March 31, 2003

crescent

I picked up one of the last copies of Crescent left on the shelf at my local bookstore on Friday. I thought the book wasn't due out till April, but I guess they brought it in a few days early and it seemed to be doing well.

I haven't started reading it yet, but here is a review from Abu-Jaber's hometown paper, The Oregonian, and another one, from the Christian Science Monitor.

more hersh hoopla

A couple of weeks ago, Seymour Hersh wrote an article on Richard Perle that caused quite a stir. A few days ago, Perle announced his resignation as chairman of the Defense Policy Board. Although Hersh's article wasn't about Perle's dealings with Global Crossing, I'm sure it did little to assuage people's concerns over Perle's conflicts of interest.
The April 7 issue of the New Yorker features another article by Seymour Hersh (no link yet) that alleges that "U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeatedly rejected advice from Pentagon planners that substantially more troops and armour would be needed to fight a war in Iraq." Read on.
Can't wait to get the issue in the mail so I can see what the hoopla is about this time.

Update: Seymour Hersh's article is now online. Enjoy.

chomsky in the mainstream?

As a linguist, I'm much more familiar with Noam Chomsky's work on syntax than with his political commentary. To many linguists, he's a living legend, whether you agree with his theories on Universal Grammar, for example, or not.
At any rate, his politics have gotten him in the crosshairs of many conservative and sometimes even liberal commentators. But this week's New Yorker features an article by Larissa McFarquhar in which she profiles Noam Chomsky. I suppose that means he's more mainstream now...I never thought I'd see the day.
Links: Chomsky's 9-11.

holy matrimony

They say marriage is about sharing and apparently that applies to sinus infections as well. Alex had one earlier this week and had to miss work for 3 days, and this weekend was my turn. I'm miserable. To top it off, my left eye is so swollen it looks like someone gave me a shiner. And tomorrow I have to go to a new writing workshop to discuss one of my stories, which is about--you guessed it--a battered woman. Insert your own joke here. If you've written me email or sent me IMs, I'm sorry for not responding. I'm woefully behind on my correspondence and hope to catch up when I feel better.

March 28, 2003

mukherjee in town

For those who are in the Los Angeles area, Bharati Mukherjee will be reading from her new book, Desirable Daughters, at Dutton's tonight.

great minds think alike?

The April Issue of Harper's Magazine is a photomontage by Penny Gentieu of Guernica draped in blue, while the March 17 issue of the New Yorker (the issue with Seymour Hersh's article on Richard Perle) has a cover designed by Harry Bliss, and called "Setting the Stage":

The two covers are eerily similar, and both call to mind the complete draping of Guernica on January 27 at the United Nations. It was then that Colin Powell was to brief the press about the possibility of war on Iraq and the tapestry was deemed "inappropriate" so it was covered up. The two magazines picked these covers on the eve of war with Iraq, and I can only surmise that it's because we are about to witness carnage similar to what happened in the 1930-40s, and that we are only shown part of the picture because it would be "inappropriate" to do otherwise. But that's just my interpretation. I could be wrong.
I've actually seen Guernica in vivo. It was in the fall of 1998 during a visit to Spain. At the time, Guernica was part of a Picasso retrospective (can't remember if it was at the Prado or at some other museum.) It's quite a painting to behold, almost overwhelming in its intensity. Legend has it that when a Nazi officer asked the painter "Did you do this?", Picasso's response was: "No, you did."
I wonder who we'll be sending "No, you did" notes to, in a few years.

we're liberators, not conquerors, got that?

A few days ago, I shared a few links on blunders that have happened since the war on Iraq started a week ago. This one's the best yet, though: U.S. informally renames airport after Bush. (Thanks to Adnan for sending me the article.)

Update: The New York Times has an article titled Army Depots in Iraqi Desert Have Names of Oil Giants which says that "the 101st Airborne Division had named one central Iraq outpost Forward Operating Base Shell and another Forward Operating Base Exxon." (Thanks to Dennis for sending me the link!)

