Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 1027

The Pope Is a Motorcycle Guy

Sometimes being the Pope takes you to strange places and requires you to bless strange things. Like Sunday, for instance, when Pope Francis blessed thousands of Harley Davidson motorcycles and their riders visiting the Vatican for the bike's 110th anniversary. Motors roared and leather reigned during the Pope's usual Sunday mass. The Pope cruised through the unusual crowd in his open-top jeep and eventually mingled with the bikers. The bikers were in town for a four-day celebration for the company's anniversary. Yesterday there was a parade. Today they took in mass. Bikers go to church, too, you know. Not all of them are Hell's Angels. 

Harley-Davidson also gave him a sweet leather jacket and two bikes: 

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By our count, this is Pope Francis' first absurd meeting with people since he took over from Pope Benedict. The previous Pope was taken with things like cats and the circus. But Francis' is clearly cooler than him, with his new bent for leather. 

[Inset via AP]

       

Jerrold Nadler Does Not Think the NSA Can Listen to U.S. Phone Calls

An exchange between Rep. Jerrold Nadler and FBI director Robert Mueller is coming under some scrutiny after a reporter claimed it concretely proves that NSA analysts can listen to domestic phone calls without a warrant. 

CNet's Declan McCullugh published a story Saturday night purporting to prove Edward Snowden's claim that NSA analysts can wiretap domestic phone calls without a warrant. His case was built entirely around an exchange between Rep. Jerrold Nadler and FBI director Robert Mueller that happened during an FBI oversight hearing with the House Judiciary committee on Thursday.

The story drew a swift and immediate reaction over social media Saturday night. But when more closely examined the conversation doesn't concretely prove McCullugh's claims. In the exchange, Nadler claims the House was told during a classified briefing that NSA analysts didn't need a warrant to tap into domestic phone calls. But McCullugh never acknowledged Mueller's part in the exchange and Nadler's uncertainty that could paint the exchange in another light. Here is the entire conversation transcribed in full: 

Nadler: Secondly, under section 215, if you've gotten information from meta-data and you as a result of that think that this phone number, 873-whatever, looks suspicious and we ought to actually get the contents of that phone... do you need a new, specific warrant?

Mueller: You need at least a national security letter. All you have is telephone number, so you do not have subscriber information. So you need subscriber information; you would have to get a national security letter to get that subscriber information.

Nadler: And to...

Mueller: And if you wanted to do more...

Nadler: If you want to listen to the phone...

Mueller: Then you have to get a special, a particularized order from the FISA court directed at that particular phone and that particular individual.

Nadler: Now, is the answer you just gave me classified? 

Mueller: Is what?

Nadler: The answer you just gave me classified in any way?

Mueller: I don't think so.

Nadler: Then I can say the following. We heard precisely the opposite at the briefing the other day. We heard precisely that you could get specific information from that telephone simply based on an analyst deciding that and you didn't need a new warrant. In other words, what you just said is incorrect. So there's a conflict. 

Mueller: I'm not certain it's the same... I answered the same question, but I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. 

Nadler: Well I asked the question both times and I think it's the same question. Um, so, maybe you'd better go back and check because someone was incorrect. 

Mueller: I will do that. That is my understanding of the process. 

Nadler: OK, I don't question it was your understanding. It was always my understanding. I was quite startled the other day and I wanted to take this opportunity... 

Mueller: I'd be happy to clarify. 

You can watch the full video here. Since the scandal broke, Nadler has walked back his comments in a statement. "I am pleased that the administration has reiterated that, as I have always believed, the NSA cannot listen to the content of Americans’ phone calls without a specific warrant," the New York Democrat told Buzzfeed's Andrew Kaczynski. 

Seeing the full conversation reveals a slightly different picture than McCullugh was trying push forward. The FBI director testified that PRISM mostly works exactly like we've been told in the weeks since this scandal broke. An unclassified document     

North Korea Wants Nuke Talks with the U.S.

