Tribes with Flags is one the the most compelling and detailed books I have read about the modern Middle East. In classic travel book fashion, author Charles Glass knows everyone and goes everywhere -- or at least seems to. Along the way, he imparts snippets of history and untangles the complex web of family and religious allliances -- and betrayals -- that have turned modern Lebanon into a battleground. Glass's kidnapping by Hizbullah punctuates this memoir with an exciting conclusion, but the real reason to read the book is the journey beforehand.
Bye Bye
Dave Winer is not happy about a rather clever parody of Don McLean's American Pie. I am not enough of an insider to catch all the references, but apparently the author touched a few nerves. Unlike Mr. Winer, I do not think that "paying your dues" is a prerequisite to writing a satire. Some authors, like Pope and Swift, basically wrote nothing but satires, and Byron lauched his career with "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers." This little blogger doggerel is not in the same class, but the same principle applies: satire should be judged on its wit not its antecedents.
The Right Thing To Do
Episcopal Church Confirms Gay Bishop (washingtonpost.com)
"Surmounting threats of a schism and eleventh-hour allegations of misconduct, the Rev. V. Gene Robinson won confirmation today as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion."
Today is a day that I am proud to be an Episcopalian, and I hope that the Episcopal Church's example of inclusion and charity will serve as a beacon to the rest of the Anglican Communion and the worldwide Christian Church.
Government Lawyer Blogs
"Since two government lawyer bloggers have called it quits recently (blueblanketblog in part and Crimen Falsi completely), the law clerk bloggers have started trying to sort out where we stand in the world of ethics and blogging."
Yet another reminder of why my father has always said he never wented to work for the government. Obviously, there are compensations to a job at an agency such as the Department of Justice, where one has the opportunity to do quite a bit of good. Stories like this, however, are reminders that Uncle Sam exacts a steep price.
Jungle Drums of the Internet Age
Media Notes: Dean's Moment (washingtonpost.com)
' "Then Dean's forces burst from their blogs (weblogs are the jungle drums of the Internet age) and made themselves heard in the old-fashioned language the political establishment understands: money. They deluged his campaign with $7.6 million in the second quarter (ended June 30), which was $1.7 million more than presumed front runner John Kerry, $2.5 million more than poll-topping Joe Lieberman, $3.1 million more than glamorous newcomer John Edwards, $3.8 million more than seasoned Dick Gephardt.... " '
Don't speak the language
Whales
Wired News: Whale of a Miscalculation
"A genetic study of whales suggests many more have been slaughtered in the whaling frenzy that began in the 18th century than previously believed, Harvard University researchers said. The study also shows whale populations have not recovered enough to allow hunting to resume."
I suppose that the admission that I have always been a "Save the Whales" kind of guy about sums up my politics.
St. Jude Ascends
Wired News: Hackers Lose a Patron Saint
"If there is a heaven, the angels are in for a hell of a time when Jude Milhon, the Internet's real and very earthy patron saint of hacking, shows up."
Milhon was known not only for coining the term "CypherPunk" but also for her Internet book Hacking the Wetware: The NerdGirl's Pillow Book.
Wired has an interview.
Retrospective
I have just spent an enjoyable half hour reading some of Unbillable Hours' back issues. I liked his observations about film music: as far as I can tell, the movies are all that is keeping classical music alive. Not that there isn't an audience for museum pieces, but the traditional sources of support for classical composers -- other than films -- mostly seem to have dried up by the beginning of the twentieth century. Most new orchestral music seems to be written for the movies.
Long Live the Queen
A Savvy Queen Marketed Chastity
"The use of the royal image to assert, consolidate and maintain her grip on power is explored in "Elizabeth," a fascinating exhibition that runs through Sept. 14 at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, near London."
Four hundred years later, the Queen still has good P.R.
House Gets It Right
F.C.C. Media Rule Blocked in House in a 400-to-21 Vote
"The vote, which was 400 to 21, sets the stage for a rare confrontation between the Republican-controlled Congress and the White House, because there is strong support in the Senate for similar measures, which seek to roll back last month's decision by the Federal Communications Commission to raise the limit on the number of television stations a network can own."
War Corps or Peace Corps?
"The question of how to reorganize the armed forces should be turned on its head: instead of making the military better at humanitarian assignments (in Iraq, Afghanistan and perhaps Liberia), humanitarian groups should strive to become more comfortable in military situations."
I agree with the author that we were too quick to pull our Peace Corps Volunteers out of longstanding programs in Jordan and Morocco. Refocusing the Peace Corps' mission from longterm development to military relief would be a mistake, however, and not just because it would increase the danger to volunteers. Frankly, the thought of turning the Peace Corps into an adjunct of the Bush administration's military adventurism revolts me.
Hot Time in the City
Unbillable Hours' double-blog weekend should put anyone in a New York frame of mind. Not to be missed are the pictures of the Cloisters.
National Geographic
I am rapidly becoming a fan of the National Geographic channel. Rachel and I just finished watching a program about a pygmy hunting expedition in the heart of the Congo rain forest. The narrator first accompanied a primate researcher on a tour of the territory where she studies chimpanzees. He and a musicologist who has studied pygmy music for 17 years then joined the pygmies--men and women--on a hunting trip through the jungle. Amazingly enough, the pygmies eat only one kind of leaf in the jungle; the others are toxic as a natural defense against insects. The pygmies hunting technique is to set up a large net in a circle, and then drive the animals into the nets. For the first five days, the hunters were forced to subsist on manioc root, since they were not able to find game, and the narrator nearly ruined his relationship with them by sneaking a tin of sardines. They were rewarded on the fifth day with a catch of porcupine and a couple of other animals unique to the jungle, which they roasted over the fire and served with nut sauce. The program concluded with the traditional songs of the group after a successful hunt.
Despite the damp, the parasites, and the insects, I find myself asking -- when am I going to Africa?
Books and Choices
I used to look at the body of literature as a vast plain spread out before me, where I was free to wander wherever I pleased. It feels now as though I am stocking a small room, and each new book leaves less room for the next.
I suppose that a growing sense of how time is in short supply is an inevitable consequence of growing older, and that one grows to appreciate more with each passing year the importance of making intelligent choices about how to spend it. In my case, however, this sense competes with a somewhat cavalier approach to life's organizational tasks.
Baby taste
The baby has begun to show marked tastes in music. First, she likes brass. Lots of it. This means that she also has a taste for jazz. In addition, she's a sucker for the folky Quebecois rythms of La Bottine Souriante.
Only the blog
'It's only the blog that makes his wife a little jealous. "You have to follow your passion on this," Ed Cone said. "You spend time on stuff you love, and good things happen." '
It is important to keep a sense of priorities about the things one loves, however.
Penny for your thoughts
"My father used to tell me that I could trust someone who claimed they were not an expert but offered what knowledge they had, much more than I could trust someone that claimed to be an expert but never shared how they achieved their success."
Work
I have an oral argument tomorrow in U.S. District Court, so I am out of the blogging loop for another day or two.
Nader on Bush and Corporate Crime
Ralph Nader Says Bush Impeachable on Iraq War
"He urged the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls to attack Bush on these points, adding Democrats are showing an 'unwillingness and inability to go after the principal vulnerability of Bush, which are the corporate crimes, fraud and abuse that has swept the country.'
"In many ways, this was light criticism of Bush by Nader. He has said the war in Iraq developed from 'messianic militaristic determination turned by a closed mind, facilitated by a cowering Congress and opposition Democrat Party and undeterred by a probing press.'"
The New York Times reported the same story, but toned it down considerably.