Al-Jazeera's woes

Tough times for the Arab news channel. First it was banned from the NYSE: "Mr. Al-Sankari, the only Arab-language broadcaster at the NYSE, said he was stunned. For years, NYSE officials had told him how much they welcomed his coverage because it reached a huge untapped group of investors. But that all changed last weekend when Al-Jazeera, a satellite news service based in Qatar, began broadcasting pictures of dead and captured American soldiers in Iraq. The exchange's official position Tuesday was that Al-Jazeera's credentials had been revoked as part of a reorganization of media positions, even though it was the only media outlet dropped."
Then, its site was hacked and the page was replaced with American flag and the (deliciously ironic) message "Let Freedom Ring".
And yesterday, an Al-Jazeera representative was on Larry King Live:
"KING: We're back on this special edition of LARRY KING LIVE with Omar Al Issawi, the correspondent for Al-Jazeera in Doha, Qatar. How do you respond to General Shelton's statement about your network showing the POWs?
AL ISSAWI: I think the general used the word "distasteful." That's his opinion and we respect his opinion. We don't really use that criteria when we judge what we're going to broadcast. We are just interested if the material that we've got is news worthy and that's how we decide whether to go on air with it or not.
KING: So in other words, you don't make a judgment decision, then, on taste or whether this thing might be objectionable to some? If you think it's newsworthy you go with it.
AL ISSAWI: Well, basically, I think that's the criteria for most news organizations. The threshold might be different. The level of tolerance might be different and I think that will vary from culture to culture. But if you examine Al-Jazeera's track record, them you will find that we've done similar things in the past. As a matter of fact, just prior to the airing of the POW tape. We had some graphic images of casualties in Iraq and we broadcast that. They were the same graphic nature. Basically we're just trying to cover the news from both sides of the conflict as we see it.
KING: General, are they just coming from two different viewpoints here?
SHELTON: Well, no doubt about it, but I would hasten to add two wrongs don't make a right. And in this case, I think, being -- reporting in a responsible manner and reporting -- reporting in a balanced fashion is what most newsworthy organizations or what most international organizations do, making sure that in some cases, for example, that if you're going to report certain items that you have at least two sources for that data. (...) And then, of course, abiding by international laws and international customs. And I think that's where I have a real difference of opinion when it comes to showing not just the U.S. casualties, but also any other casualties, including Iraqi."
I agree with Shelton about the POWs, but it's kind of hard for the Arab world to take him seriously considering the U.S.'s own violations of the Geneva Convention at Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. cleverly says that they're just enemy combatants, that they don't belong in a specific army, but nothing stops Iraq from coming up with another euphemism and flouting the Convention as well. This is at the heart of why people in other parts of the world dislike US policies: continued double standards.
By the way, Al-Jazeera is now back online at a temporary address: http://213.30.180.219.

March 27, 2003

arab american writers

are gaining influence says Voice of America. That's news to me, but if it's true, and you're a literary agent, feel free to contact me.

war literature

A brief overview of the literature of war, from Homer on.

salam's fifteen minutes

The BBC tries to address the question that's been on everyone's mind. Is Salam for real? And the Guardian has a piece on him too. And ABC News. And so on.

morocco offers US monkeys to detonate mines

The Moroccan weekly "Al-Usbu' As-Siyassi" [This Week in Politics] published a piece that "accused the government Monday of providing unusual assistance to U.S. troops fighting in Iraq by offering them 2,000 monkeys trained in detonating land mines. Morocco offered the U.S. forces a large number of monkeys, some from Morocco's Atlas Mountains and others imported, to use them for detonating land mines planted by the Iraqis. A highly-informed source was quoted as saying, "that is not a scientific illusion but a well-known military tactic."
When I heard about that, I just laughed. I know Morocco is a staunch U.S. ally, but monkeys? And "Al-Usbu" doesn't really have a great reputation for journalistic seriousness so I thought it was a hoax and moved on. But by Tuesday the item was picked up by the fearless fact-checkers at United Press International and the conservative Washington Times, and today by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Only the Washington Post seems to have thought it a joke: "An official at the Moroccan Embassy could not confirm the presence of monkeys in the coalition of the willing."
Then someone pointed me to this link: Dolphins Help Spot Mines in War. So hmm...if Dolphins can do it...

March 26, 2003

L.A. times festival of books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held on April 26 and 27 at UCLA, and will include the usual lectures, signings, workshops, etc. Authors expected to attend include Sherman Alexie, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Ray Bradbury, Sandra Cisneros, Christopher Hitchens, Maxine Hong Kingston, George Plimpton, and Elmore Leonard.

memo to wackos: try Buddhism for a change

Meet John Abizaid. A graduate of Stanford, he is a three-star general and a deputy to Gen. Tommy Franks. Abizaid is the man who "moves the pieces on the chessboard for Franks to approve." He is the highest ranking Arab-American serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Meet John Watersbey, a 29-year-old Marine and crew chief, husband and father. He lost his life during the helicopter crash on March 20, the first day of the war. He was one of an estimated 10,000 Arabs/Muslims serving in the Armed Forces.
Although you may not be familiar with Abizaid or Watersbey, I'm sure you've heard of Sgt. Hasan Akbar (a.k.a. Mark Kools), the man who allegedly shot at his own comrades-in-arms in the elite 101st Airbone Division, killing one and injuring a dozen others. Reports said that the suspect had an "attitude problem," after allegedly being passed over for promotion, and that he had complained of racism in the military. So he went postal. The attack was disturbing and demoralizing to everyone, both within the military and here in the U.S.
When I heard that the suspect in the 101st Airborne attack was a Muslim, I thought: Why? Why must Islam get all the wackos (Richard Reid, anyone?) I swear, the muftis should get together and issue a fatwa: if you're a wacko, go convert somewhere else. We're all stocked up here.

liberators get early bonus

Advocates of war with Iraq point out (rightly) that the French have huge financial stakes in Iraq. Unfortunately, they also argue that the U.S.'s motives are much more noble: disarming Saddam, removing a brutal regime, liberating the Iraqi people, cutting off financial support of suicide bombers, bringing democracy to the Middle East (Did I forget anything? Oh yeah, bombing Iraq will also get you a date and give you fresh, minty breath, so get on board already.)
Anyway, yesterday, the Bush Administration announced that the first of many Iraq rebuilding contracts had been awarded, one of which was to Halliburton, Dick Cheney's company. The exact amount of the award was not disclosed. Halliburton's profits from the "War on Terror" also extend to the U.S. Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where it was awarded a $9 million contract last year to build cells for prisoners, and to Afghanistan where, through its subsidiary Brown and Root, it was awarded a contract for camp support services.

