Department of Strange and, to My Ears, Eerie-Sounding Branches of Federal Government

Did *you* know the United States has an ambassador for (and office of) international religious freedom? I didn't, until I read this story.

Department of Things That Make Me Sick to My Stomach

Supplemental Report on September 11 Detainees' Allegations of Abuse at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York

Though physically paling in comparison to the other allegations of abuse documented in the report, this part struck me as especially sick and sadistic: "T-Shirt with Flag and Slogan"

Nephrology Department

So it turns out that my kidney doctor, Gerald Appel, who is the nation's leading authority on my disease, IGA nephropathy, also ministers to NBA star Alonzo Mourning, who is being forced to retire because of his kidney problems. Who knew?

I don't follow the NBA, or any pro sports, for that matter, so I only found out when I walked into Dr. Appel's office today and saw on the wall an article with a photo of him from the New York Times. (It ran on Dec. 4, so you have to pay to access it now or I'd give y'all the link.)

Department of Things I Would Have Blogged Long Ago Had I Had a Blog at the Time That I Can Now Blog Because I Have One (a.k.a. Czech Matchboxes Rule)

(Be) Careful, Kids

Department of the Things You Find Out When You Google Yourself

Last year I translated a play for a series called New Czech Plays: Staged Readings in Translation. This is an event the Czech Center New York—in particular, its whip-smart, energetic deputy director, Irena Kovarova—launched in 2002 to offer, duh, new Czech plays to theater-hungry New Yorkers in an intimate, informal setting.

The series is fantastic. Every play I've been to has been followed by an enlightening and entertaining discussion between members of the cast and the audience, which is typically a mix of Czech-Americans, assorted East European emigrés, American Czechophiles, and New York theaterites. Often Irena will also invite a director or author from the Czech Republic to speak as well, and I never fail to walk away feeling that I've learned something new about acting or writing or any aspect of theater you can think of pretty much. And, most pleasing to me, it is one of the only times I have ever heard "regular" people talk about translation.

I should add here too that the series, though only two years old, has already proved itself so popular that the 2004 edition is going to be held at the illustrious Public Theater, founded by the legendary Joseph Papp.

The play I translated for last year's series, Minach, by Iva Volánková, was a 2002 winner of the Alfred Radok Prize, awarded each year since 1992 to the best original Czech and Slovak plays. Apart from a chunk of crownage, the winners are honored by having their works translated into English (and possibly other languages as well; I just don't know about that), in the hope that they will be performed in other countries.

So I knew my translation was going to be published, but until this evening I didn't know it had already happened! (To be honest, I had wanted to do a little more work on it still, after I saw it performed in the Czech Center's series. Oh well.)

P.S. I have also this evening, while putting off work on the translation I should be doing right now, added a few more links on Czech lit, City Sister Silver, and Jáchym Topol. Czech lit lovers, live it up!

Department of Bands That Include Bartenders from Enid's

I've added Enon to my music links below. In this case, it's the bass player, Toko, who tends bar at Enid's (when she's not out on tour with the band, that is). She also plays keyboards and sings, wonderfully.

Enon has a really fun and interesting Web site, including a joke "Livecam" feature, two MP3s, three videos, and a free, Web-only song of the month, hidden in a different place on the site each time around. Plus the usual photos, discography, and tour news.

The best thing about Enon, though, is that they are *great* in concert, and these days they are almost always touring, so you can be sure they'll be coming soon to a club near you—even if you live in Europe, Australia, or Japan.

Department of What Life Is Like, And Don't You Forget It

(Courtesy of Katharena Eiermann)

Department of They Came to Play, Part II

Paula Zahn of CNN spoke with a Jew and a Muslim about the First Annual Muslim Football Tournament, noted here on Dec. 8th.

It seems the names of some of the teams have caused consternation among overly sensitive types who don't understand the principles behind naming a football team in this country. (Apparently, the critics won out; clicking on the teams link reveals that a couple of the names cited in the interview as offensive—in particular, Mujahideen and Soldiers of Allah—have since been changed. Intifada, however, remains.)

Here is the transcript of the Paula Zahn interview (scroll down to the first mention of Sabiha Khan).

Department of Putting to Rest, Once and for All, Old Czarist Propaganda

Specialists from the Simon Wiesenthal Center have written a book that scholars say is the first item-by-item rebuttal of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

It's about f***in' time.

Department of Politically Correct Synonymetry

I just discovered that my copy of Microsoft Word does not offer any synonyms for the words slave or slavery. No bondage, no serfdom, no servitude, nothin'. How stupid.

Department of Moving On

Lizzy Ratner, with whom I've marched the streets a time or two, has a profile of Eli Pariser of MoveOn in the current New York Observer.

Department of What It Was Like Trying to Get Back Into Our House After Going Out "for a Few" During the Snowstorm This Past Weekend

If I could only get that damn key in the lock . . .

(Courtesy of G. A. Cerny, who himself got it from ex-Prognosisite Ken Layne.)

Department of the Place to Be This Thursday Night

POST ROAD 7 Publication Party
December 11 @ 7:30
KGB
85 E. 4th St. (bet. Second and Third)
Performances by Jonathan Ames and John Wesley Harding
Free
www.postroadmag.com

Department of One of the Coolest Sites I've Encountered in Many a Moon

Give it a ride with Led Zep. (Thanks, Doug!)

Department of They Came to Play

First Annual Muslim Football Tournament, Irvine, California; January 4, 2004



"Taking the Intifada to the Football Field"

Department of Shocking Exports

"A new Amnesty International report charges that in 2002, the Bush administration violated the spirit of its own export policy and approved the sale of equipment implicated in torture to Yemen, Jordan, Morocco and Thailand, despite the countries' documented use of such weapons to punish, mistreat and inflict torture on prisoners. The U.S. is also alleged to have handed suspects in the 'war on terror' to the same countries.

"The total value of US exports of electro-shock weapons was $14.7 million in 2002 and exports of restraints totaled $4.4 million in the same period. The Commerce and State Departments approved these sales, permitting 45 countries to purchase electro-shock technology, including 19 that had been cited for the use of such weapons to inflict torture since 1990."



Read the rest of the press release.

Read the report: The Pain Merchants: Security equipment and its use in torture and other ill treatment

Slang Treasure Trove Department

Courtesy of the White House: Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade



"The Street Terms database contains over 2,300 street terms that refer to specific drug types or drug activity. The database is used by police officers, parents, treatment providers and others who require a better understanding of drug culture."

Department of Blogs Ad Nauseam

Vote for your favorite blogs in 20 different categories at Wizbang. Former Prognosisites Matt Welch and Amy Langfield are both nominees in the Media/Journalist category.

Department of Important Words Brought to Light by My Friend Lou at Reuters

"September 11, which has dominated the world's agenda for more than two years, claimed 3,000 lives. Every day, 20,000 people are dying because of poverty — from AIDS, TB, and malaria. Every single day."

"Economist Sachs Slams Bush on 'War Agenda,' AIDS"

Department of People I Know in the News

Jaime Clarke, comrade and creative colleague of my neighborhood pivo pal Pete "House" Hausler, made a splash this week with his revelations about the enigmatic J. D. Salinger.

Jaime is also the author of a finely written if frivolous novel titled We're So Famous, which I bought, read, and enjoyed. (Film rights to the book, I believe, are still available.)

Jaime (so) famously made waves when his book was published in spring 2001 by setting a bounty on the head of the anonymous reviewer who gave the novel a negative review in Publishers Weekly.

Cheeky stunt, that. What will Mr. Clarke come up with next?

Department of What's Wrong With Tom DeLay's Idea to House Some 2,000 Republican Members of Congress on the Luxury Liner Norwegian Dawn During the GOP Convention in NYC This Summer

Okay, okay. He backed down from the idea. (Read this, too.) Here, in a nutshell, anyway, are the reasons why it was wrong.

