold separate and extremely unequal values on Israeli and
Palestinian lives. More on UNRWA:
Shane Harris/John Hudson/Karen DeYoung/Souad Mekhennet: [01-31]
Israeli intelligence prompted U.S. to quickly cut Gaza aid funding:
Israel claims to have identified 12 UNRWA employees in Gaza (out of
13,000) with ties to the Oct. 7 attack, which was enough to move the
US and other nations to act in a PR coup meant to counter the ICJ's
"plausible genocide" findings, something the US et al. have done
absolutely nothing to act on. Well, actually what they've done is
worse than inaction, as hobbling the UN's aid organization directly
adds to the genocidal effects of Israel's war. As Norman Finkelstein
has pointed out, all Israel has actually alleged is that some Hamas
militants also have day jobs. Still, makes me wonder how many UNRWA
employees are also working for Mossad or Shin Bet.
AlJazeera: [02-01]
What is UNRWA and why is it important for Palestinians?
Ellen Ioanes: [01-31]
The allegations against the UN's Palestinian refugee relief agency,
explained.
Hasan Basri Bulbul: [01-29]
Defunding UNRWA: With this act, western powers are likely complicit
in genocide.
Ryan Grim:
Republicans move to one-up Biden and permanently defund UNRWA.
David Hearst: [02-01]
Why is the West falling for Israel's play to destroy UNRWA?
Alex MacDonald: [01-29]
Israel, UNRWA and the West: A history of claims and cuts.
MME: [01-31]
Netanyahu says UNRWA mission 'must be terminated'.
Mitchell Plitnick: [02-03]
U.S. admits it hasn't verified Israel's UNRWA claims, media ignores
it.
Dylan Saba: [02-02]
A new phase for Gaza: The war on humanitarian aid: "Why the attack
on UNRWA looks a lot like collective punishment."
Alexei Sisulu Abrahams: [02-02]
How the news cycle misses the predominant violence in
Israel-Palestine.
Ruwaida Kamal Amer: [01-31]
'My children are crying from hunger. This is a war of starvation':
"With insufficient aid and skyrocketing prices across Gaza,
Palestinians in the overcrowded city of Rafah are struggling
to feed their families."
Tareq S Hajjaj:
Shatha Hanaysha: [01-30]
Executed in their sleep: How Israeli forces assassinated three
Palestinians in a raid on a West Bank hospital.
Ibrahim Husseini: [02-03]
Silwan faces escalating home demolitions in fight against messianic
settlers. Title seems confused, in that the state is doing the
demolitions, at the settlers' behest, so who's fighting them?
Samer Jaber: [01-28]
The Palestinian Authority's role has become to delegitimize Palestinian
resistance. Well, more than that: "It is now a direct collaborator
amid the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza."
Shola Lawai: [02-03]
How Israel's flooding of Gaza's tunnels will impact freshwater
supply.
Eitay Mack: [01-31]
How Israeli settler terrorism set the stage for genocide in Gaza.
Brad Pearce: [01-30]
Western media's blackout of Israel's "Hannibal Directive".
Shahd Safi: [01-29]
Egyptian officials are charging Palestinians a massive ransom to
escape the Gaza genocide.
Margherita Stancati/Anat Peled: [01-29]
Israel's far right plots a 'new Gaza' without Palestinians.
Oren Ziv: [01-30]
Turning Zeitoun into Shivat Zion: Israeli summit envisions Gaza
resettlement. Isaelis are holding something they call "Conference
for Israel's Victory," replete with maps of how they plan to divvy
up the spoils of a depopulated Gaza.
Israel vs. world opinion:
America's expansion of Israel's world war:
Dan Lamothe/Alex Horton/Missy Ryan: [02-03]
U.S., Britain launch new wave of military strikes in Yemen: "The
operation follows a large-scale attack on Iranian forces and their
affiliates in Iraq and Syria, retribution for the killing of three
U.S. soldiers in Jordan."
Marco Carnelos: [01-30]
War on Gaza: Why the US refuses to learn the lessons of history.
