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Albany, NY -- Unemployable
The album of choice for my eight hours of driving from DC to NYC and then to Albany the last couple of days has been Pearl Jam's new self-titled disc. Seriously, after about 15 years, this one may be there best yet. Never afraid to ruffle a few feathers, they're once again taking on issues like war and class. Their views on the latter have never been said better than in the song Unemployable. The lyrics: He’s got a big gold ring which says Jesus Saves
and it’s dented from the punch thrown at work that day
when he smashed the metal locker where he kept his things
after the big boss say “You best be on your way”
So this life is sacrifice
oh yeah
jumping trains just to survive
Well his wife and kids asleep but he’s still awake
and his brain weighs the curse of thirty bills unpaid
gets up, lights a cigarette, he’s grown to hate
thinking if he can’t sleep, how will he ever dream again?
So this life is sacrificed
oh yeah
to a stranger’s bottom line
oh yeah
I’ve seen the light, oho oh ohhhh oho oh ohhhh
I’m scared alive
nearly dead
oho oh ohhhh oho oh ohhhh
I’ve seen the light
Still alive
yeah
So this life is sacrificed
oh yeah
Was a dream that had to die
oh yeah
I’ve seen the light, oho ohhh ohhhhh oho ohhh ohhhhh
I’m scared alive
Near to death
oho ohhh ohhhhh oho ohhh ohhhhh
I’ve seen the light
scared alive
oho ohhh ohhhhh oooohoooo
I’m here to die
here to die
scared alive
Here to die
Here to die
Scared of lifeProbably the best song on the album, in my opinion. If I've got time over the weekend, I'll say a lot more about the disc, which deserves a second post.
New York, NY -- Turn CBS 6 Back On
I missed this last month, but a story I've been following for a while has been resolved -- WRGB (CBS's Albany affiliate) has settled with its union, and the union made out like bandits (EDIT: I mean, relatively speaking, given how the government has unfortunately defanged many unions around the country -- thanks, Jim Long): After months saber rattling and empty posturing, WRGB has folded up like a cheap suitcase. Under an agreement approved by union employees last night, the station's NABET workers will not face the 15% wage cuts threatened by GM Bob Furlong ---and on top of that, they'll get a $1500 signing bonus and the profit sharing money that had been withheld in January.I'd start watching CBS 6 again, except I never really have in the first place. Why is it that CBS is the most-watched network in the country? When I think about the shows I watch regularly other than sports, none are on CBS: ABCDesperate Housewives Sons & Daughters Lost Boston Legal NBCWest Wing Scrubs The Office Fox24 The Loop That 70s Show Free Ride The Simpsons Malcolm in the Middle Comedy CentralSouth Park Daily Show The Colbert Report CBS is nowhere to be found... when was the last time I watched anything on CBS regularly? Northern Exposure? Murphy Brown? And geez, I watch a lot of TV! That's quite the list...
New York, NY -- My Favorite Jewish Organization
I traveled to Manhattan tonight to attend the Gift of Life gala for the second year in a row. If you're Jewish and not familiar with Gift of Life, you should be. This organization maintains a massive registry (100,000+ people and growing) of potential Jewish bone marrow donors, particularly Ashkenazis. They've saved many Jewish lives by uniting Jewish leukemia patients with donors, and at tonight's gala, Gift of Life united three donors with people whose lives they saved. For someone like me, a Jewish atheist who believes that well over half of Judaism is simply intellectual (though it's fun, worthwhile, and good for the unity of the people), an organization like Gift of Life makes a lot of sense -- whether we like it or not, we're all related, and only Jewish bone marrow can cure many Jewish people with leukemia, so isn't it most important that we help keep each other alive? Sorry for the incoherence; the wine was flowing liberally at the gala. And when was the last time Ari had two posts in a row?
Binghamton, NY -- The New Israeli Government
Today Ehud Olmert announced the formation of the Israeli government to the Knesset. Currently, the makeup of the government is a 67 seat coalition comprised of Kadima, Labor, Shas, and Gil (pensioners). As he states in his speech, Olmert hopes to enlarge the coalition to an 80-seat governing body by adding in additional parties: Members of Knesset, It is my pleasure to present the Government, which is, however, not final. I intend to expand it, and include additional partners in the coming days. I believe I can complete the negotiations, and reach an agreement with United Torah Judaism and Meretz. I wanted, and still want, the Yisrael Beitenu Party to join. Thus far, this has not happened. These are the names of the Government members and their positions: Ehud Olmert - Prime Minister and Minister of Welfare
Shimon Peres - Vice Prime Minister and Minister for the Development of the Negev and the Galilee, responsible for regional economic development
Tzipi Livni - Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs
Amir Peretz - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense
Eli Yishai - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor
Shaul Mofaz - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transportation and Road Safety
Yaakov Edri - Minister (Liaison between the Government and the Knesset) Ariel Atias - Minister of Communications Rafi Eitan - Minister Responsible for PensionersZeev Boim - Minister of Immigrant Absorption Binyamin Ben-Eliezer - Minister of National Infrastructures
Yaakov Ben-Yizri- Minister of Health Roni Bar-On - Minister of the Interior
Avi Dichter - Minister of Public Security
Avraham Hirschson - Minister of Finance
Yitzhak Herzog - Minister of Tourism Eitan Cabel - Minister (responsible for the Israel Broadcasting Authority) Yitzhak Cohen - Minister (responsible for the religious councils)Meshulam Nahari - Minister Gideon Ezra - Minister of the Environment Ofir Pines-Paz - Minister of Science and Technology Haim Ramon - Minister of Justice
Meir Sheetrit - Minister of Construction & Housing (responsible for the Israel Lands Authority)
Shalom Simhon - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Yuli Tamir - Minister of Education, Culture and Sport I ask for the Knesset's vote of confidence in me and my Government. The "important" seats are bolded, i.e. the highly prized positions. Of those seats, 9 were kept by Kadima. So despite all the talk that Kadima with only 29 seats would have to give up major positions in the cabinet, the bulk remain within the party.
