MILT'S
FILE
December
31, 2003:
THINGS TO COME (SOON!) ACCORDING TO SAFIRE. His
annual predictions for the coming year are given in today's column
from the New York Times. Item 12 is the one that Drudge
chose to headline. If Safire's right on this it may yet be an
interesting presidential election.
http://nytimes.com/
FROM
THE NEW YORK TIMES YOU EXPECTED, MAYBE, THE SKELETON IN THE CLOSET?
Today the gray lady of 43rd Street gave us its official version
of the life story of Governor (they, too, are now using "Dr"
alternatively) Dean. Here it is.
http://www.nytimes.com/
IF
YOU WORSHIP WRONG THEY JUST MAY KILL YOU! Religious freedom is
not--in case you were wondering--equally available in all parts
of the world. The State Department tries to monitor this one of
the "Four Freedoms" and here's what they have found,
circa 2003.
http://www.state.gov/
THE
CLOSE LINK BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND TEMPLE JUDAISM. Margaret Barker
has put forward a strong hypothesis about the close continuity
between the liurgies of the Jerusalem Temple and of Orthodox Christianity.This
Times Literary Supplement review summarizes and evaluates
her fascinating argument.
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/
DE
MORITURI COMEDICA NIL NISI BONUM. Tony Blankley, in this column
from today's Washington Times, memorializes all the funny
people who departed this year. A good list but it leaves out Tavor
Yakabelian!!
http://www.townhall.com/
I'LL
NEVER FORGET WHATSHERNAME. Memorable things are happening in the
neurophysiological search for memory itself. Here's a great--and
quite comprehnsible--summary of some of the most important recent
findings as given by a leading researcher in a Scientific
American interview.
http://www.sciam.com/
MANY
FEET IN MANY RESPECTIVE MOUTHS. We all say things we regret. One
wonders whether the notable utterers singled out by the Media
Research Center yesterday are regretting those utterances today.
http://www.mediaresearch.org/
WHO
IS HUNT LIEBERSON AND WHY DOTH CHARLES MICHENER COMMEND HER? According
to the latter--in this article from the New Yorker--the
former is the leading soprano of our time...at least when it comes
to performing Baroque operas and oratorios. Go know! And also
go read this vivid and appreciative profile.
http://newyorker.com/
A
JAZZ MASTER (COURTESY OF THE NEA) REMEMBERS. Nat Hentoff is probably
our greatest jazz critic and historian. (He is also a colleague
of mine on the Board of Advisors at FIRE.)
Here, in a splendid reminiscence from yesterday's Wall Street
Journal, he lovingly remembers Willie the Lion Smith, Fats
Waller, Louis Armstrong and Lester Young.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
AND
SPEAKING OF FATS WALLER...here are some great performances recorded
in London in 1938. Be sure to hear Ain't Misbehavin, That Old
Feeling and I Can't Give You Anything But Love.
http://redhotjazz.com/
December 30, 2003:
HOW MUCH LONGER CAN THIS GO ON? Saudi
Arabia is living in the middle of a paradox...or perhaps it should
be designated as a crisis that will lead to a catastrophe. This
knowledgeable article is from the current issue of Foreign
Affairs.
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/
A
TALE OF TWO EARTHQUAKES. The difference in fatalities between
the California earthquake (Richter 6.5) and the Iran earthquake
(Richter 6.6) is in the ratio of 2 to 40,000! Why? Tom Sowell
in his column at Town Hall has a compelling answer.
http://www.townhall.com/
NO
PULITZERS FOR THESE FOLKS! What were the ten worst journalistic
goofs of the year? trying to avoid blaming only the New York
Times, this reporter for the Los Angeles Times comes
up with some dreadful blotches on the visage of the contemporary
American press.
http://www.sunspot.net/
TEARS
(INSTEAD OF CHEERS) FOR ALMA MATER...that's Brooklyn College where,
a long time ago, the proprietor got his BA. But PC and "diversity"
have long since transformed the place and now a new chapter in
the lowering of higher education begins. This article from the
current Weekly Standard is by an embattled professor
on the scene.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
AND,
SPEAKING OF "DIVERSITY"...here's something that does
almost defy comprehension. What is the Ford Foundation doing as
it supports a program to teach (and endorse?) a militant version
of Islamic Sharia in American schools? This disturbing report
appeared today in Front Page.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
IN
LANGUAGE NOW, ALMOST ANYTHING GOES...and, according to linguist
John McWhorter, writing in the Washington Post, the "almost"
is almost gone. Putting all this another way: when public discourse
lapses easily into the scatological, what sort of people will
we have become?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
AND
SPEAKING OF THE LANGUAGE. Would you be able to handle Singlish
or any of the other English-based patois now evolving at the "fault
line" locations where two linguistic tectonic plates collide?
This article from Walrus magazine presents an interesting
sampler of the neologistic results.
http://www.walrusmagazine.com/
COULD
WE STAND ABSOLUTE TRUTH BETWEEN FRIENDS AND/OR LOVERS? The question
is brilliantly raised and dissected by William Ian Miller in his
recent book, Faking It. Just as we enjoyed our conversation
with him a few months ago on Extension 720, we also enjoyed--and
are happy to pass on to you--this review of the book from the
UK Independent.
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/
HOW
DID YOU DO THAT? To this usual question from a dazzled observer
of a magical feat the usual answer is "very well, I thought."
But here's a magician who gives it all away in a new book, just
now reviewed in the Baltimore Sun.
http://www.sunspot.net/
A
CURIOUS MEMOIR OF DICKENS AND DOTHEBOYS HALL. In this recent feature
from the Times Literary Supplement, a contemporary of
Dickens remembers him and the school he immortalized in Nicholas
Nickleby. This is, to put it simply, fascinating stuff.