March 25, 2003

when the new wing broke away from the old mansion

that's the tile of a "short story about Europe and America" by Jonathan Franzen, in today's Guardian. Here's the opening
"Once there was a mansion in which there lived five brothers. The four oldest brothers, who had played and fought and survived the diseases of childhood together, lived comfortably in the beautifully furnished older wing of the mansion.
The fifth brother, Joseph, was much younger. By the time he came of age, there were no comfortable rooms left for him, and so he was given the raw rooms in the mansion's newer wing. Joseph was a strange, solitary, somewhat frightening child, and although his brothers loved him, they were relieved to have him out of their hair."
Read on.

this just in: war is ugly

Tim Cavanaugh of Reason.com comments on the differences in coverage between Al-Jazeera and American networks. In particular, he discusses the oft-mentioned pictures of American POWs, but also those of bloody Iraqi casualties. Both sets of images have been broadcast by Al-Jazeera but not by the major networks here.
"I must admit I too was more bothered by pictures of dead American servicemen than by that of a dead Iraqi kid (...) But I cannot share Drudge's—and I suspect, many other Americans'—feeling of outraged violation at these broadcasts. (...) A country that goes to war and then expects to see no evidence of war's actual results is not a serious country. And Al Jazeera is remarkably consistent in its presentation of horrific, chaotic and disturbing imagery, regardless of its origin or its potential for swaying audience opinion. (...) What was most troubling about the images of American bodies in enemy hands was that they gave a strong impression of a war effort so badly derailed that our forces can't even collect their own casualties (...) This has been Jazeera's real triumph so far in the campaign. Unlike any of the American, British or European news networks available overseas, Jazeera (and to a lesser extent some of its Arabic knockoffs) is presenting a coherent and convincing picture—and that picture is of an American war effort going disastrously wrong."
Cavanaugh's observations underscore how our views and opinions, here in the U.S. and in the Arab World, are shaped by the images we see. So the question is, who is winning the information campaign?

Read the complete commentary from Tim Cavanaugh. Link via Arts and Letters Daily.
And, of course, there is also Salam Pax's first-hand account of life in Baghdad right now (not for the squeamish.)

I can tell I'm depressed when...

I start quoting Franz Kafka: "War is a monstrous failure of imagination."

March 24, 2003

how to get into the NY Times (or not)

Boris Johnson was asked to write an Op-Ed for the New York Times. He was thrilled. Then he got a call from one of their editors. "Everybody loves it. But we have, uh, a few issues of political correctness that I have to go through with you (...)
Some of the changes were unobjectionable. For American readers, Tony Blair leads the Labor party. The NY Times is too grand to call Rumsfeld ‘Rummie’, and nothing happened last autumn; it happened last ‘fall’. Fair enough. But I started to get a floaty, out-of-body sensation when he said that he had made a change to a sentence about donations of US overseas aid to key members of the UN Security Council. I had said something to the effect that you don’t make international law by giving new squash courts to the President of Guinea. This now read ‘the President of Chile’. Come again? I said. Qué?
‘Uh, Boris,’ said Tobin, ‘it’s just easier in principle if we don’t say anything deprecatory about a black African country, and since Guinea and Chile are both members of the UN Security Council, and since it doesn’t affect your point, we would like to say Chile.’ In the end, I gave way on this, since it was getting cold and I was worried about the battery of my mobile. But my views of the NY Times were starting to evolve. "
This was only the beginning. Worthwhile read.

Link from Mobylives.

salam pax is back

Salam had no entries this weekend, and I think we all thought of the worst. But he's back online today. Keep checking, he might have news from Baghdad.

stop bitching, start living, they say

"In the nineteenth century, women in this country had a great deal to be angry about. They could not vote, it was difficult for them to divorce, they had few rights over their children and married women had no control over their property. (...) To say things have improved since those dark days is a pretty big understatement. So why are the contributors to The Bitch in the House, a contemporary look at women's lives and pre-occupations, so angry? I don't mean mildly cross or a bit miffed, but absolutely boiling with rage and fury. "
Read the Guardian's review of Cathi Hanauer's The Bitch in the House and Melanie Phillips's The Ascent of Woman.