Why does a city host a political party's national convention? 1) To bring in money; 2) to curry favor with the party in question; and 3) to raise the city's profile.

And yet DeLay's plan (as stated in the title of this posting above) effectively nullified all of those reasons: 1) The people who stayed on the ship would be spending their money (hotel, booze, food, etc.) on the ship rather than in the city's hotels, bars, restaurants, cafés, and shops (the ship even has its own health club and theater); 2) No one in their right mind could possibly believe that by having the GOP convention here, New Yorkers are going to vote for Bush; 3) By choosing to stay "offshore" rather than on Manhattan, the GOPers would be sending a strong signal to the effect that they either do not like New York, do not feel safe in New York, do not think New York is high-class enough for them, or do not care about New York, or some combination of these—in any case, it would hardly be a boost to NYC's profile.

To these reasons add the fact that the ship's staff is multinational, meaning lost income for New Yorkers who would otherwise serve and wait on the ship's inhabitants were they to spend their money in Manhattan, and the fact that DeLay's former chief of staff, Susan Hirschman, is a member of the lobbying firm the ship's owners hired to sell the idea to DeLay, and it's clear this idea stank in just about every way, right from the start.

Here, by the way, is a picture of the Norwegian Dawn:

I don't have time to do it right now, as Monday and Tuesday are my busiest days of the week, work-wise, but come Wednesday I will attempt to put into words just how ticked off I am about Tom DeLay's proposal to put up delegates to the GOP convention on a luxury cruise ship anchored off of Manhattan. Talk about kicking a city when it's down.

Department of Welcome News From Last Weekend

"Special Registration for Arab Immigrants Will Reportedly Stop"

The Department of Homeland Security has decided to stop its program requiring thousands of Arab and Muslim men to register with immigration officials. Under the program, some 85,000 men from 24 mostly Muslim countries were interviewed, photographed, and fingerprinted by federal agents between November 2002 and May 2003; just 11 were found to have links to terrorism.

Said Lucas Guttentag, head of the Immigrants' Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union: "The government's plan to terminate special registration for Arab and Muslim immigrants is an implicit acknowledgement that this was a failed, discriminatory program."

Then again, on the other hand: "ACLU Says Arabs and Muslims Still At Risk for Unjustified Targeting, Deportation"

Department of Better Late Than Never (or is that Too Little, Too Late?)

Richard Perle has admitted that the United States' invasion of Iraq was illegal under international law.

Department of Things Look Different Looking Backward

The CounterRevolutionary. Point taken. On the other hand, I think it is absolutely necessary to keep in mind that George W. Bush is no Franklin Delano Roosevelt. After all, there are domestic issues to consider as well.

For one thing, World War II pulled the United States *out* of the economic doldrums, whereas virtually every economist with any degree of independence these days agrees that the policies of the Bush adminstration are pushing the country into extremely dangerous territory, economically speaking.

I might also add that Laura Bush is no Eleanor Roosevelt. FDR's wife was instrumental in the writing and adopting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, back when that institution was still in its diapers.

Of course events may yet prove me wrong, but at this point, it is hard for me to imagine that Dubya's legacy will include anything so positive.

All Choked Up

Drink Up! Don't Cost Nothin'

Saturday Night: Time to Rock Department

This time out, it's the Fiery Furnaces, backed by, among others, my favorite Enid's bartender, Dustin, and one of my favorite Enid's regulars, Toshi, who perform together as Gene Dreamy (Toshi) and Gary Sincere (Dustin). The show is at Mercury Lounge.

You Won't Get Fooled Again Department

Coming up Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2003 — for real! no joke! — the latest installment of the Little Gray Book Lectures, hosted by John Hodgman.

The program for Lecture 24 is as follows (all words quoted directly from Hodgman's e-mail; boldface, hyperlinks, and minor copy editing added by StickFinger):

It is, as they say, that season: time once again for my holiday letter to you, dear friends and members of the world press:

It has been another fun and prosperous year for the members of the Little Gray Book household.

We are very proud of Little Jonathan Coulton who “laid down some tracks” for his first musical compact disk, which includes such seasonal favorites as “Christmas Is Interesting” and “First of May,” and is appropriately stocking-sized and ready for stuffing.

In the Xmas miracle department, Wee Christine Hill, the poor little match girl whom we station at the front door to beg for alms, recently cast aside her crutch and cockney accent to reveal her secret life as a successful artist, announcing the first acquisition of her work by the MOMA, a museum in Queens.

Unfortunately, our holiday cards will be a bit late this year. Potts and Wagner and Graham and McCabe and all the Elves of the Booklyn Artists Alliance are still figuring out how to make cardstock entirely out of frankincense and myrrh (though they say they are right on schedule for the next “Little Gray Book,” so long as Hodgman stays out of the workshop).

Meanwhile, the cranberries have been threaded, the latkes fried according to the old Rapoport family recipe, and the Galapagos reflecting pool filled with eggnog for:

OUR THIRD ANNUAL HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA AND CHARITY AUCTION

Which shall take place at 8 p.m. on December 3, a Wednesday, at Galapagos in Williamsburg (see below for concise details),

and is also known as

LITTLE GRAY BOOK LECTURE NO. 24: STRANGE GIFTS FROM FAR-OFF LANDS

Wherein, like the three kings of old, we shall bring to Galapagos unusual objects acquired in other places, tell stories about them, and sell them to the highest bidder, with all auction proceeds going to City Harvest,

Including lectures from


JON LANGFORD, the renaissance Welshman of Chicago;

ADAM RAPOPORT, searing the traditional holiday foie gras;

ALEXANDRA RINGE, distributing thin mints and sherry;

ADAM SACHS, the circumnavigator;

And BRETT MARTIN, defending his crown as King Or Queen of Wintertime, an honorary title awarded yearly to the person whose unusual object commands the highest price at auction.

Honestly, we are not sure of Brett’s chances, given that his unusual object (some sort of Canadian newspaper) shall be pitted in auction against such lovely items as

-An Italian football jersey from Italy
-Russian circus stamps
-A mysterious typewriter
-The return of the sad headhunter statue

And

A COMPLETE CASE OF WILD TURKEY RYE WHISKEY

A generous gift from the far off land of Lawrenceburg, KY, from Wild Turkey Bourbon (Jimmy Russell, Master Distiller)

(If you have any questions about the Wild Turkey Rye Whiskey, sample glasses will be available throughout the night at a special price of four dollars, with or without frozen water, and topped in the preferred manner by a few drops of Peychaud’s bitters, which technically makes it “a Gibson.”)

Which we hope is enough to entice you to join us at:

LITTLE GRAY BOOK LECTURE NO. 24: STRANGE GIFTS FROM FAR-OFF LANDS Wed, December 3, 2003, 8PM, Galapagos Art Space, 70 North Sixth Street, bet. Kent and Wythe, L Train to Bedford Avenue, 718-782-5188, www.galapagosartspace.com www.littlegraybooks.com A FIVE DOLLAR DONATION IS REQUESTED AT THE DOOR BY CHRISTINE HILL AND ENTITLES DONOR TO AN ACTUAL LITTLE GRAY BOOK FROM BOOKLYN, THE FINEST GIFT OF ALL. FINER THAN BEAUTIFUL GEMS.


I am John Hodgman and may be reached at jhodgman@nyc.rr.com if you have any questions.

Otherwise, merry seasons to all and to all:

That is all.

…

(MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE):

The Little Gray Book Lectures are a series of readings, songs, discussions, contests, and occasional overhead slide projections presented on a single theme (No. 8: How to Throw a Curveball, No. 9: Mystery Cults of North America, No. 16: How to Pour the Perfect Werthmann, etc.).

They occur, more or less, on the first Wednesday of every month and are hosted by John Hodgman, with the generous aid of many others.

