October 2003 Archives

Franz Xaver Mozart (1791-1844)

"You have no idea what it's like if you always hear a giant marching behind you".

I never knew that there was a Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart until I heard it on the air today on WGMS.

Revisiting a Man Who Linked Two Worlds (washingtonpost.com)

"Many think they know the story of Lawrence of Arabia, said filmmaker James Hawes, "but they know the Hollywood version. People know him because of David Lean's movie, know him as a Rudolph Valentino-caped crusader."

BW Online | October 17, 2003 | What Price Online Music?

"However, there's one voice of wisdom in the digital wilderness: Apple's (AAPL ) iTunes Music Store, which launched its service for Windows-based computers on Oct. 16, offers album downloads for $9.99. "

Roger L. Simon: GREGG EASTERBROOK AND ME

"But Easterbrook also informed me of something else that is highly disturbing. He has been fired from his job at ESPN. Gregg takes full responsibility for this (he wrote the original words that he regrets), but I, as one of his harshest critics, believe that ESPN has vastly overreacted. I urge them to reconsider their decision. I don’t think anybody who attacked Easterbrook wanted to see him fired. I certainly didn’t. To the degree that I am even remotely responsible for this I humbly apologize. I can only say this is another example of what we all know—words have consequences."

HollandSentinel.com -Family, colleagues remember educator 04/21/03

"K. Don "Jake" Jacobusse spent much of his life teaching or leading schools around the country, but the impact of his expertise and passion for education can be felt locally as well, said some of his family and former colleagues this weekend."

It is with genuine sadness that I learned today of the death of my tenth grade English teacher, "Jake" Jacobusse. At 70, I am sure he still showed more zest for life than most people do in their twenties. For all the suggestion of scandal that trailed in Jake's wake, his presence in the classroom was electrifying. His mind was constantly inquiring, never accepting orthodoxy or authority, the source both of his inspiration and some of his difficulties over the years. It was appropriate that Jake introduced me to one of my favorite restaurants, the Church in Stratford, Ontorio, home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Next time I am there, I shall be sure to tlife a glass in memory of a man who combined the scholar with the bon vivant.

Dave Winer discusses the firing of columnist Gregg Easterbrook from ESPN because of his blog comments about Jewish communications CEO's.

The New Republic Online: Easterbrook

"Nothing's worse, as a writer, than so mangling your own use of words that you are heard to have said something radically different than what you wished to express. Of mangling words, I am guilty."

After Rush Limbaugh, it is no surprise that Gregg Easterbrook lost his position at ESPN for writing a blog post that suggested that Jewish business executives were promoting violence out of cupidity. Limbaugh's comment about a black quarterback shocked but did not surprise. It does come as a surprise that a writer for the New Republic, a magazine with a liberal history and deep sympathy to Judaism, should make the kind of statements Easterbrook did.

Dean Greeted Warmly by Arab Americans (washingtonpost.com)

"An assemblage of politically active Arab Americans gave former Vermont governor Howard Dean repeated ovations Saturday at the windup of a two-day meeting that marked a clear shift of allegiance from President Bush to his Democratic rivals."

Limbaugh Goes Off the Air To Battle Painkiller Habit (washingtonpost.com)

"A bombastic host who loves to rip and ridicule his political opponents, Limbaugh has said things about drugs over the years that are already coming back to haunt him. As People magazine noted, Limbaugh said in a 1995 interview that "too many whites are getting away with drug use. The answer is to . . . find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river."

I haven't felt so good since the mealy mouthed William Bennett was exposed as a closet gambling addict.

The Subway Guy, Still on a Roll (washingtonpost.com)

"For nearly one full year in college, Jared Fogle ate nothing but Subway sandwiches -- and lost 245 pounds. Today, at age 26, he is the world's most famous hoagie huckster and a slender beacon of hope to millions of overweight Americans, who sweat and starve and staple their stomachs in a never-ending quest for svelte."

Hall of Fame Jockey Bill Shoemaker Dies (washingtonpost.com)

"Only 4-foot-11, the superb athlete rode for 41 years, most of them in Southern California, considered to be the most competitive circuit in America."

FindLaw Legal News - Groups Urge Supreme Court to Act on Guantanamo

"A group of former U.S. federal judges, diplomats, military officials and human rights advocates urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to review the case of detainees held without being charged at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere in the name of terrorism."

It has taken me ten years to get around to reading Daniel Yergin's The Prize. I am sorry now that it took me so long, since it is easily one of the best histories of the twentieth century I have read. Among other gems, it offers:

• The story of how Standard Oil's kerosene empire was almost destroyed by Thomas Edison but saved by Henry Ford;
• How the son of a Jewish shell merchant in England became the head of one of the world's greatest business empires;
• How Winston Churchill defeated the German fleet in WW I by converting the British fleet from coal to oil;
• The decisive role of oil in WW II - from Rommel's tanks to Hitler's air force to the suicide voyage of the Japanese battleship Yamato;
• How the decline in American excess capacity led to a fundamental shift in the relations between the consuming and the producing countries; and much more.

Pope Cautions Anglican Leader on Gays

"Pope John Paul II told the archbishop of Canterbury on Saturday that the acceptance of openly gay clergy members by many Anglicans presented "new and serious difficulties" in relations between the two churches."

First of all, the relationship between the Catholic and the Anglican communions has been pretty clear since the time of Henry VIII.

Secondly, the Pope should look to his own house. It is the Catholic Church that is riven with multimillion dollar lawsuits for child molestation, but has seen no need to question its policy of celibacy for its all male priesthood. No such scandal has touched the Episcopal Church, whose broad spirit of inclusion allows people to become priests irrespective of marital status, gender, or sexual orientation. Perhaps the Pope should cast the beam out of his own eye before he seeks to pluck the mote out of his neighbor's.