'Despite the very positive critical attention,' Part II: Reader No. 1 on Boston music classics:

"Some of the comments on Charles' page got records I would have nominated... but let's not leave out:

"1- THE CAHS! Their first record (78) was way the best. (Hope the 'New Cars' don't wipe out good memories.)

"2- Aerosmith ROCKS (76), their best studio performances until HONKIN ON BOBO last year.

"3- VOICES CARRY by Til Tuesday (85), grim like all Aimee Mann, with that fab 80s sound.

"The problem with evaluating the great late 70s/early 80s scene is there weren't many albums and hardly any singles... just those radio tapes from 'MBR and 'BCN. We need more compilations like 'Mass Avenue' to capture stuff like "New Feeling" (Future Dads), "Like I Always Do," (Pastiche), and many many more...

"In the meantime, Fogeys like me will have to be content to wait for the new Mission of Burma on May 23rd and stumble upon great sites like this one.



'Despite the very positive critical attention': Charles has gone and done it, starting up yet another Boston Essential List, this time about Boston music. Who can resist? Very impressed with the names dropped in the comments section. Pousette-Dart was a good catch. Yet perhaps the simplest way to start compiling a Boston songs/lp list is to view the playlist from the great CD 'Mass. Ave.' -- The Atlantics, The Outlets, Del Fuegos, The Neighborhoods, Mission of Burma etc. -- and go from there. And, yes, Robin Lane and the Chartbusters were/are from Boston. They're on 'Mass. Ave.' too. ... They may have been a California band, but The Standells deserve status as honorary Bostonians due to 'Dirty Water.' ...

Update -- This might be cheating, but 'Ellington at Newport 1956' is one of the greatest live recordings of a jazz/big band concert ever. Rhode Island is a colony of Massachusetts, so I don't see why albums recorded in Newport shouldn't be included. But I know my mad geopolitical views are controversial and not shared by everyone. ...

Update II -- John has more. ...  ¶ 7:26 AM

'But please read my first three paragraphs': I like Christopher Hitchens. A lot. But he really has to stop arguing about three-year-old arguments. We could be going to war against Iran. A year or two away. Give or take. How about holding the administration's feet to the fire this time around? ...

Update -- The president downplays talk of possible military action as 'wild speculation.' But he doesn't deny plans are being prepared. ... His tone sounds more reasonable this time around -- which is good. He says he's keeping diplomatic options open -- which is also good. But they've still lost my trust. We'll see. ...

Update II -- Wise advice from David Ignatius. But will they listen? Have they reached the dreaded 'consensus' stage that leads to dismissing views outside their box?  ¶ 7:03 PM

'Massachusetts will fail': Reader No. 1 on the state health-care plan and my music post from yesterday:

"Common sense is in short supply. At least with regards to our new health insurance mandate - I had to find it on the pages of USA Today. Which will be the longer Republican legacy: the Reagan Revolution or Kinder Gentler Government?

"I had much to say on your recent roundup of Boston books and Boston rock, will send it along shortly. Speaking of the Nervous Eaters, the increasingly unpredictable WBOS 92.9 actually played the band's original 'Loretta' a couple of weeks back - yes, those call letters were WBOS, not WMBR."

Hub Blog's response -- I have very bad vibes about the health-care plan. They're already ratcheting up estimated premium costs -- and the program hasn't even been implemented yet. ... Following is a blatant theft of an imitation a friend did of the hypothetical reaction of Sal and Trav to the plan's recent front-page coverage in the NYT and WSJ. Picture Trav calling Sal:

Trav: Sal, did you you see the New York Times? We did it. That was us! We're big time!

Sal: Big time!

Hub Blog is eagerly anticipating the first 'Sal and Trav have grown in office' puff piece, marking a true convergence of the Hack-Progressive Alliance in all its splendor.  ¶ 9:13 AM

Clean sweep (almost): The street sweepers were out this morning and get a B+ for the first spring swipe on my Beacon Hill block (nine of 12 car spaces were vacant -- not good enough but acceptable). But the next block down: F. Not one car moved or towed. Whatever happened to the vaunted street-sweeping towing campaign? Oh forgot. The vow was made during an election year. ...