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/
FUNEREAL
AND TRIUMPHANT MUSIC...from the symphony of the same name by Hector
Berlioz. He was born two hundred years ago, yet much that he wrote
sounds like the post-serial (i.e. melodic) music that is being
written today. This is a stirring and startling performance.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December 29, 2003:
A NEW AL QUAEDA SOURCE ON THE INTERNET:
MEMRI has posted excerpts from the first issue of "The Voice
of Jihad" which it identifies as produced by supporters of
Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. It does, to say the least, make for
interesting reading. (Requires Adobe
Reader.)
http://www.memri.de/
IT
GOES TO YOUR HEAD.....big money, that is. And, according to the
National Review's man in Washington, that's what has
happened to George Soros who is spending millions (for him a few
pennies!) to defeat George W. in the hope of turning the war on
terrorism into a matter for the police. This op-ed is from today's
Wall Street Journal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
KASS,
PANGLE, STRAUSS AND THE POLITICAL MEANINGS OF THE BIBLE: That
seems a quite large assignment for a book review. But this is
an exceptionally fine review/essay worth close reading and reactive
thought. It appeared recently in the Claremont Review of Books.
http://www.claremont.org/
THE
"DEATH" OF POSTMODERNIST LITERARY THEORY? This reporter
for the Boston Globe thinks that the demise was evident
at the MLA meeting over the weekend. If so, t'were a consummation
devoutly to be wished.
http://www.boston.com/
PEDAGOGIC
PECULIARITY PERSISTS AND PROSPERS...but at what cost to the standard
of free speech (and the virtue of intellective inquiry) on the
American campus? This list of academic pc horrors of the year
is from Front Page magazine.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
MEANWHILE
OVER IN THE ART HISTORY DEPARTMENT...political correctness is
exceeded only by Lacanian obscurantism and Derridaist nihilism.
That's the way Roger Kimble, brilliant essayist and rather frequent
guest on our program, calls it in this essay from the current
issue of New Criterion, the magazine of which he is managing
editor.
http://www.newcriterion.com/
IN
THE WAKE OF BEAGLE II: The American Mars Rover, Spirit, will land
in a few days and--if all goes well--will be able to do the job
that was also assigned to the apparently lost British rover, Beagle.
And yet a third rover is due to set down soon. The question of
water and life on Mars remains to be answered. This useful account
is from today's Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
JUMPING
FROM A VERY HIGH PLACE...namely, from 130,00 feet and going over
five minutes in free fall before the parachute opens. Who is scheduled
to do this and why? Cheryl Stearns who explains it all in a just-published
interview from New Scientist.
http://www.newscientist.com/
THE
SPAM PLAGUE: IS THIS THE ANSWER? Probably not, but something must
be done and the sooner the better. This article from the BBC News
site is informative--as are the many other linked stories.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
C'EST
DROLE, MAIS ON NE RIT PAS! There is indeed something different
about French humor--it does not generate much strong and spontaneous
laughter. Why not? This essay from The Economist is,
we think, onto something true if interesting.
http://www.economist.com/
MORE
GREAT SWING! This collection features Benny Goodman, Count Basie,
Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller--and the music is as heartening now
as it was then. Particularly, don't miss Basie's One O'Clock Jump
and Goodman's These Foolish Things.
http://www.hhbrandy.addr.com/
December
23, 2003:
THE
IRAQ WAR HAS MADE DESIREABLE WAVES: That is the argument developed
by Christopher Hitchens in this article from today's issue of
Front Page magazine. And the most immediately visible
of those secondary effects is the renunciation of WMDs by Gadhafi.
Well, yes..but he remains an unpunished mass murderer, doesn't
he?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
MORE
ON MOAMMAR: We couldn't agree more with Bill Safire on what made
Gadhafi do his imitation of a reasonable statesman--and on what
we should remember about him and his despicable history.
http://www.nytimes.com/
HOW
TO SPIN THE POSITVE INTO A NEGATIVE: Janet Daley, in the UK
Telegraph a few days ago, predicted what the critics of the
war would do with the capture of Saddam. Her predictions have
largely been borne out already!
http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/
HOW
DO WE KNOW WHEN TERRORISM IS DEFEATED? With the recent elevation
of the threat level the question forces itself forward. This important
article suggests that the answer may be unknowable until the distant
end of the threat. It was published in The Public Interest
a few months ago.
http://www.findarticles.com/
BY
THEIR BOOK SALES SHALL YE KNOW THEM: A publisher examines the
comparative sales figures for the books by seven of the Democratic
presidential candidates..and lo, Dean leads all the rest. Does
that mean he has the nomination in the (book)bag? This op-ed is
from today's NY Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/
POLLING
AND MARKET RESEARCH: EVIL, INCOMPETENT OR MERELY SILLY? This amusing--and
properly skeptical--article was prompted by the publication of
a book by one of the master-mavens of the industry. The article
is from Reason magazine--and the lingering question of
greatest import is whether polling and "focus grouping"
corrupt our politics by making them into panderers.
http://www.findarticles.com/
ARE
YOU READY FOR 'PERVASIVE COMPUTING'? This article from the BBC
is both exciting and rather scary. It projects forward to the
time--probably not very far away--when every object we use is
"computerized' so that those to whom the computers report
know more about us than we know they know. Dystopia, thy name
is microchip!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
LORD HAW HAW REMEMBERED: William Joyce was the leading British
traitor during World War II. His broadcasts from Berlin led, ultimately,
to his trial and execution. A new biography of this leading member
of Sir Oswald Mosely's British Union of Fascists has just appeared.
Here is an informative and thoughtful review from the current
issue of The Spectator.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/
THE
KUDZU IS COMING, THE KUDZU IS COMING! The vine that ate the south
grows a foot a day and may be heading north. This could be worse
than the Eggplant That Ate Chicago..or maybe not. Much of what
you need to know is to be found here, courtesy of the University
of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio.
http://www.cptr.ua.edu/
BEAGLE,
SPIRIT AND OPPORTUNITY ARE ABOUT TO ARRIVE....on Mars! And possibly,
the data they collect will increase the estimated likelihood that
life--which requires the water they will be seeking--did exist
(or even that it may still exist?) on the neighboring planet.
The Washington Post covers it well today.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
THE
KING OF JAZZ PIANO: Many music historians classify Hines (together
with Jelly Roll Morton) as the source of jazz piano style. Here
he is in a number of great solos, all but one recorded in 1928.
http://redhotjazz.com/
December
22, 2003:
DESPERATELY
SEEKING OSAMA: Newsweek has again been in contact with
people who know people who guard Osama bin Laden--and here's the
story from the issue out today.
http://msnbc.msn.com/
ARAFATIANA!
A former Israeli diplomat presents some interesting side notes
on the comportment of the chief PLOnik. This guest column appeared
in the National Review on Monday.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
PAKISTAN
AS NUCLEAR SUPPLIER? The 'intelligence community' seems to be
piling up evidence that Pakistan has aided both the Iranian and
North Korean nuclear weapons programs. Is the Pakistani government
the culprit or merely failing to control its weapons scientists?