Andrew Cockburn: [01-30]
Admiral Fabuloso thumps his tub. The tub-thumping admiral is James
G Stavridis, outspoken but hardly alone among Washington's "bomb bomb
bomb bomb Iran" chorus.
Melvin Goodman: [02-02]
Why are our regional experts expecting more war in every corner?
Starts by quoting said experts on Korea, Taiwan, Russia/Ukraine, and
everywhere ("The world war potential is really, really significant" --
Michael Mullen, former joint chiefs chairman, who since retiring has
joined multiple corporate boards).
William Hartung: [01-31]
Tone deaf? Admin brags about 55% hike in foreign arms sales.
Joshua Keating: [01-29]
America no longer has a monopoly on deadly drones.
Ken Klippenstein: [2023-11-16]
Pentagon won't say where it's sending U.S. troops -- to avoid embarrassing
host nations: "Details about the rapid U.S. military buildup since
the start of Israel's war on Gaza are largely unknown to the public
and risk war with Iran, experts say." Some background, with Jordan the
first-mentioned example.
Helen Lackner: [02-03]
What Yemen's Houthis want.
Joshua Landis: [02-01]
US troops should have left Syria and Iraq long ago.
Daniel Larison: [02-02]
White House still denies Mideast turmoil linked to Gaza.
Oliver Milman: [02-03]
US House to vote next week on standalone $17.6bn bill for aid to
Israel: They should call it the Genocide Support Act.
Ben Quinn: [02-04]
Russia, China and Iran could target UK via Irish 'backdoor,' thinktank
warns: The paranoia lobby is hard at work in the UK, too, tapping
old fears to shore up ever more ominous defense spending.
Richard Rubenstein: [02-02]
The new bipolarity: Tom Friedman prophesies a new global conflict
and mostly gets it wrong. You may recall how strange it was
after Oct. 7 when the long-reigning world's worst pundit had a
brief moment of clarity, and advised that Israel might be better
off by not overreacting and plunging head-first into genocide --
as they in fact did. But within a month or so, his reprogramming
kicked in, bringing him back to "a titanic geopolitical struggle
between two opposing networks of nations and nonstate actors over
whose values and interests will dominate our post-Cold War world."
He dubs these networks the Includers (where Israel leads America,
and America drags along Ukraine, Taiwan, and their few allies) vs.
the Resisters (anyone who defies the dictates of the Includers).
Still, he seems to still be missing a module, as he still views
China and others who doubt the Includers' omniscience as merely
neutral.
Ishaan Tharoor:
[01-22]
What Netanyahu sees from the river to the sea.
[01-30]
The Middle East's arc of conflict is spiraling.
[01-31]
Behind Biden's Middle East crises is the long tail of Trump's
legacy: Trump, at Israel's behest, wrecked the nuclear arms
agreement with Iran, provoked further hostilities by imposing
new sanctions (which, conveniently enough, boosted the Saudi
and Russian oil cartel -- as did sanctions that took Venezuelan
oil off the world market) and escalating further by assassinating
IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani. Beyond that, Trump "also
encouraged
the acceleration of Israel's far-right drift." And his substitute
for the long-frustrated and half-hearted "peace process" was the
so-called Abraham Accords, where Arab states were offered arms and
business incentives for giving up their concerns for Palestinians,
and giving Israel a free hand to do with them what they will. What's
happened since October is almost purely the ultimate consequence of
Trump's policy shifts in the region. On the other hand, this hardly
excuses Biden, who hastily reversed Trump foreign policy elsewhere
(especially re Ukraine and NATO), but did virtually nothing to reset
or even review policy in the Middle East.
Nick Turse: [01-30]
Remote warfare and expendable people: "Forever War means never
having to say you're sorry."
Robert Wright: [02-02]
The Iran retaliation calculus: The real calculation is that Biden
and Netanyahu believe they have the power (and therefore the right) to
punish Iran for what basically boils down to reckless gun-running --
which the US and Israel also does, much more broadly than Iran does --
and that they have so much more power that Iran won't dare retaliate.
That's a very arrogant position to take, one that requires constant
punitive reinforcement, especially as it mostly works to harden
resistance.