Rehearing a book: No, I'm not on Penguin's payroll, constantly praising Nathaniel Philbrick's soon-to-be released 'Mayflower' (I read an advance copy). But I do want to add that yesterday I listened, with my mother, to the first disc of the unabridged audio book of 'Mayflower.' Fantastic. I'm not a big fan of audio books. But this one is changing my mind. ...  ¶ 8:50 AM

'Preparing for the worst': It would be criminally negligent not to be planning for possible war with Iran. So I put some stock in Seymour Hersh's latest revelation about the administration's alleged militarily planning for a mullah showdown. But a couple random points: A.) Take what Sy says with a grain of salt. He has his own blindspots, one of them being a focus on the negative when it comes to the Bush administration (concentrating on the positive is not in his DNA) and B.) I now believe it was almost criminally negligent of the administration not to have adequately planned for a post-invasion Iraq. So I don't put it beyond the Bushies to screw this one up too. I have little faith they're exhausting non-military options and analyzing various consequences of different actions. Their own negative DNA pattern is to reach a 'consensus' and then criticize anyone who offers alternative views. ... FYI: The Times of London is also confirming military action is being contemplated, with sligtly different timetables and other details. ... Two encouraging words to describe events in nearby Iraq: Zalmay Khalilzad. I admire and trust the guy. If we succeed there despite the odds, Khalilzad will have earned much of the credit. Of course he only rose to the top after prior spectacular blunders by the administration. ...  ¶ 8:02 AM

'Just as the Judas Gospel doesn't...' Part II : The Volokh Conspiracy, which describes the media coverage of the Judas Gospels as 'appallingly stupid,' notes that a scholar last month predicted National Geographic's release of the manuscript would be timed with the opening of 'The Da Vinci Code' movie. ... The more I think about it, the more I suspect someone at NG must have read 'The Word' when devising the higly effective PR strategy for the Gospel of Judas. Life can't unintentionally imitate bad art to this degree. ... Sucker that I am, I'm still looking forward to reading 'The Lost Gospel,' for the relic's 1,800-year-old tale almost by definition has to be interesting. But I'm not buying the idea it tells a gospel truth. I can just imagine a wing nut in a cave long ago, jealously thinking about his more powerful theological rivals in Europe and muttering to himself, 'I'm going to get them!' -- and then scribbling away about how Judas was such a swell guy. ...  ¶ 8:39 AM

'Well I started the day off ...': Well I started the day off reading Steve Morse's rock-critic retrospective and ended up going down my own Hub music memory lane via Google, stumbling upon Boston Groupie News, complete with photos from the old Bunratty's (Bunratty's!!!), the Cantone's (ditto) and the Rat (ditto). They even have a where-they-are-now section and club playlists from the late 1970s. ... They missed a few of my old favorites (Mission of Burma, Human Sexual Response etc.). But getting in the Nervous Eaters was impressive. ... Separately, I also found: GonnaHitchARide.com. You gotta check out the haircuts.  ¶ 6:23 AM

'Just as the Judas Gospel doesn't ...' : OK, top this: Chicago's Ray Hanania links the 'Judas Gospel' to the Iraq War, Scooter Libby, President Bush and Dick Cheney. Note: Ray is modestly described as an award-winning journalist, columnist, quasi-Middle East expert and a 'standup comedian,' among other things. So maybe I'm missing something and this is meant to be a combination of light analysis and humor. But I don't think I'm missing anything: A.) Ray's not very funny and B.) It shows how he connects dots. ... I know of Ray from my cub reporter days out in Illinois. In case you can't tell, I haven't missed his work since leaving Illinois. ... BTW: I've actually gone out and bought a copy of 'The Lost Gospel.' As a Cafeteria Catholic and history buff, I find the whole subject of the Gospels fascinating. For all I know, Gnosticism is merely the forerunner of Scientology. Sounds plausible to me. ... Question: Didn't Judas immediately hang himself after the betrayal? Just wondering. Maybe he was keeping a journal. But the mere fact scholars found the document is cool and reveals much about early debates within a religion that shaped our world. ... BTW II: Got to tip my hat to the National Geographic folks for revving people up on the subject. Their PR campaign sure hooked me. I shelled out $27 for the damn book.

P.S. -- There's probably a great story behind how the National Geographic Society timed the announcement of the manuscript's 'discovery' and 'The Lost Gospel,' etc. Another case of life imitating art? In the novel 'The Word' -- granddaddy of 'The Da Vinci Code' -- the plot centers around an evil cabal of scholars, German book publishers and a PR expert hired to manage the release of a newly discovered biblical document. ...  ¶ 8:28 AM

'Full-throated and at times gleeful gossip': Oooooo. A gossip scandal about a gossip column. Can't get any better than this. ... The Daily News is all over it, predicting doom for Rupe. The NYT, after performing a near self-parody of its own self-importance ('Alex S. Jones, the director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, estimated that ...'), eventually gets into the swing of things. Meanwhile, the NY Post pounds its chest that it fearlessly 'broke' the story about itself on its web site yesterday. ... What should have been the first clues of scoundrel scandal to come: Jared Paul Stern wears a bow tie and spells out his middle name in his byline (see Daily News link). ... P.S. -- He also wears a fedora.

