I've retreated to the privacy and relative shelter of a railing far removed from other human beings in order to have a cigarette. The warmth of the sun, the cool steel at my back, a potato on the landscape of life, I am enjoying my brief respite. A woman crosses in front of me unaware that I am watching. Her back to me, she has entered my life and set off a chain of associations she will never know.
It's her long shorts or abbreviated pants. I can't decide which. But it's the fringe at the bottoms that evokes memories of shorts cut from Wrangler jeans, their white fringes carefully picked out with a large safety pin. The remembered act of combing out the blue weft or warp reminds me of two girls in my college English classes.
They were from Brooklyn, the equivalent of present day "Staten Island Girls." Back then, those of us growing up in Staten Island were just starting to emerge from the days when we bought our jeans and fringed jackets at Gold Rush on the then Richmond Avenue. And we were fascinated by these young women in their get ups and their eyelashes. These were a wonder to behold, each lash encrusted in an coating of mascara that seemed to defy the laws of physics. Queried one day as to why their lashes weren't gobbed together, they explained that after applying the stuff, they would take a large safety pin and separate each individual lash.
My English professor was fascinated by their shoes, most of which sported three inch heels and open toes or straps. "F___ me shoes," he used to call them. Remember, these were unenlightened times. Funny thing was he never lusted after them, at least not appreciably. No, the pronouncement was delivered with an indulgent, picaresque, and somewhat patronizing smile.
I had thought of him earlier in the day when I came across the magazine his wife had started. I was struck that it had not only survived but become quite successful. Neither he nor she, however, had lived to enjoy it. I remember the first day that I met him on campus. He was my advisor, this professor with his wild hair and extinguished pipe. The only thing I remember from his first lecture was that he was 48 and that when you get to be 48, death becomes a reality. Studying Shakespeare with him was wallowing in the lushness of perception and conception and Cleopatra and God knows what else. The man was inspired.
And all this because of a safety pin.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Query
Why do all the news accounts see McCain as having an embargo problem rather than InBev having a Helms-Burton problem?
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Specter of A Cuba Visit
In a "what is he thinking," Senator Arlen Specter has announced that he will visit Cuba and would like to meet with Raul Castro and Hugo Chavez. According to this article, the senator is quoted as saying that he has always believed in "dialogue." Read the first few comments, and you will see the basic fallacy of the whole situation repeated.
In a point that Cuban dissidents have made, a "dialogue" by definition requires two sides. The Cuban government has made clear that the only thing it is interested in is the unilateral lifting of the embargo and the acceptance, if not approval, of their sovereign right to enslave their people. As for the overtures some purport to have seen in regime pronouncements, I fear that they are but olive branches of the mind.
In a point that Cuban dissidents have made, a "dialogue" by definition requires two sides. The Cuban government has made clear that the only thing it is interested in is the unilateral lifting of the embargo and the acceptance, if not approval, of their sovereign right to enslave their people. As for the overtures some purport to have seen in regime pronouncements, I fear that they are but olive branches of the mind.
Update: More Troops to Afghanistan?
Thomas Friedman has an op-ed in today's New York Times that voices concern over the effect of sending in more troops. He makes a case that what might be politically expedient in this country could be the wrong solution in that one.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Measuring the Oval Office for Drapes?
Now that he is back home after completing his victory progression through Europe, the candidate Obama has turned his attention to the transition. Yup. Had to share this one. Apparently, it is fairly common for the nominees to do something of the sort. What is unusual is that the Obama camp is talking about it. What seems to be lacking in this well-oiled political machine is a feel for what is seemly. Then again, it could be on purpose. Are these missteps really a way to convey the inevitability of an Obama presidency (Sign of the Cross)? Or better yet, is Barry faking out Mac?
Read about it here and here.
Read about it here and here.
