June 2004 Archives
Casablanca Plays It Again at Rick's Cafe
It appears that an American entrepreneur has finally succeeded in opening a "Rick's Cafe" in Casablanca. The Reuter's article suggests that maybe this new restaurant, rather than being simply a crass knock-off of one of America's most popular movies, has a certain charm of its own. One thing is for sure, it's more Moroccan than the film, which was produced and filmed entirely stateside during World War II.
More IMPAC News has recommendations for Moroccan books from five authors in three languages.
The New York Times > Washington > Author of '02 Memo on Torture: 'Gentle' Soul for a Harsh Topic
In an article devoted to letting Jay S. Bybee off the hook for his views advocating wide discretion on the part of the government in the torture of prisoners, the New York Times comments:
"He has a kazoo collection," said N. Gregory Smith, a former colleague on the law faculty at Louisiana State. "He'd get a little ensemble of kazoo enthusiasts together and play. They would occasionally perform the `1812' Overture."
And this is supposed to show that he doesn't believe in torture?
How horrible! Everything I touch becomes ludicrous and despicable! — It's like a curse.
Ibsen's anti-heroine on the difficulty of reconciling art and life (or death as in the case of Lovborg's suicide). A problem that preoccupied William Butler Yeats also.
Voice of Experience (washingtonpost.com)
"I was 30 years old, at the height of my career," says Hollander. "I loved my job. And, yes, I would go places and be recognized. You get spoiled a little bit. And then everything was gone. So, yes, it was a long fall."And, it turns out, a long climb back. On June 1, Hollander returns to the studio at WGMS, and returns to her old time slot -- the 10 a.m.-3 p.m. show that she describes, with both affection and possessiveness, as "mine." For the past two years, as she has slowly gained more control over her epilepsy, Hollander has been working for WGMS out of a studio in her basement. To her, this is returning to the "big time."
Diana Hollander, one of the country's top Classical music radio announcers, has overcome six years of personal tragedy to return full-time ot the station she loves. WGMS, meanwhile, deserves a lot of credit for its leadership in accommodating Ms. Hollander's disability and proving itself to be a model employer of the disabled. The result has been a fourfold win — for Diana Hollander, for WGMS, for the Washington audience, and for Classical music.
I had bacon and eggs in bed this morning (with fresh hot coffee and a yogurt smoothie), acoompanied by my wife and daughter. Gayle gave me a baby carrier backpack, which we used to take Rachel around the Brookside Flower Gardens on the last perfect spring afternoon of the year. Before that, we joined my father for dim sum at Good Fortune, Wheaton's best Chinese restaurant. We window shopped at Border's for a little while before discovering that Bertucci's is actually a very family friendly restaurant. Rachel managed to eat a little bit of the macaroni and cheese that did not end up on the floor, while Gayle had a personal Neapolitan style pizza and I had steamed mussels. (The mussels, although billed as appetizer, were more than sufficient for an entree). The complimentary appetizer was herbed oliver oil with bread — delicious, although it does not really allow the flavor of the oil to come through. The desserts — chocolate mousse cake and tiramisu — were also very good, but so large that we decided that next time we would order only one and share. After we returned home and I rocked the baby to sleep, we spent a little time jiggering email accounts, and I plan to read for about a half hour before bed. It's a great feeling to be a father when I am blessed with such a wonderful wife and daughter.
Mistakes Loom Large as Handover Nears (washingtonpost.com)
The ambitious, 15-month undertaking stumbled because of a series of mistakes that began with an inadequate commitment of resources and was aggravated by a misunderstanding of Iraqi politics, religion and society in occupied Iraq . . . .
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICE OF LEGAL COUNSEL EXPERIENCED ATTORNEYS
Applicants must possess a J.D. degree, be an active member of the bar (any jurisdiction), and have at least one year of post-J.D. legal experience. Because OLC's 24 attorneys handle some of the most difficult and important legal issues confronting the Executive Branch, it is highly selective in its hiring. The ideal candidate will have exceptional academic credentials, judicial clerkship or comparable experience, strong background in constitutional law, and outstanding legal research and writing skills.
