tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-140976582024-03-23T10:46:37.159-07:00SpiraglioTilting at elusive windmills.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.comBlogger53125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-39472274834641419922015-10-08T14:42:00.000-07:002015-10-08T14:42:05.658-07:00Held in ContemptWho is being held in contempt? We are, the American buying public, by the companies that produce the increasingly shoddy goods we depend on. Take toilet paper, for example. It's now almost impossible to start a fresh roll without destroying several sheets. Also, despite being given muscular brand names like "Brawny," paper towels can't mop up more than a few drops of water without disintegrating. And how about perforated statements from credit card companies? The perforation has all but vanished, which means tearing the section you have to return with your payment.
Everyone knows that opening products sealed in tough plastic risks cutting yourself, possibly badly. (Larry David devoted a segment to this on <i>Curb Your Enthusiasm</i>.)
Most of us have long since given up trying to connect with a live "Customer Service" representative on the telephone. You know things have gone south when the phone company's automated CS message encourages callers to visit the company's website for help.
I don't know what to do about these infuriating practices, but throwing all the Republican corporate enablers out of Congress would be a good start.
Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-84226028960270626592014-01-02T17:41:00.000-08:002014-01-02T17:58:56.772-08:00Ode to 2013<blockquote>The NSA is reading every message that we send,<br>
not just yours and mine but those of leaders we call friends.<br>
So raise a glass to Snowden and the whistle that he blew,<br>
for no one else had told us, and we didn't have a clue.</blockquote>
Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-4874472702936931262012-11-05T10:36:00.000-08:002012-11-05T10:36:44.937-08:00GObama!Tomorrow, vote to re-elect Barack Obama president of the US. <ahref="http://therumpus.net/2012/11/the-play-is-over-lets-go-home/"><a href="http://therumpus.net/2012/11/the-play-is-over-lets-go-home/">Here's why</a></a>.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-61023678361391861992012-08-20T17:28:00.001-07:002012-08-20T17:56:44.979-07:00Love Is All You Need<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittrMd5-sK3lT6Z4puFUGOgZyy8PLDnd0yaURfWMV6Euw8fyzrNBGiwzy-kApjUmkqtafmvLXb_8P1OZC1BIAD7bmB3GN_ro035x8zX80FXyxHNmK96mGrhtB7hAQsaRrwHGAB/s1600/John+Unger+%2526+Schoep.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="292" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittrMd5-sK3lT6Z4puFUGOgZyy8PLDnd0yaURfWMV6Euw8fyzrNBGiwzy-kApjUmkqtafmvLXb_8P1OZC1BIAD7bmB3GN_ro035x8zX80FXyxHNmK96mGrhtB7hAQsaRrwHGAB/s400/John+Unger+%2526+Schoep.png" /></a></div>
This photo shows John Unger cradling his 19-year-old dog Schoep in the waters of Lake Superior. Unger rescued Schoep when he was a puppy, and the two have been inseparable ever since. This is an achingly beautiful love story, related partly by John himself in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pmVI9eD1pI&feature=related">this video</a>. Don't miss it.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-20632061348635947232012-08-10T10:01:00.000-07:002012-08-10T10:01:40.322-07:00Carissima LilyRimarrai sempre nel mio cuore.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRrwscwj1WK6A4_Hfjgo9Zxujqs-I74Qyg6aryoBUOP24ekD3O9kYT0kFgmB6ANpUT9lWxGbGYVKr3UhFSYCVhgq4DrrqOgs3VqZ0YfN64Clxz_jEhxTkEbbkXHvaOOJaeiF6/s1600/Lily--June+2012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="239" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJRrwscwj1WK6A4_Hfjgo9Zxujqs-I74Qyg6aryoBUOP24ekD3O9kYT0kFgmB6ANpUT9lWxGbGYVKr3UhFSYCVhgq4DrrqOgs3VqZ0YfN64Clxz_jEhxTkEbbkXHvaOOJaeiF6/s320/Lily--June+2012.JPG" /></a></div>Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-12366090942108555182012-05-18T19:08:00.000-07:002012-06-07T13:15:59.629-07:00Gentleman CatThe great jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, heard on this YouTube video with longtime trio associates Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums, plays Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues" during a 1964 performance in Denmark. If you know a better recording of this jazz standard, I want to hear about it.