There's Something About Obama and His Speeches
Actually, more like his rhetoric, that is drawing the attention of wordmeisters. When he first burst upon the scene, Obama's speeches- like the waters of the Red Sea- swept all before him on a veritable tsunami of verbiage. As time has progressed, however, more and more commentators have started crying "Wait, we've heard this before." More recently, it seems almost impossible to write about said oratorical exercises without trying to take them apart.
Witness the reaction to the Berlin Speech. In the midst of the many, many, many flattering reports, there are a few that take on the style, as well as the substance. This is the case, surprisingly, with David Brooks in no less a publication than the New York Times:
...he pulled out his “this is our moment” rhetoric and offered visions of a world transformed. Obama speeches almost always have the same narrative arc. Some problem threatens. The odds are against the forces of righteousness. But then people of good faith unite and walls come tumbling down. Obama used the word “walls” 16 times in the Berlin speech, and in 11 of those cases, he was talking about walls coming down.
and
When I first heard this sort of radically optimistic speech in Iowa, I have to confess my American soul was stirred. It seemed like the overture for a new yet quintessentially American campaign.
But now it is more than half a year on, and the post-partisanship of Iowa has given way to the post-nationalism of Berlin, and it turns out that the vague overture is the entire symphony. The golden rhetoric impresses less, the evasion of hard choices strikes one more.
For me, there has always been something nagging about it all, like something wasn't quite right. I've written about the hyperbole and the repetition. It goes beyond that. So when I came across some of his signature lines, I confess I parsed them a bit:
We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
First, there's the school marm in me that says you don't end a sentence on a preposition. But OK, my membership in the grammar police has lapsed. Still it sounds horribly awkward. That sentence is better the next one. After much thought, I realized what bothered me. "We" stands for people, concrete flesh and blood entities. "Change," on the other hand, is an abstraction. Therefore people cannot be "change." They may represent change; they may be agents of change, but they cannot be "change." Else, I am freedom, sin, stupidity. All of which might be true on a metaphorical level, but this is not poetry.
I find myself wanting like Gertrude "more matter and less art."
Witness the reaction to the Berlin Speech. In the midst of the many, many, many flattering reports, there are a few that take on the style, as well as the substance. This is the case, surprisingly, with David Brooks in no less a publication than the New York Times:
...he pulled out his “this is our moment” rhetoric and offered visions of a world transformed. Obama speeches almost always have the same narrative arc. Some problem threatens. The odds are against the forces of righteousness. But then people of good faith unite and walls come tumbling down. Obama used the word “walls” 16 times in the Berlin speech, and in 11 of those cases, he was talking about walls coming down.
and
When I first heard this sort of radically optimistic speech in Iowa, I have to confess my American soul was stirred. It seemed like the overture for a new yet quintessentially American campaign.
But now it is more than half a year on, and the post-partisanship of Iowa has given way to the post-nationalism of Berlin, and it turns out that the vague overture is the entire symphony. The golden rhetoric impresses less, the evasion of hard choices strikes one more.
For me, there has always been something nagging about it all, like something wasn't quite right. I've written about the hyperbole and the repetition. It goes beyond that. So when I came across some of his signature lines, I confess I parsed them a bit:
We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
First, there's the school marm in me that says you don't end a sentence on a preposition. But OK, my membership in the grammar police has lapsed. Still it sounds horribly awkward. That sentence is better the next one. After much thought, I realized what bothered me. "We" stands for people, concrete flesh and blood entities. "Change," on the other hand, is an abstraction. Therefore people cannot be "change." They may represent change; they may be agents of change, but they cannot be "change." Else, I am freedom, sin, stupidity. All of which might be true on a metaphorical level, but this is not poetry.
I find myself wanting like Gertrude "more matter and less art."
Monday, July 28, 2008
More Mini Reads And More Mini Reads!
I confess, I feel like I've been on a shameless bender. This week, I've logged another four.