Update -- Dan's got more.  ¶ 8:00 AM

'Sometimes I even change my mind': So next time I make a compelling argument, remember it's OK to concede defeat and change your mind to conform to my opinion. ...  ¶ 8:26 AM

'Hazing, high dropout rates and other problems': An early warning sign that an institution is dysfunctional is the promotion or toleration of hazing. The State Police did both. Therefore no one should be surprised about the findings in this report. ...  ¶ 7:47 AM

'Should not feel bad about helping people': I submit that within this article lies the reason for why so many people despise journalists. ... I know there are professional lines journalists shouldn't cross. But sacrificing one's humanity for the sake of a job isn't one of them. ...

Update -- Via conversations about this post, I've been asked to elaborate a bit more. Let me make it simple: Is there any other profession that seriously debates the 'ethical' issue of saving a young child's life by handing over pocket change? The mere fact this discussion even takes place says so much about the bankruptcy of the 'objectivity' goal within MSM, whose unelected high priests of ethicism are literally sucking the life out of journalism. Do I make myself clear?  ¶ 9:39 AM

And don't forget ...: Sorry for the light blogging. My life has been a little hectic lately. But when Dan started his Essential Boston Reading List, well, I had to chime in, along with Chris, Charles and Adam. I, too, would make Common Ground top-of-the-list mandatory reading. And I hereby second Dan's nomination of George V. Higgins' The Friends of Eddie Coyle in the fiction category. My additions to any Essential Boston Reading List would include:

The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor. A fictional look at James Michael Curley and the Irish-Yankee battles of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Key to understanding Boston politics.

Black Mass by Gerard O'Neill and Dick Lehr. Until I read and render final verdict on Howie's Brothers Bulgers, this remains my top book on Whitey, the mob and politics in Boston. First read Black Mass and then Friends of Eddie Coyle. You'll appreciate how brilliant and perceptive Higgins was decades before Zip et gang began unintentionally imitating art.

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick. Just came out. Already a mini-classic in my view. Fills in so many historical gaps that I wasn't clear about before: just who were the Puritans and the Pokanokets and their sachem Massasoit? What sparked King Philip's War and what exactly happened? It's all here.

Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fischer. Fischer shows how Henry Wadsworth Longfellow had it right and the revisionists have it wrong. Revere was a common-man hero in his time and deserved to be rescued from obscurity by Longfellow. Fischer's description of the events of April 19, 1775 is awesome.

Now We Are Enemies by Thomas J. Fleming. Read this after reading Paul Revere's Ride. Bunker Hill was an epic showdown with long-term ramifications for both Americans and the British during and after the Revolution.

All of these books, in my opinion, give rich details and hints about the character of Boston and Bostonians. ... A big thanks to Dan for getting the ball rolling on Essential Boston Reading.

Update -- Correction: Philbrick's Mayflower won't come out until May. I read an advance copy delivered to the Herald. You can pre-order it here.  ¶ 7:40 AM

The plot thickens, Part II: One can always count on the archdiocese of Boston to prolong a story's life. ... Slate has a good summary of l'affaire gesture. ...  ¶ 9:38 AM

The plot thickens: The Herald is just loving the Antonin Scalia story. I haven't a clue what the 'gesture' means in Italian. The 'gesture' is being expertly analyzed and debated over at Dan's site. But my question is: What does ‘Vaffanculo’ mean, assuming it was indeed muttered by the justice, as asserted in today's gripping saga update? I googled the word and came up with this. ... I can't and won't print its definition on my family friendly Hub Blog. I won't! ... And, BTW, I work for that paper.  ¶ 8:48 AM

'Assassin's Gate': Amid a lot of craziness in my life these days, I finally finished 'Assassin's Gate.' The second to last chapter is superb, with Packer following a grieving father who tries to make sense of the death of his son in Iraq. Packer interweaves the tale with the abstract war-related rants of bloggers, pundits and politicians. He has little tolerance for those who only want to hear about successes in Iraq -- or don't want to hear about successes in Iraq. ... I plan to buy 'Cobra II,' but don't know when I'll read it. I'm a little overdosed on Iraq right now. ...  ¶ 8:43 AM

Of Card and celery: I agree Andrew Card probably won't run for governor this year. But I wouldn't be totally shocked if he threw his hat in the ring. He has politics in his blood. ... Most likely scenario if he ever runs for local office: He makes a mint lobbying and then uses celery as a wedge issue against 'JK.' ... P.S. -- The Card/Romney angle in the BMG comments section is also intriguing. ...  ¶ 7:21 AM

'Unflattering spotlight,' Part II: Mike Brown apparently took a step closer last night to becoming an almost cult TV/radio figure. I had a hunch he was headed in this direction. ... If Peter Blute, Ollie North and G. Gordon Liddy could do it, Mike can do it. ...  ¶ 7:15 AM

'Fukuyama has willy-nilly outlined,' Part II: Reader No. 1: 'I read Berman, but prefer this analysis by Niall Ferguson.' ...

