Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 35
October 7, 2014
Put An 'Olive' In It
First trailer for next month's two-night "miniseries" on HBO, based on great recent novel Olive Kitteridge, starring Frances McDormand. Yes, Olive is a complex woman.
October 6, 2014
Eight Years On
Michael Shaw's invaluable BagNewsNotes with a take on photos of scrap yards in Iraq where billions of dollars of U.S. equipment came to rest--which were taken in 2006 but never surfaced. And now we are spending billions more there and nearby. And much of our old equipment now used by enemies...
That WalMart Shooting
Oct. 6, 2014: About a dozen locals and students are staging a sit-in at police HQ demanding that the killer cop be fired, and other changes. Stay tuned.
Sept. 24, 2014: Grand jury in Ohio decides today no charges for police in that August shooting of young black man--four days before Mike Brown incident--who was fooling around with a toy gun and shot by police. But now the feds will review. Video below just released and suggests police overreacted.
Sept. 24, 2014: Grand jury in Ohio decides today no charges for police in that August shooting of young black man--four days before Mike Brown incident--who was fooling around with a toy gun and shot by police. But now the feds will review. Video below just released and suggests police overreacted.
Oliver's Uncivil Forfeiture!
John's main HBO segment last night--plus Web-only Jeff Goldblum outtakes.
Murray Does Dylan
Bill's better known as a faux lounger singer but here in scene from upcoming St. Vincent flick he does Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm" from classic Blood on the Tracks.
Nobel Thoughts
Still the greatest reaction to learning that you've won the Nobel Prize for Literature (to be awarded again this week). Watch how the late Doris Lessing, perhaps aptly, responded to getting the Nobel Prize: "Oh, Christ."
'Post' Serial
Who ya wanna believe? Today we present Salon: "Another Wall Street smash and grab: Washington Post employees slam owner Jeff Bezos." And the venerable David Carr at the NYT: "The Washington Post Regains Its Place at the Table."
October 5, 2014
Kitty Really Into Cable
Photo by B. Bedway.
Fourteen, and Counting
The great Andrew Bacevich with important op-ed at Wash Post, including this:
As Americaâs efforts to âdegrade and ultimately destroyâ Islamic State militants extend into Syria, Iraq War III has seamlessly morphed into Greater Middle East Battlefield XIV. That is, Syria has become at least the 14th country in the Islamic world that U.S. forces have invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed. And thatâs just since 1980.
Letâs tick them off: Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-) and now Syria. Whew.
With our 14th front barely opened, the Pentagon foresees a campaign likely to last for years. Yet even at this early date, this much already seems clear: Even if we win, we lose. Defeating the Islamic State would only commit the United States more deeply to a decades-old enterprise that has proved costly and counterproductive.
Sunday Morning in the Church of Cohen
Well, I've managed a Church of Beethoven for several years so why not turn to that other holy man? So here's Leonard live with his biblical (with updating) "Story of Isaac" and then his hymn "If It Be Your Will."