at least they weren't boring

Peace sign lapels were ubiquitous on celebrities at the Oscars yesterday, perhaps making not wearing one a statement in itself. The show was off to a good start when Chris Cooper finally won his oscar. His speech included something like "in light of all the trouble in the world, I wish us all peace." Applause.
Native Texan Matthew McConaughey wore three flowers on his lapel: red, white and blue, as he introduced something. Can't remember what. Was too preoccuppied by trying to figure out which flowers he used.
Mexico's Gael Garcia Bernal (of Y Tu Mama Tambien fame) was very composed as he introduced the Oscar-nominated song for the film Frida. He then quoted la Kahlo "I don't paint my dreams, I paint my reality, " and used to that to segue into, "The necessity for peace in the world is not a dream, it's a reality. We are not alone. If Frida was alive, she'd be on our side -- against war."
It was probably worth it to tune in just to see Barbra Streisand squeal with delight as she read Eminem's name as the winner for Best Original Song. Didn't know she listened to rap.
Michael Moore received a standing ovation for his win for Bowling for Columbine. He proceeded to give (a very slightly modified version of) the same speech he had delivered the night before at the Spirit Awards. "We live in fictitious times, when we have fictitious election results that elect a fictitious president, when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. We are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you.. And anytime you have the Dixie Chicks and the Pope against you, your time is up." Or something like that. At the Spirit awards Moore was applauded, but last night he was greeted with loud boos, which had the effect of getting the orchestra started, then more cheers, then again more boos. What a difference a day makes.
I was thrilled by Adrien Brody's surprise (but more than well-deserved) win for The Pianist because I had absolutely loved that movie, and loved Brody in it. He gave a great acceptance speech, and just as they tried to cut him off with the music, he waved to Bill Conti to stop and said, "[This award] fills me with great joy, but I'm also filled with a lot of sadness tonight because I'm accepting an award at such a strange time. You know my experiences in making this film made me very aware of the sadness and the dehumanization of people at times of war and the repercussions of war. Whether you believe in God or Allah, may he watch over you and let's pray for a peaceful and swift resolution."

March 23, 2003

truth is first casualty

I received an email from Morocco today which included this bit: "We're been watching the war coverage. We have at least 5 live news channels, and then the other channels also run commentary. It's useful to compare so we can decode the real news from the fake (not everything that is said by the American channels is true and the same for the Iraqi/Arab ones)."

March 22, 2003

proust as character

"Believe it or not, Philippe Besson's In the Absence of Men, a short novel in the terse style of the late Marguerite Duras, has Marcel Proust as the father of an illegitimate son born to a prostitute in the first year of the 20th century. The son, now a French soldier on a short leave from fighting in World War I, is passionately in love with the narrator, a 16-year-old boy named Vincent, who returns the soldier's lust and then, after a very sexy week, believes him to be the love of his life." Read Rick Whitaker's review of In the Absence of Men in the Washington Post. Hint: He didn't like it.

blunder-o-rama

Sometimes, it's the little things that tell the story....

"10:05 pm. CBS News anchor Dan Rather declares "Good morning Baghdad" as the bombing begins." Daily Press War Watch Summary (3/20)

"Later, Marines briefly raised an American flag over the city [Umm Qasr] before they were ordered by superiors to take it down, in accordance with Bush's statements that this is a war of liberation, not conquest."
Shock and Awe (Newsday, 3/22)

"U.S. tanks rolled through the town [of Safwan] with messages painted on their turrets. "Got oil?" read one."
US Launches Huge Airstrike on Baghdad (AP, 3/21)

regime change? oh, right, that's why we're here?

General Tommy Franks--whom I kind of like...there's something about men with graying hair, wearing fatigues... er...never mind--Franks had his news conference today from Qatar. This interesting tidbit from the Washington Post/AP article:
"The news conference was attended by a mix of U.S. and international journalists, one of whom pressed Franks a second time about whether Saddam was alive. There have been unconfirmed reports that the Iraqi president was wounded or killed on the opening night of the war.
"Actually, I don't know if he's alive or not," Franks said. "But interestingly, the way we're undertaking this military operation" would not change regardless of what happens to Saddam."
So, those of us who were naive enough to think that targeting Saddam would save the civilians can let go of our illusions.

March 21, 2003

submissions

I just finished drafts of two new stories, and for once I don't feel like just leaving them in my drawer for another round of revisions. Feedback has been positive, so I'm planning on sending them out to literary journals. I had taken a break from submitting because I wanted to focus on writing, but now I feel the time is right. So we shall see.

protecting the right to read

"Political courage is usually in short supply, but there was a lot of it on display at a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 6.
Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, and three other members of Congress had the nerve to be the first to call for changes in a law called the USA Patriot Act. They announced the introduction of H.R. 1157, the Freedom to Read Protection Act."
The article also has links that show you how to contact your congressperson to ask for support.
Link via Bookslut.

writers to bush

Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dennis Lehane, and Wally Lamb are the signatories of another "Earth to Bush" letter, this one a full-page ad in the New York Times.
But you know the Administration's position on this. Bush "appreciates societies in which people can express their opinion." So long as he doesn't have to actually listen.

Link via MobyLives.

where is raed when you want to look into his eyes?

Yesterday, I received two emails from journalists asking me whether I thought Salam Pax was a real person and whether he was truly blogging from Baghdad. My answer: Depends on my mood. Right now (and for the last few days), I think he's real. Ask me again some other day. Apparently, Diane received similar emails, and here's her response.

give them back liberty, we'll keep idiocy

It was only a matter of time...there is an online petition from folks who want to send the Statue of Liberty back to France.
Yeah, that'll show 'em.

