Charleston.Net: News from the Associated Press
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Europe's biggest terrorist threat is Morocco - seething with as many as 1,000 al-Qaida adherents capable of suicide attacks and skilled at slipping through the continent's southern gateway, Spain's leading anti-terrorism judge testified Thursday.
It's not as though Spain has been pointing the finger at Morocco for the last 1500 years, or anything.
Rashid Khalidi is an angry man. He is angry at the Bush administration for ignoring experts on the history and politics of the Middle East. He is angry at the neoconservatives who filled the gap with their ignorance and "blind zealotry." He is angry at the decision to invade Iraq, and the grave consequences that resulted.
I met Rashid Khalidi briefly while I was a student at the University of Chicago. When I emerge from my current absorption in Norse sagas and Celtic mythology and turn my attention to the Arab World again, I intend to pick up a copy of his book.
The New York Times > Travel > An Ancient Scottish Isle
I heard the name of the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands 40 miles off the northwest coast of Scotland, as a siren's call. Once, as a young reader, I had briefly confused it with the Hesperides, a mythical garden at the edge of the world famous for its golden apples. Ever since, I had thought of those Scottish islands as magical places.
Next time I go to Scotland, I would like to answer the siren's call.
Portland was beautiful, a milder version of Maine. The ceremony was very simple and very beautiful, a quick exchange of vows in the evening on the banks of the Willamette River. After the ceremony, we devoured a spit roasted pig and watched fireworks.
A recent post by Halley Suitt suggests that there is nothing unusual about what the Washingtonienne had to say. What was unusual was that — deliberately or not — she let herself get caught writing a sex journal from a Senate computer.
Off to Portland, Oregon, for my cousin's wedding!
Rachel's new word: "boom!"
Frank Kinahan's
One suspects that J.R.R. Tolkien, a professor of Medieval English literature at Oxford, had stories such as Oisin's in mind when he composed the stories of Beren and Luthien (see the
Kinahan emphasizes that the realm of poetry is the impermanent, material world, not the unchanging (and sterile?) realm of Faery or the occult, a truth that both Yeats and Tolkien implicitly recognize.
Chinese Pressure Dissident Physician (washingtonpost.com)
BEIJING -- Chinese military and security officials are forcing the elderly physician who exposed the government's coverup of the SARS epidemic to attend intense indoctrination classes and are interrogating him about a letter he wrote in February denouncing the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Arabic Language A Tough Assignment (washingtonpost.com)
According to a survey by the Modern Language Association, the number of students at U.S. colleges enrolled in Arabic language courses nearly doubled from fall 1998 to fall 2002 -- the largest growth rate of any foreign language during that period. At Georgetown University, enrollment in Arabic courses is up by 300 percent since 2001. At George Washington, twice as many students applied as could be admitted into the new summer-long intensive Arabic program.
It is encouraging to hear of more interest in Arabic as a foreign language, discouraging to be reminded how difficult the language is and how few people study it despite renewed interest.
According to W.B. Yeats' Faery and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, butterflies in Irish folklore are the souls of the dead awaiting entry into Purgatory.
NAMES & FACES (washingtonpost.com)
Stop the presses! Or should we say start the presses? Washingtonienne, that 26-year-old infamous former Hill staffer who grabbed everyone's attention by blogging each nitty-gritty detail of her sexual escapades with six men, not only has a six-figure book deal anchored with Hyperion Disney, but the rumor that she'll be posing for Playboy mag is true, too! (November issue, for those interested.)
The Post's Reliable Source has the background on 26-year-old Jessica Cutler, a.k.a. Washingtonienne. Her Senate boss chose a creative legal angle when he fired her; apparently she was discharged for misuse of government property because she was blogging on a Senate computer. In a way, it is odd that the Senator gave her a reason; I would have thought that a Senate staff job would be at-will, and that a Senate staffer could be fired for any reason or no reason at all.
It is remarkable not only how much attention this story has garnered, but how much anger it has generated, as evidenced by comments on the Wizbang weblog.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Moore's Public Service
Paul Krugman echoes Barbara Ehrenreich's column of a comple of days ago, in which he points out that Michael Moore — unlike the privileged George Walker Bush — comes from an ordinary background. Krugman thinks that Moore — whose tone and political conspiracy theories he does not endorse — nevetheless has performed an essential service by telling stories about the Bush administration that the mainstream media lacked the moxy to reveal. And he makes a good point when he states that Moore's critics point to Moore's alleged distortions, but they have little to say about he Commander in Chief's.
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.