<p></p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='410' height='356' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxBuktaYRCNQNXku40MEmT790uxwrmo8SWUYQTvbF8TNYmnTde1llqdywMBSTEHmyDp_c7BmmzovG4' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-83951208029200754542012-04-20T18:54:00.000-07:002012-04-20T19:02:39.782-07:00Unfriending MyselfYes, it's true: I pulled the plug on my Facebook account a few months ago. I got tired of trying to decipher FB's privacy settings and concerned about various governmental inquiries into some of the company's practices. Frankly, it's a relief to be disconnected from social media's great "connector." One thing is clear: When you're on Facebook, you're not having a real connection with anyone. You're staring at a screen and typing. So, I'm choosing face time with actual friends, instead of screen time with Facebook "friends."
In the magazine's May issue, <i>The Atlantic</i> has a long, well-wrtten, balanced article about Facebook titled "Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?" You can read the whole piece <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lonely/8930/">here</a>.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-72436619977471949452012-02-16T17:21:00.000-08:002012-08-17T17:19:38.333-07:00Waiting for RichardI've been waiting a long time for someone to explain the factors that brought about the current prolonged financial crisis and what might be done to end it. Now comes Richard Wolff, professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who really does explain it all to you in an interview published in <span style="font-style:italic;">The Sun</span> magazine's February 2012 issue. <br /><br />Wolff points to four developments in the 1970s that were catalysts for today's crisis: the increasing use of computers in the workplace, making it possible to accomplish more with fewer employees; employers' shifting of production to other countries, where companies could pay workers lower wages; women entering the work force in great numbers and not returning to traditional roles in the home; and the influx of Latin American immigrants in search of jobs and improved living conditions.<br /><br />In the wake of these events, so many people were now competing for jobs in the US that employers "discovered it was no longer necessary to give raises to attract and keep employees," says Wolff, who goes on to describe the inevitable result: "Since the 1970s, American employers have enjoyed record profits. During that same 30 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC, the wage earned by the majority of American workers hasn't changed. In real terms, adjusted for inflation, what a worker makes in 2011 is about what the same worker made in 1978." <br /><br />The interview is full of great insights and well-documented facts and figures. Everyone who wonders what the Occupy Wall Street protesters are so upset about will find the answer in this interview.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-2644400968010103402012-02-13T18:19:00.000-08:002012-02-13T18:28:31.492-08:00Robo ManI came across the following comment by "New York Times" columnist Paul Krugman in his column today:<br /><br />"Finally, there’s Mr. Romney, who will probably get the nomination despite his evident failure to make an emotional connection with, well, anyone."<br /><br />Not even his dog.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-27090089207833942532011-11-04T16:11:00.000-07:002011-11-04T16:49:48.732-07:00Rigged GamePosting on today's <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/occupy-wall-street-inequality-_b_1075775.html">Huffington Post</a>, former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration and current Berkeley professor of public policy <a href="http://robertreich.org/">Robert Reich</a> observes that the "disconnect between Washington and the rest of the nation hasn't been this wide since the late 1960s." After his recent visit with Occupy Oakland protestors, Reich came away convinced that the fledgling Occupier movement in the United States "cannot be stopped. Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards." <br /><br />Reich foresees a collision, perhaps as soon as next year, between the "Americans who are losing their jobs or their pay and can't pay their bills" and the "Washington insiders, deficit hawks, regressive Republicans, diffident Democrats, well-coiffed lobbyists, and the lobbyists' wealthy patrons on Wall Street who haven't a clue or couldn't care less."Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-1772311035181035972011-10-21T16:28:00.000-07:002011-10-21T17:03:53.449-07:00Spam InundationI returned this week from a relaxing month on the Ligurian Sea coast in Italy. The weather was sunny, the air 70F-80F every day but one, and the cool water and sandy beach ideal for swimming. <br /><br />When I got home, I opened my e-mail program and found 3,200 messages in the inbox. About 1 percent of these were from friends or related to business. The remaining 3,168 were spam. I've spent many hours the last couple of days clearing out this sewage from the mailbox and server. <br /><br />Am I the only one receiving this much e-crap? I have a good antivirus program, but that clearly isn't enough to stem this tide. If there's effective antispam software available, please let me know. I'm getting too old for this shit.