Apparently these are the qualifications of the people who concluded that torture of American prisoners is legal.
The New York Times > Opinion > The Plain Truth
Of all the ways Mr. Bush persuaded Americans to back the invasion of Iraq last year, the most plainly dishonest was his effort to link his war of choice with the battle against terrorists worldwide.
While the New York Times excoriates the administration over its claims that the war in Iraq was justified in part by links between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, for some reason the Washington Post offers a half-hearted defense of Dick Cheney's prevarications.
Welcome to DMCC web site - Diplomats & Military Commanders for Change Official web site
The text of the statement by former diplomats and military commanders criticizing President Bush's leadership in foreign affairs.
No Evidence Connecting Iraq to Al Qaeda, 9/11 Panel Says (washingtonpost.com)
The 9/11 panel's conclusion that there is no evidence linking Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's regime calls into question Bush and Cheney's repeated assertions that there was such a connection and that it justified the war in Iraq.
Retired Diplomats, Military Commanders Fault Bush's Leadership (washingtonpost.com)
A document signed by a group of high-ranking former diplomats and military commanders faults the Bush administration for leaving the country diplomatically isolated and strategically vulnerable.
NutritionData's Nutrition Facts Calorie Counter
An interesting site that provides access to nutrition date on line. I found it while looking up the nutrition data for olives, which are better than I thought, despite a high sodium content. This is good news since I find myself increasingly addicted. My favorites right now are Moroccan oil cured black olives, green Picholines from France, and black Nicoise. A good Kalamata, of course, is also hard to resist.
As George Orwell would say, this begs the question of why so many people for so long have considered Joyce to be so good.
The New York Times > Books > Parlaying an Affinity for Austen Into an Unexpected Best Seller
Jane Austen has long been one of my favorite authors, so I suppose that I will need to take a look at this recent bestseller.
One critic even calls it [Joyce's Ulysses] a 'giant fart joke,' which made me feel somewhat better for having never managed to finish the tome. I've always been slow in 'getting' fart jokes.
Then again, fart jokes have a distinguished history in English literature. Chaucer's best known tale, the Miller's tale, is a fart joke, and Mark Twain wrote at least one example of the genre.
Andrew Sullivan on
Rachel, Gayle and I went to Wheaton Regional Park. It was a perfect sunny afternoon to go out with the family. Rachel enjoyed the ride on the park's miniature train, but was a bit skeptical about the carousel. The ice cream machine ripped us off to the tune of five dollars, and the park staff simply gave a collective shrug when we complained. After the park, Rachel and I hit Starbucks, Barnes and Noble (picked up a copy of
Use of Dogs to Scare Prisoners Was Authorized (washingtonpost.com)
A military intelligence interrogator also told investigators that two dog handlers at Abu Ghraib were "having a contest" to see how many detainees they could make involuntarily urinate out of fear of the dogs, according to the previously undisclosed statements obtained by The Washington Post.
Andrew Sullivan thinks this is just the beginning of the story.
The War in Context has an extended round up of continuing converage over the scandal surrounding the Justice Department's memo approving torture in violation of international law.
An extended discussion of continuing interest in Joyce's Ulysses — highbrow, lowbrow, and everything in between. Thanks to MoorishGirl. (I've never been very good at fart jokes myself.)
MoorishGirl: June 2004 Archives
Congratulations to MoorishGirl on being featured by the Guardian as its web pick and for passing the million visitor mark. Ms. Lalami leads where the rest of us hope to follow.
Top News Article | Reuters.com
SAVANNAH, Ga. (Reuters) - Facing criticism for methods used to interrogate terrorism suspects held by the United States, President Bush insisted on Thursday he had always ordered questioning methods to remain within the law."What I have authorized is that we stay within U.S. law," Bush told reporters in Savannah, Georgia, when asked what measures of interrogation he would authorize if the United States had a terror suspect in custody it knew was planning an attack.
The weight of the evidence, and the phrasing of the denial, suggest that perhaps the president is not being completely forthcoming.