North Korea is through with belching and boasting about its nuclear program to the world's major powers. They've hit a breaking point, apparently, because now they want to talk. North Korean state media carried a statement late Saturday night offering "senior-level talks" with the U.S. over the country's controversial nuclear program. North Korea's National Defense Commission wants "broad and in-depth discussions" about, maybe, one day having "a world without nuclear weapons" that the U.S. seems to love so much. This is great! This is what everyone's wanted since North Korea started threatening everyone under the sun with nuclear strikes at the start of this year. But, of course, there's a catch. "If the US has true intent on defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and ensuring peace and security in the US mainland and the region, it should not raise preconditions for dialogue and contact," the statement read. So, that's a thing. 

What are the chances this isn't a trick? It's unclear just yet. The U.S. has not responded to the invitation as of Saturday morning. The Associated Press notes North Korea recently took down a bunch of anti-U.S. propaganda that was, perhaps, a signal this offer was coming. But others are pessimistic this gesture is anything more than good press for Pyongyang. Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Seoul's Dongguk University, told The New York Times there isn't "any fundamental change in the North Korean position" with this statement. In fact, this was merely a way for North Korea to subvert South Korea and negotiate around their backs. So, essentially, it was a move designed entirely to anger the South. 

This is all coming at a weird moment for North Korea. Earlier this week they cancelled historic nuclear talks with South Korea over a conflict about the level of seniority present at the talks. That was a sign things may not have changed, even though North Korea told China they were ready for nuclear talks with the rest of the world. It should be noted that China, North Korea's biggest economic ally, recently lost patience for the country's nuclear posturing. 

       

Iran Sure Is Excited About Its New President

Iranians took to the streets to celebrate Hassan Rohani, a moderate cleric, being declared the victor in the country's Presidential elections on Saturday. Rohani earned more than 50 percent of the vote, avoiding a run-off, and defeating the five conservative candidates who are more in line with the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rohani will replace the polarizing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who spent most of his tenure as Iranian president antagonizing Western powers. Rohani's resounding victory is being seen as a victory for Iranian citizens who want reform from the hard-line conservatives who wield most of the power in Iran.   

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Crowds poured into the streets as the results were announced, and Rohani won a clear cut decision, to celebrate the change in direction for the country. "Long live reform, long live Rohani," some chanted. "Ahmadi, bye bye," said others, in reference to Ahmadinejad. 

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While the Ayatollah still controls the most important parts of the country, both domestically and internationally, the President is still an important figure who wields influence over the country's decision making. The President has the most control over the country's economy that's been crippled by economic sanctions. Optimists hope Rohani could be the bridge that brings Iran to the nuclear negotiation table, Reuters explains: 

Rohani could act as a bridge-builder between hardliners around Khamenei who reject any accommodation with the West and reformers marginalized for the last four years who argue that the Islamic Republic needs to be more pragmatic in its relations with the world and modernize at home in order to survive.

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"Though an establishment figure, Rohani is a former chief nuclear negotiator known for his nuanced, conciliatory approach," they add. During his campaign, Rohani promised to participate in "constructive interaction with the world," without surrendering completely to Western control. As The New York Times points out, there's little chance Rohani will honestly suspend Iran's controversial nuclear program. He once bragged about completing huge strides in nuclear advancement while Iran told the West its program was suspended. 

       

Sergio Garcia Can't Escape That 'Fried Chicken' Comment at the U.S. Open

The tension between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods reached a rocky impasse at the start of this weekend's U.S. Open when the two shook hands before teeing off. But the spectators at Merion are letting Garcia know they haven't forgotten his racially questionable joke. Deadspin snagged video, via The Golf Channel, of spectators reminding Garcia of his racist "fried chicken" joke he made at the height of his rivalry with Woods. This particular heckler yelled at Garcia while he was teeing up on the 11th hole Saturday, but it was hardly an isolated incident. Hecklers have chased Garcia along the course and, on occasion, the police have offered to throw some out. Ever the gentleman, Garcia has declined.

Garcia is currently at +12 -- way behind the leading Charl Schwartzl and Luke Donald at -1. But, unfortunately, Garcia can't use the abuse as an excuse for his poor play. Schwartzl and Donald are the only two players under par right now. 