This story from the Christian Science Monitor reviews
the multi-sided story and provides some valuable links.
http://www.csmonitor.com
IRAQ:
A BEST CASE ANALYSIS. We find this article which appeared last
year in The Atlantic to be possibly prophetic. At least,
after the capture of Saddam it does seem more plausible.
http://www.theatlantic.com/
MORE
ON THE FUTURE OF IRAQ: This thoughtful and apparently well-informed
article from The Economist is a companion piece to the
one from The Atlantic. And, like it, it does make the
best case that realism allows.
http://economist.com/
AMONG
THE IDENTITY THIEVES: If ever there was a 'caveat emptor' story,
this is it. This worrying article appeared in Sunday's New
York Times Magazine.
http://www.nytimes.com/
OUR
FORMER GOVERNOR MAY GO TO PRISON BUT THE BIGGEST ILLINOIS ISSUE
IS CHIEF ILLINIWEK...and the NY Times covered the controversy
in almost more detail than the story has. Incidentally, the proprietor
used to teach at Dartmouth which has an Indian head on its official
crest and where all the teams are called "Indians."
http://www.nytimes.com/
THE
BEAGLE APPROACHES MARS! On Christmas day--if all goes well--the
second Beagle will, like the ship that carried Darwin to the Galapagos,
arrive at another place that holds many secrets: Mars. And if
the capsule opens and functions properly we may shortly have confirmation
of a water table under the Martian surface, that being a necessary
condition for life! This account is from the Age of Australia.
http://www.theage.com.au/
BUREAUSPEAK
AS AN AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC PLAGUE: Aussie administrators--whether
of corporations, government offices or universities--are as guilty
of passive case, noun heavy and hyphen-laden turgid language as
their opposite numbers over here. So says--and demonstrates--the
author of the new book, Death Sentence: The Decay of Public
Language.
http://www.theage.com.au/
AND
WHEN HE FINISHED THE TRACTATUS HE DESIGNED A HOUSE! That's Ludwig
Wittgensteirn, the most influential--and most forbidding--of the
20th century Oxbridge philosophers. We stumbled upon this fascinating
article (from the Guardian, two years ago) while looking
for something else. Wittgenstein remains endearingly enigmatic.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/
EINE
KLEINE NACHTMUSIK: Once you get beyond the too-familiar opening
bars, it is (and remains) wonderfully melodic, inventive and--in
the andante--deeply moving music. This fine performance was done
live at the Mostly Mozart Festival in 1998.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December
19, 2003:
PUBLIC OPINION SUPPORTS THE WAR! So asserts Robert
Kagan in this op-ed from today's Washington Post. Kagan,
though outside the government, has been one of the main "strategically-oriented"
advocates of the Iraq undertaking.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
THE
DEMYSTIFICATION OF SADDAM HUSSEIN. It is against our policy to
have two items from the same source. But today's column by Charles
Krauthammer in the Washington Post is just too good to
pass by.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
TO
GENEVA, NO; TO DEMOGRAPHY, YES. These are the default positions
of Arafat and the Ramallah elite, according to the correspondent
reporting to Al Ahram (the "semi-official"
Egyptian newspaper).
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/
BEYOND
THE PLO: WHAT DO THE "ARAB REFORMERS" WANT? An important--and
independent--group of Arab intellectuals has now issued its second
major report on what is needed to pacify and restore the Middle
East. That report disappoints those who took heart from the first
one. Here is the analysis put forward in the current issue of
Commentary magazine.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/
AN
INDEPENDENT VOICE IN ZIMBABWE. Despite Mugabe's ruinous and murderous
regime, a vocal opposition persists. The Independent
newspaper published this devastating, and brave, critique last
Friday.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
WHAT
TO DO WITH GENOCIDAL KILLERS...after you have caught them. Put
them on trial--is the obvious answer. But that, in turn, raises
many questions. Here, a scholarly book and its scholarly reviewer
examine some issues. Among them: the way you run the trial may
distort--or hide--some parts of the history of the genocidal program.
The prime example is how the Nuremberg trials drew attention away
from the murders done by the Einsatzgruppen. This important review
essay is from H-Net.
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/
MIDDLE
AGE (AND BEYOND) IS WHERE THE MONEY IS! But advertisers and TV
programmers live by the 18-34 myth says this plugged-in, op-ed
columnist for the Wall Street Journal. This great article
ought to be made required reading for every twenty-something ad
agency person and for every thirty-something network executive.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
EARLY
CHRISTIANITY AS A REVIVAL OF TEMPLE JUDAISM. The hypothesis is
startling--but it is advanced with possible plausibility in a
new work that is reviewed here in this week's issue of the Times
Literary Supplement.
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/
NOT
SMOKED SALMON; LOX!!!! Mark Kleiman, in his always informative
blog, yesterday clarified one of the basic issues in Jewish gustatory
discourse. Incidentally, what is a "toroidal" bagel?
http://www.markarkleiman.com/
SHALL
WE DINE IN BUDA OR OVER IN PEST? And should it be French, Italian,
Austrian or Cuban? Apparently the restaurants of Budapest are
fully restored to their former glory--though this feature from
the English-language Budapest Sun says nothing about
bagels and lox!
http://www.budapestsun.com/
A
SAMPLER FROM THE GREAT MUSICALS. From this rich source we recommend
the selections from Oliver, Oklahoma, The King and I and A Chorus
Line. But don't miss Miss Marmelstein.
http://www.theraven452000.addr.com/
December 18, 2003:
BUCKLEY WEIGHS IN...on the question of
how to try Saddam. When he wants to, the founder of the National
Review can make a clear argument without quoting from Plautus,
Thucydides or Saint John of the Cross.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
MARK
STEYN REFLECTS ON WAR CRIMES TRIALS AND DR.(WHY NOT "GOVERNOR"?)