Update -- Charles Krauthhammer goes after Francis, big time. Fukuyama isn't looking too good at this point. ... Now I'm not even sure if he supported the war or not. ... As I said the other day, a lot of ass covering going on. ...  ¶ 7:25 AM

The ongoing Prohibition, Part II: John makes a good catch: They're now thinking of raising the age for driver licenses from 16 1/2 to 17 1/2. My take is roughly the same as it applies to youthful drinking: Don't prohibit it. Does anyone really think there's a fundamental difference between 16 year olds and 17 year olds? Wouldn't raising the age only lead to most kids getting their licenses only a few months before they head to college -- reducing their mentoring time with parents? If parents are so worried about their kids driving, here are simple solutions: Don't let them get a license or don't give them the damn car keys. ... Perhaps they should implement certain common-sense rules: No teen driving at night without an adult until 17. Etc. But, really, raising the age by one measly teen year is not the answer -- and it will just cause more problems. If you live in a college town, you should be worried about this bill. Think all those kids with only six months or so of driving experience bombing bombed around campus. ...

Update -- A reader bumped into me and noted he had read the post above. Basically, he agreed with my point that we're taking away responsibilities from teens, as well as valuable mentoring time from parents. But he noted that states don't have effective control over drinking ages thanks to the federal government and that "we need to do something" about teen drinking and driving. ... I completely agree with the desire to do something. But it just doesn't strike me as a good idea to reduce the time parents have to drill good driving habits into teens before they leave the nest. ...  ¶ 8:53 AM

'Mommies talk trash': Why the Internet is so fun. ... Via Adam.



'Somebody had to pay': Mike O'Connell is gone as the Bruins' GM -- and he deserved to get tossed, I suppose, considering recent desperate trades and the bungled post-strike rebuilding. ... But we all know what the problem is -- or should know. I'm not a big Bruins fan. But I'm old enough to remember when the Bruins ruled this town. Bruins fans waited 29 long years before Bobby Orr et gang finally brought home a Stanley Cup in 1970. How many years has it been since the last Bobby Orr Stanley Cup? It's now 35 years -- and counting. How many years has Jeremy Jacobs owned the team? Thirty-one years. Sooner or later you have to stop blaming coaches, GMs, presidents, arch rivals and curses. The best thing that happened to the Red Sox was finally being rid of the last vestiges of the Yawkey regime. The Bruins are still stuck with their own long-term drought regime. ...  ¶ 7:59 AM

'Fukuyama has willy-nilly outlined ...': Here's a very good review by Paul Berman of Francis Fukuyama's new book 'America At The Crossroads.' I somewhat admire Fukuyama, who was skeptical about Iraq before the war. But Berman, a 'liberal hawk,' does a good job punching holes in Fukuyama's seemingly never-ending grandiose quest to come up with an overarching way to approach history. ... Strangely, I think I've found a new label for myself: Wobbly Liberal Hawk. Berman, author of 'Power and the Idealists,' is also very critical of the administration's post-occupation planning, or lack thereof, and rightly zings pre-invasion conservatives for belittling Clintonian nation-building when everything before the invasion pointed to America undertaking a huge post-invasion nation-building challenge. But I'm hypocritically harping on pre-war matters. So I'll end it here. ... Unrelated to Iraq: A fine essay on Dwight Macdonald. But it is about an intellectual journey -- something many of us have been on since 9/11. (Macdonald essay via Andrew Sullivan.)  ¶ 7:19 AM

Fire! ... Fire! ... Fire! Part III: Thanks to those who wrote in and even offered to help with the clean up. I have classy friends and readers. But the damage isn't bad at all -- I've had to throw out curtains, two rugs, a foot rest, a bunch of bad books and my sofa is now officially on mold watch. I was distracted yesterday by other family events. But after a good final round of sweeping, dusting and mopping later today, the apartment should be fine by evening or tomorrow morning. ...  ¶ 7:09 AM

'A 24-year-old blogger ...': Besides the serious plagiarism issues, what I find depressing about the entire Ben Domenech affair is how the WashingtonPost.com tried to turn political blogs into an online version of Crossfire. ... On the left. ... On the right. Etc. ... They treated debate like it's a formula. WaPo may be way ahead of other major media outlets in understanding the Internet. But with Red State, they were stale and very MSM. The other thing that struck me was Domenech's youth. So young to have such hard beliefs. The same applies to freshly minted young lefties. Young ideologues are coming out of universities, political think tanks and publishing houses like widgets ...  ¶ 10:38 AM