Garcia and Woods shook hands Thursday before the tournament started. This seemingly signaled their boiling rivalry (by golf standards) that started with disputes about, ironically, gallery noise and peaked with Garcia's "fried chicken" joke had come to an end. Woods called the joke "wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate," at the time. But the handshake showed things had cooled between the two. Clearly there's still a villain in the fans' minds.

       

Kanye's 'Yeezus' Is His Unique (Other) New Baby

As the world digests the news that Kanye West is officially a father, more complete, coherent thoughts about his new (leaked) album have emerged on these here Internets. Yes, critics have weighed in on Yeezus already and they mostly like what they hear. 

Despite its supposedly stripped down sound, brought on by the addition of Def Jam legend Rick Rubin as a last-minute executive producer, most critics are astounded by Yeezus's fullness. "Aurally speaking, there's almost too much to geek out over, which is wild considering Rubin's job was to pare everything down," says Spin's Chris Martins. "Tracks like “Blood On The Leaves” have so much going on—two concurrent but totally different samples run while Yeezy oozes on auto-tune that it’s hard to digest in one take," writes Complex's Insanul Ahmed. But whatever Rubin did to deconstruct Kanye's first draft was ultimately great for the album's sound: "Praise Rick Rubin for scraping off the civility and laying Kanye’s id bare, Yeezus is technically dense, psychically dark, and sonically ugly, more Future Sounds than Timberlake could ever fathom from his bubblegum-scented marital cocoon," says Spin's Nicole Sia. Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan concurs: "Executive co-producer Rick Rubin gets a beard-load of credit for helping make what could've been an assaulting overload feel contained and of a piece." The record's complete sound is credited to the diverse array of sounds Kanye crammed into each and every track. 

The tracks on Yeezus feature a mixture of music history reference points that Kanye wants you to recognize, even only for a moment, before assaulting with new sounds to process. The songs stop and start in some places -- as if your MP3s sound broken, or skipping like a compact disc -- with a reckless abandon. "The jagged transitions (the drowning underwater fanfare “I can't lose” coda on “New Slaves” being the best example) and the tendency for screams and moans to interrupt the songs are inelegant in an actually sort of punk rock “who cares” way," Spin's Brandon Soderberg says. "Certain songs either evolve into new sounds as they go along (like on “Can’t Hold My Liquor” and “Blood On The Leaves”) or they take a quick hiatus (like on the middle of “On Sight” or the end of “Bound”)," writes Complex's Insanul Ahmed. "'Yeezus' charges out of the gate, sometimes switching sounds and textures without bothering to maintain tempo, then jerking back into position and rattling forward," The New Yorker's Sacha Frere-Jones said Friday.

As promised, Kanye made a difficult record that deals with race and consumerism over a diverse sonic palette that has confounded and challenged critics. It begs multiple, attentive listens from even the most diligent music fans. "It's entirely abstract, with tracks like "Bound" absent of drums, "I'm In It" heavy with samples and dark, otherworldly production," writes Complex's Lauren Nostro. He also did without making a single song that fits on today's radio. "It doesn’t sound like anything else on the charts," Frere-Jones said.

       

Jonathan Franzen’s Puzzling Letter to the New York Times

In case you missed it, earlier this week, the novelist Jonathan Franzen wrote a letter to the New York Times in which he rebutted Frank Bruni’s column “Sexism’s Puzzling Stamina.” In publishing a riposte in the paper of record, the “Corrections” novelist follows in the footsteps of Jerry Seinfeld, who wrote a scathing response to Neil Genzlinger’s diatribe on the overuse of “really.”

But whereas Seinfeld’s letter was – unsurprisingly – amusing, Franzen’s was out-of-left-field odd:

There may still be gender imbalances in the world of books, but very strong numbers of women are writing, editing, publishing and reviewing novels. The world most glaringly dominated by male sexism is one that Mr. Bruni neglects to mention: New York City theater.

[image error]Our favorite part of the letter is the description of Franzen below his name: "The writer is the novelist." That's surely how Franzen sees himself.