DEAN. This guy speaks strongly (Steyn, that is) and ironicizes
with the best of them. The piece is from yesterday's Wall
Street Journal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
IN
THE NAME OF GOD--WHATEVER THAT IS. Does Allah differ from Jehovah
or from "the Lord?" Evangelicals, according to this
article from Slate, are the source of the insistence
upon diety differentiation. Tonight on
our program, we are scheduled to discuss the history and present
status of American evangelism.
http://slate.msn.com/
ANOTHER BAGHDAD BLOGGER. We aren't sure who this person is, but
he (she?) seems to be in the thick of it. The Mesopotamian's personal
reportage and the comments from readers of the blog are a window
onto the human side of the history being enacted in Iraq.
http://messopotamian.blogspot.com/
ZIMBABWE
AS MAN-MADE HELL. And Mugabe is the man! This fine interview with
Samantha Power (a former guest on our program) appeared recently
in The Atlantic. One looks forward--eagerly but with
some dread--to the forthcoming book in which she presents elaborates
on the matters discussed here.
http://www.theatlantic.com/
ENVIRONMENTAL
ACTIVISM OR "ECO-IMPERIALISM?" It may well be the case
that western, liberal concern with environmental protection is
doing great injury to those who live in the less developed world.
The argument is strongly made in this article by Steven Milloy
of the Cato Institute who specializes in the study of "junk
science."
http://www.foxnews.com/
BY
FAR THE MOST INTERESTING OF THE PARISIAN EXISTENTIALISTS. That's
Albert Camus, in our judgement--and the author of this good mini-essay
from the Britsh journal, Prospect, seems to share that
view.
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/
HAS
EVERYTHING NOW BEEN SAID ABOUT INFINITY? If so, then infinity
might be finite! Here's an interesting review that takes less-than-infinite
pains with three recent books on the limits of limitlessness.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/
LET
US HAVE ABOUT US MEN THAT ARE ENERGETIC AND TRUSTWORTHY! Caesar
might have said that to Mark Anthony. It is, at any rate, what
respondents say to some sociopsychological researchers about the
kinds of politicians they would vote for. The study presenting
these findings was reported in a recent issue of Nature
magazine.
http://www.nature.com/
MARRIAGE,
DIVORCE, CHILDREN AND THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. Marriage, everyone
sort of agrees, should be encouraged because children do better
with two parents than with one. On the same grounds, divorce should
routinely provide for "joint custody." But, things are
seldom as simple as they seem. The complications are directly
addressed in this interesting article from the current issue of
Reason magazine.
http://www.reason.com/
TWO
CHEERS FOR LUST. An emminent British philosopher examines the
most heavy-breathing of the seven deadly sins in an article from
the New Statesman. Lust in the hearts of politicians
gets some special attention.
http://www.newstatesman.co.uk/
TAKE
SOME GYPSY TUNES, A VIOLIN AND A PIANO...and the only other thing
you need is a swinging comoser like Dohnanyi and presto: Ruralia
Hungarica, a fine modern work here performed by Tasmin Little
and Martin Roscoe.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December 17, 2003:
BILL SAFIRE BREAKS WITH THE ADMINISTRATION...on
a matter of executive privilege (or is it executive protection?)
that does need to be ventilated. And the vice president is in
the middle of the muddle. Here's today's column from the New
York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/
HOW MIGHT LE MONDE DIPLOMATIQUE REPORT THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM?
Something like this, according to the folks at Front Page
magazine. What this satire lacks in subtlety it makes up in amused
(amusing?) contempt.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
MEANWHILE,
BACK IN KABUL...the Loya Jirga has just convened and is on track
for approval of a new constitution and elections to follow. Sounds
good, except for the persistence of the Taliban and the unreliablity
of the war lords. This report from the UK Economist is,
as usual, informative and measured.
http://economist.com/
AS
FLEETING AS THE FOG...are the effects of "martial victory"
upon poll-measured popularity. Just remember Bush senior right
after the first Gulf War. Still, for what its worth, here is the
CBS poll, released yesterday, showing the big positive blip for
George W.
http://www.cbsnews.com/
HOW
TO INTERVIEW A MASS MURDERER. Here's some probably reliable information
about how they are going about the interrogation of Saddam. One
wonders whether the examining psychologists are Freudians, Skinnerians,
Gestaltists or merely polygraphers.
http://www.usatoday.com/
ZEYAD
HATES THE TYRANT BUT MISSES(?) HIM. The Baghdad blogger we linked
on Monday is struggling publically with his ambivalence and confusion.
He is, clearly, an honest and thoughtful young man who--like most
of his countryman--has a lot to work off.
http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/
HOW
LOW SHE SANK AND HOW STUPIDLY! Kathy Boudin, recently paroled
for her (political) murder conviction has been memorialized by
Susan Braudy who was once a college "friend." Here's
a review of the book from the Boston Globe. Tonight Braudy
and David Horowitz appear on our radio program to discuss the
leftist route to posturing--but murderous--violence.
http://www.boston.com/
AND
MEANWHILE, BACK ON CAMPUS. Occasionally we link to a review from
H-Net, the professorial super-site. Apart from providing a sample
of modern academic prose, this particular review asserts that
"utopian idealism" (which has probably done more harm
than good) arose in England in the 17th century. Hmmm...could
be.
http://www.h-net.msu.edu/
DYLAN THOMAS IN EXTREMIS...as he and his poetry always were. Jeremy
Clarke, writing in the Spectator, reviews a new biography
and gets off a few great stories of his own.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/
YUM,
YUM...BUT WHY? We ran across this curious, but not unpersuasive,
mini-essay addressed to the question of just what makes food "taste
good." Well, it is an arguable hypothesis and, at any rate,
amusing reading.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
CLASSIC
LOUIS ARMSTRONG...and, in the band, Earl Hines, Don Redman, Eddie
Condon, Albert Nicholas and Pops Foster!! Great recordings from
the late twenties.
http://redhotjazz.com/
December 16, 2003:
HOW THEY FOUND AND TOOK SADDAM. Newsweek
got on the case as soon as their Baghdad reporter tipped them.
And they have done an excellent job in getting much of the fascinating
detail of the capture. Here is their coverage as given in yesterday's
special issue of the magazine.
http://msnbc.msn.com/
THE
VIEW FROM TEHRAN. In case you wonder whether the Iranians are
pleased with the capture of the guy who waged WMD war against
them--well, yes they are, but...the but is that their supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, advocates a similiar terminus
for Bush and Sharon. The story is from today's Hindustan Times.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/
DEAN,
BUSH AND SADDAM. David Brooks is the newly-hired "second
conservative columnist" at the New York Times. (Bill
Safire is, of course, the first.) He may be testing the patience
of his editors with this comparison of how the governor (have
you noticed how suddenly he is being called "Dr"?) and
the president interpret the meaning of the capture of Saddam.
http://www.nytimes.com/
SOME
CALCULABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THE CAPTURE...as seen by John O'Sullivan
who, like Brooks above, tends to view Dean (and most of his competitors
for the nomination) as caught in a trap of their own devising.