Fire! ... Fire! ... Fire! Part II: The fire didn't cause quite as much damage in my apartment as originally thought. A day or two of cleaning should do it. But, man, the apartment upstairs. What a mess. ... The neighbor who annoyed everyone last night -- "when is the electricity going back on?" -- is still in an indignant mood. ... And, yes, BC still lost.  ¶ 9:38 AM

Fire! ... Fire!...Fire!: There was a fire in my apartment building tonight while I was away. Seriously. Somewhat minor damage to my abode. Hole in my ceiling. Water dripping in the front room. Sofa's a wreck. Water on my floor. Door kicked in by firefighters. Smoke damage minimal but annoying. Most importantly: My horrible CD collection was put out of its misery -- forcing me, hopefully, to buy a new iPod (and Carpundit, you're not the last to be an iPod retro dunce). (My computer, obviously, was spared). ... I was very lucky. I know it. Thank God no one was hurt. ... Less lucky was the Boston College men's basketball team, which I was watching two blocks away at the time. ... Anyway, where was I? Yeah. Right. Fire. Well, I learned that Darwinian instincts take over after a minor (and, I assume, a major) fire. The Boston Fire Department was awesome: professional, polite, down to earth, etc. Can't say enough how classy and friendly they were. They were all but finishing up duties when I arrived home after the BC game with high hopes of flicking on a late-night war movie and passing out in peace. ... But my neighbors ... whoa! I had one who visited me and assumed, temporarily, I was the fiend who started the fire. She seemed upset when I told her that I just got home and that the fire department concluded the fire started one or two floors above me. She stormed away, muttering something about insurance. Then there were the other neighbors who ... never mind. Everyone cooled down. ...  ¶ 11:50 PM

'Chef -- we love you': I'm not a big fan of 'South Park,' but I've thoroughly enjoyed the Chef controversy. Here's a funny article that lovingly summarizes the Wednesday show in which the producers knock off poor Chef. ... And it's also more proof WaPo is on a roll. ...

Update -- Well, maybe WaPo is not on that big of a roll. ... Ben Domenech resigns. ...  ¶ 11:27 AM

Heh! ... Ha! ... Take that!: They're ... still ... harping ... on ... the pre-war arguments for going to war. ... I like Vanya's comments in the first link. ... Question: Do you think the debate over the pre-war debate would be occurring now if things were going better in Iraq? Just asking. ... A lot of ass covering is going on. ...

Update -- It's official: Charles Krauthammer has given permission to use the words 'civil war' when describing Iraq. ... I assume this means we can also still use the word 'insurgency,' last year's forbidden description before reality took hold. ... Actually, Charles' column is quite good and the best argument I've read yet for sticking it out. What's annoying are those still arguing over pre-war arguments while not looking at the realities on the ground today. Oh, I forgot. The media is distorting events. Things are going just swell in Iraq. ... Riiiight.  ¶ 8:24 AM

'Spend an entire afternoon laughing,' Part II: Won't you help? Hub Blog, Armchair Gen. Savin Hill and now John eagerly look forward to our first sighting of 'Nordic skipping' in Boston. But I can't find a photo of a Nordic skipper on the web. I can find Nordic walkers. But not Nordic skippers. Won't you help? If you find one, please send it along. Thank you. ... Also, Hub Blog is mulling the establishment of an official Nordic Skipping Hotline so we can all stay in touch about the first sighting of a Nordic skipper in Boston. Don't you think we should all share in the laughs? Please help. ... P.S. -- I was once lounging in a hotel lobby in beautiful Douala, Cameroon, when all of a sudden there appeared a guy decked out in a full 'I'm going on Safari' khaki outfit, complete with a Boy Scout-like troopmaster hat and canteens. Everyone in the lobby had to stifle a laugh. One cynic blurted out, 'He looks like Daktari!!' And the laughter just grew. Poor guy. First trip to Africa. Everything he knew about Africa came from TV -- and he dressed the White Man part to the hilt. ... I know, I know. It's a terrible story of humiliation. But I never laughed so hard. AND THAT'S WHY I WANT TO SEE A NORDIC SKIPPER!! ... P.S.P.S. -- The scary part of the Daktari hotel incident: It could have been me! The get-up I initially wore on my first trip to Africa wasn't that far off from Daktari. .... P.S.P.S.P.S. -- Do you remember Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion? Now there's a blast from the past. ...