As I’ve written before, Franzen has had his own troubles with prominent women, feuding with Oprah and calling Times book critic Michiko Kakutani “the stupidest person in New York.” In addition, he maligned Edith Wharton’s looks in the pages of the New Yorker, speculating about her “sexless” marriage.

And does Franzen sound a trifle defensive about sexism in the book world? He certainly does to us. In any case, the organization VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, which releases a respected annual list of how women fare in high-end literary publications, persuasively shows that Franzen’s “may still” is superfluous. The upper echelon of the book world is still the domain of men. And then there was the embarrassing imbroglio over gender segregation in the Wikipedia entry for “American Novelists,” as highlighted by Amanda Filipacchi in the Times.

As for theater, we had no idea that Franzen was a crusader for gender parity on the Great White Way. Nevertheless, he does have a point here. Two days after Franzen’s letter was published, a response came from Jenny Lyn Bader, an executive at the League of Professional Theater Women:

I applaud Jonathan Franzen for casting a spotlight on sexism in theater. Two women won Tony Awards for directing this week, but we have far to go.

Over 60 percent of the American theater audience is female, but less than 20 percent of produced plays are written by women. There continue to be more roles for men onstage and backstage, from actors and dancers to stage managers and designers.

In other words, Franzen was right. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Lead photo: johnharveytolson via Flickr/Franzen: Getty)

       

Texas Governor Rick Perry Vetoes Equal Pay Bill

Texas Governor Rick Perry has some bad news for Texas women. On Friday afternoon, the one-time presidential hopeful notified legislators that Texas would not join the federal government and 42 other states that have addressed gender-based wage discrimination. Their bill, which installs state-level legal protections similar to those enacted by the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, had a lot of momentum before reaching Perry's desk. Last month the legislation, along with two separate amendements, cleared both of the state's chambers, and it would have made Texas the 43rd state in the Union to have passed such legislation.

Perry's rationale for vetoing the first bill is a bit fuzzy. The Houston Chronicle points out that the governor's staff members have argued that the legislation is unnecessary due to the the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, but have refused to speak to reporters when evidence to the contrary is presented. According to The Huffington Post, HB 950 allows litigants alleging wage discrimination to use a state court instead of a federal court (which tends to be a lot more convenient for plaintiffs) and plugs certain holes left open by the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act at the state level. Perry has yet to announce his reasoning behind the veto, which he confirmed to the staff members of two state representatives who sponsored the bill.

The decision to veto places Perry in a vulnerable position against progressive critics who have, rather successfully, situated him and his Republican peers in their "war on women" narrative, which asserts that GOP politicians use their power to marginalize and disempower women. Perry and his staff have worked hard to counter this narrative, as evidenced by a glowing New York Times profile from January that highlights the plurality of women on his staff. (Perry's chief of staff until February was female — a feat yet to be matched by Democratic President Barack Obama, who signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on his ninth day of office but has hired only white men to fill the White House Chief of Staff.) Nor will Perry's veto rally his fellow Republicans, many of whom believe the pay gap between men and women is a myth invented to unfairly cast Republicans as sexist. After all, Perry did not go out of his way to attack the bill's basic premise.

Indeed, the governor seems to have focused his energy elsewhere: on the same day he vetoed the wage discrimination bill Perry signed another bill mandating that certain Texans seeking unemployment benefits be tested for illegal drugs.

       

Why 'To Tweet' Is Lowercase but 'To Google' Is Not

[image error]The linguistic snobs over at the Oxford English Dictionary have accepted "tweet" — as in to post something on Twitter — into its exclusive language club because "it seems to be catching on" as a verb in its own right, which got us thinking: how did it get itself lower-case t status? Other brand name verbs don't work like that. Xerox the verb, for example is big X Xerox; the OED has Google the verb as capital G, too. Tweet, though, gets the little t — even in The New York Times per the very strict standards editor Philip B. Corbett (that is, if  he allows the word at all). "When we do use it, it's lowercase, because it's not a trademark," he told The New York Observer last year. Most people, and now the OED, agree with Corbett's styling, but not exactly for the reason he cites.

