Within Him, Now Without Him

The legendary Ravi Shankar has passed away at 92.  Here is with his most famous fan, George Harrison. Still amazing that he is Norah Jones...

Shooting at Mall in Oregon

At least two dead as gunman walks around shooting, in usual camouflage outfit and bulletproof vest, before offing himself.  How only two kil...

Old Bald Drummer Dies

Well, that's what he was known as for some of us of a certain age, without knowing his name.  He was Ed Cassidy, who has died at age 89,...

The Return of Upton Sinclair!

Jonathan Chait just now at New York magazine suggests that a Politico piece, accidentally, reads like something my hero Uppie might have w...

'Zero Dark' Dirty?

UPDATE #3  Now security analyst Peter Bergen, writing at CNN site,   joins those questioning movie on torture .  "The compelling story...

Jesus: Putting the 'Mass' in Christmas

Let's think of him like this, this time around.   U2 does Woody Guthrie's "Jesus Christ."

Holiday Cheer and Love Notes

Hi everyone, Hope the week has gotten off to a good start for all. Wonder if anyone else was crazy enough to go to a Toys R Us on a Saturday...

When Many Heard the News That Day, Oh Boy

Another night of Monday night football reminds me that 32 years ago, back when these TV games had a huge audience, many in the U.S. heard th...

Krugman: Mary's Quite Contrary

You may have read about, or perhaps even viewed, Mary Matalin hitting Paul Krugman as a mere "polemicist" on a Sunday yack show ye...

New Poll: Grin and Colbert It in South Carolina

UPDATE  On this show tonight, Colbert milked the attention and poll result, citing Atlantic calling him "overqualified" and NBC s...

'Polymath' Rosen Passes Away

The great pianist and author (best known for "The Classical Style") Charles Rosen has passed away at age 85.  His writings and le...

Biggest Story of 2012 Campaign?

Over the weekend, at The Nation , I reviewed  Dan Froomkin's extensive and valuable interviews with the conservative/liberal pair Norm...

Oh My, Bradley

My new piece at The Nation on NYT public editor again hitting paper for weak coverage of Bradley Manning hearing.

My Books and Photos Here

I recently set up separate pages at this blog for 1) details about most of my books and 2) a portfoliio of my photographs from recent years,...

After The Last Waltz

Rick Danko of The Band passed away 13 years ago up the river a bit near Woodstock.  Never met Rick first saw him play in 1965--in backing Dy...

Correction of the Day

From today's NYT :  "An obituary on Wednesday about Eileen Moran, a visual effects producer, misstated the name of a character sh...

'NYT' Puts in an Appearance at Manning Hearing

UPDATE #3 Sunday  Manning has easily won --with 70% of the vote against other finalists such as Nate Silver and Pussy Riot--a reader poll as...

Portrait of Dylan As Young Man

I've seen parts of this before but didn't know about full show: a half-hour special on Canadian TV in 1964 that's all Dylan, liv...

Another Major Lift for 'Hallelujah'

Another page in Leonard Cohen's remarkable comeback--he's playing two packed arenas in NYC this month, e.g.--is the arrival of a pai...

'Beasts' Burdened--With New Awards

L.A. Film Critics giving out its award, one by one today, and already has made two great picks:  Dwight Henry, a non-professional in Beasts ...