March 20, 2003

civilizing subjects

"A generation ago the influence of Fanon's typology of empire ensured that one could only be either very much for or very much against the great imperial structures that disappeared piece by piece after the Second World War; now, after years of degeneration following the white man's departure, the empires that ruled Africa and Asia don't seem quite as bad. The perplexingly affirmative work of Niall Ferguson and David Armitage scants, if it doesn't actually trivialise, the suffering and dispossession brought by empire to its victims. More is said now about the modernising advantages the empires brought, and about the security and order they maintained. There is far less tolerance for the disorder and tyranny that people like Nkrumah, Lumumba and Nasser instigated in the name of anti-colonialism. "
Edward Said reviews Catherine Hall's Civilizing Subjects: Metropole and Colony in the English Imagination, for the London Review of Books.

perspective

Last night we came home from dinner just as CNN was reporting that a missile might have struck at Saddam’s bunker and they were waiting to see if it had been successful.

Of course, I was hooked.

I had grown resigned to the fact that we were at war now, but this was quite an extraordinary turn of events. If the U.S. could capture Saddam on Day 1, then of course it changed the way the war would develop and there likely wouldn’t be nearly as many deaths as we had all feared.

But it was too good to be true. So I decided to get out of the roller-coaster ride now before my emotions get too tangled up. I remember on September 11, I didn’t leave the sofa all day—watching CNN, switching to ABC, checking the laptop, etc. And I don’t want a repeat of that emotionally draining exercise. I’m going to try to retain whatever perspective I can on the events, and so I’m going to check the news only once a day. If I can.

let it be quick

We've played "Are we there yet?" for six months. Now it's happening. And of course we all want it to be as quick and bloodless as possible, so the new mantra is "Is it over yet?"

March 19, 2003

salam in baghdad

Salam's entry for today, directly from Baghdad. It gave me the chills.

coping skills

Today we're going to war with Iraq.

Outside my window, the sun shines in a sky of insolent blue. The birds in my backyard are trying to outdo each other with their trills. I wish that, like them, I could be Zen about everything. But it's impossible. Soon, bombs will start raining on Baghdad and some 200,000 American troops and half a million Baghdadis will be put in harm's way.

I rarely think in absolutes, so I won't say that every war is wrong. But this one is very wrong, and very reckless.

Those who support the war say that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. Yet there has been no smoking gun. Whatever intelligence the U.S. says it has never made it into the hands of the inspectors, and when it did, it never led to any finds. Even more embarrassing is the fact that part of the evidence presented to the U.N. by Colin Powell (and provided to him by Tony Blair) was plagiarized from a student paper (typos and all).

They say we must go to war to provide the people of Iraq with freedom. That is a lofty ideal, and I wholeheartedly support it. But the fact remains that 12 years ago we said the same thing about Kuwait. And yet, despite our intervention, Kuwaiti women still do not have the right to vote.

They say Iraq represents a threat to the American people. Yet even the much talked about Al-Samoud missiles had a range of only 93 miles. We are 6,000 miles away.

They say Saddam and Al-Qaeda are linked. And yet Osama Bin Laden has called Saddam and his Ba'ath party 'infidels', a term he usually reserved for Americans.

They say Saddam has used his weapons against his own people. They are talking about the Halabjah massacre, which happened in 1988. At the time, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency asserted that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds, not Iraqi gas. But regardless of who was responsible for the massacre of the Kurds, why is it we're having a moral problem with it, 15 years later?

I could go on, but the point is that the rationale for the war has not been consistent over the last six months, a fact which makes it abundantly clear that the decision to take over Iraq was made long before a justification had to be found for it. And despite the overwhelming opposition of the world to this, despite the President's own father's warnings, war is happening.

There's no doubt that Saddam's Republican Guard will be crushed and that the dictator's days in Baghdad are finished. Beyond the war, however, the outlook is quite bleak. The Administration's track record in Afghanistan demonstrates that it has no commitment to rebuilding (beyond what will be necessary to produce and export oil). It's unlikely that a president who has shown such disregard for the UN will allow it to organize free and fair elections. Therefore, the most likely course will be the choice of a pro-US leader. The people will continue to struggle with poverty, as well as their anger over their country being taken over. And we all know what poverty and anger lead to. Soon a Khomeini-like figure will emerge and Iraq, one of the last bastions of secularism in the region, will fall to the fundamentalists. An entire generation of terrorists will be bred, and Bush will have succeeded in making us even less safe than before September 11.

I hope I am wrong.

March 18, 2003

humour a la francaise

The French's retort to the "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" crowd:
"A French Web Site is urging people to send pretzels to the U.S. President, who fainted and fell off a sofa in January 2002 after gagging on the salty snack.
The Web Site, www.bretzelforbush.com, says the pretzels will be stored at a secret location before being sent to the White House in a historic mass action."

hysteria is polled

A new poll shows that, after last night's presidential speech, 66% of Americans now say they support the war. No word on how many of these people belong in the 44% of Americans who believe the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqis, or the 45% who believe that Hussein is personally responsible for 9/11. And all Bush had to do was not say the words "Osama Bin Laden" (since July 8, 2002) and keep repeating "Saddam Hussein" and "September 11th" in the same speeches.