The column appeared today in the Chicago Sun-Times.
http://www.suntimes.com/
THE
EU DISASTER. What went wrong in Brussels last weekend? Can the
European Union write a constitution acceptable to all? As usual
Jacques Chirac is in the middle of the trouble! Here is the account
given in this week's issue of the Economist.
http://economist.com/
WHAT
REALLY HAPPENED AT THE IRAQ NATIONAL MUSEUM? And why did everyone
get it wrong? The question is properly asked and answered in this
report from the Columbia Journalism Review.
http://www.cjr.org/
THE
SECOND VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE. The Brits are close to setting down
their Mars explorer on the surface of the planet...on Christmas
day if all goes according to plan. Once again, a major question
is whether any evidence of organic molecules will be found. This
well-detailed story is from the UK Independent.
http://news.independent.co.uk/
MAGIC
AND THE OCCULT AS GRASS ROOTS, ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT RELIGION. That
isn't quite what Bill Ellis has concluded, but close enough until
you read this fascinating article about him, just published in
the Chronicle of Higher Education.
http://chronicle.com/
HOW
HITCHCOCK DID IT. A new biography of "the master of suspense"
has just appeared and, in this review from the Globe and Mail
of Canada, one learns something interesting about how he beat
(or handled) the studio system.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
JACQUES
CHIRAC DISSES HECTOR BERLIOZ. Le President seems to be refleively
prone to frustrating good purposes. This time he has nixed the
reburial of the great composer's remains in the Pantheon among
the "immortals." This wonderful article about the great
"perturbed spirit" of romanticism is from the Canadian
journal, La Scena Musicale.
http://www.scena.org/
THE
DAMNATION OF FAUST. If this great work doesn't entitle Berlioz
the highest status as a major figure of French culture, what would
that require? This recording of a full performance features Olga
Borodina and Michael Druiett.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December 15, 2003:
THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM HUSSEIN...as reported
this morning in multimedia, interactive form by the New York
Times. Do, by all means, follow through and examine the five
multimedia features. This sort of presentation is something the
Times does really well.
http://www.nytimes.com/
AL JAZEERA STRUGGLES TO COME TO TERMS WITH THE CAPTURE OF SADDAM.
If the Arab world is mixed in its reaction to the war and now
to the capture of the tyrant, we would expect ambivalence on the
screens and pages of their major media institution. Our expectations
are fully confirmed by this article from today's English-language
edition.
http://english.aljazeera.net/
TRY
HIM IN IRAQ...says George Will in the Washington Post
today. As usual, his analysis is measured, historically informed
and close to convincing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
MEANWHILE
BACK AT THE DEAN CAMPAIGN....the question is "how do we play
this thing?" Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard,
in this piece posted today, suggests that the capture of Saddam
has slowed down the Dean juggernaut in a possibly irredeemable
way. There does seem to be something rather wishful about this
judgment but time (probably about two weeks!) will tell.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
THE
STORY OF SADDAM...has been told by many and will probably be worked
up as a TV movie within the month. But here is a sharply informative
account of his climb to power and of the uses he made of that
power. The article is from today's Baltimore Sun.
http://www.sunspot.net/
FROM
A BAGHDAD BLOGGER. Zeyad is a 24 year old, Iraqi dental student
who has been blogging from Baghdad for the last few months. His
account of getting the news--and of almost losing his life to
a band of teenaged Saddam loyalists--is gripping reading. Do follow
through and read the responses to his December 15th entry.
http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/
THE
COMING COLLISION WITH ANDROMEDA. When? Not soon. But meanwhile
everything else is shifting, merging and differentiating in our
portion of the universe. This article from the new issue of Scientific
American is one of the most fascinating--and comprehensible--accounts
of galactic dynamics that we have ever seen.
http://www.sciam.com/
IF
MARIO PUZO WERE A POLITICAL MAVEN...this is the sort of analysis
he would offer to a nation straining to understand the Democrat's
presidential contest. This amusing--and not unedifying--flight
of rooted fancy is from today's Wall Street Journal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
THE
MASTER OF NEW HAVEN AND THE KNIGHT OF WOEFUL COUNTENANCE. Harold
Bloom of Yale--who has been our guest on the program--has decided
that Cervantes ranks with Shakespeare after all. Here is his startling,
and possibly eccentric, introductory essay to a new edition of
Don Quixote.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/
AND
NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! Namely, a fine review
of what sounds like a fine book about the last great acting couple...Lunt
and Fontanne. John Simon, writying for the New York Times,
is far less acerbic than usual.
http://www.nytimes.com/
HOW
ABOUT BEETHOVEN'S FIRST? As commonly commented he is, in this
symphony, halfway bewteen Mozart and his own mature compositional
identity. Whether or not that is the case, what is true is that
this rollicking piece gives great delight as here in a fine performance
conducted by Roger Norrington.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December 12, 2003:
HOWIE'S ON A ROLL. We always enjoy the
media commentary of Kurtz of the Washington Post--and
we have been pleased to have him on our program. In today's column
he questions the conventional wisdom about Governor Dean and takes
up the rather disgraceful performance by Ted Koppel at the last
candidates debate.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
PONDERING
DEAN...AND THE POSSIBILITY OF HILLARY. Yesterday's column by Robert
Novak is a counterpoint to the informed ruminations of Howard
Kurtz. They may be read in either order.
http://www.townhall.com/
AND
NOW HE IS THE RULER OF THE NORTH COUNTREE. There was a changing
of the guard today in Ottawa. Here, in the story from the Washington
Post, is Chretien going out and Paul Martin coming in--and
getting properly brushed with an eagle feather.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
WHO
HOLDS THE REAL POWER IN IRAQ? According to the on-site correspondent
for the Sydney Morning Herald it is the Grand Ayatollah
Ali Sistani. Never heard of him? Get acquainted now.
http://www.smh.com.au/
IN
UNION ALL ARE EQUAL...but, as Orwell noted,"some are more
equal than others." Just who will be more equal is a crucial--and,
of course, divisive-- question as the European Union sits down
to forge a constitution. Much of the fascinating detail will be
found in this report from today's issue of the UK Independent.
http://news.independent.co.uk/
A
REVIEW OF "IN DENIAL" BY HARVEY KLEHR...who is tonight's
guest on Extension 720. The book is the third in a series by Klehr
and Haynes who have for some years been studying the Soviet secret
files and their revelations about communist activity in the U.S.
during the cold war years.
http://www.findarticles.com/
HOW
TO GET TO JUPITER...and what to look for when we get there. There
is reason to think that traces of life may be found on Jupiter's
moons.The plans for the mission that will seek such evidence have
already been drawn--and here they are in a report from New
Scientist.
http://www.newscientist.com/
WHO WAS FIRST IN THE AIR? It almost was Leonardo--but no one actually
built his workable design. So, excepting French balloonists, the
first powered flight was by the Wright brothers. Right? Well,
for a long time the guys at the Smithsonian have argued otherwise.