AP CustomWire | The Janesville Gazette | Janesville, Wisconsin, USA
Charles "had this blasphemous idea of taking gospel songs and putting the devil's words to them."His last Grammy came in 1993 for "A Song for You," but he never dropped out of the music scene. He continued to tour and long treasured time for chess. He once told the Los Angeles Times: "I'm not Spassky, but I'll make it interesting for you."
Rest in peace Ray Charles, dead of liver disease at 73. The AP notes that Charles left behind 12 children, 20 grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. He may be gone, but his music will never be forgotten. The rest is silence.
Lawyers Ascribed Broad Power to Bush on Torture
Retired Rear Adm. John Hutson, the former judge advocate general for the Navy, said the memo read as though the lawyers were trying to bend the law to benefit their client, rather than stating the law fairly and accurately."That is not the job of people advising the president or the attorney general or the secretary of Defense. They have to be right legally, and I think they have an obligation to be right morally. I think they failed on both counts," said Hutson, now dean of the Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, N.H.
MoorishGirl: June 2004 Archives
As Dublin gears up for the 100th "Bloomsday" on June 16 (see below), MoorishGirl notes that Joyce's grandson Stephen is casting a pall over the festivities with his history of suing over copyright violations.
Allen S. Weiner, a law professor and former State Department lawyer, spent a career defending the U.S. military against allegations that it had violated the laws of war. To his chagin, it appears that the U.S. military has not lived up to its best traditions in Iraq.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: Fight Fire With Compassion
George H.W. Bush's former National Security Advisor points out that sometimes compassion is as effective a means of gleaning intelligence as brutality.
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish
The lame responses by John Ashcroft to the evidence in leaked memos that the Bush administration condoned torture with the personal approval of the president are damning. It's even more damning that Ashcroft will not release a critical memo, prepared by his department, making the point that some forms of torture, if approved by the president, would not be illegal.
A Plunge From the Moral Heights (washingtonpost.com)
"Some things are not American. Torture, for damned sure, is one of them."
Cohen makes the point that torture is not easily contained. A little bit can quickly become a lot.
Top News Article | Reuters.com
DUBLIN (Reuters) - In the summer of 1924, Irish writer James Joyce sat alone in Paris, took out his notebook and gloomily wrote in it: "Today 16 of June 1924 twenty years after. Will anyone remember this date."Two years had passed since Joyce had published his epic novel "Ulysses" and things were not going well.
Despite attracting a small core of devotees, the book had been denounced by the Irish as un-Christian filth, banned in Britain and burned by U.S. censors due to its "indecency."
To Joyce it seemed that June 16, 1904, the day on which the novel is set, was slipping unnoticed into history.
He need not have worried.
Next week, Dublin and the world will celebrate the 100th anniversary of what is now known universally as "Bloomsday" in honor of the central character of Ulysses, Leopold Bloom.
The Los Angeles Times reports the Walker interrogation marked the beginning of a new American policy of violating the rights of prisoners and international law.
Michael Froomkin has an analysis of the torture memo. See IsThatLegal?.
An instructive comment on the difference between FDR's Justice Department and Bush's:
Under the leadership of Francis Biddle, FDR's Attorney General, the Justice Department opposed the eviction and incarceration of American citizens of Japanese ancestry.
Legalizing Torture (washingtonpost.com)
In a stinging lead editorial, the Washington Post denounced the Bush administration's stated willingness to disregard United States and international law in order to extract information from prisoners through torture.
There is no justification, legal or moral, for the judgments made by Mr. Bush's political appointees at the Justice and Defense departments. Theirs is the logic of criminal regimes, of dictatorships around the world that sanction torture on grounds of "national security." For decades the U.S. government has waged diplomatic campaigns against such outlaw governments -- from the military juntas in Argentina and Chile to the current autocracies in Islamic countries such as Algeria and Uzbekistan -- that claim torture is justified when used to combat terrorism. The news that serving U.S. officials have officially endorsed principles once advanced by Augusto Pinochet brings shame on American democracy -- even if it is true, as the administration maintains, that its theories have not been put into practice. Even on paper, the administration's reasoning will provide a ready excuse for dictators, especially those allied with the Bush administration, to go on torturing and killing detainees.