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-47411989554533118802010-11-16T15:25:00.000-08:002010-11-17T18:17:47.071-08:00The Peace PriceAn item in the Nov. 16 <span style="font-style:italic;">Harper's Weekly Review</span> reports that "Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to push his cabinet to freeze most construction on West Bank settlements for 90 days--in exchange for a $3 billion package from the United States in security incentives and fighter jets--so that peace talks could continue." <br /><br />Under such conditions, the prospects for peace are as dim as ever.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-61583686602258848742010-08-04T17:32:00.000-07:002010-08-12T13:52:20.834-07:00Bullet Points<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJXvgDCgrytJ2ID8JZB5EXo8Bvm2RuuYzsOnCdTM6FUBCWOTWa_IDx_YHxgM9sKs3DlNWcxGX5ms5FDrd8x2C7CPWFAHOJm517Nwr374vdu5KiE1Pbzu2HYxzcJWjRUKGJte1/s1600/Coulter+takes+aim.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 176px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJXvgDCgrytJ2ID8JZB5EXo8Bvm2RuuYzsOnCdTM6FUBCWOTWa_IDx_YHxgM9sKs3DlNWcxGX5ms5FDrd8x2C7CPWFAHOJm517Nwr374vdu5KiE1Pbzu2HYxzcJWjRUKGJte1/s320/Coulter+takes+aim.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502051628901424386" /></a><br />In an eye-opening article published in the August 2010 issue of <span style="font-style:italic;">Harper's</span> magazine, titled "<a href="http://http://harpers.org/archive/2010/08/0083063?redirect=364400275">Happiness Is a Worn Gun</a>," writer Dan Baum estimates that there are 250 million firearms owned by private citizens in the United States. And among those gun owners, 6 million have permits to carry a concealed pistol.<br /><br />Baum, himself a handgun owner and holder of a concealed-carry license, traces what he calls "the gun-carrying revolution" to Florida, whose cocaine-driven murder rate in 1987 ran 40 percent higher than the national average. But instead of restricting access to guns in the face of such slaughter, he writes, the Florida legislature took the view that citizens should be able to defend themselves and ordered police chiefs to issue any adult a carry permit unless there was good reason to deny it. "In the history of gun politics, this was a big moment. The gun-rights movement had won just about every battle it had fought since coalescing in the late 1960s, but these had been defensive battles against new gun-control laws. Reversing the burden of proof on carry permits expanded gun rights. For the first time, the movement was on offense, and the public loved it."<br /><br />To his credit, Baum is candid about the heightened sense of power carrying a handgun has given him: "There’s no denying that carrying a gun has made my days a lot more dramatic. Suddenly, I’m dangerous. I’m an action figure. I bear a lethal secret into every social encounter." And he has to "remind myself occasionally that my gun is not a prop, a political statement, or a rhetorical device, but an instrument designed to blow a ragged channel through a human being."<br /><br />Currently in the United States, 37 states have "shall issue" laws, which require law enforcement authorities to issue a concealed-pistol license to an adult citizen unless he or she has a state-mandated reason for disqualification, such as a felony conviction. With 250 million firearms in private hands, guns are here to stay. <br /><br />Gun ownership and control is a hot-button subject that invariably fans emotional flames no matter what position you take on the issue. Baum deserves credit for having written a balanced, well-researched, and personally revealing article. He has advanced--and elevated--the discussion.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-85439931004885295362010-04-27T14:31:00.000-07:002010-04-27T14:44:02.925-07:00On the RoadIn March 2009, my friend and former chiropractor, Mike Lewis, left Seattle by motorcycle on a 5-year journey to the world’s continents. Leading up to his departure, he sold his house and his business, storing whatever possessions were left. <br /><br />Now, a year later, Mike has made it to the southern tip of South America. He’s documenting his trip with photographs and movies, which you can see <a href="http://gallery.me.com/mlewis30#gallery">here</a>. You can also follow Mike's journey on his <a href="http://www.mikesglobaladventure.blogspot.com/">blog</a>.<br /><br />It takes a lot of courage—and stones—to make a move like this. <span style="font-style:italic;">Buon viaggio</span>, my friend, and <span style="font-style:italic;">buona fortuna</span>.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-81134077189824765742010-03-04T17:10:00.000-08:002010-04-27T14:42:41.021-07:00Short FictionTitled "Almost Over: What's the Word?" this story was written by <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-10-06/books/lydia-davis-is-not-indignant/">Lydia Davis</a>, and it appears in <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780374270605-0">The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis</a></span>, published in 2009. Here it is:<br /><blockquote>He says, "When I first met you, I didn't think you would turn out to be so ... strange."</blockquote><br />That's it, end of story.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-58799002418762476002010-02-02T18:10:00.000-08:002010-02-08T13:06:21.831-08:00Addition Problem"... and as an added bonus ..." We see this come-on everywhere nowadays, but it makes no sense. After all, a bonus, the dictionary reminds us, is "something <span style="font-style:italic;">in addition</span> [italics mine] to what is expected or strictly due" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed.). So, an <span style="font-style:italic;">added bonus</span> is something added to something added. "Bonus" is a solid noun, perfectly capable of standing alone. It shouldn't be rendered meaningless by marketing drivel.