Now they may have conceded. It's all here in an article from Fox
News.
http://www.foxnews.com/
SNIPPETS
FROM A GREAT CORRESPONDENCE...between Edmund Wilson and Vladimir
Nabokov. This is a classic piece from the Paris Review
and is to be savored contemplatively.
http://www.theparisreview.com/
ON
BEING YOUNG, MALE AND AMERICAN. Whatever happened to Murphy Brown's
son--the one without a father and with a career-pursuing mother?
Terrence Moore imagines the answer--and examines the consequences
of the "unchallenged life" led by boys today. This provocative
article has just appeared in the Claremont Review.
http://www.claremont.org/
A FINE PERFORMANCE OF DVORAK'S CELLO CONCERTO. The performer is
Lynn Harrell. The orchestra is the Hong Kong Philharmonic, conducted
by David Atherton.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December 11, 2003:
THE CONSEQUENCES IN ISRAEL OF THE IRAQ WAR. Tom
Friedman, in today's New York Times column, points up
an interesting connection and argues that the Iraq invasion has
significantly weakened the position of the Israeli hard-liners.
http://www.nytimes.com/
HAVE
WE SUFFERED AN INTELLIGENCE FAILURE? According to the two higher
spooks who are opining here the answer is..well, yes, sort of.
There is much that can be and should be rectified if we are to
win the anti-terrorism war. For further detail go to this fairly
brisk but probing analysis of the art of intelligence gathering
and analysis in the latter day. The article is from the Hoover
Institution at Stanford University.
http://www.policyreview.org/
A
JOURNALIST WHO HELPED MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. That was Robert Bartley,
the editorial director of the Wall Street Journal. Here
he is impressively memorialized by Peggy Noonan in today's issue
of the Journal.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
NERO
AS RATIONAL POLITICAL ACTOR. That is the thesis of a very readable
new book (we have, in fact, been reading it) by Edward Champlin.
Here is a well-turned and appreciative review from Jonathan Yardley
of the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
THE
HOUNDING OF ELIZABETH LOFTUS. She is one of the best research
psychologists in the country. Her work on false memory helped
to finally end the "recovered sexual abuse" panic that
injured so may innocent people. And now she has been betrayed
by her own university--or, rather, by its administrators worrying
about possible litigation. The story is well-told, though too
briefly, in this article from the Boston Globe.
http://www.boston.com/
WHAT
IS THE SOURCE OF PLEASURE? Is pleasure the source of the good--or
of truth? Or is truth the key to pleasure and goodness? If not,
why not? And, after all, how should we live? Apparently Plato
and Socrates sometimes had opposed (or at least contrasting) views--even
though all we know of Socrates we get from Plato's dialogues.
Modern philosophers are still trying to sort out these matters;
and here is a report from a big recent session in which they went
at that task yet once more.
http://www.philosophersmag.com/
FOR
THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER RECEIVED THE NOBEL PRIZE...and for their
close relatives and hangers on: Here's the social side of the
occassion you are missing as it was celebrated last night in Stockholm.
The on-site report is from today's Baltimore Sun.
http://www.sunspot.net/
BEST
BOOKS OF THE YEAR? We recently gave you the 100 best as listed
by the Economist. The people at the Village Voice
(a quite different sort of publication) have zero'd in on a mere
25--and one of them is by Marcel Proust!
http://www.villagevoice.com/
LOOKING
JEWISH EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD. A few months ago we talked, on
Extension 720, with Frederic Brenner, about his photographic survey
of the Jews of the vast diaspora. Now our good friend and frequent
program guest, Joseph Epstein, has reviewed that haunting book--and
in his personalized style--for the Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
JENNY
LEAVES THE INTERNET. Was she really the first blogger? Terry Teachout
comments on the woman who took the world into her bedroom some
seven years ago. And if there is a larger message to be derived
from this story, he is the one to search it out. This amusing,
but serious, reflection was put forward earlier today on the National
Review site.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
NOBODY DON'T LIKE TOM JONES! For vigor,
rhythmic force and sheer musicality, who ever did better than
this fellow? Don't miss items in this collection: What's New Pussycat,
Green Grass of Home, Delilah, Detroit City.
http://www.hhstarr.addr.com/
December 10, 2003:
THE CANDIDATES DEBATE AS THE KOPPEL SHOW.
We watched the debate from New Hampshire in replay this morning
and thought that Ted Koppel was arrogant, condescending and irresponsible.
But why did he play it that way? Howie Kurtz's piece in the Washington
Post gives the real background story. Once again, show biz
trumps responsible journalism.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
HAVE
THE CLINTONS, IN FACT, BEEN GORED? Here, a knowledgeable city-side
reporter for the New York Daily News makes something
of the fact that Gore did his endorsement in Harlem which is,
these days, Bill Clinton's "base." And the interpretation
agrees with Frum's that somehow Gore is readying himself for:
1. a Dean defeat in November 2004 and 2. a Gore candidacy in 2008.