The upper versus lower-case distinction does have to do with trademarks, just as Corbett suggested. "The simple answer is that 'tweet' isn't a trademark, or at least it didn't start as one," linguist Ben Zimmer told The Atlantic Wire. A word like Google, because it doubles as both the proper noun and verb — Google the company and Google "to search" — has always had an official trademark. And in that case, the verb version keeps the style of its proper noun brand-name.

Unlike made-up nouns Google  or Xerox, Twitter takes its name from a real verb. "Twitter is a 'suggestive name,' as it is based on an actual word, twitter, imitative of a bird chirping," Zimmer explained to the Wire. "And because of that suggestiveness, early adopter were encouraged to think of 'tweet' as a kindred term, since it too is an onomatopoetic term for a bird's chirping." Both tweet and Twitter as verbs remained acceptable for awhile. And while Twitter got the trademark from the get-go, tweet developed organically and only gained official US Patent and Trademark Office stamp of approval in 2011 — long after its colloquial usage began. 

At the time of Corbett's controversial style memo, Twitter had already had the trademark.  But because it developed as a verb on its own without association to any official branding it took the lower-case t. And, so, as it enters the very particular pages of the OED it will stay that way.

       

The Terminator Will Terminate Again

Today in show business news: Schwarzenegger will be robotic again, Guardians of the Galaxy gets more guardians, and Man of Steel is going to be big. 

Those crazy Ellison siblings, Megan of Annapurna and David of Skydance, have agreed to each finance a third of the next Terminator film, with Paramount finding a way to cover the rest. Meaning we really might be getting a fifth tale about the Skynet-ravaged world. Arnold Schwarzenegger seems aware of this development, as he said at a press event in Australia yesterday that he would be starring in the film. Which... Do robots age? I mean, everything ages, time is time, but do they age like we do? Because Arnold Schwarzenegger has humanly aged a bit in the last ten years! Just sayin'. Anyway, this isn't really good news or bad news, given that we have no idea yet what the film will be about or anything. But it has to be better than Terminator Salvation, right? Because that thing was a turkey. So that's all you need to do, you little heirling Ellison kids. Just make it better than Terminator Salvation and everyone will consider T5: The Legend of Connor's Gold a success. [Deadline]

John C. Reilly has joined the cast of Marvel's next big franchise hopeful, Guardians of the Galaxy. He'll be playing Rhomann Dey, who is described as "the leader of the Nova Corps on the planet Xandar when the planet was destroyed by the space pirate Zorr." Oof. Rhomann. Xandard. Zorr. Star-Lord. Yondu. Drax the Destroyer. This movie might be a tough sell to outsiders. "Hey want to go see Space Gibberish with me?" "Nah, I think I'm good on all that." Then they turn on the TV and say, "Ohh, Lord of the Rings is on. I love Bilbo!" [Deadline]

Joe Manganiello, better known as Wolfhunk the Shirtless on the documentary series True Blood, has been cast as, get this, Stanley Kowalski. Yes, the beefcake will be doing A Streetcar Named Desire at Yale Rep this fall. That might seem a bit incongruous given his recent acting roles, but Joe Manganiello has a BFA in acting from Carnegie Mellon, which is not a trifling theater program. So, he could actually do something with this. I mean, everyone in the audience is going to be heavy panting waiting for him to rip his shirt off as he yells "Stella!" and will all leave for a cigarette immediately afterwards no matter what, but he could actually do a good job. Enjoy, New Haven. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Weird, nobody's talking about Man of Steel at all, no blog posts or reviews or anything, and yet it's on track to earn $125 million this weekend. Crazy! How did people even find out about this thing? Resourceful little buggers, the 10 million or so people who are going to see this movie this weekend. Amazing. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Here's a very brief promo for the upcoming HBO series True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Well, they call it a series but I'm pretty sure it's just a one-off thing? Or at least it is for McConaughey and Harrelson? Well, whatever, it's going to be good, whatever it is. Though it is kind of funny that HBO now has two swampy series with the word "True" in the title. Maybe they're starting a thing. Can't wait for True Sex and the Bayou!