I won't devote much time to Blasphemy by Douglas Preston, not that it wasn't enjoyable and thought provoking, but because nothing will ever equal the experience of the The Relic which he co-authored with Lincoln Child. That one had the nether regions of the Museum of Natural History and the novelty of abandoned New York Subway tunnels, as well as a fast-paced, hair-raising plot. Still, he had me going on this one. The title I'm lusting after is his new nonfiction book, The Monster of Florence.
Then there was Phantom Prey, another solid mystery/crime story in the John Sanford Prey franchise. I like Lucas Davenport; I can't help it. Still, he seems to be heading into the rarefied circles of Stuart Woods' characters with $2,000 dollar suits. But it's been fun watching him mature. And who'da thought he would turn out to be monogamous?
Now, Jennifer Lee Carrell's Interred With Their Bones is another type of story altogether. A review characterizes it as a DaVinci Code type of book, and in a way it is. In one night, young Kate Stanley loses her directing gig, when the Globe theater burns down, and her once very influential mentor, when the former is murdered, but not before Professor Howard leaves her the first in a tantalizing series of clues. This is very much an intellectual and literary pursuit with murders, Shakespearean lore and chases galore along the way. In sum, an interesting read, nicely written. I wasn't overly fond of the scenes set in 1613, but fortunately they were few. And yeah, people do go really overboard with these literary battles.
What do you do when you're a struggling young Mexican-American wouldbe writer who finds her life becoming enmeshed in life threatening ways with a group of people with a "condition" that renders them sensitive to sun and very fond of blood? When the indomitable Milagros De Los Santos, pun thoroughly intended, finds herself in this predicament, she overcomes it and gets her man. By The Bride of Casa Dracula, the third in the series, Milagros is engaged to marry the super sexy, somewhat vampiric, plastic surgeon Oswald Grant. I won't give away the plot, but I will say that the odd melange of Vampire tradition, wedding planners, and Cuban food make for an interesting romp. Once I hit the second chapter, I was no longer questioning the premise. The characters are memorable and Marta Acosta's style carries you along. Pure fluff. Great beach read.
I won't devote much time to Blasphemy by Douglas Preston, not that it wasn't enjoyable and thought provoking, but because nothing will ever equal the experience of the The Relic which he co-authored with Lincoln Child. That one had the nether regions of the Museum of Natural History and the novelty of abandoned New York Subway tunnels, as well as a fast-paced, hair-raising plot. Still, he had me going on this one. The title I'm lusting after is his new nonfiction book, The Monster of Florence.
Then there was Phantom Prey, another solid mystery/crime story in the John Sanford Prey franchise. I like Lucas Davenport; I can't help it. Still, he seems to be heading into the rarefied circles of Stuart Woods' characters with $2,000 dollar suits. But it's been fun watching him mature. And who'da thought he would turn out to be monogamous?
Now, Jennifer Lee Carrell's Interred With Their Bones is another type of story altogether. A review characterizes it as a DaVinci Code type of book, and in a way it is. In one night, young Kate Stanley loses her directing gig, when the Globe theater burns down, and her once very influential mentor, when the former is murdered, but not before Professor Howard leaves her the first in a tantalizing series of clues. This is very much an intellectual and literary pursuit with murders, Shakespearean lore and chases galore along the way. In sum, an interesting read, nicely written. I wasn't overly fond of the scenes set in 1613, but fortunately they were few. And yeah, people do go really overboard with these literary battles.
What do you do when you're a struggling young Mexican-American wouldbe writer who finds her life becoming enmeshed in life threatening ways with a group of people with a "condition" that renders them sensitive to sun and very fond of blood? When the indomitable Milagros De Los Santos, pun thoroughly intended, finds herself in this predicament, she overcomes it and gets her man. By The Bride of Casa Dracula, the third in the series, Milagros is engaged to marry the super sexy, somewhat vampiric, plastic surgeon Oswald Grant. I won't give away the plot, but I will say that the odd melange of Vampire tradition, wedding planners, and Cuban food make for an interesting romp. Once I hit the second chapter, I was no longer questioning the premise. The characters are memorable and Marta Acosta's style carries you along. Pure fluff. Great beach read.