The Lectures have included one Sing-Along, two Spelling Bees, one man in a giant seagull costume, an interview with a member of the famous secret society Skull and Bones, and gracious appearances from exciting talents, both emerging and established, including:

+ novelists Elizabeth Gilbert (THE LAST AMERICAN MAN, Viking) and Darin Strauss (CHANG AND ENG, THE REAL MCCOY, Dutton),

+ on the recorder: Sarah Vowell,

+ unscripted storyteller Mike Daisey (21 Dog Years: Doing Time at Amazon.com, off-Broadway and Free Press),

+ tiki-collecting memoirist Amy Fusselman (THE PHARMACIST’S MATE, McSweeney’s),

+ members of the cast of PEOPLE ARE WRONG!, a musical about cults and gardening,

+ columnist and reformed D&D player Joel Stein,

+ master mixologist Dale DeGroff and his amazing Werthmanns,

+ the band Tablature, featuring Gabe Soria and Steve Burns, who once hosted a children’s television program,

+ essayist and inadvertent petty thief Chuck Klosterman (SEX, DRUGS, AND COCOA PUFFS, Scribner),

+ renowned Mekon, Welshman, and member of 1000 rock bands MR. JON LANGFORD,

+ cartoonists Dorothy Gambrell (www.catandgirl.com) and David Rees, the Unstoppable (GET YOUR WAR ON, www.mnftiu.cc).

Original music is provided near-monthly by Jonathan Coulton, whose song "First of May" is an instant classic and sadly may only be sung one day a year (www.jonathancoulton.com).

As well, the LA Times called The Little Gray Book Lectures "increasingly conspicuous,” while Time Out New York calls them “deceptively gentle.” These press clippings are available for your perusal.

Portions of Lecture No. 14 were broadcast on the radio program “This American Life.” Frankly, we want more radio broadcasts, and are investigating short wave transmission for this purpose.

Like the “Little Blue Book” instructional pamphlets of the 20th century that inspired them, the Lectures are theme-specific, brief, accessible, enlightening, unintentionally amusing, disposable to some and collectible to others.

Also: drinks are available from a full bar.

To those who ask, “will there ever be actual, physical Little Gray Books?” we may now say: yes.

For more information on “Little Blue Books,” go here: http://library.pittstate.edu/spcoll/ndxhjulius.html.

For some information on the Little Gray Book Lectures, go here: www.littlegraybooks.com.

That is all.

Department of Pluggin' the Dutch

Edgar de Bruin, the Dutch translator of Jáchym Topol — and several other Czech authors — has a Web site titled Pluh (Czech for "plow"), on which he plugs Czech lit to the inhabitants of the Netherlands. Impressively, it's available in three different languages: Dutch, Czech, and English.

I met Edgar on my last trip to Prague, in summer of 2002. He is a great guy: funny, smart, and entirely devoted to Czech literature. At the moment, he is doing his best to convince the prestigious British publishing house Faber and Faber to publish Topol's last novel — Nocní práce (2001) — in English, which would mean, I hope, a job for me. Fans of Topol, keep your fingers crossed.

P.S. This damn font doesn't allow me to use all the Czech characters! Ergo the lack of hácek on the c in Nocní.

Department of Once Embedded, Now Harshly Vetted

"30 Media Outlets Protest Treatment in Iraq"

Department of Religion in the Name of Profit

Those crafty Swedes at IKEA have figured out a way to market their wares, inshallah, in the name of Islam (at least in Canada): "Nod to Ramadan a trend in retailing."

Looks, reads, and feels just like "normal" IKEA copy, right?

Department of Stories Deserving of More Looking Into

By professional journalists, that is: "U.S. troops arrest Iraqi for criticising them."

More on Czech Lit, This Time Courtesy of Cerny

I haven't read it yet, so I can't give an opinion, but the current issue of World Literature Today has an essay on Czech literature by Chris Harwood (who teaches here in NYC, at Columbia) that uses a key phrase from City Sister Silver in its title: "Writing in the Time Since Time Exploded: The Czech Novel, 1990–2002."

I added more links again yesterday. So now I can use my blog as my own personal miniportal. Readers stand to benefit too, though, I hope.

Swank Department

The full-service, "swank" version of the Bon Mots' Web site is now up and running. You can even listen to the whole album, song by song.

Plus lots of photos of the band members at work and at play (well, less at play than on a fashion shoot; but whatever), concert information, reviews of le main drag, and of course links (here cleverly dubbed "conduits"), including one to yours truly, for which I am truly grateful.

This is really one of the finest band sites I have ever seen. Give it a look-see even if you don't give a hoot about music.

Department of News That May Be Old but Is Just as Scary All the Same

Half the 18- to 24-year-olds in this country can't find even *New York* on a map.

Department of Strange, Unfathomable Connections

Reading through Scotty Mac's blog, I came across his column on blogs in Prague, "Prague Webwatch." That led me to KidRadical, which led me to The Daily Czech, which led me to G. A. Cerny, whose blog I have read before.

But on reaching Cerny, I discovered a link to a blog by a woman called Book Slut(!), who appears on the cover of the current issue of the Chicago Reader with a copy of City Sister Silver on her bookshelf in the background!

If anyone in Chicago is reading this – that means YOU, Eric! — I want a copy of that issue. In fact, make it two; I can send one to Jáchym. He'll get a kick out of it.

P.S. Now that I have taken a closer look, I realize that Book Slut is not a woman, but a group of mixed gender. Nevertheless, I have chosen to stet the posting above for the sake of comedic effect.

I just added a whole mess of links on Czech lit and Jáchym Topol. Check 'em out below, at left.

Department of Constructive Criticism

Doug Henwood, longtime editor of the Left Business Observer, wrote a piece for the Nation last month that raises many of the issues the Left, such as it is, has ducked in its steadfast opposition to progress in world-trade talks. If you are a leftist (or a progressive, or whatever term you prefer) and don't want to be ignorant about the issues involved in free trade, it's a must-read.

Department of 21st-Century Dilemmas

"Mom Finds Out About Blog" and "What to do if your mom discovers your blog"

Department of Freaks of Not Nature but Human Manipulation

English Angora rabbits, courtesy of the Votrubicon, a.k.a. Emily Votruba.

Department of Mental Lapses

My entry below, on Upcoming Events, I realized late last night, includes a plug for an event that took place last week. The Little Gray Book Lectures take place the first Wednesday of every month, and so -- too late! -- you missed it. My apologies.

I missed it too, of course. I was sick as a dog last Wednesday, unable to stand on my feet, never mind walking all the way to Galapagos to hear about Brookline. I do intend to purchase a copy of Jonathan Coulton's CD, though. He is a lyrical genius.

Happy Veterans Day.

Department of Walking Down Memory Lane

Thanks to Matt Welch for posting a link to the first American feature piece on Prognosis, written in April '92 by Henry Copeland for Details: "Wild, Wild East."

Matt's posting, performed in recognition of the anniversary of the conception of the paper, also includes a link to a reminiscence by the one and only John Allison, from a previous anniversary posting, two years back.

Those were the days, back in Pray-hey-hey.

Upcoming Events Department

The early part of the week is bad for me, blogging-wise, as I teach Tuesday nights and have a Wednesday deadline on a newsletter, but I can at least take the time to alert my four faithful readers to three events this week I deem worthy of their attention.

WORTHY EVENT NO. 1

This month's edition of the Little Gray Book Lectures, a series founded by raconteur extraordinaire John Hodgman (known to me originally in his role as former literary agent and McSweeney's contributor; for examples of his work, do a Find for "hodgman" on this page).

This month's lecture, the 23rd so far, takes place Wednesday night and is titled "BROOKLINE—The Town That Has Everything (And At The Same Time Has Nothing)."

