Category: Journalism

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Parts Known

Back to CNN’s Parts Unknown. Anthony Bourdain this week brings us to Massachusetts. Assumed it would focus on Boston dining scene. Wrong! After taking us to his beginnings in Provincetown, land’s end of Cape Cod, he reveals that’s where his heroin addiction began. From there, he comes here. To Western Massachusetts. Route 91 North to SideTrekFalls. And Greenfield.

Heroin has been epidemic in these parts for decades. My former “facialist” first clued me in to the problem in Northampton in the late ’90’s. Kids of clients dead. From smack. It has only gotten worse as the economy declined. And when hometown sports heroes get injured, need surgery, they get hooked on oxy’s. Yup. Doctors as dealers.

Behind our red barns, beyond our fertile meadows, under our bridges of flowers. What you don’t see is a sorry scene. Bourdain is a brilliant journalist. cropped-shelburne-falls-18_3_21-2

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Gang World

A recruited group of disaffected youth curried by a culture of violence coddled by a familial feeling of acceptance. That’s my definition. Global gangs. Al Qaeda kinda. ISIL definitely. No borders. No rules. Neglected kids confused by lack of identity and structure. Like those in the NFL? Inner city streets? Law enforcement? Blurred lines. A pervasive disease metastasizing.

It starts at home. Absent parenting. Role models condoning bad behavior. Institutional thuggery. Crimes defined as mistakes. Religious jihad guise. Generational danger. How do we wage a war on this? Airstrikes seem superficial.

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Crying Wolfowitz

Again. Texas Gov Rick Perry is joining the old NeoCons’ chorus warning another terrorist attack on our shores. Darth and Liz Cheney, Donny Rummy, Paulie Wolfowitz on every channel predicting (hoping for?) another 9/11. Those hijackers came from Afghanistan. Not Iraq. NeoCons broke it anyway under false pretenses. Now we are left with ISIS savages. Could they hit us here? Of course. Recruit from UK beheaded our poor journalist. But, it is beyond unseemly to hear these aging apologists lining up to say they told us so if it does happen.

Flashback. Rory hitting golf balls with Jimmy Fallon. Tiger acting as caddy. He didn’t look much different than the toddler on the Mike Douglas show years ago. No. Not Michael Douglas-Zeta Jones. Merv Griffin-era afternoon talk days. Yeah. I’m old. Bon weekend.

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Autumn in August

OK. It’s Fall. Low sun. Chill nights. Last roses. DSC_0016-1Goldenrod. Ragweed. Football. Matt Weiner previewing last 7 episodes of MadMen on Morning Joe. Kids going back to school. College. Whew. Porch-friendly summer. Lots of books. So.

Civilized communication exhumed in the heartland. Bloodless coup in Iraq. Todd takes over MTP from Gregory. No Curry-esque humiliation on-air. Another Sunday surprise. Holder nominated to replace Ginsberg on the Supreme Court? Tiger gives Watson cover. Takes himself out of Ryder Cup. Euro-year anyway.

photo-25Black cherry tomatoes. Neighbor’s novel garden treat.
Bon weekend.

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Crying Wolves

It is refreshing to have a President who understands that foreign policy no longer demands a knee-jerk military reaction. Obama comprehends the nuances of geopolitical regions, their diverse and entrenched cultures. Where did Maliki come from? He was living in Iran before he came into power in Iraq under the coveted Bush/Cheney ‘Democracy Doctrine’. Big surprise. He’s not a uniter!

Current polls reflect remnants of neocon fear-mongering. People are being fed the frenzy that post-9/11 terrorists are lurking around every corner. Of course, it could happen again. If it does, Cheney and his McCain, Graham, Kristol hawks will all yell in unison, “We told you so!”  In the meantime, how much more blood and treasure are we to expend? Enough already of crying Wolfowitz.

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Get Away

Maureen Dowd addresses the Cannes Lions about storytelling. Best and brightest global MadMen amass on the Côte d’Azur as the world wrestles with another blunder into Iraq. Could it be that Biden was right? PartitionStan. Hillary and Barack are holding Town Halls today. What will they say?

Joey3Sticks will play with the Yankees this afternoon. Yup. The Bronx Bombers, not the BoSox. World turned upside down?  Fargo finale and then… bringing an old SanFran friend’s novel to read on the beach. Clam Bar, Ho! À bientôt.

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Too Big Yet Failed

The Perfect Prey, The Fall of ABN AMRO, or What Went Wrong in the Banking Industry, by Jeroen Smit. I came across this book, written by a Dutch investigative journalist, by chance. After the recent tragic murder-suicide by former CEO Schmittmann was reported in the NY Post, I did some research as an ABN AMRO alum, and one of its former Managing Directors. I found the paperback and it read like a novel. Here is my Amazon review:

‘A stilted translation to English may be some of the reason for my 3 stars. But, the story was well told and compelling- the demise of a once prestigious global financial institution, ABN, which prided itself on being a member of each community it served in over 70 countries, rivaling only Citibank. When the corrupt AMRO merged with ABN, began le deluge. I became unwittingly embroiled in an unethical transaction with the saga’s central character, AMRO’s R. Groenink. A lot of the players are known to me from my tenure at the Bank in San Francisco and Boston in the 80’s and 90’s. Lex Kloosterman was my boss. After I retired, he went on to Fortis and was instrumental in the tale and ultimate sale. There is probably not a wide audience for this book. I would recommend it as an allegory- too big yet failed. A moral tragedy.’

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So Long Sochi

Bye bye. Sochi Games. February. Putin. Russia-Ukraine alliance. Won’t miss ya. MauDowd’s brilliant NYTimes column on leadership. Thoughtful Inaction vs. Thoughtless Action. Obama vs. Bush doctrines. Christie as future king.

Is Spring around the corner? Happy and positive prospect. mAdBen captured the sentiment from his mAd office window. Can MadMen7 be far behind?

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Kranky Kristmas 4

Delta Barcelona-JFK. Ceiling falls on lady’s head. Media screen broken. Wires dangling. 7-hour flight. Amtrak NY- Springfield. 40 minutes late. Nicked exciting end of Niners’ last game at the “stick”. They win. Yay.

Kristmas Eve lobster at JeanJean’s. Cuzins playing and singing. Priceless. IMG_0854

If you want to laugh out loud, read Delia Ephron’s A Christmas Manners Quiz. Happy Kristmas to all and to all a good night!

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Tales of Two Cities

In New York City, a homeless family’s life is chronicled in the Times. In Boston, an outcast Chechen family’s psychological unraveling is told in the Globe. Award-winning level of journalism. Better than any books I’ve read this year.

NY Times‘ series focuses on an 11-year old girl in Andrea Elliott’s exposé, “Invisible Child. Girl in the Shadows. Dasani’s Homeless Life”.  Named for the bottled water because it represented wealth, Dasani treads above the depths of an urban shelter. With many siblings and incompetent parents, Dasani at her young age keeps them all from drowning completely. She is miraculously smart and talented. It serves her well but also works against her as she feels responsible to keep her family afloat. Hard to predict whether her wits will be enough to escape the obstacles of their needs and her environment.

Boston Globe’s “The Fall of the House of Tsarnaev”, tells two stories of two brothers. I dubbed them at the time, Brothers KaramazOff, April 24, 2013. Boston Marathon bombers. A spiral of bad luck, degenerate genes, and failed dreams with a pinch of radical religion turn anger into terrorist violence.