Go know!!!
http://www.nydailynews.com/
STARWARS
DEFENSE IS COMING ON! This fine article from the current issue
of the Economist brings together the facts and the conjectures
concerning anti-missile defense. An excellent primer for a dream
(or nightmare?) that is becoming a reality.
http://economist.com/
WAS
MALVO AN "ISLAMOFASCIST?" That is the assertion put
forward today by columnist Michelle Malkin. The links she provides
in this piece seem to make a rather strong case that there was
an "ideological element" in the Beltway-area sniper
murders.
http://www.townhall.com/
THE
BIGGER THEY ARE, THE MORE LIKELY TO FAIL. The architectural race
to the sky was, and remains, an American obsession--though it
has been matched in, of all places, Kuala Lumpur. This fine article
from the current New Yorker provides an illuminating
history and critique of massive verticality.
http://www.newyorker.com/
STRANGE
THINGS AT OLD ALMA MATER. Brooklyn College IS, in fact, where
I got my Bachelor's degree...but that was long ago and it has
since become so politicized as to virtually kill off its once
high reputation. Erin O'Connor, who has been a guest on our program,
recounts the latest chapter of the sad story in this selection
from her Critical Mass blogsite.
http://www.erinoconnor.org/
WHAT
IS DON QUIXOTE REALLY ABOUT? A new translation of the Cervantes
classic prompts a quite illuminating critical reevaluation.The
author, Stephen Rupp, is professor of Spanish and Portugese at
the University of Toronto and the review appeared last Friday
in the Globe and Mail.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
A
GREAT (GENRE) AMERICAN WRITER. The genre was "science fiction"
(for lack of a more accurate category). And though his work generated
some strong movies, Philip K. Dick made virtually nothing from
the Hollywood transmutations of his brilliant and dark, dark novels.
This informative and appreciative article appeared recently in
Wired magazine.
http://www.wired.com/
AN
IRRESISTIBLE CHAMBER WORK. That's Johan Nepomuk Hummel's Military
Septet. Try it. You'll like it!
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December 9, 2003:
DR. KRAUTHAMMER'S MOST RECENT DIAGNOSIS.
This time some properly critical judgemental comments on the "Geneva
Accord." It is clear to C.K. and to us that, to use an idiom
not in wide employment in Jerusalem or Ramallah, this dog won't
hunt.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
HITCH
WEIGHS IN AGAIN. As some of the supporters of the Iraq war slink
away, Christopher Hitchens holds them to account--and, once again,
reviews the reasons why the Iraq action was, and remains, a desireable
and justifiable undertaking. The article appeared yesterday in
Slate and was reprinted at Front Page.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
CAN
WAHHABISM MAKE IT IN ALBANIA? They are surely trying and, as usual,
the Saudis are footing the big bill. But Muslim Albanians are,
apparently, not Pakistanis. This informative article by Stephen
Schwartz is from the current Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/
GOING
AFTER PIPES. When Dan Pipes, sometimes a guest on our program,
goes out to the universities to lecture..unpleasant things happen.
As at the University of Illinois according to this recent report
in Front Page magazine. What does the Council of American
Islamic Relations (CAIR) have to with this oft repeated phenomenon?
Read on.
http://frontpagemag.com/
SADDAM
HAS SLAIN HIS TENS OF THOUSANDS. The Gallup Organization has found
a methodologically reasonable way to estimate how many people
Saddam had murdered...in Baghdad. The estimates for the rest of
the country remain to be developed. But from this account, as
reported in The Australian yesterday, he has matched
his great historical competitors: Saul, Lenin, Stalin, Mao and
Hitler.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/
WHEN
POLITICIANS TAKE TO BLOGGING...can the blogosphere itself survive?
The phenomenon is becoming increasingly noteworthy according to
this story from the U.K. Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
WHY
AND HOW ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH BECAME PORNOGRAPHERS...and what
has finally stopped them. This well-informed article from
Slate makes it clear, yet again, that failing commercial
enterprises will readily throw all moral considerations to the
winds as they try to restore their failing fortunes (i.e. market
share).
http://slate.msn.com/
REMEMBRANCE
OF THINGS PAST...THAT NEVER HAPPENED. Elizabeth Loftus has been
demonstraing for years that false memory can be easily implanted.
The consequences for criminal prosecutions, psychoanalysis and
even fond nostalgia are vast..and vastly disturbing. This account
of some of her recent work is from yesterday's U.K. Guardian.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
THE
GOOD-LOOKING AND THE UGLY PROFESSOR. Which one gets the higher
ratings for the quality of his (her) teaching? Youv'e got it.
But are they, in fact, better teachers? This social psychological
study is intrinsically interesting even if written in standard
acadamese.
http://www.eco.utexas.edu/
FOR
YOUR NEXT TRIP TO UXMAL OR CHICHENITZA. You can now read the Mayan
inscriptions...almost. Just bone up on the following material
and click on the links. In five days (or is it months) you will
be proto-fluent in Yucatec!!
http://www.ancientscripts.com/
BASIE,
ARMSTRONG, GOODMAN, MILLER AND A FEW OTHERS. This great "swing
site" is a delight. And the pleasure is not due to mere nostalgia.
It was, and remains, great popular music.
http://www.hhbrandy.addr.com/
December 8, 2003:
A SERIOUS AND CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF
THE BUSH FOREIGN POLICY. Daalder and Lindsay, whose new book is
reviewed here in the journal of the New York Council on Foreign
Relations, will be our guests tonight on Extension 720.
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/
A
TWO STATE SOLUTION? Absolutely not says Hamas and its founder/leader
Sheik Ahmed Yassin. Just ship them all back to Europe! Fatah,
in this story from the Jerusalem Post, comes off as virtually
pacifisct by comparison.
http://www.jpost.com/
AND
THEN THERE ARE THE ARAB "REFORMERS"...who, surely, should
be given far more attention than Sheik Yassin. But, as Robert
Satloff interprets the second Arab Human Development Report (ADHR
II) they are trying too hard to square themselves with the more
hawkish elites. The article is from the new issue of Commentary
magazine.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/
ANOTHER
CHAPTER IN THE "UNTERGANG DES ABENDLANDES?" Sharia is
the real law in many European communities now. The extent of this
development in the Islamic west has not yet been fully assessed
but one might ask what system of law will prevail in Italy in
2050 when, according to demographic prediction, Muslims may be
in the majority.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
FROM
FELLOW-TRAVELLING TO POLITICAL CORRECTNESS...IN AUSTRALIA. This
informative review of the stages through which the far left has
passed in Australia was recently contributed by the former Governor
General of the country. Inevitably, a fascinating account!
http://www.liberalsindia.com/
AND
THEN HE WROTE....After Mein Kampf, Hitler still
had a good deal on his mind, particularly how to get Italy to
assist German eastward expansion (at the cost of giving them the
Austrian Tyrol). Are you following this? The book, never published
till now, reveals just what a geopolitical fantast he was when
the Nazis were still pulling only 2% of the national vote!! This
recent analysis of Hitler's second book is from the Times
Literary Supplement.
