ghost of miles

Maybe that's part of why all three of those countries and 13 others (many of them European entities with similar social/political/cultural approaches) rank ahead of the U.S. in U.S. News and World Report's 2019 quality of life index: Best Countries Quality-of-Life Rankings

It's Massage Parlor Gate!!! But apparently she's just another victim of the "people who hate Trump." Plenty of nastiness there to delve into, involving sex slavery, human trafficking and the like, with some unpleasant underlying political implications. I wouldn't start a topic about it, precisely because of the ways in which it can be politically construed or used. But hey, there it is. We gotta spread the indignation and anger around, y'know! Yeah, my thoughts exactly, but quoth the Fox host, they're "the people who hate Trump." Plus attacking "Hollywood elites" has been part of the GOP playbook for decades now. (Despite the fact that the only "Hollywood elite" president we've ever truly had was Ronald Reagan.)

Fox host pins college admissions scandal on people who hate Trump Yeah, I said the current story is problematic, but the way it's been posted and emphasized here as an attack on "Hollywood do-gooders" is waaaaayyy out of proportion to the problems of higher education access. Why single out this particular scandal? And yeah, the budget passed was no thanks to Trump, that's for sure. There's far more going on and that HAS been going on to make "it even harder for average people to send their kids to college" than this. When I first enrolled at IU, almost 80% of the school's funding came from the state. Now it's down to 22%, 35 years later, but the state still wants to control how tuition rates are set, etc. IU's just one of many state colleges that have had to try to attract out-of-state and foreign students, who pay much higher tuition rates, to help make up the difference. Teachers at the lower levels still aren't paid adequately and school systems still aren't getting adequate funding, mostly because of the ideology that's best exemplified by Fox, Trump, Betsy DeVos, etc. Why do you think we're seeing teacher strikes all over the country? Here's a story right here in Indiana from earlier this week: Hundreds of teachers rally for better pay and school funding So you know, forgive me if I'm not seeing this as "College-gate" or what have you. Yeah, it's obviously wrong and the people involved should be punished. But "Hollywood do-gooders" (and how many of these folks, as others have pointed out, are even truly "Hollywood"?) aren't the primary reason why so many average Americans are struggling to get access to higher education. Whatever the propaganda wing of the current administration and those who support it would have you think. The whole problem of income inequality that ties into this another issue, one that's been getting worse for the past several decades, but if you think the current administration is doing anything to help that instead of worsen it, you're definitely watching a different channel than me.

So somehow this seems to be turning into a cudgel (judging from an idiot spouting things on Fox) to attack “elitists,” liberals, “do-gooders,” and “people who hate Trump.” Call me when we start working up some indignation over the folks who’ve attacked universities and the education system repeatedly over the past few decades, consistently cut funding at the state and federal level, called for or enacted cuts in financial aid, made it easier for the private sector to rip off students (see Betsy DeVos and current administration), and in general have made it much harder for average people to send their kids to college—that is, when they haven’t devalued the concept altogether, or perpetuated the notion that people who do attend and graduate from college are part of the “elite.” So yeah, this current story is certainly problematic, but it’s hardly the heart of the problem when it comes to access to higher education.

A question for fellow John le Carre fans on the board: over the years I've read The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (twice), recently finished the next two books in the Karla trilogy (The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People) and am now about 75 pages into A Perfect Spy. I also have Adam Sisman's recent biography of le Carre on order. What other le Carre novels would you recommend? And how is The Secret Pilgrim?

I get it at home, and it usually arrives on Friday or Saturday. So I guess it's been more than a couple of days... I'm in some kind of haze when it comes to time lately.

Yes, Remnick is great on Russia and the like, but the New Yorker might have been better off giving this assignment to Amanda Petrusich, based on what you've posted above. But I'll still check it out--looks like it's also in the print edition, which just arrived a couple of days ago.

Up again for Roy Haynes, still swinging at 94 today! Snap, Crackle and Swing: Young Roy Haynes

Starting tonight:

HBJ, here’s a whole Night Lights show about the film: The Subterraneans: Putting Beats And Jazz On The Big Screen Jsngry’s right, it’s *total* Hollywood, abysmally so, but also fun to watch, especially for Gerry Mulligan’s appearances as a hip saxophone-playing priest. The FilmScoreMonthly version of the soundtrack is well worth seeking out.

Kicking off the countdown to the Nat King Cole centennial with a new Night Lights program: Nat King Cole, Jazz Pianist Lots of trio sides, encounters with Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Les Paul, and Coleman Hawkins, plus selections from The Piano Style Of Nat King Cole, Penthouse Serenade, and After Midnight. Coming up later this week: “‘The Jackie Robinson of Television’: The Nat King Cole Show.”

Guess I’m not the only one with the Tristano bug:

Scott gives an update on the Herman set (still listed for June release) in today's Jazz Gazette: Many of you have pre-ordered The Woody Herman set of Decca, Mars and MGM sessions (1943-54) and we wanted to give you an update on the progress of the production of this box set. Because of the busy calendar that the Universal Music engineers have we are waiting the completion of the tape transfers of the MGM and Mars sides. The Library of Congress have had the lacquer and transcription discs transferred and a date has been set with our mastering engineer, Andreas Meyer, on March 10th. The booklet is coming along well in terms of both the liner notes and photos. We are pushing on all fronts and appreciate your patience. Thanks, Scott

Excellent! I was just listening last night to Far Away Lands, which will be a part of this set.

Yes, I’m very interested in it, actually, after hearing this interview with the author a few days ago on NPR.

Excellent article—Michael Cuscuna linked to it today as well on Mosaic’s homepage.

He also went on to kill Bambi's mother!!