Got Water?
In last year's July 26th speech, Raul Castro went off on a tangent about milk, a digression the mainstream media managed to miss, maybe it's a language thing. But since almost universally, Cubans quoted in the media have complained that they have not gotten their glass of milk, this year he seems to have lowered his sights.
This year's wonky wending was all about...water. The aqueduct in Santiago should be finished in 2010, about the time Cubans get toasters. Then there are the 15.6 miles of water pipes, the 231.2 miles of major water networks, and the 390.6 miles of secondary water networks. Just some of the scintillating oratory. Get my drift? But lest ordinary Cubans get carried away consuming and splashing about in the as yet fictional water, they were warned they will have to conserve and not hog up all.
This year's wonky wending was all about...water. The aqueduct in Santiago should be finished in 2010, about the time Cubans get toasters. Then there are the 15.6 miles of water pipes, the 231.2 miles of major water networks, and the 390.6 miles of secondary water networks. Just some of the scintillating oratory. Get my drift? But lest ordinary Cubans get carried away consuming and splashing about in the as yet fictional water, they were warned they will have to conserve and not hog up all.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Sunday Strangeness
This week's entries come near the witching hour when hopefully no churchyards yawn in your neighborhood.
Trust No One. In a somewhat serious vein, Victor Davis Hanson complains that the 60's won't die. Yet another examination of the less than beneficial legacy of the "me first" generation in this one on Townhall. Have to like the "60's petulance."
Cigarette Smoking Man. I knew it was only a matter of time 'til the truth won out. This article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune informs us that longer lives cost more money. Wellness and prevention are nice, but not all they're cracked up to be economically. What was that about smokers?
The Truth is Out There. There might be "no conclusive proof" tying cell phone use to cancer, but according to this piece, the Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers is issuing an advisory to his employees. Heck, I figure, why chance it? I have enough lottery tickets already.
The Lone Gunmen. Speaking of one in a trillion chances, Dr Edgar Mitchell of the Apollo 14 mission says it's true. Aliens have visited the Earth, and the government knows all about it. And yes, they are little men with big eyes. NASA's refutation is interesting. They have a "different opinion." It is what it is or isn't. Read it here.
Tunguska. Or how about in Russia where miners in the northern Kamchatka region are afraid to leave their compound after bears have killed two coworkers? Read the story here.
I Want to Believe. Let's end with another list. This one of religious sightings in unusual places: potato salad, melons, buns. Lends new meaning to finding the divine in everyday life.
Trust No One. In a somewhat serious vein, Victor Davis Hanson complains that the 60's won't die. Yet another examination of the less than beneficial legacy of the "me first" generation in this one on Townhall. Have to like the "60's petulance."
Cigarette Smoking Man. I knew it was only a matter of time 'til the truth won out. This article from the Sarasota Herald Tribune informs us that longer lives cost more money. Wellness and prevention are nice, but not all they're cracked up to be economically. What was that about smokers?
The Truth is Out There. There might be "no conclusive proof" tying cell phone use to cancer, but according to this piece, the Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers is issuing an advisory to his employees. Heck, I figure, why chance it? I have enough lottery tickets already.
The Lone Gunmen. Speaking of one in a trillion chances, Dr Edgar Mitchell of the Apollo 14 mission says it's true. Aliens have visited the Earth, and the government knows all about it. And yes, they are little men with big eyes. NASA's refutation is interesting. They have a "different opinion." It is what it is or isn't. Read it here.
Tunguska. Or how about in Russia where miners in the northern Kamchatka region are afraid to leave their compound after bears have killed two coworkers? Read the story here.
I Want to Believe. Let's end with another list. This one of religious sightings in unusual places: potato salad, melons, buns. Lends new meaning to finding the divine in everyday life.