The e-mail promoting Lecture 23 promises "discourse on the town formerly known as Muddy River, from your host, the Brookline native John Hodgman, and his panel of notable experts, including:

"PATRICK BORELLI, a comedian once based in the city of Boston, on how he averted a crisis at the Coolidge Corner Moviehouse, a crisis involving MONSTERS;

"ADAM MAZMANIAN, the famed public speaker, on “The War for Hall’s Pond,” one of two natural ponds that exist in Brookline. Did you know?: it is home to black-crowned NIGHT HERONS;

"DANZY SENNA, the author of CAUCASIA, speaking of the mysterious stranger who one day came to town with an answer to the scourge of pool-halls: a secret African-American fraternity of his OWN DESIGN; and

"SARAH VOWELL, the author of THE PARTLY CLOUDY PATRIOT, on Brookliner-President John F. Kennedy and the strange coincidences tying him to Abraham Lincoln, HIS BEST FRIEND FROM ANOTHER TOWN.

"Plus, JONATHAN COULTON--who married a Brookline woman and is still learning our strange customs involving giant wicker men, potions that grant superhuman strength, and stores that sell only pudding--will sing briefly on THESE SUBJECTS. Then after the program, he will appear with a FULL ROCK BAND to sing about SEVERAL OTHER SUBJECTS in celebration of the release of his first compact DISK, entitled SMOKING MONKEY. We are very excited about this."

Hodgman also pledges a complimentary slice of pizza for all attendees at the conclusion of the event.

Note, too, that the back room has reopened at Galapagos, which makes for a much more comfortable and enjoyable entertainment experience.

WORTHY EVENT NO. 2

Typographer Peter Bain, who is my cousin and whose Web site you can visit here or from the link at the left of this page, is delivering a lecture Thursday evening at the prestigious and prodigiously well-appointed Grolier Club titled "Film Type."

Peter describes the event as follows: "A free slide lecture . . . on the days of photo-typesetting, when firms such as Photo-Lettering and ITC helped release typography from the constraints of metal. The distinctive display styles of that era will be explored and critiqued from today's perspective."

I never miss a chance to enter the prestigious and prodigiously well-appointed Grolier Club, and besides, Peter's my cousin, so of course I'll be there.

Note, too, that Mr. Bain has just released his first typeface for purchase, a font called Gridiot.

WORTHY EVENT NO. 3

Also Thursday night—unfortunately, since I cannot be in two places at once—is the last in the series of readings promoting Boris Fishman's eminently readable, and affordable, and, yes, even ground-breaking, anthology of stories from Eastern Europe, Wild East: Stories from the Last Frontier.

Writes Boris: "A motley group of readers -- Arthur Phillips, Paul Greenberg, John Beckman, and Josip Novakovich -- will read from four very different stories. Afterward, a no-consequences romp through the neighborhood in the finest spirit of the book. It's finally cold enough to feel like Russia, though we will have our trouble mistaking the Upper West Side for Vladivostok."

The reading will be at Makor, and admission is $8.

I attended an earlier reading at Galapagos, at which I purchased a copy of the book, and though I can't take the time to write about it here in full, I can at least say that I finished the book yesterday, and I unreservedly give it the Slavotrash Seal of Approval. It's much better than the vast majority of literary anthologies I've encountered, and don't forget: We get so few books in English about Eastern Europe for a general audience that any time one manages to make it to publication, it is a momentous event.

Hats off to Boris!

What Else Are Friends For? Part II

As long as I'm on the topic of oeuvres issued under the name Chial, let me point out the paintings of the talented Katherine Drake Chial, who, coincidentally, is married to my friend Eric.

Here is one of her paintings from 2001, titled Ice Mirror:



Here are a few words and an image from her latest show, which just closed recently at the Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago.

Truly a talented household.

What Else Are Friends For? Department

My friend Eric Chial, whom I have known since we were both tykes of 12 attending Hannah Middle School in East Lansing, Michigan, has been urging me to urge upon my friends and followers the latest product of his creative drive, a CD of music titled Le Main Drag by a band called the Bon Mots. And I do so wholeheartedly.

Already, WXRT in Chicago has called Le Main Drag its "new favorite record by a Chicago band."

Eric's voice, on certain songs, sounds a lot like Elvis Costello's, which is no mean feat — after all, how many singers can you name who sound like Elvis Costello? — while the music, depending on whom you read, sounds like "the Shins, the Pernice Brothers, Teenage Fanclub, the Smiths, and the Lilys," or "the Zombies, the Byrds, and second-generation purveyors of cool [. . .] mid-sixties-informed creepy jangle such as the Bats, My Drug Hell, the Clean, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Smiths, and the Church," or "the Go-Betweens meets the Lucksmiths, the Zombies meets the Byrds, Rufus Wainwright and Joe Jackson, the Smiths meet Elephant 6, both the Matinee and Parasol rosters smushed together, plus a lovely nostalgic feeling that is as much powerhouse eighties college rock hookfest as it is seasoned sixties pop sensibilities."

The CD is being distributed by Parasol, but you can buy it direct from the band.

Meanwhile, listen to this song, "Glistening" (sung not by Eric, but by the other half of the Bon Mots' songwriting duo, Mike Coy), while you look at this artsy pic of the Bon Mots rockin' live, lifted from the band's Web site, which Eric promises will, in two days' time, be "extremely swank" ("Swank = They can listen to the entire record, see pictures of the band live, working like ants during the week, and lunching al fresco on the weekends, as is our wont, and generally living the good life in the great city of Chicago. Also, our keyboardist plays with Nash Kato from Urge Overkill, and simply put, we're just very cool cats."):

Department of New Magazines People Who Wish to Be Informed Should Be Informed Of

Paul Wilson, the Canadian translator of such great and important works as Letters to Olga, by Václav Havel, and I Served the King of England, by Bohumil Hrabal, as well as Havel's seminal essay on East European dissidence, "The Power of the Powerless," has also been deeply involved in Canadian journalism for many years, and now he's part of what looks to be a great new project, a monthly called The Walrus.

I met Paul week before last, when he was in town for the 40th anniversary of the New York Review of Books, and he gave me a copy of the first issue. Looks great, design-wise, sort of a cross between Harper's (slim, few ads) and the New Yorker (lots of clever, small pen-and-ink drawings), and it promises to be a must-read for "Canadian opinion-makers," and you know that description fits me to a T, so I'm all over it, gonna be a charter subscriber!

You should be, too. Paul tells me the magazine's got backing guaranteed for five years, so it isn't going away anytime soon. (Listen to him talk about it on CBC Radio here or here.)

Plus, they've got a great graphic for their inaugural ad campaign:



Tusk, tusk.

Department of Kickin' Out the Jams

Goin' to see the Dirtbombs tomorrow night at Bowery Ballroom.

This is the only album by them I know so far:



Can't wait!

Toot, toot! Comin' Back for Seconds!

"Word Perfect: Five literary translators on the art of turning written Czech into readable English"
-- from the Prague Post, October 9, 2003

Department of Blowing My Own Horn



Iron and Velvet: a Decade of New Czech Writing

"Almost fifteen years have passed since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the lifting of the Iron Curtain. During this time, the Czech Republic, newly divorced from its long-time partner, Slovakia, has experienced a period of transition and reorientation, and while the Velvet Revolution brought desired freedom of expression, it also resulted in a time of re-evaluation and turbulence. Transcript (www.transcript-review.org) invites readers to discover its sixth edition, devoted to Czech literature of the 1990s. Writers featured include Jáchym Topol, Milos Urban, Patrik Ourednik, Petr Kabes, Petr Borkovec, Katerina Rudcenkova and Kveta Legatova."

For the English-language version, go here.

My contributions to this issue consist of a translation of a short story and comments on the publishing of Czech lit in the United States.

By-product Department

Searching for a page or site to link to at the end of my previous posting, I came across this interesting little nugget. Get a gander of the New York Times editorial board:

To read about the people behind the faces, go here.