Trump, and other Republicans:
Ankush Khardori: [02-01]
Inside Trump's costly outburst: 'Like an 8-year-old having a temper
tantrum': "Roberta Kaplan's strategy delivered E. Jean Carroll
$83 million from Donald Trump. Federal prosecutors may want to take
note."
Mattea Kramer/Sean Fogler: [02-01]
When in doubt, strip search and restrain the unwell: "'Helping'
people by shaming them -- and canceling their civil rights."
Paul Krugman: [01-29]
MAGA is based on fear, not grounded in reality. He inadvertently
reminds us that Nikki Haley is on the same page, when he quotes her
as saying, "we've got an economy in shambles and inflation that's out
of control." Krugman followed that column with what he intended as a
"reality-based" corrective: [02-01]
Our economy isn't 'Goldilocks.' It's better.
Chris Lehmann: [01-30]
GOP border theatrics have escalated threats of civil war.
Patricia Lopez: [02-03]
Some GOP governors would let kids go hungry to spite Biden.
Andrew Prokop: [02-01]
The chances that Trump will be a convicted felon by Election Day have
dropped: "It could still happen -- but the four prosecutions of
Trump have been beset by delays and challenges."
Nikki McCann Ramirez:
Andrew Rice: [01-30]
Trump's reckoning begins: "His major loss in the E. Jean Carroll
case is nothing compared to what could be coming."
Matt Stieb: [02-03]
Truth Social could still make Trump billions -- if he wins.
On the other hand:
Asawin Suebsaeng/Adam Rawnsley: [01-29]
Trump's secret plan to expand presidential immunity to 'King George'
levels.
Biden and/or the Democrats: I meant to note
this, but wasn't sure which piece to link to. But, for the record: [02-04]
Biden nets landslide victory in South Carolina Democratic primary,
over 95% of votes. That compares to about 55% in New Hampshire,
where his opponents actually campaigned, but he needed an unofficial
write-in campaign.
Legal matters and other crimes:
Climate and environment:
Economic matters:
Ukraine War:
Blaise Malley: [02-01]
Diplomacy Watch: NATO membership still on the table? "Meanwhile,
EU approves $54 billion funding plan, with Senate possibly voting
next week."
Steven Erlanger/David E Sanger: [02-03]
Germany braces for decades of confrontation with Russia.
Masha Gessen: [01-29]
Ukraine's democracy in darkness: "With elections postponed and no
end to the war with Russia in sight, Volodymyr Zelensky and his political
allies are becoming like the officials they once promised to root out:
entrenched."
Jonathan Guyer: [02-02]
How war has transformed Ukraine, and Zelensky: Review of two
new books: Yaroslav Trofimov, Our Enemies Will Vanish: The
Russian Invasion and Ukraine's War of Independence (Penguin);
and Simon Shuster, The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook
the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky (William
Morrow). Both appear to be very solidly in Zelensky's camp, with
Trofimov faulting "America's cautiousness in getting Ukraine more
powerful weapons as a 'self-imposed taboo' that has prolonged the
war."
Andrew Higgins: [02-01]
For Orban, Ukraine is a pawn in a longer game: "His real aim is
to lead a populist and nativist rebellion against Europe's liberal
elite, though that campaign is showing signs of faltering."
Lara Jakes/Christina Anderson: [01-29]
For Europe and NATO, a Russian invasion is no longer unthinkable:
"Amid crumbling U.S. support for Ukraine and Donald Trump's rising
candidacy, European nations and NATO are making plans to take on
Russia by themselves."
Harrison Stetler: [02-03]
Two years into the Ukraine war, Europe has no strategy . . .
but they are coughing up €50 billion to keep it going.
Ishaan Tharoor: [01-29]
Ukraine's hopes for victory over Russia are slipping away.
Around the world:
Other stories:
Emily Bazelon: [02-01]
The road to 1948: A panel of six historians -- Nadim Bawaisa,
Leena Dallasheh, Abigail Jacobson, Derek Penslar, Itamar Rabinovitch,
and Salim Tamari -- offer insights into the 1920-48 period, when
Palestine was a League of Nations mandate trusted to Britain, which
had occupied it during WWI, displacing the Ottoman Empire. I'm most
familiar with this period from Tom Segev's One Palestine, Complete:
Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate (2001), although I've
read numerous other books on the period. There are things I'd quibble
with here, but it's generally useful information.
