65. 5/31/17

C1 BESIDE THE GUARDIAN OF GRAVES

"There are fewer than 500 Jews left in Venice, compared with the 5,000 who filled the ghetto there at its height in the 17th century."

"I have a very private relationship with God. I'm not a person who belongs to a community, but I'm fascinated by community."

Venice is in great danger due to global warming. Before we know it, it might all be gone.

A18 SANDY, OF ALL THINGS, HELPS OPEN ACCESS TO JERSEY SHORE

"Pejorative local terms for day trippers to the Jersey Shore include 'shoobies' and 'bennies'."

A6 URBAN SPRAWL UP MOUNTAINSIDES, WITH SPLASHES OF COLOR

"Kabul, Afghanistan is one of the fastest growing cities in the world; it has already expanded to more than five times its intended size."

And it probably will only get worse.

"[B]y 2060, one of every two Afghans is expected to be a city dweller."

Because

"Hundreds of thousands of people from the countryside were forced by earlier wars to flee to Pakistan and Iran, where they were introduced to better standards of living. Now back in Afghanistan, they prefer to live in the capital rather than return to their home villages. The relentless fighting in the provinces has also forced people to take to Kabul."

B7 AMAZON'S SHARES PASS $1,000, REFLECTING ITS POWER AND GROWTH POTENTIAL

"Amazon accounted for 43 cents of every dollar spent online in the United States last year."

Top five companies by market capitalization:

1. Apple
2. Alphabet (Google)
3. Microsoft
4. Amazon
5. Facebook

Without Facebook, most of you wouldn't be reading this ... but I must admit that Amazon has become the most important company in my life. No more brick & mortar, and their online experience is simply the best.

A1 TRUMP ADVISERS WAGE TUG OF WAR ON CLIMATE DEAL

"A divided White House staff, anxious corporate executives, lawmakers and foreign leaders are fiercely competing for President Trump's ear this week as he nears a decision on whether to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord, the landmark agreement that commits nearly every country to combat global warming."

"Exxon Mobil's chief executive, Darren W. Woods, wrote recently that remaining in the agreement would be prudent, part of a nearly united corporate front."

I mean, c'mon -- the oil companies are for staying in!

Every administration has its Presidential Influencers, trying to tilt his ear this way or that. If Ivanka can convince dad to stay, I say more power to her.

C2 A BATTLE OVER WATER, SIMPLE YET COMPLICATED

"Noncommunicable diseases were responsible for 67 percent of deaths in low- and middle-income countries in 2015, but only about 1 percent of the foreign aid and donations dedicated to health care was aimed at preventing them"

"If this was how a regional office of the E.P.A. performed under a sympathetic Democratic administration, what do we have to look forward to the next time a city's pipes start to corrode?"

"The Trump administration is proposing to cut the EPA's budget by more than 30 percent."

D4 HERE, TRY SOME MEZCAL, BUT NOT TOO MUCH

"The agave plant, from which tequila and mezcal are distilled, can take anywhere from seven years to decades to grow and harvest."

Great article about the conflict between enjoying an exotic product that has "long-term sustainability issues" and the harm in doing so ...

"But maybe do it in small sips."

D1 FEWER PEACHES? THE SOUTH IS AGHAST

"Georgia peach growers began selling their fruit in the Northeast in the early 1900's, partly to improve the reputation of the Jim Crow South."

Damn damn damn. I love peaches.

C1 50 YEARS IN THE LIFE OF SGT. PEPPER

"It has been remastered once again (by Giles Martin, George's son) to give the album a broader soundstage and crisper detail, giving more separation to individual voices and instruments."

By the time of Abbey Road, a stereo mix was given all the careful attention it deserved -- just listen to the amazing separation and careful placement of sound over the spectrum of the stereo pan.

But in 1967, mono still ruled -- and the Fab Four carefully supervised the mixing session; but when it came time to do a stereo mix, none of the Beatles participated; it was dashed off, like most stereo mixes of the time -- a novelty, much like Quadraphonic would become in early 70's ...

So this new stereo mix is both beautiful and shocking.

Paul's bass rings out with a clarity never heard on the mono mix. The same goes for George's beautiful licks, or Ringo's deep, loose toms (especially on A Day in the Life!).

The deluxe edition includes 4 CDs and 2 DVDs (regular and blu-ray).

The first and fourth CDs are the stereo and mono mixes, respectively.

The second and third have alternate takes and mixes:

1. Strawberry Fields (takes 1, 4, 7, 26 and final 2015 mix) ... you can follow the production ... Martin's brilliant merge occurs at around 1:00 in the final mix.
2. When I'm 64 (take 2) ... no clarinets yet.
3. Penny Lane (2 takes + 2017 final mix).
4. A Day in the Life (takes 1 & 2; vocal overdubs/speech; orchestral overdub; hummed last chord (takes 8, 9, 10 & 11) + the last chord.
5. Sgt. Peppers (two takes).
6. Good Morning (two takes).
7. Fixing a Hole (two takes).
8. Being for the Benefit (two takes).
9. Lucy (two takes). [a fascinating exchange occurs between John and Paul: Paul suggests to John that he sing the lyrics more quickly ... John agrees but sings it exactly the same way he had before (it's his song!)]
10. Getting Better (two takes).
11. Within You (two takes).
12. She's Leaving Home (two takes).
13. With a Little Help (one take).
14. Sgt. Pepper (reprise) (one take).

In any case, this entire package is a complete delight in every way! The cover is rendered holographically on the box as a slipcover.

TIME MACHINE
May 31, 1904
113 years ago

Page 1 BOY BALLOONIST DEFIES COURT

"To-day he begged permission to make one more attempt to beat his own record for a long-distance rise, and promised to retire from the business until he comes of age."

If he comes of age.

Page 9 LAJOIE SUSPENDED BY BAN JOHNSON

" ... for throwing a quid of tobacco at Umpire Dwyer in yesterday's game at Chicago."

Career .338 (21 seasons) ... hit .426 in 1901 ... and they named the team after him!

64. 5/30/17

INVESTIGATION TURNS TO KUSHNER'S MOTIVES IN MEETING WITH A PUTIN ALLY

"Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, was looking for a direct line to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia -- a search that in mid-December found him in a room with a Russian banker whose financial institution was deeply intertwined with Russian intelligence, and remains under sanction by the United States."

This could still turn out to be something rather innocuous.

MICHAEL DUBKE RESIGNS AS WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

No, I never predicted him.

IN RURAL IOWA, A FUTURE RESTS ON IMMIGRANTS

"Blanca Martinez, who came from El Salvador with her husband (a naturalized citizen who lived in Storm Lake) and their daughter, now 5, has been at the turkey plant for two years. She earns $15.70 an hour cutting bone six days a wee, on the 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shift.

'It's very hard,' Ms. Martinez, 37, a permanent resident, said in Spanish through an interpreter. 'I'm still not used to the cold.' At work, she wears three gloves on her left hand and two on her right -- giving her cutting hand a little more flexibility.

Speaking English would widen her options, Ms. Martinez said, but she has had not time for lessons since her husband received a diagnosis of cancer.

Ms. Martinez does not have time to take English classes herself, but the future she envisions for her 5-year-old includes going to medical school, becoming a doctor and then coming home to work here in Storm Lake."

This is what'll make American great (again) ...

INSIDE SONNY ROLLIN'S JAZZ ARCHIVE HEADED HOME TO HARLEM

"[H]e was incessantly aware of what he saw as his shortcomings. Throughout his papers, he seems constantly to be driven by complementary impulses: the feeling that his tools -- however prodigious -- are not quite sufficient to the task, and a hunger to specify the paths of improvement.

To achieve as much power as possible, Mr. Rollins recognized early that he would need to give up cigarettes, and he began to meditate and practice yoga well before they were common practices in the West. (He was addicted to heroin from the late 1940s to the mid-50s but entered a rehabilitation clinic and recovered.)

St. Thomas

This iconic image should have been in The Times' article, but wasn't:

TIME MACHINE
May 30, 1979
38 years ago

Page 2 FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE ASSIGNED TO DRUG TRIAL IS SHOT DEAD IN TEXAS

"A police alert was being broadcast this afternoon for a young man with curly hair whom neighbors said they had seen loitering around the judge's apartment for the past several days."

And the assassin turned out to be Woody Harrelson's dad, Charles.

Page 14 CARTER VOWS TO FIGHT "TO LAST VOTE" IN CONGRESS FOR CONTROVERSIAL PLANS

"The President ... rejected a newsman's suggestion that he block Federal projects in districts represented by Congressmen who opposed his legislative proposals.

'I represent those districts also,' he said. 'Every one of the people who lives in any Congressional district is my constituent, and I don't think it's right to punish the people of our nation who live in a particular farming community or city or Congressional district because a particular member of Congress does not comply with the proposals that I make that I believe to be in the best interests of our nation'."

Yeah, presidents used to act like that.

Page 14 EXPECTATION HELD KEY TO THE EFFECT OF COFFEE

"A morning cup of coffee perks up the minds of coffee drinkers partly because that is what they expect it to do ..."

I expect it to do what it does because the coffee plantation in Costa Rica carefully selects my beans which are sold to coffeeam.com who roast them to perfection, pack them up in vacuum-sealed 5-pound bags, send them to me and which I then grind and brew and my expectations are then met. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

63. 5/29/17

C6 "THE SQUARE" WINS THE PALME D'OR AT CANNES FESTIVAL

"Sofia Coppola became the second woman in the festival's history to win best director at this auteurist temple."

As a serious student of cinema, I would like to make a few comments on the names that appear in this article:

Ruben Östlund. Won the Palme d'Or for The Square. I do not know this director's work, but I just watched the compelling trailer for his previous film, Force Majeure, and ordered it!

Pedro Almodóvar (head of jury). Man, his movies can be fucked up! -- but many of them star Penélope Cruz, so, you know, just shut up! But Talk to Her -- definitely one of the best films out there about necrophilia (see, you already do not want to see it, right?) -- is a true masterpiece. Most of his films -- no matter how bizarre the subject matter and junkie characters -- are filled with a kind of poignant humor, a filmic sigh ... I think he's one of the true greats.

Sofia Coppola. She had me at The Virgin Suicides. Lost in Translation was good; Marie Antoinette was great -- she made many brave, bold choices and Kirsten Dunst helped her pull it all off. Somewhere was somewhere in between, I think. Have not seen The Bling Ring yet. I truly believe she's just getting started.

Maren Ade. Do not know her work.

Jane Campion. Sweetie, An Angel at My Table and The Piano -- all great films. She definitely has her own, very distinctive style. I'd like to think she's a bit influenced by Ozu, my film god ...

Andrey Zvyagintsev. See Maren Ade. But I hear Leviathan is terrific. Have any of my readers seen it? Either of you? 

Lynne Ramsay. I've only seen one of her films, Ratcatcher -- and it is stunning! I highly recommend it.

A5 MUSLIM WOMEN IN INDIA CHALLENGE "INSTANT DIVORCE"

"Half of Muslim women in India are illiterate, and only 14 percent have ever worked outside the home"

"It cannot be Allah's will to break up families in this way."

It certainly is not. It is the will of the mindless, spineless Human Males who see a younger gal at the office; get illicit and then say, "Talaq, talaq, talaq."

Jewish Human Males are not exempt, either: The Talmud says that you can divorce your wife if she burns your dinner.

C1 INSPIRED AND LIBERATED

"Since its release last year, the Shakira song 'Chantaje' has tallied more than 1.2 billion views on YouTube and 326 million plays on Spotify."

What about Pandora?

Actually, this is the first time I have ever heard this lady's music. I admit to being fascinated from the opening of Me Enamoré ... and apparently Chantaje is a huge hit. I particularly liked "Trap".

This is not my normal music genre of choice -- but I really liked this album. The fact that she sings (mostly) in Spanish had a lot to do with my reactions, I think. It's a sexy language, and not knowing what she was singing about helped me concentrate on the actual music, which is my main interest, in any case.

A small complaint -- I wish she wouldn't have used so much electronic drums. My ears can spot those suckers a mile away. Hire Peter Erskine instead.

A13 SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY (NO, NOT THAT ONE) EMBRACES ANONYMITY

"The items in the Louisiana senator John Kennedy's office include Mardi Gras beads, assorted soldier figurines and a personally meaningful stapler from the mid-1990s."

Wait ...

"He is, in fact, the only senator for whom a simple Google search is a humbling exercise ..."

"He's missing the bone structure."

"I would rather drink weed killer than support the Affordable Care Act."

"'There are one or two jerks,' he continued. 'There are three or four folks who believe they're one of the founders of the country. But most are very, very nice.' He was asked to name the jerks. 'Nahhhhhh'."

"James R. Clapper, Jr., the former director of national intelligence, testified before the Judiciary Committee that he had experienced 'many encounters with media' in his career. 'I'm sorry about that,' Mr. Kennedy shot back."

"'Pay your taxes, Bernie! We need the money!' he cried out, for reasons that perhaps defied immediate explanation."

Dude, change your name.

D6 PIVOTAL GRAND SLAM IS LATEST CHAPTER IN JUDGE'S REMARKABLE TALE

"Aaron Judge's power, by now, is well known around the major leagues ... Oakland starter Andrew Triggs learned how forceful Judge can be [when] on a 2-1 count, he left a 90-mile-per-hour fastball over the heart of the plate. Judge's swing had an easy motion, and the flick of his arms belied his strength, as the ball sailed 376 feet into the right-field stands for his first career grand slam."

With the Orioles fading fast, unless the Red Sox start winning consistently, the Yanks could run away with their division. They really are that good.

B1 HACKERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA AS WAY TO GET PAST DEFENSES

"Cybersecurity companies say spear phishing, the act of sending a malicious file or link through a seemingly innocuous message, on social media is one of the fastest-growing methods of attack."

Just be careful what you click on. Period.

B1 WHAT'S THEIRS CAN BE YOURS, TOO

"The Chinese government estimates that the sharing economy last year accounted for $500 billion in transactions, and projected it would account for 10 percent of China's economic output by 2020."

"'We thought about putting GPS trackers on the balls,' said Xu Jie, chief executive of Modern Capital, the venture capital firm backing Zhulegeqiu ... 'But we did the math and we discovered that hiring a few people to physically track them down was cheaper'."

That sure says something about how cheap Chinese labor really is.

A10 DECADES-LONG FIGHT TO IDENTIFY WAR HERO'S REMAINS

"The Defense P.O.W./M.I.A. Accounting Agency is an arm of the Pentagon tasked with accounting for the roughly 45,000 recoverable lost service members dating back to World War II."

Long story short -- it's hard hard work, and federal governmental agencies are notoriously lazy. Can you believe this: a $115 million annual budget, tasked with accounting for the roughly 45,000 recoverable lost service members dating back to WWII -- and they only averaged 90 bodies annually in the past five years.

Congress, frustrated by the low numbers, mandated that the agency increase the number to at least 200 per year by 2015, but it has yet to meet that total.

So it's just another quota to some guy caught in that traffic on the 295.

B4 EXPERTS WARN OF RISK WHEN BRANDS EXPAND OUTSIDE THEIR BOXES

"Colgate tried to move into frozen foods with its Colgate Kitchen Entrees in 2014. (It had made an earlier attempt in 1982.) The brand extension was a failure because experts said, when people hear 'Colgate,' they think of toothpaste, not tasty cuisine."

Yeah, exactly.

TIME MACHINE
May 29, 1881
136 years ago

Page 10 BISMARCK'S PROMISES

"According to the Berlin correspondent of the Standard, Prince Bismarck proposes to subsidize German shipping. The Chancellor has humor enough himself, but he must doubt the existence of that quality in his countrymen if he expects them to take in sober earnest his inexhaustible suggestions of State aid for everything and everybody . . . Indirect taxes compensated by direct doles, that is the philosopher's stone. Is its appearance sufficiently dazzling to make men at the coming election forget to ask for the balance-sheet?"

62. 5/28/17

THE MAGAZINE 50 IS IT POSSIBLE TO RESIST DEPORTATIONS IN THE AGE OF TRUMP?

"President Richard M. Nixon tried to throw John Lennon out of the United States before the 1972 election. (He feared that Lennon, who opposed the war in Vietnam, might turn younger voters against him.)"

I wish the RW Wackos would get this one fact straight:

"[T]he Obama administration's guidelines for the agency [ICE] specified terrorists and violent criminals as priorities for deportation. But Trump's January orders effectively vacated those guidelines.

BOOK REVIEW 19 SEASON OF THE WITCH

"Because of the efforts of Matthew Hopkins, England's 'Witchfinder General,' more than a hundred women in eastern England were tried and hanged as witches between 1644 and 1647."

The novel is narrated by Matthew's sister, Alice. There is a focus on "modern analyses of psychopathology" ... "Underdown knows her history, but in this ominous, claustrophobic novel the past is haunted by the possibilities of our frightening present."

A16 A TRUMP CAMPAIGN RALLY LED TO SHOVING, AND LEGAL WRANGLING, TOO

"Eight months before Election Day, Donald J. Trump was about a half-hour into his stump speech at a convention center in Louisville, Ky., when several protesters interrupted his rally. 'Get 'em out of here!' he bellowed in response."

Let me summarize:

1. Matthew Heimbach (a white nationalist wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat) gave a hard shove in the back to Kashiya Nwanguma, a black college student who had been holding up a poster depicting Mr. Trump's face on the body of a pig.
2. Trump yells, "Get 'em out of here!"
3. Heimbach: "He [Trump] knew what he was asking for."
4. Two lawsuits filed:
1. Nwanguma sues Trump (Heimbach acted as his "agent")
2. Heimbach sues Trump (Trump had "directed him and others to take action" plus I want my legal fees paid 'cuz you said you'd do that.
5. Heimbach filed his lawsuit per se. He spends much of his time "railing online against Jews, gays and immigrants." Mark my words, eventually he'll get a smart Jewish lawyer. They always do.
6. This should get interesting.

SUNDAY REVIEW 4 THE DUMB POLITICS OF ELITE CONDESCENSION

"In a 2016 study of law firm résumés, men who listed hobbies like sailing and listening to classical music had a callback rate 12 times higher than those who signaled working-class origins, by mentioning country music, for example."

Ms. Williams makes (at least) three brilliant points:

1. Dems should champion a new education-to-employment system;
2. Dems failure to communicate a meaningful alternative to tax cuts for the rich; and
3. MLK: "Dignity demands a job and a paycheck that last through the week." Dems needs to "take up that mantle and stop sleepwalking our way to the next electoral defeat."

ARTS & LEISURE 15 WAITING FOR THE CREDITS TO END?

"At least 50 films in the movie database IMDB.com have cast and crew credits that surpass 2,000 names each."

I always stay to the bitter end, because 1) there may be additional scenes from the actual film and/or promos or silly credit sequences, like many of the Pixar films; and 2) I know people in the business and get a ridiculous jolt of happiness when I see their names!

TRAVEL 1 FINDING MY FLORIDA

"In 2012, a man in Palm Beach County, Fla. ate so many cockroaches and worms in a bug-eating contest that he vomited, collapsed and died."

A few more (palatable) quotes from the article:

"Florida represents so much that's good, bad and bizarre about the United States, all rolled into one long state."

"Geographically speaking, Florida is as south as it gets. Yet its northern reaches are its most Southern."

"Tallahassee is 'chill'."

"Hemingway's house, where the 20-plus six-toed animals are truly just as much an attraction as the Nobel Prize winner's home itself ..."

BOOK REVIEW 11 CRUDE AWAKENING

"The depth and breadth of the Gulf of Mexico have fluctuated since it began forming 150 million years ago: Its northern tides once lapped shoreline in present-day Illinois."

"I should confess I began the book skeptical of being entertained and edified by 592 pages about a body of water that has come to be used like a sump for the wastes of industry. My doubts proved unwarranted. [Jack E.] Davis has written a beautiful homage to a neglected sea, a lyrical paean to its remaining estuaries and marshes, and a marvelous mash-up of human and environmental history."

A1 THE DEATH AND LIFE OF JOHN SHIELDS

"Two days before he was scheduled to die, John Shields roused in his hospice bed with an unusual idea. He wanted to organize an Irish wake for himself. It would be old-fashioned with music and booze, except for one notable detail -- he would be present."

"'Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?' -- MARY OLIVER"

This is a fantastic, beautiful piece of journalism. I doubt I am the only one to struggle with this issue. Should not death be the one cosmic task that is God's alone? But why should people suffer horribly?

And the doc has to go on vacation soon.

SUNDAY BUSINESS 3 OLDER WOMEN AND CANNABIS: A GROWTH INDUSTRY

"In 2015, women made up about 36 percent of executives in the legal-marijuana industry, compared with 22 percent in senior roles in other industries."

"Lyn Kusher, 66, is the founder of Ma Kush's Natural, which is based in Encinitas, Calif., and sells soaps, lotions, balms and edible cannabis treats."

She really ought to have her own strain named after her!

SUNDAY BUSINESS 1 IS CHINA OUTSMARTING AMERICA IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?

"The Chinese technology company Baidu turned an app that started as a visual dictionary into a site that uses facial recognition to find missing people. In one case, it helped a family find a child kidnapped 27 years earlier."

"Philip K. Dick meets George Orwell. There are plans to use it to predict crimes, lend money, track people on the country's ubiquitous closed-circuit cameras, alleviate traffic jams, create self-guided missiles and censor the internet."

That dude better keep close tabs on all the robots he creates ...

TIME MACHINE
May 28, 2013
4 years ago

SUBWAY BALLET

Cool.

THE ROVING RUNNER RIDES A BIKE

The first days of NYC's bike-share program, Citi Bike.

RIVERA THROWS FIRST PITCH AND LAST IN HIS FIRST BLOWN SAVE OF YEAR

"A few hours before the Yankees and Mets engaged one another on the field the Mets were kind enough to honor Rivera with a few presents to commemorate his career. In a conference room underneath Citi Field, Jeff Wilpon, the Mets chief operating officer, asked Rivera to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

'I know you usually throw the last pitch,' Wilpon said. 'But we're going to ask you to throw the first pitch.'

The comment was meant to be deferential to Rivera, not a portent of bad things to come.

But on a bizarre night that was all about great starting pitching, it turned out to be just that. Rivera, baseball's career saves leader, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to John Franco, the Mets longtime closer, as the Mets honored Rivera's final season.

Then, roughly three hours later, Rivera threw the final pitch of the game as Wilpon suggested he would. The outcome, though, was unexpected.

Rivera gave up three straight hits and two runs in the ninth inning to blow his first save of the season after 18 straight conversions, and the Mets beat the Yankees, 2-1."

Hard to believe it was only four years ago.

61. 5/27/17

A21 THE DEPLORABLE STATE OF PALESTINE

"The raison d'être of the Palestinian Authority today is not to liberate Palestine, but to keep Palestinians silent and quash dissent while Israel steals land, demolishes Palestinian homes and expands settlements."

Diana Buttu is a fine spokesperson for Palestinian rights -- but I wish she would be just a bit more evenhanded. Hamas can do no wrong in her eyes, it seems.

A6 WORLD LEADERS INCREASE PRESSURE ON TRUMP TO STAY IN THE PARIS CLIMATE DEAL

"During one extended discussion on Friday, Mr. Trump listened to the pleas of the other leaders ... but reiterated that the environment and jobs were both important to him. He talked about environmental awards he had received and declined to say when he would make a decision on the Paris agreement."

C1 WHY HE BOUGHT IT

"Mr. Maezawa paid $110.5 million ..."

"[Basquiat] died of a heroin overdose at 27 ..."

I'm sorry to be so cynical. But I can't help wondering what the selling price would have been if the artist had gone to rehab, cleaned himself up, and began painting lily pads or wheat fields.

B1 COFFEE FROM CALIFORNIA (YES, REALLY)

"When people hear I'm growing coffee they typically make a face and say something like, 'Well, how good can coffee grown in California be'?"

We'll see, we'll see. I remember when California wine was a joke.

A7 "LARGE PART" OF MANCHESTER BOMBER'S NETWORK ROUNDED UP,M BRITISH OFFICIALS SAY

" ... Mr. Abedi had rented a one-bedroom apartment for 75 British pounds, or about $96, a night.

Per night? This kid had a nice allowance. Or ...

A20 THE POWER OF ARIANA GRANDE AND HER NETWORK OF 150 MILLION DEVOTED FANS

" ... [A] special corner of hell is reserved for killers who target children. To propel, through self-detonation, bolts and nails into kids is a particular infamy."

TIME MACHINE
May 27, 1981
36 years ago

QADDAFI OPPOSITION IS GETTING STRONGER

"Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's campaign of repression at home and support of terrorism abroad have created a growing opposition to his regime. It includes key aides who helped in his coup in 1969 but have since defected."

"State Department officials said Colonel Qaddafi, who once freely walked the streets of Libya, playing soccer with children, had virtually sequestered himself. His barrack in the Tripoli suburb of Aziya is ringed with antiaircraft artillery, machine guns and tanks."

It would still be 30+ more years until the Colonel received his karmic payment for all those years of terror.

SONG: LEON REDBONE AND GUITAR

"The main problem with Mr. Redbone's music is its sameness of tone. Although his musical personality is intriguing, it is also emotionally constricted. Neither the arrangements nor the vocal inflections change much from song to song. Ultimately, the character Mr. Redone has invented is more important than his music."

I don't think Mr. Holden got it. Redbone's greatness was rooted in his absolute pure-love-joy for the music. The subtle differences in his vocals and the arrangements is what makes his records so enjoyable -- no one else does these old standards like he does.

COMPLEX MOTIVES BY SAUDIS INDICATED

"Is Saudi Arabia the altruist of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, putting the interests of the Western world at the forefront of its considerations? Or is it acting out of self interest?"

Uh, let me think ...