Funny thing is, I've met two of them! How come I don't wield more influence in the world? I must've taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Department of Sexual Predestination

An article a few weeks ago in the Economist — "Dyed in the womb: A lesbian's sexual identity seems to be established before birth" — reported on a fascinating study done by a researcher at the University of East London, in England, that found that lesbians blink like heterosexual men. As the Economist observes: "That, in turn, suggests that the part of their brain that controls this reflex has been masculinised in the womb."

The basis for the research was as follows: "Anyone who is startled by an unexpected noise tends to blink. If, however, the startling noise is preceded by a quieter sound, this blink is not so vigorous as it would otherwise have been. It is this lack of vigour which differs between the sexes. Men blink less vigorously than women when primed in this way."

So Dr. Qazi Rahman and his team sat a bunch of men and women, gay and straight, down in a room, wired up their blinking muscles, and made noise. Lo and behold, they found that, statistically, lesbians blinked more like straight men than straight women.

If you want to read more about why this is so, chemically, you can read the paper here, in the October 2003 issue of Behavioral Neuroscience.

I myself have never bought the argument that being gay was a "lifestyle" choice. But maybe that's because my opinions were "liberalized" in the womb!

Department of Secret Secrets

The Christian Science Monitor wrote last week about a legal case so secret it practically doesn't exist. But soon it may go before the Supreme Court, and the Bush administration's policy of secrecy on the prosecution of people detained in the wake of 9/11 may, at last, be legally challenged.

And We Actually Pay This Guy to Say This Crap?

"If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens." — Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) offering his suggestion for how to deal with increasing attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.

Department of Shattered Myths

"Scientists Find Lemmings Die as Dinners, Not Suicides"

(That link's no good anymore, but you can still read the story here.)

Reason no. 242 Why Not to Use Your Cellphone in the Bathroom

"Edwin Gallart, 41, of the Edenwald section of the Bronx, was aboard car 8371 of the 6:19 p.m. Harlem Line local train out of Grand Central Terminal when his cellphone fell into the toilet, officials said. When he reached into the bowl to retrieve it, his arm became trapped from hand to elbow. [. . .]

"Train operators arranged for rescue crews to meet the train a few stops later at the Fordham station, where firefighters used no less than three sets of power tools, including the jaws of life, to cut through the toilet, which was ripped from the lavatory before being sliced open."

"Always Suspect: Local Arabs and the War on Terror" is a fantastic package by the Detroit News that I came across in the course of my work for the ACLU. It offers a handful of regularly updated feature stories, plus a nifty chronology of events.

The paper summarizes the package as follows: "Metro Detroit's estimated 400,000 Arab-Americans face intense scrutiny and pressure in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Detroit News looks at the impact more than two years into the local war on terror."

Department of Whatever Is the Opposite of 'Confidence-building'

After being asked to pay to appear on a talk show broadcast on airplanes by the Sky Radio Network, Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy, a nonprofit organization that presents itself as a consumer-advocacy group, "was so angry that she directed lawyers for the center, whose board includes Erin Brockovich and Ralph Nader, to draft a complaint letter to the Federal Trade Commission, which the center intends to submit today. It asks that Sky Radio, which also produces programming for United, Delta, Northwest and several other airlines, be required to disclose prominently that its news-style programs are actually little more than paid advertisements."

Apart from the main issue at hand (and apart from the fact that the CJD is clearly a front for trial lawyers stonewalling against tort reform), there is also a question here of which agency has the authority to deal with this issue: is it the FTC? or the Federal Communications Commission? or the Department of Transportation?

Assuming it gets anywhere, this promises to be an interesting case.

Breast cancer? Apparently, it is possible.

I find this photograph beautifully haunting (too bad the caption writer doesn't know grammar better):




A Muslim man prays in front of Eid Gah mosque on the second day of Ramadan in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003. The holiest month in the Islamic calendar, Muslims around the world refrain from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset during the month-long fast. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)

Department of Unexpected Web Sites

The astronomical clock on Old Town Square in Prague has its own Web site: Orloj.com. I think that's pretty cool.

Another Humdinger from Rumsfeld

Defending himself last week after the leaking of a memo in which he painted a far less-rosy picture of the "war on terror" than the Bush administration had previously presented to the public, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld turned for recourse to the Oxford English Dictionary.

During an unannounced appearance at a Pentagon briefing last Thursday, the secretary "said he stood by his view, as disclosed in what was to have been a private memo, that the United States faced 'a long, hard slog' in Iraq. But he quickly added that his preferred definition was spelled out in the Oxford English Dictionary as 'slog — to hit or strike hard, to drive with blows, to assail violently.' "

You'd think that anyone who bothered to look up words in the OED would recognize the difference between a noun and a verb, but Rumsfeld, ever the master linguist, proved his manipulative mettle in verbiage once again.

If you read the full transcript of Rumsfeld's remarks, it's clear that he intended his "definition" as a joke. Problem is, to borrow a line from Morrissey, that joke isn't funny anymore.

A Little More Gravitas Wouldn't Hurt

It's comments like these that make me embarrassed to be an American:

"Look, it can't be fun to be occupied. And it's not very much fun, frankly, being an occupying power. But the fact is, life is much better for the Iraqis today than it was six months and much better than it was a year ago. And they know that." —Paul Bremer

"Fun"?

Department of the Willing

I've been meaning to post something like this for some time:

"List of Countries Supporting Iraq Effort"

By The Associated Press

October 23, 2003, 11:14 AM EDT

Countries besides the United States that are lending assistance in postwar Iraq:

Troops

Albania -- 71 non-combat troops to help with peacekeeping, based in northern Iraq.

Azerbaijan -- 150-man unit to take part in patrols, law enforcement and protection of religious and historic monuments in Iraq.

Bulgaria -- 485-member infantry battalion patrolling Karbala, south of Baghdad. An additional 289 will be sent.

Central America and the Caribbean -- Dominican Republic (with 300 troops), El Salvador (360), Honduras (360) and Nicaragua (120) are assisting a Spanish-led brigade in south-central Iraq.

Czech Republic -- 271 military personnel and three civilians running a field hospital in Basra; 25 military police in Iraq.

Denmark -- 406 troops, consisting of light infantry units, medics and military police. An additional 90 soldiers are being sent.

Georgia -- 69, including 34 special troops, 15 sappers and 20 medics.

Estonia -- 55 soldiers, including mine divers and cargo handlers.

Hungary -- 300-member transportation contingent in Iraq.

Italy -- 3,000 troops in southern Iraq.

Moldova -- Dozens of de-mining specialists and medics.

Netherlands -- 1,106, including a core of 650 marines, three Chinook transport helicopters, a logistics team, a field hospital, a commando contingent, military police and a unit of 230 military engineers.

New Zealand -- 61 army engineers assigned for reconstruction work in southern Iraq.

Norway -- 156-member force includes engineers and mine clearers.

Philippines -- 177 soldiers, police and medics.

Poland -- 2,400 troops command one of three military sectors in Iraq.

Portugal -- 120 police officers.

Romania -- 800 military personnel, including 405 infantry, 149 de-mining specialists and 100 military police, along with a 56-member special intelligence detachment.

Slovakia -- 82 military engineers.

South Korea -- 675 non-combat troops with more forces on the way.

Spain -- 1,300 troops, mostly assigned to police duties in south-central Iraq.

Thailand -- 400 troops assigned to humanitarian operations.

Ukraine -- 1,640 soldiers from a mechanized unit.

United Kingdom -- 7,400, 1,200 more planned.

Other countries making troop contributions are Kazakhstan (27), Latvia (106), Lithuania (90) Macedonia (28). Details on these deployments were not available.

The United States is in discussions with 14 other countries about providing troops.
__

Economic reconstruction pledges for Iraq made prior to or during the Madrid conference:

Belgium -- $5 million-$6 million for 2004.

European Union -- $230 million for 2004.

Iran -- Offered to provide electricity and gas.

Japan -- $1.5 billion the first year and is considering a medium-term package for presentation at Madrid.

Philippines -- $1 million.

South Korea -- $200 million over four years in addition to $60 million committed this year.