Jules Boykoff/Dave Zirin: [01-29]
Israel and Russia have no place in the 2024 Paris Olympics:
I'm tempted to say the US should have no place either, but I'm
not totally sure whether that should be due to US support for
genocide in Gaza, for US agitation for war elsewhere, and/or
simply for commercial crassness and nationalistic yahoo-ism.
But note that South Africa was banned from 1968 until the end
of the apartheid regime, and Israel has long crossed that line.
Mike Catalini: [01-31]
Man accused of beheading his father in suburban Philadelphia home
and posting gruesome video online: The father is Michael F.
Mohn, a civil servant working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The son is Justin Mohn:
Mohn embraced violent anti-government rhetoric in writings he
published online going back several years. In August 2020, Mohn
published an online "pamphlet" in which he tried to make the case
that people born in or after 1991 -- his birth year -- should carry
out what he termed a "bloody revolution." He also complained at
length about a lawsuit that he lost and encouraged assassinations
of family members and public officials.
In the video posted after the killing, he described his father
as a 20-year federal employee. He also espoused a variety of
conspiracy theories and rants about the Biden administration,
immigration and the border, fiscal policy, urban crime and the
war in Ukraine.
Aside from the murder, sounds like a pretty solid Republican.
The lawsuit he lost, by the way:
In 2018, Mohn sued Progressive Insurance, alleging he was
discriminated against and later fired from a job at an agency
in Colorado Springs because he was a man who was intelligent,
overqualified and overeducated. A federal judge said Mohn provided
no evidence to indicate he was discriminated against because he
was a man -- in the length of his training or in being denied
promotions to jobs. Progressive said it fired him because he
kicked open a door. An appeals court upheld the finding that
Mohn did not suffer employment discrimination.
Maybe we should start a regular feature on right-wing crime,
and how Republicans have encouraged and/or rationalized it:
Fabiola Cineas: [02-01]
Conservatives have long been at war with colleges: "A brief
history of the right's long-running battle against higher education."
Interview with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd, author of Resistance From
the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America.
David Dayen: [01-29]
America is not a democracy: "The movement to save democracy from
threats is too quick to overlook the problems that have been present
since the founding." On the other hand, focusing on structural faults
that were build into the Constitution directs attention to issues that
have no practicable solution, while ignoring what is by far the most
pervasive affront to democracy, which is the influence of money, how
the system caters to the rich while confusing issues for everyone else.
The simplest test of whether government is democratic is whether it is
reflective of and responsive to the needs of the vast majority of its
citizens. America's is not.
Rebecca Jennings: [02-01]
Everyone's a sellout now: "Everybody has to self-promote now.
Nobody wants to." One result: "You're getting worse at [your art],
but you're becoming a great marketer for a product which is less
and less good."
Whizy Kim: [01-31]
How Boeing put profits over planes: "The fall of Boeing has been
decades in the making."
Dylan Matthews: [02-01]
How Congress is planning to lift 400,000 kids out of poverty.
The House passed a bill 357-70 which revives the child tax credit,
which has the headline effect, but the bill also includes tax breaks
for businesses, which is what it took to become "bipartisan."
China Miéville: [01-31]
China Miéville on The Communist Manifesto's enduring
power. Interview with the author of A Spectre Haunting:
On the Communist Manifesto. I read the book recently, right
after Christopher Clark's massive Revolutionary Spring: Europe
Aflame and the Fight for a New World: 1848-1849. It didn't
add a lot of detail on the role of the proletariat in the 1848's
revolutionary struggles, but it did remind me of the synthesis
of clear thinking and human decency that informed the founding
of the socialist movement.
Kevin Munger: [01-29]
"The Algorithm" is the only critique of "The Algorithm" that "The
Algorithm" can produce: A bookmark link, as this seems possibly
interesting but requiring more attention than I can muster at the
moment. It ties to Kyle Chayka's book Filterworld: How Algorithms
Flattened Culture. Chayka has a previous book (2020), The
Longing for Less, where the subtitle has changed from Living
With Minimalism to What's Missing From Minimalism in
the recent paperback edition. Shorter is Munger's
"The Algorithm" does not exist.