Literary Interlude: Written at Lovere, 1755
Wisdom, slow product of laborious years,
The only fruit that life's cold winter bears;
Thy sacred seeds in vain in youth we lay,
By the fierce storm of passion torn away.
Should some remain in a rich gen'rous soil,
They long lie hid, and must be rais'd with toil;
Faintly they struggle with inclement skies,
No sooner born than the poor planter dies.
-Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
The only fruit that life's cold winter bears;
Thy sacred seeds in vain in youth we lay,
By the fierce storm of passion torn away.
Should some remain in a rich gen'rous soil,
They long lie hid, and must be rais'd with toil;
Faintly they struggle with inclement skies,
No sooner born than the poor planter dies.
-Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Here's a Quote
"There are a lot of people on the street who talk about change, but we haven't had even one economic or political reform that counts, nothing we hoped for with Raul," said Oswaldo, a 69-year-old retired construction worker. He declined to give his last name, saying, "Being able to openly criticize things is something else we can only hope for."
Cuban in an AP piece about the 26th in Cuba.
Cuban in an AP piece about the 26th in Cuba.
Friday, July 25, 2008
He Went; They Saw; I Yawned
Granted I'm immune in the main to the Obamaesque rhetorical flourishes, but even so I was rather disappointed in the Speech in Germany, although for a moment I was reaching for Left Behind, which I don't own. Passages like the following sent a frisson up my spine:
The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.
"Oh-oh," I said to myself, "one world government." My last Anti-Christ theory had Obama pegged as the evil one, but now- just for a moment- the thought rose in brain. This is how it happens, the rise of a single government....then....the mark of the beast. And I'm just a lapsed Catholic. Restored to sanity, I tried to pick out the phrase, the money quote. Alas, the closest I came was the "citizen of the world" bit. Who knew the Obama man was so continental?
In part, it's because here in the States we've heard quite a bit of it before, and in similar constructions. There's the hyperbole about saving the planet, which, if threatened, does not seem to be in imminent danger of implosion. There's the grandiosity: not content to address the Beriliners, or even the Germans, he piggybacks onto the historic calls of West Berlin to "People of the World." Then he goes in for one of his favorite devices: repetition. Varying between "people of the world" and "look at Berlin," he really hits his stride. He finishes off with this insistence on "remaking the world." I guess the United States is not world enough for him.
It's very nice that he drew 200,000 plus Germans. But he's not running in Germany. And that constraint limited his speech. Think back, the other two famous Americans who gave the touchstone speeches were sitting presidents. As Merkel indicated when the campaign wanted to have the event at the Brandenburg gate, it would be like a candidate for German Prime Minister holding a rally at the Statue of Liberty.
Call me, crazy, but it doesn't seem wise to campaign in Europe for the American Presidency. We might like them, but we don't necessarily want to be like them.
The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.
"Oh-oh," I said to myself, "one world government." My last Anti-Christ theory had Obama pegged as the evil one, but now- just for a moment- the thought rose in brain. This is how it happens, the rise of a single government....then....the mark of the beast. And I'm just a lapsed Catholic. Restored to sanity, I tried to pick out the phrase, the money quote. Alas, the closest I came was the "citizen of the world" bit. Who knew the Obama man was so continental?
In part, it's because here in the States we've heard quite a bit of it before, and in similar constructions. There's the hyperbole about saving the planet, which, if threatened, does not seem to be in imminent danger of implosion. There's the grandiosity: not content to address the Beriliners, or even the Germans, he piggybacks onto the historic calls of West Berlin to "People of the World." Then he goes in for one of his favorite devices: repetition. Varying between "people of the world" and "look at Berlin," he really hits his stride. He finishes off with this insistence on "remaking the world." I guess the United States is not world enough for him.
It's very nice that he drew 200,000 plus Germans. But he's not running in Germany. And that constraint limited his speech. Think back, the other two famous Americans who gave the touchstone speeches were sitting presidents. As Merkel indicated when the campaign wanted to have the event at the Brandenburg gate, it would be like a candidate for German Prime Minister holding a rally at the Statue of Liberty.