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-86603707505223089972009-10-27T17:03:00.000-07:002009-10-27T18:00:19.669-07:00The Heart of the Matter"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," begins the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/ssi/wpc/ResignationLetter.pdf?sid=ST2009102603447">resignation letter</a> submitted last month by U.S. Foreign Service Political Officer Matthew Hoh, who served as Senior Civilian Representative for the U.S. government in Zabul Province. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy," he continues, "but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end." Hoh, by the way, is a former captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Why and to what end</span>. Have you heard a single journalist put this question to President Obama at a news conference or during an interview? Neither have I. Yet it's the essential question that must be asked--and answered satisfactorily--before a single extra soldier or Marine is deployed to Afghanistan. In fact, if this question isn't addressed, we should insist that all our forces be withdrawn from the country immediately.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-8196885738856130522009-06-22T17:52:00.000-07:002009-06-26T15:14:27.706-07:00Don't Try This at HomeAs everyone has now learned, the actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001016/">David Carradine</a> did not lose his life by suicide, as early reports from Thailand, where he was working on a new film, seemed to suggest. No, it turned out that Carradine, 72 years old, was most likely engaged in an act of <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51776">autoerotic asphyxiation</a></span> at the time of his death, an activity that ought to be considered an unsafe sexual practice, according to <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Home">The Stranger</a></span> columnist <a href="http://mistressmatisse.blogspot.com/">Mistress Matisse</a>, a professional dominatrix whose specialty is, of course, edgy sex play. In her latest column, aptly titled <span style="font-style:italic;">Control Tower</span>, MM reminds us that "self-bondage can be risky in itself, but any time someone's oxygen is restricted, death becomes a possibility." She quotes Jay Wiseman, author of <span style="font-style:italic;">SM 101</span> and an authority on breath play, who clarifies the risk: "I know of no way whatsoever that suffocation or strangulation can be done that does not intrinsically put the recipient at risk of cardiac arrest." <br /><br />So there you have it: death by cardiac arrest resulting from an elaborate masturbatory practice involving ropes, suspension, and cut-off breath. What a way to go.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-50984069830104572682009-04-18T14:27:00.000-07:002009-04-27T18:01:22.223-07:00SEALing the DealIn the wake of the daring rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips from the Somali pirates who hijacked his merchant ship, the <span style="font-style:italic;">Maersk Alabama</span>, in the Indian Ocean, taking the captain hostage, I suggest a new promotional slogan for the US Navy SEALs, whose snipers' chilling accuracy--in 3-foot swells, no less--brought the episode (and the pirates' lives) to an end.<br /><br />Here's the slogan: 3 bullets, 3 bodies. US Navy SEALs: We get the job done. <br /><br />SEALs may be the best-trained Special Operations Forces in the world. Their completion of this mission reminds us to be grateful they're on our side.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-53979048364410344092008-12-29T18:16:00.000-08:002009-01-05T16:38:02.435-08:00Faint PraiseWe often see the term <span style="font-style:italic;">fulsome praise</span> used to indicate abundant approval or admiration. The problem is, <span style="font-style:italic;">fulsome</span> doesn't mean that at all. Rather, the word means "flattering to an excessive degree," according to the <span style="font-style:italic;">Oxford American Dictionary</span>. Thus, <span style="font-style:italic;">fulsome praise</span> "isn't a lavish tribute," explains Bill Bryson in his excellent <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://powells.com/biblio/1-9780767922692-3">Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors</a></span>, "it is unctuous and insincere toadying."Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-30640307901747152362008-12-29T18:05:00.000-08:002008-12-29T18:10:11.219-08:00Good Deed, a Short Story <div class="post-body entry-content"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="date"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;">We were half-way through our third drink when the old guy at the end of the bar toppled off his stool onto the floor. He lay there for several minutes, his face turning gray, and no one tried to help him. So we called </span><st1:date year="2001" day="1" month="9"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;">9-1-1</span></st1:date><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Arial;">. The ambulance arrived quickly, and two EMTs loaded the guy on a stretcher and carted him off. An hour and a half later, he walked back in and said something to the bartender, who pointed at us. He nodded and headed our way. “Probably wants to buy us a drink,” I said to my friend. But I was wrong. “Next time,” the old guy told us, “mind your own fucking business.” </span></div>Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-79971364746088413292008-07-15T17:20:00.000-07:002008-07-18T13:37:49.451-07:00New Yorker BrouhahaWhile the gathering media storm over <span style="font-style: italic;">The New Yorker</span>'s cover <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/covers/slideshow_blittcovers">illustration of the Obamas</a> might fog up Eustace Tilly's monocle, I'm betting Tina Brown, the magazine's gutsy former editor who published many controversial covers during her reign, is pleased. As Bill Maher put it in today's <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span>, "If you can't do irony on the cover of <span style="font-style: italic;">The New Yorker</span>, where can you do it?"