The Post points out the obvious: that the standards articulated by the Bush administration will now serve as a justification for almost any depraved act toward American servicemen and civilians by our enemies, in stark contrast to our former published policy of applying no interrogation methods that we would not be willing to have Americans undergo.
One of the most shocking aspects of the Justice Department's memorandum on torture is that the Post reports that it was signed by a man who has since been rewarded with a Judgeship on one of the highest federal courts in the country. It is a scandal that a man who could argue that the President could legitimately engage in a vicious and depraved disregard of the law should be entrusted by that same president with the duty of upholding and interpreting the law. If the Post report is correct, Jay S. Bybee should resign in disgrace.
Slate doesn't give the former president much credit. Tip of the hat toAndrew Sullivan ("An avalanche of hostility.")
Schisms From Administration Lingered for Years (washingtonpost.com)
But the lavish praise obscures that much of Reagan's record through eight years in office was highly controversial and intensified social and political divisions. Even now, nearly 16 years after he left office, some major interest groups and key voting blocs most adversely affected by Reagan policies remain bitter about his legacy.The controversies and scandals included attacks on the federal school lunch program and aid to the poor, anti-union tactics, the illegal sale of arms to Iran and Reagan's 1985 participation in a ceremony at a German cemetery where Nazi soldiers are buried.
On n'oublie rien de rien,
On s'habitue, c'est tout.
-Jacques Brel
(You forget nothing about anything,
You just get used to it, that's all.)
For another view of Reagan, see Andrew Sullivan's eloquent tribute.
Mad Romance was on the stereo this morning, beloved especially for the Dave Frishberg classic Blizzard of Lies.
The New York Times > Opinion > June 6, 1944
In a way, D-Day sums up for us the whole of World War II. It was the frontal clash of two ideas, a collision between the possibility of human freedom and its nullification. Even now, we are still learning what to make of it, still trying to know whether we are dwarfed by the scale of such an effort or whether what happened that day still enlarges us. It certainly enlarges the veterans of Normandy and their friends who died in every zone of that war.
I oppose almost everything that Ronald Reagan stood for, including his legacy under the Bushes, but I wished him no ill, and I am glad that he is at peace after his long ordeal with Alzheimer's disease.
Defenders of the Beijing government compare Tiananmen Square with Kent State. Besides the obvious disproportion in the number of dead, the comparison ignores the degree to which the respective countries' governments were held accountable.
Just after noon on June 5, 1989, the day after Chinese troops stormed the square to brutally crush a student political uprising here, a solitary protester engaged in a modern-day David versus Goliath showdown: Clutching nothing but two shopping bags, he stood his ground before a column of oncoming tanks on the adjacent Avenue of Eternal Peace.
It's uncanny that this image which is seared onto the American mind as the symbol of the slaughter at Tiananmen is virtually unknown inside China.
I was so proud of my little girl yesterday, she sat up by herself for the first time.
I was listening to the "Tubthumping" song on the way home from the KFC, and it kind of stuck in my head. London evenings . . .
washingtonpost.com: Author of Military History William Manchester Dies
William Manchester, 82, whose riveting books about men in military and political life made him one of the greatest popular historians of the 20th century, died June 1 at his home in Middletown, Conn.His slow death, after two strokes, brought a poignant end to one of the most productive and scrupulous writers of best-selling tomes about outsized modern historical figures and contemporary culture.
Fueled by yogurt and brief naps in his office, the sinewy Mr. Manchester could withstand 50-hour writing sessions in his heyday. In recent years, he was grief-stricken by his inability to concentrate even on simple television programs, much less his final, three-volume project, a biography of Winston Churchill. He had to relinquish control of his career-capping work.
"Language for me came as easily as breathing for 50 years, and I can't do it anymore," he told the New York Times in 2001. "The feeling is indescribable."
The New York Times > Books > William Manchester, 82, Renowned Biographer, Dies
William Manchester, a biographer who used his novelist's eye to fashion meticulously researched portraits of power, among them Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Winston Churchill and, perhaps most famously, John F. Kennedy, died yesterday at his home in Middletown, Conn. He was 82.