The here and now... and what and why

Complacency is a trap. At least that’s what I was thinking when I up and left the comfort of a Yankee prep school gig, where I taught music, amongst other things, for 28 years. There was also that life long career as a composer, musician and artist.

First, it was a year in St. Thomas, USVI, working as a reporter and shooting photography and then, a year in San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Time passed.
More time passed and a year back in the Athens of America followed by a hasty return to Oaxaca where it is all happening.
A couple of years in San Sebastian Etla and now, just down the road in San Pablo Etla. Life is good.

Click on an image to see it larger.
For additional photography please visit my flickr page.
You can find my music on Jango (World & latin - Worldbeat) and at iTunes and most online stores.
¡Soy consciente de todas las tradiciones del Internet!
If you are coming to Oaxaca, please contact me for tours or advice.

Santo Domingo

Santo Domingo
The view from Corazon del Pueblo

The hereafter re me

My photo
Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
Musician, photographer, videographer, reporter, ex-officio teacher, now attempting to be a world traveler

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The state of the 4th estate


I am sitting here on a beautiful morning with the sun pouring over the mountains. There are more fire crackers than normal. Why? Is today something special? Coltrane is on the stereo blowing "Giants Steps." Now, there is a story, but really....

Sometimes one has to wonder what is going on in El Norte. I always like to transpose the problems the US faces onto a different country, say like, Russia, Honduras or France. Of course the media help spin how we might view the situation in each of those countries. Health care in France? Waging war by Russia? The democratic process in Honduras?

So what is the press fixated on? Global warming? Afghanistan? Unemployment? No, of course not. It is Tiger and Desiree.

If you don't know the Daily Howler by Bob Somerby or Digby's Hullabaloo, please check them out. Somerby is an unrelenting critic of the media and castigates both the right and left equally. Digby just calls them as she sees them. I enjoy reading both.

So here's what Somerby said today.

WHAT DIGBY SAID: Especially after Sunday’s New York Times, we’ll go with what Digby said last week about the Salahi blather:

DIGBY (12/2/09): The other day I mentioned that the Villagers were ginning up a scandal over this party crasher story that would eventually require the resignation of someone in the White House. It's not about security. They really can't be bothered with such trivia. But God help anyone who presumes to ignore the approved social pecking order. One simply does not presume to attend events which are confined to Very Important Villagers and someone must be sacrificed on the altar of Sally Quinn lest the entire social order be threatened.

“The Obama White House is finding out just how sharp their claws can be,” Digby wrote. That was before Maureen Dowd’s broken-souled Sunday column. To our ear, Dowd’s column suggests that a larger problem may be brewing than the one Digby foresaw.

Before we look at Dowd’s sorry piece—the Times should be ashamed for printing such drivel—let’s consider what a slightly more rational world would be like.


It is well worth the read. He even quotes Bob Zimmerman, I mean Dylan. He says it better than I could. So does Digby.

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