January 1, 2008 archive

This is a New Year

New Years Headlines: An Odd Couple With Big Influence: It’s Huckabee on offense, or not: After Ruling, Groups Spend Heavily to Sway Races: Race to save moulding Lascaux cave paintings: 2008: The year a new superpower is born

Doctors Cite Pressure to Keep Silent On Bhutto

By Emily Wax and Griff Witte

Washington Post Foreign Service

Tuesday, January 1, 2008; Page A01

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Dec. 31 — Pakistani authorities have pressured the medical personnel who tried to save Benazir Bhutto’s life to remain silent about what happened in her final hour and have removed records of her treatment from the facility, according to doctors.

In interviews, doctors who were at Bhutto’s side at Rawalpindi General Hospital said they were under extreme pressure not to share details about the nature of the injuries that the opposition leader suffered in an attack here Dec. 27.

Somebody send this to Wexler:

2007: The Year in Evidence

This is from AfterDowningStreet.org, and it’s a mind-blowing list of the massive evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors from the Bush administration in 2007 alone.  

Here are mine. Please add yours below or tell me what you think.  It’s time to start working on 2008.

1. The Hives: Tick Tick Boom. The Hives are a Swedish garage band that brings back the energy of  early punk. They tried to do more serious music, perhaps to avoid the label of “shallow”, and abandoned that idea. Good move.

2. Serj Tankian The unthinking majority. I found his music online because he has a poltical bent.  He has his own style that is Zappa-ish.

3. Foo Fighters. Pretender.  A nice electric sound; I’m not a big heavy metal fan, but I like their sound.

4. Lily Allen.  Everything’s just wonderful.  Her sweet, sexy voice in that cockney accent singing sassy working class songs is an incongruent mix, but I love it.

5. Amy Winehouse. Rehab. Early last year I tried to buy tickets to hear her play at a movie theater near my house; she was sold out.  I couldn’t wait for the album to be imported. I was singing rehab before Amy knew she was headed there.  

This is a short review of two biographies of Hugo Chávez, current President of Venezuela.

(from Idealterna on Flickr)

Mostly I am interested in comparing and contrasting the two biographical styles.  Marcano and Tyszka are much like journalists, whereas Jones has a somewhat pro-Chávez axe to grind.  In the end I find Jones more straightforward.  I am also interested in depicting Chávez against the background of Venezuelan political economy, in which a rich few garner all of the profits from Venezuela’s enormous oil reserves while the poor majority have in the past found themselves shut out of the benefits in times when the price of crude oil has been high.

(crossposted at Big Orange)

Live from the studios of MCAM, Ch 23 in Manchester NH, you’re invited to bring in the New Year with Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich at the Resolution for Peace!