Call me, crazy, but it doesn't seem wise to campaign in Europe for the American Presidency. We might like them, but we don't necessarily want to be like them.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Half-Helping of Crow
Yesterday, I complained about the coverage of Cuba in the Christian Science Monitor. Today on Babalu, Val apprises us of quite a different article in said paper. In addition, there is a rather moving article on an independent library, a subject near and dear to my heart. So, well done.
Frankly, that is all I ask. While I can spot the fallacies in yesterday's entries, they are at least balanced by the tenor of today's. It would be nice if it were all accurate, but as human beings we are fallible. What would have been even nicer would have been to have both published on the same day, but to get even a smidge of truth in the MSM media is progress.
Of course, some of the quoted individuals are anti-embargo activists, but as they refrained from commenting on same, it was honky dory. Have to wonder if they paper knew their position, though.
Frankly, that is all I ask. While I can spot the fallacies in yesterday's entries, they are at least balanced by the tenor of today's. It would be nice if it were all accurate, but as human beings we are fallible. What would have been even nicer would have been to have both published on the same day, but to get even a smidge of truth in the MSM media is progress.
Of course, some of the quoted individuals are anti-embargo activists, but as they refrained from commenting on same, it was honky dory. Have to wonder if they paper knew their position, though.
Meanderings: Forget Global Warming
The weather today reminds me of The Swamp, a most excellent book about the Everglades in marked contrast to the classic The Everglades: River of Grass, the reading of which I found somewhat sleep-inducing. Hey, I know, it's just my experience, and I'm a tenement child at heart. Anyway, last night's forecast of another 7 days of "scattered thundershowers" reminds me of those poor, unsuspecting folks who bought land in the 'Glades and built farms, only to find themselves underwater a few years later.
See, the thing about Florida weather is that it sometimes tends to be feast or famine, although our more typical pattern would be sunny with a 50 percent chance of rain in the afternoon. But sometimes, like a few years ago, we came off a rather serious drought into literally forty days and nights of rain. It rained nearly our yearly total of rainfall in two months. Needless to say, about day 20, things began getting a bit water-logged, including the ground into which our septic tanks leached.
Hopefully that pattern won't be repeated this year, although we are coming off of a drought, and it has been raining a bit. You see, I forgot to mention the worst of it: Red Tide. If the pattern holds, we may soon feel its approach. We'll see.
See, the thing about Florida weather is that it sometimes tends to be feast or famine, although our more typical pattern would be sunny with a 50 percent chance of rain in the afternoon. But sometimes, like a few years ago, we came off a rather serious drought into literally forty days and nights of rain. It rained nearly our yearly total of rainfall in two months. Needless to say, about day 20, things began getting a bit water-logged, including the ground into which our septic tanks leached.
Hopefully that pattern won't be repeated this year, although we are coming off of a drought, and it has been raining a bit. You see, I forgot to mention the worst of it: Red Tide. If the pattern holds, we may soon feel its approach. We'll see.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Is There An Agenda Here?
The Christian Science Monitor, which has in the past published questionable articles about the Cuban situation, has outdone itself with a series of articles: "Cuba: Winds of Change." First it sees Cuba under Raul, perhaps creeping toward capitalism, at least that's the headline of this entry would seem to promise. Funny thing is that in all of the discussion of the illegal gym in the parking lot at the center of the piece, the author manages to avoid ever mentioning the recent crackdown on the same types of businesses. Remember the subversive barrette factory? To portray this as the wave of the future is disingenuous at best. Cuba may well be on a tortuous path to capitalism, but it will get there in spite of the machinations of the current powers.