March 17, 2003

orange prize

If you've been reading this blog for a while you may know that I have an obsession with Ahdaf Soueif. This month she's chairing the judging panel for the 2003 Orange Prize, for which the long list has been announced. The expected names are there of course: Zadie Smith, Alice Sebold, Carol Shields, Donna Tart, et cetera. But I was tickled to see Julie Otsuka's name there as well. I just started When the Emperor was Divine and am loving it.
In other news, Soueif was also on the judging panel for the 2003 Independent Foreign Fiction prize. And she'll also be giving a talk at the Lannan Foundation in April.

buy the book

Book Magazine will now be known as Barnes and Noble Presents Book. The Borders chain isn't happy.
Link via MobyLives.

st patty's lit

It's St Patrick's Day, and you can test your knowledge of Irish literature at the Guardian quiz site. My score?
"You scored 6 out of a possible 12.
Not bad - you may have once left Waiting for Godot in the interval under the impression it had finished, but you always pack Ulysses whenever you go on holiday."

zz packer review

ZZ Packer's collection Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is reviewed in the Sunday New York Times. Can't wait to see her when she reads at Dutton's here in L.A.

war is a go

It's a sick game, but I'm sure everyone's been playing it. Since last September, my friends and I have been making bets on when we'd be going to war. Early on, some said, we're not going to war, it's just a distration from the mid-term elections. When the elections went by, some said by mid January. My own pick had been Valentine's Day. But now Bush says no more diplomacy, and the U.N. inspectors are leaving Baghdad. Looks like we'll be at war by week's end. It's been such an emotionally draining few months that I almost feel numb now. Then I start thinking about all the possible outcomes, the ones we can all imagine and the ones we don't even dare imagine. The L.A. Weekly's John Powers addresses that very question:
"If Bush is wrong about invading Iraq...he risks calling down horrors that fill any thinking person with dread: hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, soldiers slaughtered by chemical weapons, bloody civil war in Iraq, terrorist attacks throughout the West, the dismantling of NATO and the U.N., massive instability in the Islamic world, fundamentalists seizing power (and nukes!) in places like Pakistan, worldwide hostility to America and maybe global jihad. If only a couple of these things happen, Bush will be reviled as the man who brought on calamity — against the advice of the whole world. [But] What if the invasion doesn't go wrong? What if it goes "well"? (Actually, nothing so bloody as war can ever truly go well, least of all for its victims.) What if Bush turns out to be right?
The Big What If?

March 14, 2003

i'll have a mcarabia and a meccacola, please

In a bid to salvage its business interests in the Middle East, McDonald’s has introduced a new sandwich for the Arab consumer: McArabia.

Thanks to Killing Goliath for the link.

the nostradamus tactic

Expat egghead shares some of the quatrains (a la Nostradamus), courtesy of the IDF. Very entertaining.

March 13, 2003

RHCP

I just love the new Red Hot Chili Peppers's video, the one for "Can't Stop." They've been playing it a lot on MTV2. I can't wait for them to start touring.

merde, alors

CNN says that the Sofitel hotels won't carry the French flag anymore, for safety reasons.
Link from Killing Goliath.

water, water everywhere

Despite the book industry's crocodile tears over book sales, books are selling quite well actually. But with the rise of mega-bookstores and mega-authors, DJ Taylor says, "we may be buying more books, but they are increasingly the same books, sold by shops that are differentiated only by the sign on the door." Read the Guardian article here.

March 12, 2003

read library signs before you check out

"Warning: Although the Santa Cruz Library makes every effort to protect your privacy, under the federal USA Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56), records of the books and other materials you borrow from this library may be obtained by federal agents."
"Federal law prohibits library workers from informing you if federal agents have obtained records about you."
Reuters: Libraries Warn of FBI Spying on Reading Habits.

And:
"Questions about this policy should be directed to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20530."
San Francisco Chronicle: Santa Cruz warns readers that FBI may spy on them.

caramelo

Louise Erdrich picked Sandra Cisneros' Caramelo for the Today Show book club. With friends like these, who needs Oprah?

verdict on the way out

Following public outcry in Morocco, both by the press and by the public, twelve of the fourteen Moroccan heavy metal musicians convicted of "satanism" by a Casablanca judge have been released under a no-conditions bail, less than a week after his verdict. A big gathering is expected in front of the courthouse tonight, to express support for the young musicians, who were all members of local heavy metal bands.

george sr. on george w.

Back in 1991, I had a huge crush on George Bush. Truly. The papers were awash with anti-Arab propaganda, and even though that year was not great for Arab-Americans, I still thought George Bush was great.
We all change. That's a fact of life.
But a couple of days ago I was reminded of why I might have liked the man ten years ago. He wouldn't have handled the Iraq "crisis" like his son. In fact, even he is now warning George W. against unilateral action. If the President can't even convince his own family that war is the right path, is it any wonder he can't build consensus with NATO or the UN?