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/
OF
THE MAKING OF BOOKLISTS THERE IS NO END...but we find that the
end-of-the-year list from the Economist does usually
reflect our enthusiasms. It also reflects our programming since
a number of these authors appeared on Extension 720 in 2003.
http://economist.com/
A
GREAT METASITE!! The staff at the National Journal have
put together some fine website lists for people pursuing the news
and its meaning in such areas as foreign affairs, defense, homeland
security, the economy, politics, etc. You will probably want to
list some of the sites turned up herein on your favorites-menu.
http://nationaljournal.com/
A
SOUTHERN CHRISTMAS...assuming that's where Miami is located. At
any rate that's where Dave Barry is located and his participant-observer,
ethnographic reports are always of peculiar interest.
http://www.miami.com/
THEY
HAVE DRAMATIZED THE WARREN COMMISSION REPORT! Did you know about
this? We didn't until stumbling upon the news in Variety
today. Will hix nix fix pix?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/
NO
STRINGS TO MOZART...in this piano quintet with bassoon horn, clarinet
and oboe. The mood is more contemplative than in many of the string
chamber works.
http://classicalplus.gmn.com/
December 5, 2003:
SYRIA AND THE IRAQI RESISTANCE. The latter
is directed by the former's secret service according to a major
Kuwaiti journalist. These excerpts from the recent article by
Ahmad Al-Jarallah have been reprinted today by the Middle East
Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
http://www.memri.org/
BUSH
IN BAGHDAD. This account turns up at a curious web-location. All
the same, it does give some intersting angles on the Thanksgiving
Day visit.
http://www.snopes.com/
WAS
THERE AN ISRAELI INTELLIGENCE FAILURE IN IRAQ? The question is
raised here by a major scholar from the rather "hard line"
Jaffe Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. This
strikes us as a detailed, responsible and, thus, valuable analysis.
http://www.tau.ac.il/
DR.
KRAUTHAMMER IS IN. Some of his readers may not have heard that
Charles Krauthammer was trained as--and for a while functioned
as--a psychiatrist. Thus he can be excused for this lapse, in
today's Washington Post column, into the "genetic
fallacy." However, if Dean's accusations are not due to mental
derangement they must be due to tertiary cynicism which is, for
a presidential aspirant, possibly worse but, of course, not without
precedent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
ANOTHER
SOURCE OF AIDS INFECTION! And it is one about which a great deal
can be done right now--IF James Randerson's report in New
Scientist magazine is accurate as, in all likelihood, it
is. This is must reading for doctors, their patients and, particularly,
hospital administrators.
http://www.newscientist.com/
THE
WALL STREET JOURNAL READS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF PLAYBOY.
Well, someone's got to do it but, thankfully, not us. The reader,
Michael Judge, lives up to his name and delivers a negative verdict
from the bench.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/
YES,
VIRGINIA, CRIME DOES PAY...depending, of course, on how much chutzpah
and PR you can muster or have mustered for you by your publisher.
All of which signifies that Jayson Blair's book has just been
published, and that we share the indignation of Joe Strupp as
conveyed today in Editor and Publisher magazine.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/
THE
AAUP, DAVID HOROWITZ AND THE PERSISTENCE OF P.C. PERSECUTIONS
IN THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES. Horowitz's proposed Academic Bill
of Rights seems to gall the AAUP. But it does enthuse many embattled
professors and students. Here he lays out the case in this article
from his own web-journal, Front Page.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/
PORTRAIT
OF THE ARTIST'S DAUGHTER AS A TROUBLED WOMAN. A biography of James
Joyce's daughter was published recently and here, in the current
New Yorker, it prompts a fine essay by Joan Acocella.
http://www.newyorker.com/
THE
CORNUCOPIA OF MANHATTAN...as viewed by New York Magazine.
This one is to browse, file and refer to when heading for--or
back to--New York where we first learned how to dine.
http://www.newyorkmetro.com/
THE
GREAT CLAPTON. Whatever he did in reaction to American blues,
country and rock--he did it distinctively and with musicianly
ease. Here's a fine collection of his performances. On the don't
miss list: After Midnight, Bell Bottom Blues, I Shot the Sheriff,
Presence of the Lord.
http://www.geocities.com/
December 4, 2003:
THE LOST VIRTUE OF PATIENCE. We had better
recover it and put it to use in Iraq or disaster may follow. So
says Herbert London, the president of the Hudson Institute as
he takes a sideswipe at some of the Democratic presidential candidates.
http://www.benadorassociates.com/
THE
HOME TOWN OP-ED EDITOR FINDS THE GENERAL FALTERING. Wesley Clark
isn't doing any better in the estimation of Little Rock's best-known
journalist than did Bill Clinton.
http://www.townhall.com/
THE
ANTI-SEMITISM PLAGUE IN EUROPE. Clifford May, president of the
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, reviews the outbreaks
not only in synagogue bombings but in parliamentry speeches. The
"study of Anti-Jewish Hatred" report which the EU won't
release was, all the same, printed by the Jerusalem Post
a few days ago and was linked on this blogsite.
http://www.townhall.com/
DO
YOUR LETTERS TO THE TIMES GO UNPRINTED? John Derbyshire of the
National Review has suffered the same rejection but has
found a way to ease the pain: publish them elsewhere and the more
outrageous the better.
http://www.nationalreview.com/
FROM
RAMALLAH ON THE HUDSON. This article from the Columbia Spectator
informs that MEALC (their Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
department) remains an outpost for the rationalization of Palestinian
militancy and for home-grown academic anti-Americanism.
http://www.campus-watch.org/
THE
HIGHER LEARNING AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY. But still not answered:
Will the ACLU step in to protect her "free speech" filming
fornication rights? The story is from today's New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/
THEY
HAVE NOT FOUND THE HEART ATTACK GENE...but they have found A heart
attack gene and that could be the beginning of something big.
This slightly hyper-ventilated report from CBS News is, for that
reason, a somewhat cheering contribution.
http://www.cbsnews.com/
WHAT
THE WARREN REPORT LEFT OUT...and how the CIA agent who knew about
Oswald was supressed by Richard Helms. And it all adds up to Oswald
as sole assassin! This truly informative, secret-breaking article
is from the current issu