Not content with presenting a skewed view of present conditions, the paper now takes on the mythical "generational divide" of Cubans in this one. Maybe, they're hoping it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy. As yet, I have seen no hard evidence that the younger generation is willing to lift the embargo, hold hands, and sing kum-ba-ya with the Cuban Capos. I gotta wonder if all these journalists have a wijja board or something. Maybe Joe Garcia dons a turban and pulls out a crystal ball.
And no presentation of the great and glorious future awaiting Cuba is complete without that ubiquitous Florida rancher and cheerleader John Parke Wright. In a side bar, he tells us how encouraged he is by the new business spirit on the island and how people like him should be allowed to restock the cattle industry. It's all the big, bad embargo, you know. Had Mr. Wright's livestock and land been stolen, you can bet he would be singing a different tune. But since it wasn't, he'd apparently deal with the devil, a devil that doesn't pay its bills by the way.
It is particularly galling that the resourcefulness they all laud as the sign of a changing Cuba is a harsh expedient forced on a captive population- desperate to eke out a living any way they can- by the system under which they live. Why, you might as well praise the healthiness of the diet forced on them by the scarcity of foodstuffs. But, wait, that's been done.
Not content with presenting a skewed view of present conditions, the paper now takes on the mythical "generational divide" of Cubans in this one. Maybe, they're hoping it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy. As yet, I have seen no hard evidence that the younger generation is willing to lift the embargo, hold hands, and sing kum-ba-ya with the Cuban Capos. I gotta wonder if all these journalists have a wijja board or something. Maybe Joe Garcia dons a turban and pulls out a crystal ball.
And no presentation of the great and glorious future awaiting Cuba is complete without that ubiquitous Florida rancher and cheerleader John Parke Wright. In a side bar, he tells us how encouraged he is by the new business spirit on the island and how people like him should be allowed to restock the cattle industry. It's all the big, bad embargo, you know. Had Mr. Wright's livestock and land been stolen, you can bet he would be singing a different tune. But since it wasn't, he'd apparently deal with the devil, a devil that doesn't pay its bills by the way.
It is particularly galling that the resourcefulness they all laud as the sign of a changing Cuba is a harsh expedient forced on a captive population- desperate to eke out a living any way they can- by the system under which they live. Why, you might as well praise the healthiness of the diet forced on them by the scarcity of foodstuffs. But, wait, that's been done.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Call It Journalism?
I dog MSNBC quite a bit, so we'll let 'em have a bit of equal time so to speak. Here's Chris Matthews explaining his tingling leg remark. Context does make a difference. Still although I'll grant he's not an umpire, publically favoring one presidential candidate still looks unseemly to me. Note his use of "Barack."
Here's Andrea Mitchell demonstrating at least an iota of rumgumption in reference to the choreography of Obama's trip.
Here's Andrea Mitchell demonstrating at least an iota of rumgumption in reference to the choreography of Obama's trip.
Easy as 123
Here are some figures to contemplate. We've all heard of the "blockade" maintained by the United States against poor, meek, and mild Cuba. Well, that's difficult to maintain in light of these figures. Let's try a few.
In 2007, the US exported 447.1 million dollars worth of foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals to Cuba, making it the island's fifth largest supplier.
In 2007, the US exported 447.1 million dollars worth of foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals to Cuba, making it the island's fifth largest supplier.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
It's Just a Cinematic Sunday
Shadow of a Doubt. By now we've all seen the fallout from "whinegate," as in Gramm resigning from the McCain campaign. Austin Hill in this article asks the question "Are we a nation of whiners?" Now for the person who has lost his job or business, the question is insulting, but if we move from the economy to the election.... Read it and think.
Torn Curtain. Jose at Cubanology brought this one to my attention. Seems that in Hollywood admitting you are a Republican, or just not a liberal, can be dangerous to your career health, or at the very least your social standing. So tell me something I don't know. Still, it's nice to see it in writing, and a few more closet pubbies were outed. Most interesting is Breitbart's analysis of the effect of this ideological rigidity on the product.