March 11, 2003

perle vs. hersh, on blitzer

In one corner, we have the journalist Seymour Hersh, who writes for the New Yorker, the New York Times, and other publications. He has covered the Watergate break-in and other notorious events.
In the other corner, we have Richard Perle, chairman of the Defense Policy Board, a Defense Department advisory group composed "primarily of highly respected former government officials, retired military officers, and academics" who meet several times a year at the Pentagon to "review and assess the country’s strategic defense policies."
In this New Yorker article, Hersh asks whether Perle, who has been outspoken about his support for a war on Iraq, has a conflict of interest, considering he chairs a managing partner in Trireme, a company that deals with technology, goods, and services that are of value to homeland security. As a special government employee, Perle is not allowed to use his position for any sort of financial gain. Hersh reports that even Perle's colleagues on the board were unaware of his involvement with Trireme. So, is there a conflict of interest? Seems like a fair question, right?

Enter CNN's Wolf Blitzer who asked Perle what he has to say to these charges. Here is the transcript:

BLITZER: There's an article in the New Yorker magazine by Seymour Hersh that's just coming out today in which he makes a serious accusation against you that you have a conflict of interest in this because you're involved in some business that deals with homeland security, you potentially could make some money if, in fact, there is this kind of climate that he accuses you of proposing. Let me read a quote from the New Yorker article, the March 17th issue, just out now. "There is no question that Perle believes that removing Saddam from power is the right thing to do. At the same time, he has set up a company that may gain from a war."
PERLE: I don't believe that a company would gain from a war. On the contrary, I believe that the successful removal of Saddam Hussein, and I've said this over and over again, will diminish the threat of terrorism. And what he's talking about is investments in homeland defense, which I think are vital and are necessary. Look, Sy Hersh is the closest thing American journalism has to a terrorist, frankly.
BLITZER: Well, on the basis of -- why do you say that? A terrorist?
PERLE: Because he's widely irresponsible. If you read the article, it's first of all, impossible to find any consistent theme in it. But the suggestion that my views are somehow related for the potential for investments in homeland defense is complete nonsense.
BLITZER: But I don't understand. Why do you accuse him of being a terrorist?
PERLE: Because he sets out to do damage and he will do it by whatever innuendo, whatever distortion he can -- look, he hasn't written a serious piece since Maylie (ph).
BLITZER: All right. We're going to leave it right there. Richard Perle, thank you very much.

That's hard-hitting journalistic questioning right there, isn't it? Allowing Perle to call Hersh a terrorist, to attack his work, and then to "leave it right there." You go, Wolf!

Thanks to MobyLives for the heads-up.

just war--or a just war?

asks Jimmy Carter in this New York Times Op-Ed. The conditions for a just war, Carter says, are that a) The war can be waged only as a last resort, with all nonviolent options exhausted; b) The war's weapons must discriminate between combatants and noncombatants; c) Its violence must be proportional to the injury we have suffered; d) The attackers must have legitimate authority sanctioned by the society they profess to represent; and e) The peace it establishes must be a clear improvement over what exists. These conditions do not obtain in the current situation, Carter says, and therefore, he doesn't think that the war, at this time, is a good option.

stats

Over the last few weeks, I've been getting a fair amount of hits from Dear Raed, so I went over to take a look. From what I gather, it's a blog by a guy named Salam, writing from Baghdad, Iraq, and relayed through his boyfriend Raed somewhere in Jordan.
I have to say I'm a little skeptical about the blog, considering that the cost of an Internet connection in Iraq is extremely prohibitive and that Salam's blog is staunchly anti-Saddam, so I'm not sure how he manages to stay online. But the entries I've seen were all interesting, funny, informative. So the question is: Is it authentic? I don't know. I'm not sure that anyone online is who they say they are. Judge for yourself.

the house menu

CNN reports that Congress men and women will now feast on "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" in the House cafeteria, rather than "French fries" or "French toast." Doesn't it make you proud to know that our representatives have their priorities straight? I feel like I'm stuck in Animal Farm mode. Heeeelp!!

March 10, 2003

the other bestsellers

One area of book publishing seems to be alive and well: that dealing with the impending war. This article from the Phoenix suggests that both anti-war and pro-war books are selling very briskly, only the latter are getting reviews in major newspapers. And before someone screams conspiracy, we should remember that the big publishers market and promote their books a lot differently than the small ones. Still, the brisk sales of the left-leaning books should have led to more articles than what we've seen so far, another indication as to how "out of touch" the mainstream media can be. Here's a list of some of the books mentioned:
Noam Chomsky's 9-11, Power and Terror: Post 9-11 Talks and Interviews, and Pirates & Emperors: International Terrorism in the Real World. William Rivers Pitt's War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know. Arundhati Roy's War Talk.

Link via MobyLives (who's back from his week-long vacation, thank goodness.)

kingston and walker's weekend

Don't protest the war in front of the White House. Maxine Hong Kingston and Alice Walker found that out on Sunday.

war and book tours

Another casualty of war: the author book tour. This New York Times article explains that "book publishing is almost entirely dependent on the free publicity that authors receive in newspapers and on television and radio. On important programs, the time devoted to entertainment features will shrink considerably if a war occurs."
But there'll always be exceptions. My local bookstore already has a countdown calendar for the new Harry Potter book...