Brian Murphy: [01-31]
Anthony Cordesman, security analyst who saw flaws in U.S. policy,
dies at 84: "Dr. Cordesman saw the seeds of defeat in Iraq and
Afghanistan planted by U.S. policymakers." Of course, I prefer
critics who were more prescient earlier, but insiders -- "he described
himself as a tepid supporter of the Iraq invasion" -- who are willing
to harbor doubts are better than those with no doubts at all.
Timothy Noah:
That judge is right. Elon Musk isn't worth what Tesla pays him.
For more (and the actual numbers are jaw-dropping) on this:
Christian Paz: [02-02]
What we're getting wrong about 2024's "moderate" voters: "The
voters who could decide 2024 are a complicated bunch." Paz tries
to salvage the term "moderate" by splitting the domain -- by which,
less prejudically, he means people with no fixed party affiliation --
into three groups: the "true moderates," the "disengaged," and the
"weird." The prejudice is that any time you say "moderate," you're
automatically contrasting against some hypothetical extreme that
you can thereby reject. But while the people who use the term --
almost never the "moderates" themselves, who prefer to think of
themselves as sober, sensible, respectful of all viewpoints, and
desiring pragmatic, mutually satisfactory compromises -- like to
think they complimenting the "moderates," they're implying that
they don't truly believe in what they profess (otherwise, why are
they so willing to compromise?).
Rick Perlstein: [01-31]
A hole in the culture: "Why is there so little art depicting the
moment we're in?"
Brian Resnick: [01-31]
The sun's poles are about to flip. It's awesome -- and slightly
terrifying.
Ingrid Robenys: A professor of political philosophy at
Utrecht University, has a new book: Limitarianism: The Case
Against Extreme Wealth, leading to:
Nathan J Robinson: Including interviews at Current Affairs:
Thursday, February 01, 2024
I marked my mother's birthday (Jan. 31, 1913) by posting a photo
of my mother on
Facebook. John Chacona commented: "My mom was born three years
later in Little Rock. 8-11-1916. Your mom was older when you were
born wasn't she, Tom?" I responded:
She was 37. My father was 28. They were married 28 months before, in
June, 1948, and had two more children after me, Steve and Kathy, the
latter when Mom was 45. All but one of my parents siblings got married
between ages 18-22 (10 of them, the other odd one was Allen, at 30,
whose wife Freda was two years younger than Mom). My mother's family
moved to Oklahoma in 1929, with three kids still at home (Allen was
20, then Edith, who soon married, then Mom at 16). Her father died in
1936, after which her mother lived with Edith or Lola (their oldest
daughter, who had moved to Oklahoma in 1926). The other daughter,
Ruby, moved to Augusta, KS in the 1930s, and at some point Mom moved
in with her, before getting a job at Beech and moving into Wichita in
1942 (when the picture was taken, age 29). We know very little about
that period in her life. When my niece tried to interview her, she was
very evasive, so, of course, we're much intrigued.
I also contributed this comment to a Greg Magarian
Facebook post about Nancy Pelosi trying to sic the FBI on
anti-genocide (a more accurate term than "pro-Palestinian") protesters
to root out alleged financial ties to Putin.
Pelosi has a long history of being a tool for Israel. Back around
2004, JVP produced a set of eight very informative videotapes with
academics doing what we used to call "teach ins" about Israel (Joel
Beinin and George Bisharat were especially good). We did a series of
events, where we would play a tape, then open for discussion. They
were produced in the Bay Area, and the last tape had Stephen Zunes,
who had a book at the time called "Tinderbox," and who many times
decried Pelosi as an Israel agent. That was well before she moved up
the party leadership. Since then she's added full-on Russia paranoia
and gotten deep in bed with the China hawks. The recent mental
gymnastics of people (mostly but not exclusively Democrats) trying to
link Putin and Hamas are truly mind-boggling.
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