Binghamton, NY -- Great Clip
While searching for more on Colbert, I stumbled upon this. Take a look.
Gaithersburg, MD -- RIP, Atkins Diet
Bread is BackGood for Jack in the Box (though I've never eaten there)... five years ago, this campaign would've driven the chain out of business. Wendy's is doing something similar -- what's this "artisan bread" thing all of the restaurants are talking about?
Rockville, MD -- More on Colbert
I thought that Ari's post about Stephen Colbert needed a little more explanation... Stephen Colbert made an appearance at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner on Sunday night and through his character, managed to lampoon the President pretty scorchingly. "Ballsy" is an understatement. You can see the Stephen Colbert videos here: The site that Ari posted, Thank You Stephen Colbert, is a tribute to the man himself, spurred on by the press dinner. It is snowballing amazingly fast... over 22,000 comments already and they're being added by about 15 per minute. Tags: Bush, Colbert
Gaithersburg, MD -- Children of Abraham
Got an e-mail in my box today from Children of Abraham, a great organization (and ambitious) which brings Muslim and Jewish youth together, aiming to build an interfaith community of kids that can understand and respect each others' identities. Tall order, sure, but their directors passed on a great message today from a young Muslim woman from Indonesia named Dania who has clearly been learning how to get along with her Jewish peers: When I saw the Rabbis on the plane, I suddenly felt hesitant. I'm going to meet the enemy, I said to myself. Will the Imams and the Rabbis make peace? Are we going to be OK during the congress? Before we landed in Seville, I asked God to fill the hearts of the Imams and Rabbis with love, so they could share it with each other.
The congress organizer picked us up at the airport by bus. When I entered the bus, I felt like a stranger. The bus was full of bearded old men in black suites, and they were all staring at me, a girl wearing a brown sweater, jeans, sneakers, backpack and a look of exhaustion. A complete stranger. Some of them smiled and some of them gave me a "who-the-hell-are-you" look while I struggled to find a seat. Finally I found a seat beside a man with a white beard and black hat. He introduced himself as a Rabbi from Israel. "You should come to Israel someday," he said. "You'll learn a lot of things there. I can arrange a visa for you if you are interested." I smiled at him and thought, a rabbi has just offered me a visa for Israel. Please tell me, God, is this reality or am I hallucinating after a 20-hour flight?
Albany, NY -- Frank Rich is Back
After a long book leave, Frank Rich has published his first column in several months, rejustifying my investment in TimesSelect. Rich picks up right where he left off: SET against this reality, the debate about Donald Rumsfeld's future is as much of a sideshow as the installation of a slicker Fleischer-McClellan marketer in the White House press room. The defense secretary's catastrophic mistakes in Iraq cannot be undone now, and any successor would still be beholden to the policy set from above. Mr. Rumsfeld is merely a useful, even essential, scapegoat for the hawks in politics and punditland who are now embarrassed to have signed on to this fiasco. For conservative hawks, he's a convenient way to deflect blame from where it most belongs: with the commander in chief. For liberal hawks, attacking Mr. Rumsfeld for his poor execution of the war means never having to say you're sorry for leaping on (and abetting) the blatant propaganda bandwagon that took us there. But their history can't be rewritten any more than Mr. Bush's can: the war's failures were manifestly foretold by the administration's arrogance and haste during the run-up.
A new defense or press secretary changes nothing. The only person who can try to save the administration from itself in Iraq is the president. He can start telling the truth in the narrow window of time he has left and initiate a candid national conversation about our inevitable exit strategy. Or he can wait for events on the ground in Iraq and political realities at home to do it for him.Also, from last week's Rolling Stone, a piece on why President Bush is the WORST U.S. President in history: George W. Bush is in serious contention for the title of worst ever. In early 2004, an informal survey of 415 historians conducted by the nonpartisan History News Network found that eighty-one percent considered the Bush administration a "failure." Among those who called Bush a success, many gave the president high marks only for his ability to mobilize public support and get Congress to go along with what one historian called the administration's "pursuit of disastrous policies." In fact, roughly one in ten of those who called Bush a success was being facetious, rating him only as the best president since Bill Clinton -- a category in which Bush is the only contestant.
The lopsided decision of historians should give everyone pause. Contrary to popular stereotypes, historians are generally a cautious bunch. We assess the past from widely divergent points of view and are deeply concerned about being viewed as fair and accurate by our colleagues. When we make historical judgments, we are acting not as voters or even pundits, but as scholars who must evaluate all the evidence, good, bad or indifferent. Separate surveys, conducted by those perceived as conservatives as well as liberals, show remarkable unanimity about who the best and worst presidents have been.Headin' to DC a bit later today, but maybe I'll post more at some point. I've got about four unfinished posts from the last week.
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