He was especially fond (and adept) at the Sunday crossword puzzle. I marveled as he quickly filled in the empty spaces (in pen!) and soon everyone was chipping in to fill in the last few remaining spaces -- frenetic, energetic, passionate ... it was very inspiring to me, a young musician who was knowledgable about Retrograde Inversions, but who couldn't have named the current Secretary of State.
So when I wake up very early on a Sunday morn, I am literally tingling with anticipation for what the next four to six hours will bring. CoffeeAM makes their weekly profit margin on my Sunday intake.
For this -- my first Sunday paper post -- I would like to simply highlight my favorite stories, with a slight comment -- and hope that you'll check out the article itself (if you're not a subscriber, I guess you have to register, but I don't believe you have to pay money).
The theme for today is Get Used To It. This scary president and his weirdo minions -- who call this newspaper "fake news" -- are actually being quite savvy. They understand that even the "bad" articles which seem to get an update every day or so seep into the reader's consciousness as something that becomes more and more normal everyday! Ah, the Kushner's are rich, oh well!
A1
CONFLICTS ARISE IN BIG FORTUNE FOR TRUMP DUO
"[T]he financial disclosure report released late Friday for Mr. Kushner, which shows that he and his wife still benefit financially from a real estate and investment empire worth as much as $740 million, makes clear that this most powerful Washington couple is walking on perilous legal and ethical ground, according to several prominent experts on the subject."
Next week, we'll read that the conflicts have "all been resolved" somehow.
A1
O'REILLY THRIVES AS SETTLEMENTS ADD UP
"His value to the company is enormous. From 2014 to 2016, the show generated more than $446 million in advertising revenues ..."
#Killing Respect for Women
A1
POET DEFTLY DEFIED MOSCOW AND INSPIRED A GENERATION
I was 15 or 16 when I first heard Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13. (Although Shostakovich used choruses in his Second and Third Symphonies -- written in the late 20's -- this was his first mature symphony to use vocal forces [bass soloist and male chorus]). It gripped me both as a student of this great great composer and as a Jew.
The poem begins:
There are no monuments over Babi Yar.
But the sheer cliff is like a rough tombstone.
It horrifies me.
Today, I am as old
As the Jewish people.
It seems to me now
That I, too, am a Jew.
You can read the entire poem here.
A1
DIVIDE IN G.O.P. NOW THREATENS TRUMP TAX PLAN
Trump vs. Koch Brothers
Trump vs. Mnuchin, his own Treasury secretary
Trump vs. Congress
Would you pay to see these fights on pay cable? Oh you'll pay alright; no matter how much you detest the sight of grown men beating the shit out of each other.
A10
HOW CAN POPULISM ERODE DEMOCRACY? ASK VENEZUELA
"Venezuela exhibits the worst-case outcome of populist governance, in which institutions have been so crippled that crime is rampant, corruption is nearly universal and the quality of life has collapsed. But those consequences are obvious only after they have done their damage."
It would certainly be naive to suggest that the United States is "going down that path." I honestly believe that our checks and balances would prevent something like Chávez ["... there was broad support for Mr. Chávez's first round of judicial reforms in 1999, which increased judicial independence and integrity..."] morphing into Maduro.
But the article makes you think. We gotta watch this administration like a hawk!
A11
BEFORE MOSUL STRIKE, U.S.-LED COALITION COUNTED 229 CIVILIAN DEATHS
" ... [F]irepower that is being applied is so extensive that civilians are being put in danger."
Like I say -- Get Used To It. More articles on "too bad, but we're beating ISIS, dammit, so shut about the civilian casualties." Remember when the press started showing the body bags during the Vietnam War? The media helped turn things around.
A20
BLACK MAN KILLED IN RACIST ATTACK HONORED AS AN EVERYMAN OF NEW YORK
Was de Blasio politicking? Who cares; he stayed for the two hour service and said this, a brave stab at racist reporting imo:
"There were news reports about this man that somehow dwelt on something that happened to him that happened to every single one of us in this room, which is, somewhere along the way, we made a mistake. So why, if he's a victim, an innocent victim of a racist attack, does any reporter want to talk about a mistake he made along the way. Why is that pertinent?"
He went on to say: "What if it had been a black man who traveled to another city for the sole purpose [a standing ovation made it impossible to hear the rest of the sentence] ... Would that have been front-page news? Day after day?"
SPECIAL SECTION: THE ROAD TO NOWHERE
This is not only a must-read -- but a must-see!
A unique 47 by 20-inch photograph by Adam Ferguson is presented in a four-page foldout, and is annotated; telling the horribly sad story in an unusual and powerful way. I cannot recommend this photo-article enough!
THE SUNDAY CROSSWORD PUZZLE
Medium-hard today, methinx.
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