Let me put this on my permanent record: I had more faith in and hope for Tony Blair than I ever did George Bush. One of the few bright spots that I recalled from the result of 2000 was thinking that at least Blair could help keep Bush in check. There were, as you might imagine, many lessons that came from the disappointment that followed. I was reminded of most of them when Tony Blair sat down at the Daily Show last week. In case you missed it:
And part 2:
Category: Personal Page 31 of 59
There was a radio piece on NPR today, about recent immigration raids in Laurel, Mississippi. The gist of the piece was that it was a local union that tipped off the authorities. Listening to some of the union members quoted, it struck me as pretty clear as to who they blamed for their declining situation. The immigrants, of course. The contempt just dripped off of the words “illegals” and “Mexicans.”  And it brought some of Tim Wise’s work to mind:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xe1kX7Wsc&feature=related[/youtube]
Coincidentally, a friend forwarded another Tim Wise piece this morning, which I recommend.
doesn’t stay in Islamabad. But neither does that mean that it’s a product of US conspiracies, nor does it mean that the US needs to get more deeply involved. Pakistan is a utter mess, but it is one of its own making. It’s heartbreaking to watch, but it’s something that they need to address themselves.
Photo: Jawad Zakariya
No Weekend Music edition tonight. I spent the day at a legal forum in which various legal responses to terrorism were discussed. Some of the discussion was quite informative, and others less so. But that all sort of faded next to the reminder that I got of the fact that so many people (in power and otherwise) have long since stopped understanding the human costs of their actions.
This is James’ Hey Ma. I warn you – it’s not an easy thing to watch.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdYFOABd1DM[/youtube]
Things have been piling up this week, and I’m just going to have to clean off the shelf labeled “Write About” lest I get buried:
Charlie Rangel has not been having a good year – even got his car towed from the Capitol. As much as it pains me to say it (I’ve always enjoyed his style), I wonder whether it might be getting time to call it a day.
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The RIAA attempts to create a black hole of irony by complaining that an opposing lawyer is engaging in sham litigation tactics.
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An interesting graphic comparison of the costs of firing a 20 year employee, sorted by country.
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Mike May shares an excellent analysis of what Lance Armstrong’s return to racing will mean to amateur racing. I think his observations about local sponsorship are spot on.
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Matthew Yglesias is gives us the most recent edition of explaining the perverse political incentives that result from the electoral college.
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Earlier this month, I wrote about Palin speechwriter/animal rights advocate (no, really) Matthew Scully. This fellow isn’t terribly impressed with Mr. Scully.
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283,000 newly registered voters in Virginia this year. That is good news for everyone.
This Sunday, consider heading down to Penn Quarter to see the ING Direct Capital Criterium. The pro race, which will feature stars like Christian Vande Velde, Freddie Rodriguez, and Rahsaan Bahati (the reigning US pro crit champion), starts at 11:30.  It’ll take place on a six turn 1km circuit that winds its way among the Federal agencies downtown. This makes for easy viewing and constant action. It is, of course, free.
Honestly, we’re getting a much higher quality field than I expected, given how recently this was announced. Christian Vande Velde will be joined by Garmin-Chipotle teammates and fellow Tour de France riders Will Frischkorn and Danny Pate. I’m not sure if we’ll see the Rock Racing teammates of Freddie Rodrigeuz and Rashaan Bahati. Also of note are Symmetrics’ Eric Wohlberg, Kelly Benefits’ Alex Candelario, and Toyota United’s Dominique Rollin.
There are, of course, impressive cyclists who’ve been racing in the DC area all summer. If you want to see some of that, show up a little earlier – the men’s 35+ race starts at 8am, and the men’s 1/2/3 (top amateurs) rolls at 9am.
Finally, this race has something to offer kids – there’s a kids’ ride/”race” running at 10:30a that will give kids (ages 3-11, seperated out into age groups) a chance to hit the same course that the pros are on. And if the sheer excitement of that isn’t enough, the first three hundred kids to register (see the site to do it online) will get free ING jerseys and helmets.
I’ll be down there all day, and hope that some of you can make it, too. If you know anyone who may be interested, please pass this along – it would be great to see a large turnout that would convince the race sponsors to stick around and make this a regular DC event.
Recall that the Feds tried to wrap up their investigation of the October 2001 anthrax attacks and pin it on a single fellow who had very conveniently just killed himself. I thought it was bullshit then, and it seems that Sen. Pat Leahy is with me in thinking that it’s bullshit now:
“If he is the one who sent the letter, I do not believe in any way, shape or manner that he is the only person involved in this attack on Congress and the American people. I do not believe that at all,” Leahy said.
He added: “I believe there are others involved, either as accessories before or accessories after the fact. I believe that there are others out there, I believe there are others who could be charged with murder. I just want you to know how I feel about it, as one of the people who was aimed at in the attack.”
[FBI Director Robert ] Mueller did not directly contradict Leahy, saying “I understand that concern.”
I fear that this case will be scrubbed clean by the time anyone who cares is actually in a position to do anything about it.
A little over five years ago, I spent a little hard-earned time on Ireland’s southwestern coast, on the Beara peninsula. This view from Healy Pass was one of the achievements of that trip:
Sad.1 David Foster Wallace2, along with perhaps only William Gibson, had a reader in me for everything he wrote. So dedicated was I to his Infinite Jest that I carried it in planes, trains, and autobuses over three continents.3 If you’ve never read any of his work, maybe you could start with this brilliant 2005 essay on political talk radio.4
1And I say sad in some weirdly personal sense that comes from both finding his writing deeply compelling in itself, and identifying his work with a period of time in my life which is not missed, but stands out as significant in recollection.
2David Foster Wallace (or DFW, as he is popularly known among fans) also provided (albeit completely unknowingly) some of the reason that Blacknell.net exists today. The blog that inspired me to start my own was written by an alumnus of the law school I had just started in. He, in turn, had been motivated to write online (in a format once known as an “online journal”) while he read Infinite Jest (nb. This same author once had an essay published in the same collection as DFW). An early autobiography of this online journal community is available here (it is amusing to consider how much energy was expended on the subject of diary v. journal, only to have blog become the accepted appellation).
3 A massive tome of a book with 1200 pages of writing to be relished and consumed (in addition to being read) I took two years to complete it, taking it to Panama, Venezuela, and Britain. I’ve since reread it (in sections, while it wasn’t lent out).
4Even though it isn’t entirely representative.
Update: If you’re a DFW fan, and have not seen this 1997 Charlie Rose interview, set aside an hour and watch it. If you’re not a fan, or new to him, you might be interested. I suspect, however, that the first few minutes will be offputting. But I’m 20 something minutes into it now, and found it so interesting that I had to stop and insert this update.
Earlier, a friend responded to my note about DFW’s death and signed off with “feeling like an ass for not understanding why the grieving hordes were so bereft when Cobain and Diana died,”. Now, I don’t think either one of us pretends to think that he was even sort of the same public figure or voice. But the depth of his influence, or . . . presence? . . on some of us is probably similar. I am sort of amazed at the amount of time I’ve spent thinking about this, today.