Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 297

Carnage in New York City

Off-duty female cop, 42, shoots and kills boyfriend and their son, age one, then kills herself.  Her other son, 19, escaped, crawling out window.  She had been on the force since 2000.  "There was nothing in the officer’s departmental record to suggest that she was troubled, the police said." More here.

From Mick & Keith to Stan & Ollie

Laurel & Hardy hoof it to one of my favorite (relatively) obscure Stones' songs,  orchestrated version of "Out of Time."

10 Years On: 37 Dead in Iraq (So Far) Today

For the past month here, every day, I've been reviewing events re: the Iraq war, ten years ago, as the U.S. prepared to invade, and then did, with victory but chaos in the air.   Today let's look at the present day echoes: namely, 37 dead and 140 wounded, by noon, in bombings and attacks in large cities, as elections near.  Well, as Rummy said ten years ago this week, "stuff happens...freedom is untidy." 

The local elections, the first since the withdrawal of the American military at the end of 2011, are being anticipated warily by American diplomats and United Nations officials as a crucial test of Iraq’s shaky democracy.

Elections or not, Iraq is subject to regular attacks that randomly target civilians, and while American officials usually stress the improvements in security since the carnage of Iraq’s civil war in 2006 and 2007, the rate of civilian deaths from terrorism has been rising since the departure of American troops, according to the United Nations.

 Greg Mitchell's new book Iraq and media malpractice is "So Wrong for So Long."  

No 'Media Cover-up" on Gruesome Abortion Doc Case

My new piece at The Nation on the Gosnell furor.

"Burnin' It Down"

Steve Earle with live acoustic version of new song on new album: anti-Walmart.

Man at NRA Nascar Events Kill Himself With Gun

The story started to emerge early today--man killing himself at a NASCAR event in Texas.  No details at all, except hint of drinking and/or an altercation.  Then it turned out it was the NRA sponsored NRA 500.  Okay.  Now we learn he shot himself in the head with a gun.  At an NRA event.  "Fort Worth police have said a man who was camping in the infield died of a 'self-inflicted injury' after getting into an argument with other campers. The incident happened late in the Sprint Cup race."

Sir Colin Davis, Legendary Conductor, Dies at 85

Sad evening in classical music world, as one of the greats of the era has died.  Coming to this world very late, I did manage to watch him conduct, at close range in recent years in NYC, Beethoven's "Eroica" and the "Missa Solemnis," both with the London Symphony.   Here he conducts the "Missa" just two years ago at the Proms, this segment being one of the greatest musical pieces ever written.

Anne Frank: Justin Time?

I was sure this was an Internet hoax but, amazing, no.  Justin Bieber, not credibly reported, visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam while on tour yesterday and did write in the guest book:  "Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber." The Museum posted it on its Facebook page but still seemed sketchy. 

UPDATE:  AP with full story now.  Still no reply from Biebs and flacks about queries.  Love this line:  "Some of Bieber's 37 million followers also tweeted messages of support. Others in his fan base — which is heavily weighted toward young girls — tweeted that they didn't know who Anne Frank was."

10 Years Ago: U.S. Declares 'End of Fighting' in Iraq

Yes, we all remember the Mission Accomplished speech on the carrier, but that came in early May, 2003.   It was on this date in 2003, three weeks earlier, that U.S. commanders declared that the fighting was over.  Polls showed that most Americans agreed we had won easily and the war was over.  But check out this prescient letter to the editor buried in the NYT, in response to Rumsfeld's claim that looting and chaos showed that freedom was "untidy" but the future in Iraq was bright:

I believe that looting, lawlessness and continuous danger are the result of winning an ill-conceived war. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon have fielded the finest troops and the best equipment in the history of the world.

As wars go, this one was won with lightning speed and relatively few civilian and military casualties. Every maneuver was carefully orchestrated.  But the planning for postwar Iraq was practically left to chance. The Iraqis, whom we liberated, have to deal with looting and lawlessness. The troops who are stationed in Iraq are in constant danger. We have still not established law and order in Afghanistan, which we ''liberated'' in 2001.

Perhaps the way to defend the United States is not to attack all the countries that harbor terrorists, but rather to be part of a worldwide coalition to catch and bring terrorists to justice.

SUSAN STERN Chestnut Hill, Mass.

 Greg Mitchell's new book Iraq and media malpractice is "So Wrong for So Long." 

Sunday Morning in the Church of Beethoven

This week in my weekly feature:  Kerry Candaele's terrific Following the Ninth doc  is done and word comes from Kerrythat it will have its first screening June 4 at a large theater in Santa Barbara.   I seem to be associate producer of the film.  Our book, out in print and  e-book editions is   Journeys With Beethoven: Following the Ninth, and Beyond .  This was a dream project for me, as some may know from my Beethoven posts here, at The Nation, at Huff Post  and on Twitter. 

Kerry's  documentary (see trailer below) follows the Ninth Symphony and it's cultural and political influence around the world today.  So the book takes us from Chile to China and Japan, plus a stop in London for a full chapter with Billy Bragg, and then back in the USA.   In the "Beyond" section of the book I explore my own obsessive "travels" with Ludwig, as a longtime rock 'n roller, in recent years, via concerts and movies and CDs -- but also through new "Beethoven delivery systems" (YouTube, web forums, Twitter, etc.)  I also interview at length pianist Jeremy Denk, who wrote a terrific piece last month for New Yorker.   In any case, both the film and book offer a totally unique look at Beethoven--a Beethoven for our time, at last.