Spain -- $300 million for 2004-07.

Sweden -- $32.7 million for 2004-05.

United Kingdom -- $900 million for three years, including money contributed since April.

World Bank -- $3 billion-$5 billion over five years.

Department of Fishy Math

An article by Jonathan Weisman in today's Washington Post — "Iraq Aid Needs, Pledge At Odds; Questions Raised About Making Up Difference" — suggests Iraq will have big problems sticking to its projected budgets in the next few years.

Seems Paul Bremer, the American ruler of Iraq, pledged in a letter to U.S. Congress that the country would ask for no funding from the U.S. in 2005 as long as it gets the full $20.3 billion it wants for 2004.

Writes Weisman: "The written pledge, in a document responding to lawmakers' questions, appeared at odds with the Coalition Provisional Authority's estimated costs of reconstruction and the amount of money likely to come from other nations. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow put the total rebuilding cost at $55 billion in a speech yesterday at an Iraq donors conference in Madrid.

"If the administration secures its full request from Congress, the United States will have committed less than half that amount — $24 billion in 2003 and 2004. Pledges from the World Bank and other donors total little more than $8 billion so far, and the Madrid conference started on a disappointing note for U.S. officials, largely because of reluctance from Saudi Arabia.

"The provisional authority's document to Congress concedes that any money pledged from other nations will not be available until 2005, leaving the near-term rebuilding costs solely on the U.S. government. Still, the authority wrote to Congress this week: 'If we receive our full request of $20.3 billion, then we will not seek additional reconstruction funds in FY 2005,' which ends in September of that year."

More on Iraq's "New Economy"

Previously, I noted the Bush administration's plans for "reforming" the Iraqi economy with a plan of "shock therapy," here, here, and here.

I promised that this week I would poke around a little to try to find out who actually wrote the plan. Meanwhile, here is an article from The Iraq Press, titled "Iraqis must retain 51 percent stake in foreign investment, businessmen say." (I admit I have no idea who publishes the thing, but the phone number for the editorial offices is clearly British and the subscription rate for the print edition is given in pounds sterling.)

The article, dated October 13th, says that a group called the Association of Iraqi Businessmen met with the U.S.–picked Governing Council of Iraq to demand "that Iraqis should have at least [a] 51 percent stake in any foreign investments in the country." The plan as currently written "[a]llows up to 100% foreign ownership in all sectors except natural resources."

Hamid al-Aqabi, the association's chairman, "said no other country in the region was giving full ownership to foreigners and Iraq should follow investment rules prevalent in the oil-rich Arab Gulf states where foreign investors are not allowed to have more than [a] 49 percent stake in any project."

*****

Another article in The Iraq Press, this one titled "Minister says there'll be more jobs than number of unemployed," has Iraq's finance minister, Kamel al-Kailani, making the wildly optimistic claim that in 2004, "There will be more job opportunities in Iraq than the current unemployed figures." (Harking back to my previous postings on this topic, the current unemployment level in Iraq is 50 to 60 percent. The author of this article puts it at "at least 50 percent.")

Kailani says he is expecting a budget of 33 billion dollars for 2004: 20 billion from the U.S. and 13 billion from oil exports. But is that $13 billion a realistic figure?

A quick Google of "iraqi oil exports" netted me this article, dated June 11, 2003, whose last three grafs are as follows:

"Earlier this month, Bush administration officials testified before a U.S. Senate panel that Iraq's oil production is now about 800,000 barrels per day and is expected to rise to about 1.5 million barrels per day later this summer, about 40 percent of its top pre-war output.

"Production will increase to 2.5 million barrels per day by year's end, according to the officials.

"At that rate, Iraq could receive between $14 billion to $15 billion per year in gross revenues, depending on world oil prices."

So, clearly, Kailani is assuming oil production of 2.5 million bpd. What is it right now? Another CNN.com article, dated Oct. 22nd, says, "Iraq's first post-war budget, released 10 days ago, assumes total Iraqi exports will average only 1.6 million bpd next year. [. . .] The budget assumes Iraq will only return to post-war export capacity of 2.4 million bpd on average in 2005."

In other words, the finance minister is talking through his hat.

Department of Crass Manipulation

This story reached me courtesy of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Titled "How the Poll Results on Iraq Were Manipulated" and written by James Zogby, president of the Arab-American Institute, it reveals how Dick Cheney spun the results of a public opinion poll in Iraq conducted by Zogby International in August of this year.

The poll was the first survey of public opinion in Iraq since the U.S. invaded and occupied the country in March. Following is the first half of the Zogby article:

Early in President Bush’s recent public relations campaign to rebuild support for the US war effort in Iraq, Vice President Cheney appeared on “Meet the Press.” Attempting to make the case that the US was winning in Iraq, Cheney made the following observations:

“There was a poll done, just random in the last week, first one I’ve seen carefully done; admittedly, it’s a difficult area to poll in. Zogby International did it with American Enterprise magazine. But that’s got very positive news in it in terms of the numbers it shows with respect to the attitudes to what Americans have done.

“One of the questions it asked is: ‘If you could have any model for the kind of government you’d like to have’ — and they were given five choices — ‘which would it be?’ The US wins hands down. If you want to ask them do they want an Islamic government established, by 2:1 margins they say no, including the Shiite population. If you ask how long they want Americans to stay, over 60 percent of the people polled said they want the US to stay for at least another year. So admittedly there are problems, especially in that area where Saddam Hussein was from, where people have benefited most from his regime and who’ve got the most to lose if we’re successful in our enterprise, and continuing attacks from terror. But to suggest somehow that that’s representative of the country at large or the Iraqi people are opposed to what we’ve done in Iraq or are actively and aggressively trying to undermine it, I just think that’s not true.”

In fact, Zogby International (ZI) in Iraq had conducted the poll, and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) did publish their interpretation of the findings. But the AEI’s “spin” and the vice president’s use of their “spin” created a faulty impression of the poll’s results and, therefore, of the attitudes of the Iraqi people.

For example, while Cheney noted that when asked what kind of government they would like, Iraqis chose “the US... hands down,” in fact, the results of the poll are actually quite different. Twenty-three percent of Iraqis say that they would like to model their new government after the US; 17.5 percent would like their model to be Saudi Arabia; 12 percent say Syria, 7 percent say Egypt and 37 percent say “none of the above.” That’s hardly “winning hands down.”

When given the choice as to whether they “would like to see the American and British forces leave Iraq in six months, one year, or two years,” 31.5 percent of Iraqis say these forces should leave in six months; 34 percent say a year, and only 25 percent say two or more years.

So while technically Cheney might say that “over 60 percent (actually it’s 59 percent) ... want the US to stay at least another year,” an equally correct observation would be that 65.5 percent want the US and Britain to leave in one year or less.

Click here to read the rest.

Department of Whitewashed Corporate History That Nevertheless Remains Forever, Fondly, in My Brain

(I'll keep this short for those of you who don't give a damn.) Remember the Frito Bandito? He was the mascot of Frito's Corn Chips in the 1960s and '70s. Remember that song he used to sing? It remains with me to this day.

A year or two ago, I was remembering him with my sister Ellie, and we decided to "look him up" online -- as we had previously the Happy Ho-Ho (who I always thought of as Robin Ho-Ho-Hood) and King Ding Dong (where and when I grew up, known as King Dons, and prior to that, Ring Dings), both of which (whom?) you can gawk at here (wait for the Planet Twinkie animation to load, then click on the "Hall of Fame" sign; you'll find their names in a little menu on the left).

But so we Googled the Frito Bandito, found the Frito-Lay Web site, and the appropriate page, "Frito-Lay Timeline," and lo and behold, discovered that the Frito Bandito has been erased from the company history. For obvious reasons, of course.

Speaking of "erased," though, I have to say that one of the reasons I remember the Frito Bandito so well is because I once owned a blue Frito Bandito eraser. You know, the kind you stick on the end of your pencil, over the built-in one?

