Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 291

Ricin Suspect's Bizarre Evening With Piers

The Elvis impersonator seems to be off the hook for the ricin letters, but perhaps made the mistake of going on with Piers Morgan on CNN tonight.

Petraeus Coming to CUNY

Mothers, lock up your daughters!  General David Petraeus has signed on to teach as a visiting prof at the City University of New York.   He was courted by others but is "all in" there, allegedly because he likes the diversity.  Meanwhile, Paula Broadwell, a former student of a kind, is in the same Ph.D program as my daughter in London.

Ten Years Ago: Judy Miller's Fallback Positon

It was ten years ago today that Judith Miller in the NYT tried to weasel out of her shame in hyping the Iraqi WMD program--helping Bush go to war--by asserting in the Times, as WMS searchers came up empty, that actually she was right, but that sneaky Saddam had moved or destroyed the stocks before the invasion!  Love this:

Based on what the Iraqi scientist had said about weapons being destroyed or stocks being hidden, military experts said they now believed they might not find large caches of illicit chemicals or biological agents, at least not in Iraq. They said this would increase their reliance on documents and testimony from individual Iraqis to help them piece together the scope, organization, and goals of the programs that the United States has said Saddam Hussein created and concealed from the world.

Iraq WMD Legacy Renewed at 'NYT'?

Yes, the Times is hyping, at the top of its site, scare story by Rudoren and Sanger, swallowing in the main the Israeli claims of certain Syrian use of chemical weapons--with their obvious motivation of forcing us to go to war (instead of them) since Obama declared this a "red line" Syria could not cross.  (UPDATE:  Still at top of site at 7 p.m ET)  Look far down in the story, however--a trick learned from Judy Miller and Michael Gordon in days of olde--and you'll find that Israel's evidence is mainly based on photos--and specifically, victims "foaming at the mouth."  Of course, one can find plenty of attacks by others, including Israel, in the past that left victims with the same "foaming."  Soil samples not available.  And again get warning about "stockpiles."

Still, it's an issue worth monitoring, as less biased nations in this matter--Great Britain and France--with perhaps more evidence also charge Syria with using chem weapons.

Photos of Shootout

Andrew Kitzenberg, who got a good deal of attention the other night for his cell phone video of the shootout in Watertown, has now posted a dozen remarkable photos at his site, showing the shooters firing, brother storming off in car that would eventually run over his sibling, and more.  Isn't this news that they had TWO cars--the hijacked SUV plus suspect's green car?  News to me, anyway.

Book Him, Dano

Didn't even know this was happening, but there's a Brian Wilson biopic coming out (he's also writing a memoir), and Paul Dano was already booked to play Bri as young man. Now we learn that John Cusack may play him as his older, fatter, crazier self.  Very high, but with fidelity?

Also, another flick on drummer Dennis Wilson starring Aaron Eckhart--with Vera Farmiga as Christine McVie, his old flame. 

Nixon's Secret War--and Obama's

Thirty-three years ago I was in college and we shut down the school that spring over Kent State and the U.S. bombing of Cambodia.  Now here's an important piece in The Atlantic drawing links between then and now--the Obama drone war.   One point is that, as Williams Shawcross showed, the bombing made things worse in Cambodia and helped bring the Khmer Route to power.  Now:

The thousands of people killed so far by drone strikes represent a fraction of the several hundred thousand who died beneath the B-52s between 1969 and 1975. But the level of fear and anger -- and the opportunity for insurgent groups to harness those emotions -- cannot be so easily calculated.

In the words of retired General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, one can't help but hear an echo of Charles Meyer, Richard Dudman, and other observers of the Cambodia campaign. "What scares me about the drone strikes is how they are perceived around the world," McChrystal said last month. "The resentment created by American use of unmanned strikes...is much greater than the average American appreciates. They are hated on a visceral level, even by people who've never seen one or seen the effects of one."

A Poem for Bomb Suspect #2

Amanda Palmer has done it, and now getting all sorts of flack (and some support) for it.  Read it here and decide for yourself, and post here or there or anywhere.   Excerpt:

you don’t know how precious your iphone battery time was until you’re hiding in the bottom of the boat.

you don’t know how to get away from your fucking parents.

you don’t know how it’s possible to feel total compassion in one moment and total disconnection in the next moment.

you don’t know how things could change so incredibly fast.

you don’t know how to make something, but the instructions are on the internet.

you don’t know how to make sense of this massive parade.

you don’t know how to believe anyone anymore.

Richie Havens Dies at 72

The legendary folk singer/guitarist Richie Havens has passed away.  He is still best known, unfortunately, for his appearance in Woodstock movie--not that it was bad, must a very limited look.  I saw him perform many times and he was by all accounts a great guy.  One of my favorites of his was Dylan's "Just Like a Woman."  And then there's "All Along the Watchtower."

Michael Shannon Scarifies Sorority Girl's Rant

Unless you were under a rock last week you probably saw a reference to--even if you didn't see--a sorority girl's rant against her lame-ass friends.  Now, for Funny or Die, the great Michael Shannon acts it out.  And here's Alison Haislip's earlier version: