11. April 7, 1919

April 7, 1919

My name is William Friedman. I was born in 1862 in Hungary. Today my son, Miklos (Nick) became a father and I a grandfather -- both for the first time!

My beautiful little granddaughter is named Ruth. My little Ruthie.

I would have been 90 when my little Ruthie gave birth to her third child, Lewis, who is channeling me today through what you people seem to call a "blog."

He wants me to comment on the news of the day, so here goes:

April 7, 1919

HUNGARY SEEKS BOUNDARY DEAL

"According to report received here two days ago, Budapest burghers were benumbed by terror caused by the action of official agents. No loud word on the streets criticising official measures was permitted under penalty of instant arrest."

My beloved homeland is being torn to pieces by idiots. Thank God for our new home here in America.


April 7, 1921

Ruthie's 2nd birthday contained this unsettling article:

CHAINED NEGROES THROWN OFF BRIDGE

"The negroes met death shortly after Federal authorities started an investigation of alleged peonage on the farm, six of them ... being chained to rocks and thrown alive into rivers..."

Will there ever be something called "human rights"?


3rd birthday / April 7, 1922

CENT STAMP BRINGS $32,077 AT A SALE

I'd better start checking all my Hungarian stamps.


4th birthday / April 7, 1923

BLOCS ARE A MENACE, DECLARES HARDING

Dateline: Augusta, Georgia, home to my other great-grandson, Lewis' brother, Alan!

I must admit a fondness for this guy, even if he is a Republican!

"'The Government is not interested in farming because there are more farmer voters than in any other occupation, but it is interested in farming because agriculture is the fundamental industry of the nation.'

'The Government is not interested in the railroads because they are the representatives of capital, but because the railroads are the agency of essential service. The Government is not interested in the welfare of service men, of veterans of the World War, because of their numbers, but because it is a matter of honor to care for them.'"

Lewis informs me that agriculture is no longer the "fundamental industry" it was back then, and that the World War has a roman numeral after it.


5th birthday / April 7, 1924

MUSSOLINI SCORES AT ITALIAN POLLS

"A letter addressed individually to each elector ... read as follows:

'Dear Friend:

We notice that you have not voted yet, and as we would be sorry if your name should be included among those who have abstained, we beg you to go and vote at once without waiting for the last minute.

Feeling certain that we have done you a favor in thus recalling you to your duty, we cordially salute you.'"

Who is this creepy guy? Lewis tells me it gets scarier.


10th birthday / April 7, 1929

LOUISIANA HOUSE IMPEACHES LONG

"Governor Huey P. Long was charged with attempting to suppress the freedom of the press, specifically by threatening Charles P. Manship, a Baton rouge publisher, with public exposure of the fact that the publisher's brother was an inmate in an insane asylum unless he stopped an editorial attack upon the Governor's proposed tax on oil."

What a dirty trick! Imagine if a USA president tried something like that!


23rd birthday / April 7, 1942

MANDALAY RUINED BY ENEMY BOMBS

"The Japanese are systematically blasting cities and towns of Burma in the rear of United Nations troops in an effort to create terror and disorder, thus hampering communications and cutting off sources of supplies."

War. What the fuck is it good for?


39th birthday / April 7, 1958

Ruthie is a mother of four now.

BATISTA EXPECTS LONG CUBAN FIGHT

"President Fulgencio Batista expressed today the fullest confidence that he would destroy the rebel movement led by Fidel Castro and restore peace in Cuba. But General Batista admitted it could be a 'long-term' operation."

Ya think?


61st birthday / April 7, 1980

CROWD AT HAVANA EMBASSY GROWS; 10,000 REPORTED SEEKING ASYLUM

Follow-up to the above article!


90th birthday / April 7, 2009

GEEKS GONE WILD: SPOCK'S SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT "STAR TREK" SCREENING

Not the original cast / not the next generation cast / but all new youngsters

But Leonard Simon Nimoy is still Spock, thank goodness! His parents lived near me, in what you now call Iziaslav, Ukraine. His parents left Iziaslav separately -- his father first walking over the border into Poland whille his mother and grandmother were smuggled out of the Soviet Union in a horse-drawn wagon by hiding under bales of hay. [Wikipedia]


4/7/2017

Today would have been Ruthie's 98th birthday. I myself am 155.

IN BATTLE FOR TRUMP'S HEART AND MIND, IT'S BANNON VS. KUSHNER

A1

"Thick with tension, the conversation this week between Stephen K. Bannon, the chief White House strategist, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, had deteriorated to the point of breakdown.

Finally, Mr. Bannon identified why they could not compromise, according to someone with knowledge of the conversation. 'Here's the reason there's no middle ground,' Mr. Bannon growled. 'You're a Democrat.'"

Now, we all know the word he really meant to use, right?

Miss you, mom...

10. 4/6/17

B1

THE PRESIDENT STANDS UP FOR O'REILLY

And Adolf Hitler got a bad rap, according to Charles Manson.

9. 4/5/17

A1

CHEMICAL ATTACK ON SYRIANS IGNITES WORLD'S OUTRAGE

Children die horribly and criminals in suits and ties play the blame game:

" [The] Syrian military accused insurgents of responsibility and said they [the rebels] had accused the army of using toxic weapons 'every time they fail to achieve the goals of their sponsors'."

"Russia offered another explanation [saying that] Syrian warplanes had struck an insurgent storehouse containing toxins to be used in chemical weapons."

And Trump blames Obama.


A17

MORE ADVERTISERS FLEE O'REILLY'S SHOW AMID FUROR OVER SEXUAL HARASSMENT

hehe


A23

SAVE PBS. IT MAKES US SAFER.

Wonderful op-ed by Stanley McChrystal, retired Army general.

B7

N.C.A.A. LIFTS BAN AFTER LAW IS REVOKED

See that man behind the curtain in the funny robes? Watch him carefully.

Seriously, this bait-and-switch is disgusting. Everyone openly acknowledges it, too.

I feel like saying, "Sad!," but that's ruined.

8. 4/4/17

A1

IN SHIFT BY U.S., TRUMP PRAISES EGYPT AUTOCRAT

"If Egypt can be a partner in the battle against international terrorism, then in Mr. Trump's calculation, that is more important to the United States than concerns over its brutal suppression of domestic dissent."

"Nothing could have made Mr. Sisi happier."

"... Giulio Regeni, an Italian postgraduate student found dead in Cairo last year ... [was] abducted, tortured and killed ... probably on suspicion that he was a spy."

"The authoritarian bargain the U.S. has struck with Egypt might seem to be the right thing, but it never pays off in the long run ... [I]t's not just about being on the wrong side of history, but about over-investing in a regime that is fueling radicalization that will ultimately harm U.S. interests."


A14

HOW MUCH PEOPLE IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ARE WORTH

DeVos, Kushner, Ross, Cohn, Cordish, Mnuchin and Tillerson are worth a combined $4,680,001,172. That's FOUR-AND-A-HALF BIG BEEs amongst seven individuals.

Brother, can you spare a dime?


B9

METS CATCH A BREAK, THEN CATCH FIRE, TO DEFEAT THE BRAVES ON OPENING DAY

Bottom of the seventh. Scoreless.

"The Mets' Wilmer Flores raced home from second base on a single to center field by Asdrubal Cabrera ... his foot seemed to touch the plate just before Atlanta Braves catcher Tyler Flowers tagged him. The home-plate umpire, Jeff Kellogg, saw it differently, however, calling Flores out ... Mets Manager Terry Collins challenged the call, and it was overturned."

"Thanks, M.L.B., for inventing replay," Mets right fielder Jay Bruce said.


Every Tuesday, The Times publishes a section called "Science Times." Today:

D5

IN SURFERS, TRACES OF SEAFARING MICROBES

Don't worry too much, my Hawaii family!

"So far, neither he [Cliff Kapono] nor his collaborators have found evidence that swimmers or surfers are picking up antibiotic-resistant infections from the ocean."

7. 4/3/17

A21

MITCH McCONNELL'S TRIGGER FINGER

"In the 1944 noir film 'Gaslight,' a villain hides his crimes by convincing his innocent wife she's insane, feeding her barely perceptible lies and altering small aspects of her environment until she doubts her own instincts and observations."

As I said in yesterday's post: Get Used To It!

Day by day, op-ed by op-ed, we're all being subtlely manipulated (GASLIGHTED!)

"[McConnell] has made no real effort to avert the nuclear option. To the contrary, he appears to be itching to pull the trigger -- and in his insidious way, he wants to convince Democrats that it'll be their fault when he does."

Watch this space for further spin.


GASLIGHTING ABBIE

6. 4/2/17

Reading the Sunday New York Times is a most demanding pleasure. Once upon a time, as a young man living in New York City, I had a dear friend (Jamie Katz) who enjoyed spending Sunday morning (frequently stretching on towards afternoon) at a local Upper West Side café -- drinking java and poring through The Times.

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.

5. 4/1/17

4/1/17 -- Page A1

TRUMP TO BE IMPEACHED


SPICER ASSERTS POLITICAL MOTIVE ON SURVEILLANCE

" ... Spicer asserted to reporters during his daily news briefing that members of Mr. Obama's administration had done 'very, very bad things' ..."

Like grabbing women by their genitals. Riiiiight.

A6

HINTS OF 'SCARY' SHIFT: INDIA MAY BE RETHINKING BAN ON NUCLEAR FIRST STRIKES

I doubt many of you have seen this film: LAKSHYA (2004) ... a brilliant "Bollywood" take on the 1999 Jammu-Kashmir war. Although an Indian-made film, the Pakistani viewpoint is realistic ... and it's a damn fine film. Americans may find the singing and dancing disconcerting ... but that's Bollywood!

A18

LINKING BIKE LANES TO IMMIGRANTS, QUEENS OFFICIAL DRAWS FIRE

"Ms. Pfoser Darby has said that once President Trump deports the undocumented immigrants from Corona, there will be no need for bike lanes."

Of course. Who's ever seen a white person riding a bicycle?


A18

IN SCHOOL NURSE'S ROOM: TYLENOL, BANDAGES AND AN ANTIDOTE FOR HEROIN

"Some observers wonder if the reaction would be different if schools were stocking an antidote to a different drug, like crack cocaine. The crack epidemic was particularly acute among black people, while the opioid epidemic has hit white people especially hard."

Ya think?


A23

NOW NETFLIX IS ALL THUMBS

"I have lately been spending ... more time on a new streaming service, FilmStruck, which includes the holdings of TCM and the Criterion Collection ... [W]hile you may not 'like' every film here, we think they are all worth your time. This I like."

I own about 95% of the Criterion catalogue (885 releases and counting!), and I can assure you that nearly every one of those 885 would be worth your valuable time.

Criterion puts the release number on the spine of each DVD. The masterpieces in this collection can be gleaned by perusing the first two spine numbers:

#1 GRAND ILLUSION (Renoir)
#2 SEVEN SAMURAI (Kurosawa)