Update -- Full confession time: Before going to Africa, I almost bought an official Safari vest. ... I so much wanted to play the part. ... FYI: The first safari I went on was in a beat up Cadillac convertible. I kid you not. At first I was soooooo disappointed it wasn't a Land Rover. But I ended up loving bombing around in that Caddy. As they say, Africa isn't like the Africa you see on TV. ...  ¶ 6:52 AM

'Spend an entire afternoon laughing': Forget 'Nordic walkers' (see post below). Armchair Gen. Savin Hill is eagerly awaiting his first sighting of 'Nordic skipping':

"I've seen 'Nordic walkers' even on Savin Hill. But in the article, a fitness director refers to variations on Nordic walking including 'Nordic skipping'. When Nordic skipping becomes the next big craze, I want to be sure someone tells me so I can dig out my binoculars and stake out a spot in the nearest park where I can set up my folding chair and cooler. I'd love to spend an entire afternoon laughing."



How Valentine's Day was started: Reading this piece about 'Nordic walking' brought to mind how Valentine's Day, as we now know it, was commercially invented by the greeting-card and chocolate industries. But at least Valentine's Day had a real history before it was commercialized. 'Nordic walking' has zero history pre-commercialization. ... Anyway, what's 'Nordic walking'? Why, it's, well, walking with a walking stick. Or actually two walking sticks. But now you get to buy special Nordic-walking ski poles, Nordic-walking shoes, Nordic-walking tight-fitting spandex pants and fleece, and, perhaps, one day, if we're really lucky, special Nordic-walking hats with cute wool tassels. The yuppies are going to lap this up. ... Nothing against walking. I like walking. ...  ¶ 7:37 AM

'What proceeds is pure lampoonery': Another look at 'The BC' spoof of Fox's 'The OC.' ... The mere premise is enough to make you laugh: Boston College students and jesuits adopting a rough-around-the-edges BU student. ...  ¶ 5:52 AM

As if on cue ...: Mark yesterday wrote about fans' new appreciation of hard-headed business practices by sports team owners -- and sure enough the Sox two hours later traded Bronson Arroyo, who recently signed a home-town discount in order to stay in Boston. Arroyo's fate will be used in the future as Exhibit A on why players shouldn't sign sentimental below-market contracts: It simply makes them attractive trade bait. ... The Sox' treatment of Bronson aside, I do love this hard-headed trade. We have a new Mo in town! ...



'The folly of using massive force': Excellent story in yesterday's WSJ (sub. req.) about American generals reading up on how to fight an insurgency. Only question: Why weren't they doing this earlier? Some quick answers: A.) the words 'insurgency' and 'guerrilla warfare' were all but banned at the Pentagon during the early stages of the insurgency because they were in denial about its existence (and don't forget how some bloggers angrily criticized the media for daring to use the word 'insurgency') and B.) the military, incredibly, all but banned routine study of how to fight insurgencies in the decades leading up to the war. ... They were still arguing over the big-vs.-small military issue in the summer of 2004 (sorry for all the question marks in that archived post; must be some typo quirk in blogger). ... The Pentagon's inability to grasp that sometimes you need a big army and sometimes you don't is simply depressing. For many, it has to be an either-or proposition.  ¶ 7:55 AM

'The world should not falter': Inspiring words from a guy who admits mistakes and sounds like he knows what he's talking about. ... Time is what he needs more than anything at this point. We ought to give it to him. ...  ¶ 7:52 AM

The secret Brahmin rollback plot?: If there's one ethnic group in this city that doesn't need an anti-discrimination league, it's ... Never mind. It's just Ray. ... Didn't Ray say roughly the same thing about Catholicism after the sex-abuse scandal broke? ... Via John.



World Baseball Classic - A Success, Part II: The South Koreans really wanted to pummel Japan. Defeating the U.S. was just a practice round. ...  ¶ 6:50 AM

Yum, yum, yum: The best pre-made Tikka Masala sauce is available at local stores listed here. ... I had it last night. Delicious. Next time I'm adding a dash of Cayenne Pepper. Just a dash. ...  ¶ 8:07 AM

'History is a bigger picture': Lots of Iraq Third Anniversay pieces today. Too many. I'll try to sum some of them up. ... Rummy's right: History really is a bigger picture. So today he comes across as a full-fledged democratic nation builder arguing against early withdrawal -- when only three years ago he was undermining attempts to plan for post-invastion democratic nation building and pushing for an early withdrawal. That's the bigger picture of Rumsfeld. ... George Will, who has been admirably skeptical over the past three years: "(R)egarding Iraq, accentuate the negative and eliminate the positive -- that is, emphasize the dangers of failure and de-emphasize talk about Iraq's becoming a democracy." Note: Rummy is doing both. ... Editorials are falling along their usual fault lines. ... Protesters are too. ... The best revealing analysis of President Bush from a gent in Indiana: "That New Orleans situation just piled it on top of the Iraq War." Katrina really exposed this administration as being more than capable of botching responsibilities. The American people made a connection. The president has never fully recovered from the heck-of-a-job Brownie comment. ...