March 09, 2003

bookmark this

An IMDB for the book world: the Internet Book List.

Link via Literary Saloon.

new yorker short story

I enjoyed this week's story from the New Yorker: "Christie," by Caitlin Macy.

March 07, 2003

pick me upper

This is what I'm looking forward to tonight. It's been that kind of week...and I'm getting dangerously close to tuning out completely.

choke copycat

A Florida man has been re-enacting scenes from Chuch Palahniuk's Choke. The cops are none too amused.

nonsense, moroccan style

Fourteen Moroccans, aged 22 to 35, none of whom had any prior police records, have been convicted of "satanism" and sentenced to between one month and one year of prison time. Their crime? They listened to or played heavy metal music in local bands. They wore earrings and black T-shirts and had long hair. None of this is a crime under Moroccan law, so how did the prosecutor manage to get away with it? (A complicit judge, that's how.)
The Moroccan press is having a field day with this. The weekly L'Economiste calls it "a parody of justice" and asks what separates this group from the crowds on a Saturday night in the Maarif neighborhood or indeed in any of the nightclubs in the city. The mag Tel Quel calls it an "inquisition" and has a long expose about all the police violations, and there are many. The charges don't hold water, even under the most liberal interpretation of obscure articles of the penal code. And to top it off, "satanic" music --if there ever was such a thing--is practically part and parcel of Moroccan culture. Witness the Gnaouas, for example, mystical bands that play music, use drugs, venerate dubious saints, and have done so since time immemorial.
Ugh.

Update: Moroccans have a great sense of humor: A rock concert has been planned by local bands to protest the verdict! Also, rumor has it that the verdict will be thrown out shortly, but I will post a link once I have more info.

March 06, 2003

can the pope stop the war?

That's what peace activist Helen Caldicott thinks. The Toronto Star reports that the physician and former Harvard professor has started a letter-writing campain to ask the Pontiff to go to Iraq to act as the ultimate human shield. Her petition is available at this site

I have to say, that's the most creative initiative I've seen out of the anti-war camp...

March 05, 2003

patriotic law amendments

If you thought the PATRIOT act was an attack on civil liberties, wait until you see what PATRIOT II can do. FindLaw's Joanne Mariner comments on one section of the proposed changes, the new right to de-nationalize citizens.

this just in

Man Arrested for Wearing Peace T-Shirt.

the concise dave eggers

If you haven't read Dave Eggers' latest, You Shall Know Our Velocity, you might not have to. The Guardian is giving you a 400-word gist. In the style of the original!

"men and women aren't alike. really."

Michiko Kakutani reviews Andrew Hacker's new book Mismatch. In it, , he argues that men and women are divided by an ever-widening gap, caused mostly by the fact that women are no longer content to take on complementary and subservient roles.
Kakutani comments, "The problem is he tends to mix up solid facts and figures with more qualified findings, focuses almost exclusively on those statistics that back up his thesis, presents the familiar or obvious with an air of revelatory zeal and glosses everything with speculative hyperbole."
You think she didn't like it?

hegira 1424

Today is the Muslim New Year, the Hegira, at least in Morocco. Parts of the Muslim world (those further to the East) celebrated it on Tuesday. The Muslim calendar is lunar, and you can convert back and forth to the solar year using a nifty tool like this.
Happy New Year.

March 04, 2003

go vote...

Municipal elections are being held today in our city. I'm annoyed that the sample ballot simply doesn't have enough information to make an informed decision. I tried using the internet but even then it's proving difficult. Darn.

March 03, 2003

matin brun

The Guardian has a brief article on a new book by Franck Pavloff, titled Matin Brun ("Brown Morning"), which is outselling those by well-known authors in France. The premise:
"In [this] fable, a fascist movement in an unidentified country bans all pets except brown ones. Dog and cat owners who once owned animals of other colours are arrested in dawn raids."
The book was written in 1998 as part of an anthology, but right-winger Jean-Marie Le Pen's shocking win in the first round of the French elections in 2002 made the book a best-seller after it was reviewed on France-Inter. The book is now out of stock at Amazon France, but you can buy it here.

misc. readings

T. Coraghessan Boyle will be reading at Dutton's Brentwood this Thursday at 7 pm. I won't be able to make it....But I'm really intrigued by the new It girl, ZZ Packer. She'll be reading from her story collection at Dutton's on March 17.

March 01, 2003

the pianist

I had been reluctant to go see The Pianist because I knew it would take me a box of Kleenex just to get through it, but finally last night I caved in and we went. Of course it was very hard to watch, but it blew me away. Polanski is still at the top of his game, and there are no words to describe Adrien Brody in this film. The last half an hour of the movie was particularly poignant, and Brody's performance was incredibly nuanced and restrained.
(BTW, Brody bears an uncanny resemblance to a guy I dated in college, which was eerie. Hi Kawthar!)
Anyway, I had been rooting for Daniel Day-Lewis to win the Oscar (tm) but now I'm hoping Brody will get it. Go see The Pianist!

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