Anyway, the Frito Bandito lives no more in official Frito-Lay history.

May he rest in peace.

Department of "How Does It Feel?"

No, this is not about Bob Dylan. It's about an art installation in Manchester, England.

"On 10th October 2003, the UHC Art Collective erected a full sized replica of Camp X-Ray in the centre of Manchester UK. The Arts Council funded project is an art installation, or exhibition, which: 'challenges our apathy over the prisoners at the US Army's Guantanamo Bay site and investigates experiences of incarceration and sensory deprivation.'

"The camp is staffed by volunteer 'prisoners' and 'guards' and runs for 9 days. It runs as far as possible on the same basis as the real camp and photos from the mainstream media were used as guidelines for its construction."

There are even video clips. Take a look.

A Volte-face and a Business as Usual
(You tell me which is which -- but you have to read the story)

"Vietnam Seeks to Move Past Reported U.S. War Crimes"

"HANOI (Reuters) - Communist Vietnam said Tuesday it wanted to move forward from its war past with America, following a U.S. newspaper report that an army unit known as Tiger Force may have committed war crimes.

"The Blade newspaper from Toledo, Ohio, reported Sunday that the unit killed scores of unarmed civilians, but an investigation was closed with no charges being brought.

"Asked to respond to the report, Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that while the war with America, which ended in 1975, 'caused much suffering and losses to the Vietnamese people,' it wished to close the door on such events."

Department of Scary Family Resemblances




"Sen. Prescott Bush, R-Conn, attempts to 'disassociate himself' from Missouri Sen. Stuart Symington during a hearing on Capital Hill in this Aug. 17, 1962, file photo. Government documents show that Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush, was one of seven directors of Union Banking Corp., seized by the federal government because of its ties to a German industrialist who helped bankroll Adolf Hitler's rise to power, government documents show." (AP Photo, File)

This from a story titled "Newly Unclassified US Documents: Bush Ancestor's Bank Seized by Gov't," published Oct. 18 by AP.

By the way, I don't know yet if I'm convinced about this whole Nazi-Bush connection, but I'll say one thing about it: It's pretty clear by now that it ain't goin' away anytime soon.

Department of Fearing the Worst

It's stories like this that make a person right to be concerned -- if not obsessed, depending on how much free time one has -- with the state of civil liberties in Dubya's USA.

Police and government officials in Florida have been using an informational system called MATRIX, the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange.

"Created to enable state and local authorities to track would-be terrorists as well as criminal fugitives, the database is housed in the offices of a private Florida-based company, Seisint."

The founder of Seisint, Hank Asher, previously owned a company called Database Technologies, which "administered the contract that stripped thousands of African-Americans from the Florida voter rolls before the 2000 election, erroneously contending that they were felons."

Go ahead. Read it. I challenge you not to fear the worst, too.

Where Is the New York Times on This?

"Another of the men named by the FBI as a hijacker in the suicide attacks on Washington and New York has turned up alive and well.

"The identities of four of the 19 suspects accused of having carried out the attacks are now in doubt."

Read the full article here.

Again, credit for this find goes to my informant P. "House" Hausler, of Bedford Ave.

More on Shock for Iraq:
Finance minister advocates less-radical reform

I think next week, when I have more time, I'll look into this further, but meanwhile here's another piece from the New York Times about the "shock therapy" new economic plan put in place in Iraq by Paul Bremer on behalf of the Bush administration.

Titled "Iraqi Official Urges Caution on Imposing Free Market," the article appears on the first page of the World Business section and was written by Thomas Crampton from the World Economic Forum's East Asia Economic Summit, taking place this week in Singapore. The online version includes a photo of said Iraqi official; the print version does not.

"We suffered through the economic theories of socialism, Marxism and then cronyism. Now we face the prospect of free-market fundamentalism," Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi, Iraq's interim trade minister, said in an interview with Crampton.

Referring to the economic plan announced in late September by Iraq's finance minister at the annual World Bank/IMF get-together in Dubai, Allawi said it could lead to (quoting Crampton here, not Allawi) "a reaction against foreign companies and persistent political stability."

Allawi notes -- with a diplomatic flourish at the end -- that Iraq's situation is not comparable to that of the East bloc countries emerging from communism: "The economies of Eastern Europe collapsed due to internal problems. Our situation is very different since the changes came in the form of very welcome help from outside."

Essentially, Allawi plumps for a slower, gentler pace of privatization, as well as some protection for at least a few Iraqi industries other than merely oil. "These things are not yet being thrust down our throat," he says, "but I strongly disagree with the call for fast and radical change."

To impose a full-fledged (I'd say "over-fledged," compared to any other similar program of reform in recent years) free market overnight in Iraq, the minister believes, would be to apply a "flawed logic that ignores history."

Saint George?

Check out this weird photo from yesterday's AP wire (thanks to "House" Hausler for bringing it to my attention):




The caption reads as follows:

"President Bush speaks about Columbus Day at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Monday, Oct. 13, 2003. President Bush, annoyed by what he considers the 'filter' of news reporting, will seek to go around the press on Monday through television outlets that do not routinely cover the White House. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)"

A Lesson for Cynical People Like Me

From yesterday's edition of my daily job-listings e-mail from the Idealist:

"A 'really rotten day' at work prompted a Toronto police officer to e-mail a spontaneous plea to Bill Gates for technological help fighting child pornography. The officer, who couldn’t have imagined that Gates would actually read his hastily dashed off missive, was shocked when Gates responded promptly and generously. Relatively low profile actions like this one strongly suggest that the charitable activities of the world’s richest man aren’t simply part of a public relations ploy."

Here is the story.

It's about time I put something positive on my blog, huh?

Cleaning Up Loose Ends Department

Yesterday I came across an old issue of the New Yorker that contained a quote I had intended to post here but didn't get around to. Since then, I had misplaced the magazine.

The quote is from a profile of filmmaker Ang Lee by John Lahr in the June 30, 2003, issue, and comes from a portion of the article that discusses Lee's screenwriting process. I'll give you the whole graf, but the golden nugget comes at the end. (Schamus, by the way, refers to James Schamus, one of the two founders of the production company Good Machine.) I've broken up the original single, long graf into three shorter ones, for easier reading.

"Lee's first three films — his Chinese trilogy — explore the dilemma of translation between East and West. The screenplays themselves, as Schamus writes in an introduction to two of them, 'were written in Chinese, then translated into English, rewritten in English, translated back into Chinese, and eventually subtitled in Chinese and English and a dozen other languages.'

"The Lee-Schamus process is a testament to the trust between the two men. 'I go into my hole to write,' Schamus says. 'I emerge to give him pages. But there's very little of that standing over my shoulder. He will let me roam and screw up. What he wants to know, as I'm writing the stuff, is why. Why are we making the movie? What's so interesting about that? What's the theme? The topic? He trusts we'll get there. But he also knows that he will not be able to make a good movie unless he has the answer to those questions.'

"In the case of The Wedding Banquet (which was the most profitable film of 1993, based on budget-to-box-office ratio, surpassing even Jurassic Park), Lee kept sending back Schamus's pages, insisting that the psychology of the characters was not Chinese enough. 'Finally, in frustration, I'd simply give up and write the scenes as "Jewish" as I could make them,' Schamus writes. '"Ah-ha," Ang would respond on reading the draft. "Very Chinese!""

Follow-up on Iraq Shock

I realize that you have to subscribe to the Economist to access its Web site, but I still thought it worth pointing out its recent article on the new economic plan for Iraq.

The headline alone speaks legions: "Let's all go to the yard sale." Not to mention the subhed: "If it all works out, Iraq will be a capitalist's dream."