... And, ah, there are those still debating the pre-war debate. AS is trying to show he really and truly exhibited skepticism at an early stage. Meanwhile, those who dismissed the importance of WMD after no WMD were found are now sifting through documents to try and prove there really were WMD. Go figure. ... The Left is still trying to prove they like soldiers. ...

And that's about it. Oh, right. Moi? I was a consistently inconsistent Wobbly Warrior going into the war (check out archives to right) who believes George Will is right: It would be a disaster to leave Iraq in the state it's now in. I don't know how Iraq is going to turn out. I've gotten a lot of things wrong in the past. But I do know the odds for success could have been higher if there had been a little less cheerleading and more hard-headed realism heading into the war. ...  ¶ 7:24 AM

'The stereotypes about manliness': Harvard prof Harvey C. Mansfield's new book 'Manliness' gets quite a trashing in the NYT. Though I suspect without reading the book that it's not all that good, the outright dismissal of Mansfield's arguments by reviewer Walter Kirn reminded me of that old Harvard elephant in the room: Larry Summer's comments about gender differences. ... I guess there are certain topics you're just not supposed to tackle, clumsily or not. Still a lot of readers, one of whom identifies himself as a student of Mansfield, give the book good reviews in the Amazon comments section. ...

Update -- Reader No. 1:

"You guess there are 'certain topics you're just not supposed to tackle?' Also, why do think Mansfield's book is not all that good without having read it? Here's an interesting sampler from a few years back. There's a thoughtful review of Mansfield's book by Janet Daley in today's WSJ of the same title. (Sorry no link, it's paid.) Daley takes the author seriously, unlike Kirn's review, which I would submit as Exhibit A as to why elites aren't taken seriously by folks outside of their circle."

Response -- Sometimes you just have a gut instinct you won't like a book. ... I had a similar gut reaction to 'American Vertigo,' which I hoped would be good but got confirmation pans from people whose opinions I respect (see 'padding out a term paper'). ...  ¶ 7:56 AM

'To DeWalt, a ponytailed musician ...': That's it. Vermont is out of New England! Granted, I'm no fan of George Bush either. But I need a provocation to launch what I've always dreamed of launching: Establishment of Greater New England. ... Here's the final deal:

-- New England cedes everything west of the Connecticut River (click on map) to New York. OK, so we lose the Berkshires. But we also unload Vermont and western Connecticut (i.e. New Haven) to New York.

-- New England in turn gets the wink-wink nod from New York to invade southern Quebec and finish the job once and for all. We took Montreal once, we can take it again. They'll be throwing flowers in the streets when we get there!

-- New England is also ceded rights to the Canadian Maritime Provinces, as well as possibly Bermuda.

But, of course, all of this is not without dominos-falling peril. Think of it:

-- Pennsylvannia will absolutely freak out when New York takes over western Old New England and, naturally, New Jersey, as is its sphere-of-influence right. So PA will have to strike to take Delaware and Maryland, which are also within its sphere-of-influence rights.

-- But that will galvanize the sleeping southern giant of Virginia, which undoubtably will retake W. VA and perhaps large portions of the Carolinas, in addition to probable hefty parts of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Etc., Etc., Etc. The redrawn Eastern Seaboard map: Greater New England to the north is finally established and the Florida Problem to the south is finally solved by a takeover by Georgia, assuming Georgia wants Florida.

P.S. -- Some people may think I'm mad. But I think this plan makes an awful lot of sense.  ¶ 6:18 AM

World Baseball Classic - A Success: What were the first World Series showdowns like? What about the first World Cup tournaments? I suspect they attracted only modest attention and only grew in popularity over time. I hope the same happens with the World Baseball Classic. I wasn't overwhelmed by the first-ever WBC. But I did enjoy following the games -- and I was impressed with the U.S. team's gracious attitude in defeat. ... I knew the Latin American countries were going to be good. But I've been pleasantly surprised how well the Koreans and Japanese have played. More Asian players in MLB, please! ... And how about them Eagles?  ¶ 8:31 AM

'Is Boston Becoming a Better Place?' Part II:
OK, so it's not a 'local hole-in-the-wall' diner. But a 'franchised hole-in-the wall' IHOP in Harvard Square is better than no late-night drunk hole-in-the-wall in Harvard Square. So maybe there's hope yet for Harvard Square. ... The discussion about whether Boston is becoming a better place partly centers, I think, on the loss of original locally owned stores, restaurants, bars and coffee houses, etc. That's a national -- and even global -- problem. ...  ¶ 8:50 AM