<br /><br />"There's been this question about whether he's [Barack Obama] black enough," Maher continued in the same <span style="font-style: italic;">Times </span>article. "I have this joke: What does he have to do? Dunk? He bowled a 37--to me, that's black enough." Case closed.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-54438791670338662642008-06-26T14:29:00.000-07:002008-06-26T15:38:17.624-07:00Bursting BS BalloonsJust when the effusive outpouring of claptrap over the death of TV news celebrity Tim Russert threatened to choke us in a cloud of sentimental exhaust, a breath of fresh air arrived on June 23 in a column by Chris Hedges at <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/">truthdig.com</a> titled "<a href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080623_the_hedonists_of_power/">The Hedonists of Power</a>."<br /><br />"We were instructed by the high priests on television over the past few days to mourn a Sunday morning talk show host, who made $5 million a year and who gave a platform to the powerful and the famous so they could spin, equivocate and lie to the nation," Hedges writes. "We were repeatedly told by these television courtiers, people like Tom Brokaw and Wolf Blitzer, that this talk show host was one of our nation’s greatest journalists, as if sitting in a studio, putting on makeup and chatting with Dick Cheney or George W. Bush have much to do with journalism."<br /><br />Quoting the great muckraker <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I._F._Stone">I.F. Stone</a>, Hedges reminds us that all governments lie, and it is "the job of the journalist to do the hard, tedious reporting to shine a light on these lies." It is the job of TV courtiers, by contrast, to "feed off the scraps tossed to them by the powerful and never question the system."<br /><br />These courtiers, Hedges continues, "including the late Tim Russert, never gave a voice to credible critics in the buildup to the war against Iraq. They were too busy playing their roles as red-blooded American patriots. They never fought back in their public forums against the steady erosion of our civil liberties and the trashing of our Constitution."Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-23184975521353624432008-04-09T10:26:00.000-07:002008-04-28T14:06:17.925-07:00Letting GoNick Gallo, one of the best friends I've ever had, died in October at the age of 57. He had fallen ill on a flight to Athens, Greece, where he was headed to write an article for a magazine. He died a few days later in an Athens public hospital. Pericarditis and pneumonia were given as the cause of death.<br /><br />I'm having a hard time letting him go. It's only now that I can write this entry, which already seems hopelessly inadequate. In recent years, we talked several times a week and usually got together at least once a week. Before that, we had offices across the hall from each other for 10 years.<br /><br />I keep coming across things that Nick would be interested in and I think, "Oh, I've got to tell Nick about ..." or "I'll get this book for Nick."<br /><br />Time, they say, is the great healer. But I'm not so sure. My life's a little darker now.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14097658.post-34762271387721744122007-09-23T17:02:00.000-07:002009-02-04T15:39:20.361-08:00Goodbye, Old FriendWalt Crowley died Friday evening, September 21. He was 60 years old, three years younger than I am, and he was a friend of mine. The best <a href="http://historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=7216">article about his life</a> appears on the website <a href="http://historylink.org/">historylink.org</a>, which he co-founded in 1997. The <a href="http://crosscut.com/history/7689/Jean+Godden%3A+Saying+goodbye+to+our+friend%2C+Walt+Crowley/">warmest personal remembrance</a> of Walt was written by Seattle City Council member Jean Godden, a former newspaper reporter and columnist.<br /><br />I met Walt when he and I worked at <em>the Weekly </em>(now called <em>Seattle Weekly</em>) in the mid-1980s. We had neighboring desks in the open newsroom and soon became friends. I enjoyed his keen intelligence, playful sense of humor, personal integrity, and compassion. He knew a lot of people, some of them movers and shakers, and had a lot of friends.<br /><br />Walt believed in engagement. He was not one to withdraw into cynical detachment in the face of appalling official injustice and cruelty. He sought to do something about it.<br /><br />"As we know from any reading of the morning papers, liberty is never at a loss for ambitious enemies," said Lewis Lapham, former and longtime editor of <em>Harper's</em> magazine, in a salute to Molly Ivins last year. "But the survival of the American democracy depends less on the magnificence of its Air Force or the wonder of its fleets than on the willingness of its citizens to stand on the ground of their own thought." <br /><br />Walt Crowley was more than willing to stand on the ground of his own thought. I'll miss him as a friend, and I'll miss him as a model of what a citizen should be.Charles Smythhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08721352302242220158noreply@blogger.com1