Woody

unbillable hours: On Woody Guthrie

Gene Santoro's is on my short list of books to read. The book chronicles the history of modern music, with Louis Armstrong and Woody Guthrie as central figures. TPB, Esq. at Unbillable Hours notes that another book on Woody Guthrie by Ed Cray is out.

Staying the Course

Despite the recent brouhaha over Movable Type's licensing terms, and the terms' subsequent revision, I think I will stick with Movable Type, at least for the moment. Since I run a one-author, two weblog site, I am not really going to get bitten by the new licensing terms. I have too much invested, and Movable Type meets too many of my needs, for me to really want to move.

Shocked and Appalled

I am almost unable to express how shocked I am to find my worst suspicions about America confirmed over a music competition. The show may be trivial, but it is outrageous that, for a second time, the two most talented musicians — who are also the African American musicians — should be consigned to the bottom ranking, and that the person who obviously has the most talent — LaToya London — should be booted off the show. I cannot condone the poor manners of the crowd that booed when Ryan Seacrest announced that LaToya was leaving the show, but I certainly understand how they felt. Randy Jackson did not quite come out and say that the choice was racially biased, but we all felt it.

Spring Fever

Everybody is talking about the incipient emergence of the cicadas, but my more immediate concern is that the plants have unleashed a massive cloud of pollen that has reduced us to sniveling sufferers in allergy hell.

Magazines

I am trying to figure out which print magazines I actually want to read: Poetry, The New Republic, Chess Life, Washington Lawyer, Smithsonian, WorldView. I subscribe to other good magazines that I just do not have time for, such as National Geographic and various alumni magazines. And there are some open questions, such as the Middle East Journal and Better Investing. Part of the dilemma is that every minute devoted to magazines is a minute less that I can devote to books.

Cheap Books!

My wife has turned me on to BookCloseouts.com, a great site for cheap remaindered books. I bought my first book there tonight, a copy of Flavors of Olive Oil — a connoisseur's guide to olive oils, and saved 77 percent off the cover price.

Dittohead

Rush Limbaugh doesn't get it; he thinks the abuse of Iraqi prisoners has simplybeen overblown in order to embarrass George Bush. Reporting on Rush's reaction, Dick Myer of CBS is right that worse things have been inflicted on some of our troops. He is also right that we have set a higher standard for ourselves, in the hopes that our example could make life better for other people. Now that American soldiers have betrayed our ideals in a systematic, degrading manner, we have lost much of our moral standing to lead reform in Iraq.

Oil Scam

The New York Times > International > Europe > Massarosa Journal: The Olive Oil Seems Fine. Whether It's Italian Is the Issue.

I am reading Mort Rosenblum's charming book , which cannot quite decide whether it is a travel book about food, or a food book about travel, or a sociological review of a a major agricultural business. Rosenblum reveals in the book that the much vaunted Italian olive industry does not produce enough oil even for domestic Italian consumption. As a result, most of what Italy exports is not Italian oil at all — Spain is by far the biggest producer, but is largely able to export only through established Italian markets. So it was with some surprise that I noticed an article in today's New York Times describing the Italian oil industry, which mostly trades in other countries' oil. Either this is an interesting coincidence, or I just happened to notice what I was interested in at the moment.

Mediation

I attended a Continuing Legal Education session on mediation tonight. The evening started with a discussion of the goals of mediation, and then proceeded to a role playing exercise designed to demontrate the techniques described earlier. One of the most important first principles is try to choose your mediator, so that you get a mediator whose style suits your case. Prepare your client for the need to compromise. As a mediator, keep your voice low and put plenty of options on the table. Be prepared for mediation to be an emotional experience. As a mediator, remember that the most valuable thing a mediator can offer is himself, and that a mediator's continued involvement can be necessary to bring about a long term resolution.

Why We Need Judicial Review

The New York Times > New York Region > No Plan to Hurt 9/11 Detainees, Ex-Jailer Says

Some of those videotapes are now being used by the inspector general of the Justice Department as prime evidence of the abuse that took place there. Only a handful of frames from hundreds of tapes have been made public, and none comes close to the shocking images of Iraqi prisoners abused at the hands of American soldiers. But the videotapes captured numerous examples of excessive force being used in Brooklyn, including ramming unresisting detainees into walls, twisting their manacled arms and hands, and mocking them during unnecessary strip searches, the Justice Department said in a report issued in December.

It is outrageous that the same government responsible for the abuse of prisoners is arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that "enemy combatants" have no right to any judicial review of the conditions or justice of their confinement.

Idolatry

I actually find myself agreeing with Simon Cowell about something: Fantasia and LaToya are in a class by themselves.

Text Edit

With some trepidation, I have downloaded and installed GNU Emacs for Windows. I have started working my way through Learning Perl by Tom Christiansen, and I want and editor in which to write perl scripts. Emacs is my editor of choice (at the moment) on Linux, and while it may not be the perfect choice for Windows, I think there is something to be gained by using a consistent cross-platform tool.