'Unflattering spotlight': Mike Brown is back in the news. ... Why do I have this strange feeling he's going to become a reality-TV or radio talk show success? ...  ¶ 7:08 AM

'The ugliest dog contest': I just thought it was funny. ...  ¶ 6:59 AM

'Is Boston Becoming a Better Place?': Chris has an interesting discussion going on over whether Boston is becoming a better place. He thinks not. I tend to agree with him. Boston seems to have hit a stagnation phase of some sort. But putting it into historical context, the city has come so far in the past three decades or so. Perhaps a little stagnation and backsliding is inevitable. ... I like the Florence-Milan comparison. But my own city-to-city formulation (usually used as a club to beat down annoying clowns comparing the Hub to NY) is: Boston is to New York as Edinburgh is to London -- the two shouldn't be compared and I'll take the comparison to Edinburgh any day. ... One thing I'd like to see improved: Our manners. Our Yankee pessimism and testiness can be strangely endearing, but it also seems to have intensified in recent years. ...



Mike Wallace, the human work machine: Mike Wallace is retiring from '60 Minutes.' He's 87 years old. Say what you will about Mike's career or dyed hair, I don't think there's a younger or healthier looking 87 year old around. ... And he's from Brookline. ...  ¶ 7:47 AM

'Among them ...': Maybe Bryon Calame should suggest that Times reporters take crash Conservativism 101 courses from their conservative-beat colleagues. William F. Buckley Jr. is most certainly not a 'neoconservative,' as the story says. ... I found similar problems in George Packer's 'Assassin's Gate,' which admirably tries to explore the intellectual underpinnings of the war in Iraq. While acknowleding more than a few movement zigzags from Jeane Kirkpatrick to William Kristol, Packer still tries to make neoconservativism into a coherent whole that it's not. 'Neoconservative' has to be the most poorly applied label in American politics today. ...  ¶ 7:41 AM

Not Adam, please not Adam: Perhaps it's a bluff, but the Pats would dearly miss Adam. ... Bill Simmons rediscovers the NBA via Paul Pierce. ...  ¶ 11:40 AM

But was it in the South End?: Another day, another shooting. ... Check out BPD News. How do you stay on top of all these shootings without more cops? Last count: seven in 24 hours.  ¶ 10:37 AM

Whitey, Whitey, Whitey!: Ah, the mysterious third book. It's by Patrick Nee. ... Why all the books now on Whitey? I suspect Nee's and Week's books were deliberately timed for release with Howie's more anticipated 'Brothers Bulger'. No big surprise. Makes publishing sense. ... Pundit Review has Howie on tonight after '60 Minutes.' ...  ¶ 8:22 AM

Reilly recovers?: The poll sounds right in that a Reilly rebound was to be expected. But the size of his lead over Patrick doesn't feel right. Just a hunch. ...

Update -- John Kerry was in New Hampshire yesterday while Mitt allegedly did well in a straw poll designed soley for projecting an image of momentum. Bottom line: It's early. ... Two Bay State presidential candidates. Kind of incredible, early or not. And, yes, Kerry's a candidate because he's been a candidate all his life. ...  ¶ 8:16 AM

Hub Blog and the grassy knoll: Yes, I admit it! I briefly used to be a JFK conspiracy buff. I snapped out of it a long time ago, after watching Walter Conkrite and others demolish most conspiracy theoriests' assassination arguments. But I still admire Oliver Stone's 'JFK' movie, which was on TV last night. Artistically, it's an amazing film that flashes back and forth between years, characters, events, acting and newsreels -- and doesn't miss a beat in its storytelling narrative. Say what you will about Oliver Stone, he's a brilliant director (his paranoia and Alexander the Great aside). ...



Speaking of JFK: The Vietnam conference yesterday at the JFK Library held few storyline surprises. 'Looking back, looking forward' seems to have been the inevitable yawn-inducing journalistic narrative, i.e. Vietnam and Iraq. ... And speaking of Iraq, see post below. ...

Update -- More here and here. ...



'Deterrence by doubt': This is a terrific story. But, far be it for humble Hub Blog to say, I think it buried the lede: Saddam telling his shocked generals he didn't have any WMD only months before the war. Many things to take and surmise from this: A.) It appears the regime would have used WMD if they had them, based on the Iraqi generals' morale-shattering disappointment when told the shelves were bare B.) Some of the WMD evidence used by the Bush administration was actually evidence of Saddam cleaning up his WMD. C.) Colin Powell's presentation before the UN was so convincing, that many Iraqi generals who were secretly told there were no WMD actually began to think Saddam was lying about WMD. ... Of course, I fell for the presentation too. ...  ¶ 7:32 AM