Notorious. In this one, Stuart Levine discovers that strong women in TV are labeled "bitches." Hallelujah! Funny thing is I love many of the characters he cites, particularly the sluttish Grace. You go, girl!
Foreign Correspondent. As Obama makes his previctory progression through Europe, there will be one corner of Prague forever Republican, or so you would infer from this profile of the
Mlynská Kavarná, or Mill Café. Charming.
The Birds. Actually more like the bees. Motorists on the Jersey Turnpike were assailed by bees. Was it a swarm of mad killer bees or the survivors of some radioactive mutation? Naw, somebody's hive broke according to the article. This all leads to the first comment that we should destroy all bees.
Lifeboat. Let's end with another list. An instructive one this time: 10 tips for the unwary about financial promises made on TV commercials. Duh. Actually, it's part of a larger 10 tips section that's pretty interesting.
...and for the bonus question....who were the directors?
Torn Curtain. Jose at Cubanology brought this one to my attention. Seems that in Hollywood admitting you are a Republican, or just not a liberal, can be dangerous to your career health, or at the very least your social standing. So tell me something I don't know. Still, it's nice to see it in writing, and a few more closet pubbies were outed. Most interesting is Breitbart's analysis of the effect of this ideological rigidity on the product.
Notorious. In this one, Stuart Levine discovers that strong women in TV are labeled "bitches." Hallelujah! Funny thing is I love many of the characters he cites, particularly the sluttish Grace. You go, girl!
Foreign Correspondent. As Obama makes his previctory progression through Europe, there will be one corner of Prague forever Republican, or so you would infer from this profile of the
Mlynská Kavarná, or Mill Café. Charming.
The Birds. Actually more like the bees. Motorists on the Jersey Turnpike were assailed by bees. Was it a swarm of mad killer bees or the survivors of some radioactive mutation? Naw, somebody's hive broke according to the article. This all leads to the first comment that we should destroy all bees.
Lifeboat. Let's end with another list. An instructive one this time: 10 tips for the unwary about financial promises made on TV commercials. Duh. Actually, it's part of a larger 10 tips section that's pretty interesting.
...and for the bonus question....who were the directors?
I'm Mad as Hell and I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore!
I guess that's how Humberto Fontova was feeling when he wrote this. He reminded me with a longer version as I fumed on Babalublog over a Salon.com piece. I know, I know, I shouldn't go there. Ah, but you have to keep your enemies closer. Don't think they're enemies of Cuban Americans? Take a gander at an excerpt from Humberto's article:
“Truly disgusting!” was how Bryant Gumbel characterized them a few years back. Last year Georgetown professor Norman Birnbaum, an advisor to three presidential candidates for America's majority political party, called them a “truly repellent” group. This past November, one of America's most influential newspaper (The Washington Post) and one that habitually endorses America's majority political party, ran a cartoon celebrating their expulsion from the country en masse.
In a nation where the mildest, most off-handed-- or even unwitting, see “black hole,” “niggardly”-- mention of ethnic traits commits the professional and social equivalent of a capital crime, the usual sniffers and snouters on ethnic sensitivity issued nary a peep against the blatant bigotry just mentioned, or in defense of the vilified ethnic group.
Pretty personal, I'd say.
“Truly disgusting!” was how Bryant Gumbel characterized them a few years back. Last year Georgetown professor Norman Birnbaum, an advisor to three presidential candidates for America's majority political party, called them a “truly repellent” group. This past November, one of America's most influential newspaper (The Washington Post) and one that habitually endorses America's majority political party, ran a cartoon celebrating their expulsion from the country en masse.
In a nation where the mildest, most off-handed-- or even unwitting, see “black hole,” “niggardly”-- mention of ethnic traits commits the professional and social equivalent of a capital crime, the usual sniffers and snouters on ethnic sensitivity issued nary a peep against the blatant bigotry just mentioned, or in defense of the vilified ethnic group.
Pretty personal, I'd say.
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