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Much To Be Done By All

Although I often rail against Western, specifically US, foreign policy blunders and how they shape the current quagmire in the Middle East, the Muslim world has an equal part to play in bringing about an end to violence there. I am always encouraged to see Muslims, especially Muslim Arabs, echoing that sentiment as is done here in this NY Times op-ed piece.

Muslim Myopia

Posted by The Webtoad at 12:33 AM | Comments (0)

Branford By The Lake

Jeff “Tain” Watts is a monster. The GF is tired of hearing me say that but it’s true. The man is incredible. Who is this monster you ask? He is the drummer for Branford Marsalis’ quartet. We had the opportunity to see this group Friday night at the Great Waters Summer Music Festival in Wolfeboro. Two subjects need be addressed here. First, the amazing band that is the Branford Marsalis Quartet and second, the behavior of New Hampshire Jazz audiences.

It is an effort in futility to convey the power of the group that played Friday night. That was the second time that I had the opportunity to see them. I own most of their albums as well as a live DVD of their performance of “A Love Supreme” in Amsterdam. The similarities between this collection of musicians and those that John Coltrane brought together in the sixties is worth mentioning. Branford is not Coltrane. Nobody could be. He is however one of the most powerful personalities in the Jazz world today. I won’t bore the reader with his biography. It is readily available. Marsalis’ band mates stand up to their counterparts in that fabled grouping know as “The Classic Quartet.” Friday night, though, was Tain’s night. The third number was a composition of his entitled “Blackzilla”. It is based on a theme from one of the Godzilla movies of old. It was powerful, driving and chaotic. Near the end of the tune, Tain’s solo was so amazing due mostly to the fact that could not help but yell continuously as he pounded the skins and the other three looked on and kept the melody going. Goose bumps. I would kill to have a recording of that. The performance was made all the more incredible when the audience learned that the group arrived only moments before the show having just flown in from Paris to Boston and then driving up to Wolfeboro. I can’t imagine how they played with such emotion and passion.

This was the fourth time that I had seen a major Jazz musician perform in New Hampshire. The first and second was a double bill of Brad Mehldau and John Scofield at the Portsmouth Music Hall. The third was Arturo Sandoval also at the Music Hall. Of the four musicians that I have seen play in NH, a noticeable amount of the audience walked out on two of them. The first was John Scofield and the second was the Friday night show. Both times, I was appalled. I can not imagine why these people are so rude as to leave. I did notice that those leaving are usually older; over 50. I can only surmise that the music they were hearing was not what they were expecting. Scofield’s show was very funky and not at all standard Jazz. Branford et al can get pretty crazy and push the bounds of the music. That is Jazz though. I will continue to patronize Jazz in the Granite State when its offered but I much prefer the Jazz clubs in Boston. They draw great musicians and the audience is much more appreciative.

Posted by The Webtoad at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)

Plight Of The Moderate Arab.

So little is heard about the Arab side of the Middle east conflict in Amercan media. Here's something in the New York Times that gives that point of view a go. Not all Arabs are terrorists (an extremely small percentage to be straight) and many want what the US claims to want for them. This Article may give an insight into why America has such a bad image in that area.

Anti-U.S. Feeling Leaves Arab Reformers Isolated

Posted by The Webtoad at 12:50 AM | Comments (0)

Dems Are Consistent

One thing is certain in the Democratic Party, it is consistent. They have figured out how to do one thing and do it well. Why change? They have become experts at it. Unfortunately for the voting public, that one skill that Democrats have excelled at is losing. Connecticut’s primary yesterday is more evidence of that. Ned Lamont’s victory over incumbent Joe Lieberman is in no way a victory.

The Connecticut general election for Senator will end up in one of two ways. Possibility number one (and the most likely scenario) is Joe Lieberman running as an independent and winning. That is good for Joe, Connecticut, and disenfranchised voters across the country. Possibility number two is that Joe will split the votes and the Republicans will take the seat. Either way, the Democrats have lost a Senate seat and will need to look at the other 30 or so races across the country to see where they will pick it up.

Posted by The Webtoad at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)

Crisis In The Middle East

While at the gym today, I noticed the headline on CNN: Crisis in the Middle East. I tried to recall how many times I had seen that title used prior to this current calamity. One of the reasons that I can’t watch the news anymore stems from a sense that each of these crises is treated independently of all others. Lebanon/Israel is different from Israel/Palestine is different from Syria is different from radical Saudi Wahabism is different from Iran. They are all seen as single unrelated snapshots with no correlation to the region’s history. Furthermore, I couldn’t help noticing a lack of constructive conversation concerning US foreign policy in the region. I don’t mean whether or not we should be in Iraq. I mean a serious look at the history of US involvement in the Middle East since WWII. For instance, the last time that the US opposed Israeli policy was during the Suez Crisis in 1956. That was the Eisenhower administration!

Fellow blogger, Union Jack, has written the issue quite well recently: We Drew the Lines. Kudos to him.

Posted by The Webtoad at 12:36 PM | Comments (0)

What If Everybody Is Wrong?

I can’t watch the news anymore. I read it but I can’t watch it. The scenes coming out of the Middle east and the pundits that speak over them are maddening. I have also come to avoid the local letters to the editor that take up one side or the other on the issue of Lebanon/Israel and the wider struggle in that region. Whether it’s Iraq, Iran, Gaza or Lebanon, it appears to me that which ever side one attempts to choose, an internal moral struggle must ensue. This leads me to believe that everybody is wrong.

Hizbullah and thus their Syrian and Iranian backers are wrong for shelling Israel with rockets and killing civilians of all age ranges. They are also wrong to do this while hiding behind their own civilian population. The Lebanese government is wrong to stand by. Israel is wrong in its overwhelming response towards both the Lebanese to the north and the Palestinians in its territory. America is wrong for not calling for a cease fire and allowing this to continue. Europe is wrong for standing up more to the US.

I can not choose sides in a world where everybody wants everybody else dead. War has become the de facto answer to problems around the world. All continents and countries are somehow embroiled in or complicit in the perpetuation of war. Today, all the world is at war. It is only a matter of time before the major powers refuse to step back from the precipice and slip fully into the fray themselves. A reading of history in the five years leading up to WWI will offer a chill of recognition. Economically prosperous, a time when no country could have afforded to risk all out war. The last thing that people living in 1913 expected was what they got in 1914.

Posted by The Webtoad at 12:16 PM | Comments (1)