Monthly Archives: March 2009

Rudresh Mahanthappa

Posted on March 31, 2009 by

I am reluctant to say anything positive about The New Yorker but I had never heard of saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa prior to reading this article by Gary Giddens. Here is an excerpt: Jazz musicians have two fundamental goals: creating music … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and Culture, South Asia(n) | Leave a comment

Samuel Kassow: Who Will Write Our History?

Posted on March 30, 2009 by

Trinity College History Professor Samuel Kassow discusses his recent work, Who Will Write Our History?: Rediscovering a Hidden Archive from the Warsaw Ghetto on C-SPAN 2′s “Book TV” program. Click here to watch the video. From the Book TV website: … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Archives and Historical Memory, Archives, History, and Historiography, Books and Book Reviews, Education | 1 Comment

Cat Shit One: The Animated Series

Posted on March 29, 2009 by

Cat Shit One: The Animated Series by Studio Anima. I usually dislike computer-generated imagery but this actually looks good. The original Cat Shit One (aka Apocalypse Meow) was a 1990s manga series by Motofumi Kobayashi about the activities of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and Culture | Leave a comment

Is Mexico a Failed State?

Posted on March 28, 2009 by

Martin Peretz seems to think so: I am extremely pessimistic about Mexican-American relations, not because the U.S. had done anything specifically wrong to our southern neighbor but because a (now not quite so) wealthy country has as its abutter a … Continue reading →

Posted in International Politics, Latin America, Magazines and Newspapers | 3 Comments

JLC Labor Seder

Posted on March 26, 2009 by

[H/t to A.L.] My wife and I went to a labor Seder earlier in the week that was organized by the organized by the United Hebrew Trades – New York Division of the Jewish Labor Committee (JLC). It was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Labor, NYC | 2 Comments

Remembering the 98th Anniversary of the Triangle Fire

Posted on March 25, 2009 by

[H/t A.L.] On March 25, 1911, 146 young immigrant workers died in a tragic fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York’s Greenwich Village. Within minutes the fire spread to consume the building’s upper three stories. Firefighters who arrived … Continue reading →

Posted in Labor, NYC | 3 Comments

Gaza and After: An Interview with Paul Berman

Posted on March 23, 2009 by

[H/t to ZWord. Michelle Sieff's interview with Paul Berman is well worth reading. An excerpt is below.] How have you judged Israel’s actions against Hamas? Do you think Israel used disproportionate force against Hamas? There is an obligation to live, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and Culture, Interviews, Israel and Zionism, Totalitarianism, War | Leave a comment

ISM Activist Tristan Anderson Critically Injured

Posted on March 20, 2009 by

I have been reading on the IMCs and in the mainstream media about Tristan Anderson, an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist from the SF Bay Area who was hit in the head by a high-velocity tear gas canister while attending … Continue reading →

Posted in International Politics, Latin America, Media, NYC, Radicalism | Leave a comment

Petition in Support of Chinese Writer Liu Xiaobo

Posted on March 19, 2009 by

Liu Xiaobo, a dissident writer and intellectual based in Beijing, and a former president of Chinese PEN was arrested in December. His charges, suspicion of inciting subversion of state power after co-authoring Charter 08, a declaration that calls for greater … Continue reading →

Posted in (Anti and Post) Communism, Totalitarianism | 1 Comment

Hope Not Fear: A Path to Jewish Renaissance

Posted on March 17, 2009 by

[H/t Congregation Beth Elohim] This is happening at Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, Brooklyn tomorrow night (7:30PM). I have not read the book but it sounds interesting and it is always a joy to hang with Rabbi Bachman. Maybe … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Books and Book Reviews, Israel and Zionism, NYC | 2 Comments