Though of course the Economist takes a far more sanguine view of Iraq's "shock programme of economic reforms," the article makes clear how extreme a plan it is. To wit:

"If carried through, the measures will represent the kind of wish-list that foreign investors and donor agencies dream of for developing markets. Investors in any field, except for all-important oil production and refining, would be allowed 100% ownership of Iraqi assets, full repatriation of profits, and equal legal standing with local firms. Foreign banks would be welcome to set up shop immediately, or buy into Iraqi ventures. Income and corporate taxes would be capped at 15%. Tariffs would be slashed to a universal 5% rate, with none imposed on food, drugs, books and other 'humanitarian' imports."

As for the authorship of the plan, which I questioned in my previous posting below, the weekly writes:

"The regulations were announced by Iraq's nominal finance minister, Kamel al-Gailani, but they bear the signature of Paul Bremer, who heads the American-run Coalition Provisional Authority, and the imprimatur of the American consultants it has hired to frame economic policies."

As for the article's concluding sentence -- "The unspoken wish is that this will create a poster-child for the recalcitrant economies surrounding it." -- I can only agree if this is intended to mean a poster child of the sort used to raise funds for Easter Seals: in other words, a cripple.

Shock Therapy for Iraq?

Jeff Madrick writes in today's New York Times that Iraqi leaders are implementing an economic plan that resembles the controversial "shock therapy" policies adopted in many East bloc countries after the fall of communism.

Describing the plan as "extreme," Madrick writes: "It would immediately make Iraq's economy one of the most open to trade and capital flows in the world, and put it among the lowest taxed in the world, rich or poor."

More specifically: "The new plan reduces the top personal income and corporate tax rate to only 15 percent. It reduces tariffs on imports to 5 percent. And it abolishes almost all restrictions on foreign investment. It would allow a handful of foreign banks to take over the domestic banking system."

Madrick questions whether such a low tax rate will be able to support the obviously necessary social programs in Iraq, noting that even in Poland, "where advocates of shock therapy claim success . . . there was substantial social spending."

Fadhil Madhi, the regional program manager for the United Nations Development Program in Beirut, speaking to Madrick in an unofficial capacity, estimates the unemployment rate in Iraq at 50 to 60 percent, and recommends a public works program to establish jobs. But it seems clear there will be no funding for such a program under the economic plan announced last week.

After all that has happened in Iraq in recent months, I hope it is unnecessary to point out the threat that sustained high unemployment would represent to "stability," as policy wonks and bureaucrats like to say.

Anyway, you can go and read the article and judge for yourself. The one criticism I have of Madrick's piece is that nowhere does he say who actually authored the plan. He says it was announced by the Iraqi finance minister and approved by Paul Bremer. But what I want to know is who wrote the thing?

Is anybody reading my blog anymore? If so, please leave me a comment.

My Friend Lou Shows Up Kay Claims on Iraqi Nuclear Program as So Much Bunkum

Read it here.

"Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, [an] expert close to the International Atomic Energy Agency said David Kay's report [that Iraq had been planning to revive its atomic weapons program until the U.S. invasion in March] was largely based on 'statements and opinions by scientists and officials with no apparent supporting evidence.' "

Go, Lou!

I should add that one of three articles on Kay's report in today's New York Times notes that Kay, who served in the Pentagon under Ronald Reagan and moved on to the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1983, left the IAEA "in 1992 after what associates describe as a dispute with Hans Blix, the agency chief, over what Mr. Blix is said to have regarded as Dr. Kay's overly close relationship with American intelligence agencies."

Gee. What a surprise.

Dying to Kill Us

The Op-Ed section in Monday's New York Times featured an important essay by Robert A. Pape, who "spent a year compiling a database of every suicide bombing and attack around the globe from 1980 to 2001 -- 188 in all."

Pape, an associate professor of poli sci at the University of Chicago, included "any attack in which at least one terrorist killed himself or herself while attempting to kill others" but not "attacks authorized by a national government, such as those by North Korea against the South."

What did he learn from his analysis?

"First, nearly all suicide terrorist attacks occur as part of organized campaigns, not as isolated or random incidents. Of the 188 separate attacks in the period I studied, 179 could have their roots traced to large, coherent political or military campaigns.

"Second, liberal democracies are uniquely vulnerable to suicide terrorists. The United States, France, India, Israel, Russia, Sri Lanka and Turkey have been the targets of almost every suicide attack of the past two decades, and each country has been a democracy at the time of the incidents.

"Third, suicide terrorist campaigns are directed toward a strategic objective. From Lebanon to Israel to Sri Lanka to Kashmir to Chechnya, the sponsors of every campaign have been terrorist groups trying to establish or maintain political self-determination by compelling a democratic power to withdraw from the territories they claim. Even Al Qaeda fits this pattern: although Saudi Arabia is not under American military occupation per se, the initial major objective of Osama bin Laden was the expulsion of American troops from the Persian Gulf."

Pape himself says the "most worrisome" fact revealed by his research is that "the raw number of suicide attacks is climbing at an alarming rate" even as other types of terrorism are on the decline.

But the most important thing I took away from his essay is that "the presumed connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism is wrongheaded, and it may be encouraging domestic and foreign policies that are likely to worsen America's situation."

The data assembled by Pape reveal "that there is little connection between suicide terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism, or any religion for that matter. In fact, the leading instigator of suicide attacks is the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, a Marxist-Leninist group whose members are from Hindu families but who are adamantly opposed to religion (they have have committed 75 of the 188 incidents)."

Pape continues: "Rather, what nearly all suicide terrorist campaigns have in common is a specific secular and strategic goal: to compel liberal democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland. Religion is rarely the root cause, although it is often used as a tool by terrorist organizations in recruiting and in other efforts in service of the broader strategic objective."

Point being: "The close association between foreign military occupations and the growth of suicide terrorist movements shows the folly of any strategy centering on conquering countries that sponsor terrorism or in trying to transform their political systems. At most, occupying countries will disrupt terrorist operations in the short term. But over time it will simply increase the number of terrorists coming at us."

Once again, in blunter language: To invade and occupy countries that sponsor terrorism in an effort to change their regimes will, in the long term, only result in creating more terrorists.

Of course this is hardly a new opinion. And it makes sense. Many of us who opposed the war in Iraq cited this as a reason for our opposition, and now we have the data to back us up.

I'm sure the officials pursuing our "war on terrorism" and the ideologues of PNAC who set their agenda will pay no heed to Pape's conclusions. But at least now they can't claim that no one has produced any hard, statistical evidence to prove their policies wrong.

Pape suggests one of the first steps the U.S. should take is to allow the United Nations to "take over the political and economic institutions in Iraq." In my opinion, that would be a good start.

Come Party Like It's 1989!

That's the slogan for tonight's reading and party at KGB to mark the release of Wild East: Stories from the Last Frontier, "a raucous and lust-fueled anthology of stories about the danger junkies, bohemians and thrill-seekers reveling in the cultural, political and sexual revolution in Eastern Europe following the fall of the iron curtain."

The launch is tonight at 7, at KGB Bar, 85 E. 4th St., between Second and Third.

The event, according to Wild East editor Boris Fishman, will consist of "music, brief readings by Gary Shteyngart, Tom Bissell, and Paul Greenberg, and then valiant efforts to meet the bar minimum."

You can buy the book here.

Other readings for the book coming up:

Thursday, October 9, 7:00 p.m.
Galapagos
70 North 6th St., Brooklyn
718 782 5188
www.galapagosartspace.com

Monday, October 20, 7:00 p.m.
The Half King
505 W. 23rd. St @ 10th Ave.
212 462 4300
www.thehalfking.com

Wednesday, November 5, 7:00 p.m.
Housing Works Used Book Cafe
126 Crosby St.
212 334 3324
http://206.252.132.18/usedbookcafe

Thursday, November 13, 7:30 p.m.
92nd Street Y @ Makor
35 W. 67th St., b/w CPW and Columbus
212 601 1000
www.makor.org

I myself plan to attend the reading at Galapagos.

Good luck, Boris!