As I sit down to write this diary, it’s been 103 degrees in Los Angeles for six days running.
The sky is yellow; the wind is hot; a fine white ash from distant brushfires has begun falling—like summer snowflakes—on cars left outside to broil in the sun.
The power grid has been pushed Read More
As the architect Mies van der Rohe once famously observed, “God is in the details.” But thanks to a recent decision by the Motion Picture Association of America, it now appears that God is widening his focus and getting involved with movie ratings.
No, this isn’t a case of the Almighty asking for script Read More
As the architect Mies van der Rohe once famously observed, “God is in the details.” But thanks to a recent decision by the Motion Picture Association of America, it now appears that God is widening his focus and getting involved with movie ratings.
No, this isn’t a case of the Almighty asking for script rewrites. Read More
F rom the A.P., May 8, 2006: “Iran’s leader has written to President Bush, in the first letter from an Iranian head of state to an American President in 27 years, a government spokesman said Monday. “In the letter, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes ‘new solutions for getting out of international problems.’”
Dear President Read More
From the A.P., May 8, 2006: “Iran’s leader has written to President Bush, in the first letter from an Iranian head of state to an American President in 27 years, a government spokesman said Monday. “In the letter, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes ‘new solutions for getting out of international problems.’”
Dear President Bush:
Long Read More
If you live long enough in New York, sooner or later you learn that no matter what you’ve got—no matter what status you hold—there’s always some guy waiting to trump you. It doesn’t matter whether or not you care. Because for him, that’s entirely beside the point: He’s always got some ace in the Read More
If you live long enough in New York, sooner or later you learn that no matter what you’ve got—no matter what status you hold—there’s always some guy waiting to trump you. It doesn’t matter whether or not you care. Because for him, that’s entirely beside the point: He’s always got some ace in the hole—some Read More
Dear Readers of The New York Times:
Recently, The Times— along with virtually every other American news organization—decided to show “sensitivity to Islam” by declining to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. At the time, some of you wondered: “What kind of slippery slope are we on here?”
With this column, I am prepared to Read More
Dear Readers of The New York Times:
Recently, The Times— along with virtually every other American news organization—decided to show “sensitivity to Islam” by declining to publish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. At the time, some of you wondered: “What kind of slippery slope are we on here?”
With this column, I am Read More
Let us begin this week with two recent items from the news. First there was NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, asking New York Times reporter-of-the-moment James Risen whether he had any information about the Bush administration eavesdropping on CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. In the journalism trade, this is known as “fishing.” Or, somewhat less charitably, “trying to get Read More
