Well, a lot of them, reports a stunned Felix Salmon, going over the “Final Notice” issued by the United Kingdom’s Financial Services Authority for the Swiss mega-bank that goes by the highly inside moniker of “UBS AG.” Besides sounding like some sort of computer plug, UBS was a veritable cesspool of white-collar crime, according to…
The Politics of Dead Children
I wish I had a better headline, but the truth this week is not pretty. I don’t know how many children die by accident every day—I’m sure it’s more than twenty—but when death is heaped on us like this it’s impossible not to stagger under the load. I’m one of those liberals who regard gun…
Fred Hersch—“In Walked Bud”
In a long past review of Monk albums, I wasn’t too fond of an offering by Fred Hersch. Well, Fred still isn’t perfect, but he’s pretty damn good. Posted by Scott Morgan
Pseudo-New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Yes, Jerry, that is one damn big bubble. Now please give us the run down on accounts receivable.” “Jerry, I think you need to rethink this ‘no foundation’ look immediately. You could get a kick off a candle with that shine.” “Jerry, I can only say that I regard your attitude towards…
Jonah Goldberg, getting a little tired of the whole Jesus Christ thing
Over at the National Review, Jonah Goldberg notes that, among the many, many, many problems facing the Republican Party—aside from the fact that its sole purpose for existence is to protect the rich—one problem is that Asian-Americans don’t much care for it: I’ve joked for years with my Indian-American relatives and friends that they are…
Dear AOL
It often seems like I’m the only person left on the planet lame enough loyal enough to have an email address that ends “@aol.com,” but I know that isn’t true, because your homepage keeps grinding out content for me to look at. I know that I’m not your sole audience, but, frankly, I suspect that…
Emily Bazelon—“Torture is bad, but it does make for riveting cinema”
Oy vey. I may have to see Zero Dark Thirty, the “controversial” new thriller about the murder of Osama Bin Laden, just to make my way through all the bullshit that’s been piled up around it. Over at Slate, Emily Bazelon contributes a profoundly disappointing take on the film, which, unlike me, she has seen….
Joshua Redman—“A Night in Tunisia,” Parts I & II
https://youtu.be/UkDDURkwBcc https://youtu.be/6X4rkhvvfwc Joshua Redman – Tenor Saxophone, Brad Mehldau – Piano, Christian McBride – Bass, Brian Blade – Drums Posted by drummingjimmy
Torture didn’t help us slay Bin Laden. But wouldn’t it be cool if it had?
That seems to be the premise of Zero Dark Thirty, the new movie that lies about how neat torture is, at least when the U.S. does it. Glenn Greenwald (of course) is all over the multiple hypocrisies involved, and their name is Legion, for they are many.
Pseudo-New Yorker
Legal humor here. “Congratulations, big boy. Your life just got interesting.” “Because I have a new set of antimacassars that simply demand to be seen, that’s why.” “Yes, it is a change. Welcome to the wonderful world of interpersonal relationships.” “OK, then, don’t think of me as a secretary. Think of me as a life…