The Case for a Civilian Court

Andrew Sullivan makes a very good argument for trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a New York civilian court. And I think he's right.

Whether we want to admit it or not, we've made some grave errors in prosecuting the war on terror over the last 8+ years. Seems to me that military tribunals would do nothing to repair our image abroad, nor our own feelings mixed though they are about the nation we've become.

Handling these terrorists in our own judicial system, which we claim is the best in the world, so close to where the horrific attack on US soil happened, is a powerful symbol. Sullivan's right to pit the calm, methodical, and fair process of an American court against the fear-based scramble to revenge that seems at the heart of the pressure (and yes fear mongering) of those who are pushing for military trials.

And he makes another good point that most will not want to acknowledge:

It will be a civic lesson to America and the world. It will show the evil of terrorism and the futility and danger of torture. It will be a way in which Cheney's torture regime can be revealed in all its grotesque excess at the same time as KSM's vile religious extremism is exposed for its murderous nihilism. That all this will take place in New York - close to where the mass murder took place - is a particularly smart touch.

The glow of the righteous victim is dulled when the victim's hand can be seen carrying out its own injustices. Those from the Bush administration fear civilian courts, perhaps even more than those to be tried do. And for good reason.

Just announced: Buddy Miller to play RX in-store Monday at 5:30!

I got to see Buddy Miller open for Emmylou Harris last night at the Egyptian. He put on a really great show. Most of the songs were he and an upright electric bass player, but Emmylou joined him for a surprise duet, and he played a handful of songs solo.

This man writes great songs, and it's a treat to see him in the lead role, especially along with getting to see him in lead guitar role in Harris' band. And it's a big coup for the Record Exchange to get him to do an in-store. Don't miss this one.

Built to Spill Plays KRBX Benefit

Here's the press release from the RadioBoise site. Note the new call letters--KRBX y'all! Get used to em.

Radio Boise to Present Built to Spill, Monday, Nov 23 at the VAC

On sale now

Local indie rock heavyweights Built to Spill will headline a concert at the Visual Arts Collective on Monday, Nov 23 to benefit efforts by Radio Boise to bring a noncommercial, community-based radio station to the Treasure Valley.

Built to Spill will play Boise for the first time since the recent release of their highly acclaimed seventh album, "There Is No Enemy". All proceeds will benefit Radio Boise's "89.9 Fund", established to purchase broadcasting equipment for the nonprofit organization.

Guitarist, Brett Netson, has been an advocate of the project for several years. Returning to Boise for a break after the band's most recent shows in San Francisco, he explained, "We have to do this. Not only is it a right, but it is a responsibility to use the airwaves that we as citizens do, in fact, own. You need this station because it will be yours! Community Radio will be the sound of us relating to each other and working things out...to have the opportunity to be who we are. It's about our identity. This is how we as a community stay strong. This is democracy."

Broadcasting on the internet at Radioboise.org for four years, Radio Boise is now seeking to raise $250,000 for their first year of terrestrial operations on 89.9 FM and to match federal grant funds for equipment purchases. The nonprofit organization has been authorized to broadcast using the FCC call letters "KRBX".

Also appearing on the bill for the benefit show will be J&L Defer (of Disco Doom), Beautician and Bales of Hey! Tickets are available at Visualartscollective.com

Logos

Since the release of Atlas Sound's new record Logos, I've been pretty much unwilling to concede iPod time to anything not directly related to Bradford Cox. Between this and the most recent Deerhunter EP, as well as the first Deerhunter record Cryptograms, which I've gone back and bought in light of Logos' awesomeness, I just can't make time for anything else.

I'm not sure what it is about his music, across these two projects, that's suddenly speaking to me. When Cryptograms first came out I liked what I heard but didn't really seek it out. Microcastle, their second full-length, is what woke me up, but not to this extent.

Now, though. The gorgeous, tinkly guitars, the hazy melancholy melodies, the incredible depth to his not-so-lo-fi-lo-fi, all of it adds up to a music that goes into and beyond any label you might apply. It's indie and psychedelic, but it's sunny pop and noise and freakfolk and ambient and shoegaze all at the same time.

The new songs reference girl groups and doo-wop as much as they do Animal Collective or, back further, the Beach Boys. The songs are sunny on the surface, but there's something sad and a little disturbing bubbling below the surface.

If you haven't yet, check out this guy's music. Microcastle might be a good place to start. Or, dive right in and get Let the Blind Lead Those Who See But Cannot Feel. Wherever you start, and whichever direction you go, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Stewart Nails Beck

The 11/3 Project

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

This is just too perfect.

Sully Defends Obama to Colbert

Andrew Sullivan

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

This is great stuff.

High Places

A new video from High Places for their new single, I Was Born. They get a bit adventurous here, both with the sounds laid over the beats, which are typically woozy and persistent, and with Mary Pearson's vocal range.

On Fox

A good piece in the WSJ about the sham that is Fox News. The piece focuses on delusions of media persecution of the type that the Fox douchebags live on. Money:

But no journalistic operation is better prepared to sing the tragedy of its own martyrdom than Fox News. To all the usual journalistic instincts it adds its grand narrative of Middle America's disrespectful treatment by the liberal elite. Persecution fantasy is Fox News's lifeblood; give it the faintest whiff of the real thing and look out for a gale-force hissy fit.

My New Year's resolution this year is already decided: To close the mental door on the poison of sham journalism and talk radio garbage, to not let Rushannitybeck into my consciousness, thereby becoming a happier, less frustrated human being. So, for now, I'm still thinking about it. Because soon I'll turn it off.

Boise Election Results

Looks like the good guys swept this one. Nice work, TJ.

National Novel Writing Month

It's National Novel Writing Month again. The premise is simple--write a novel, inside a month. Last year I wrote some but I didn't commit. This year I'd planned to commit, but now I'm on the verge of chickening out. I've got a lot going on to be able to churn out this kind of copy. And blah blah whine whine ppffbbbthththth.

What about Novella Month? Or Short Story Week And A Half? 50,000 words is a lot. But I will start today. Anyone else taking part in this lunacy?

Okay. I'm gonna try. I might need a support group for this one.

Take a Break

Here It Comes

The view from somewhere on the mountain to the lodge at Bogus. No stopping it now, I guess. One of these days I'll embrace it--though if this picture doesn't get me excited, I don't know what will.

Colbert on Lieberman

Joe Lieberman Is a True Independent

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Religion

Banh Mi

An embarrassment of riches, suddenly. We've got 2 places in Boise serving Vietnamese deli-style sandwiches. Pho Nouveau downtown, and now a place that's apparently called Baguette Deli Vietnamese Sandwiches.

Cathy just brought me the beef sandwich above, and it's delicious. Great baguette with a really nice slightly tacky crust, strips of pickled daikon, carrot, cucumber, and chile, cilantro on the stem, and grilled beef. Absent is the tons of mayo-y gunk standard at many of these places, which is okay, and the pate, which they were out of but I'm dying to try.

I've always complained at the lack of Vietnamese food here. No more!

Co-Opted Out?

Andrew Sullivan's got an interesting take on the opt-out public option about to make a splash in the Senate.

The genius of the opt-out is that it coopts the states' rights argument (just as ending the prohibition on marijuana does); it has the potential to make "liberalism' popular again; it has easily demonized opponents - the health insurance industry; and it forces Republicans not to rail against socialism in the abstract but to oppose actual benefits for the working poor in reality.

It's not my favorite plan, but I think he's right. On top of that, I have a hard time imagining that businesses or corporations would balk at setting up a new shop in a state that's opted out of the public option, when they could set up in a state that has it, relieving them of the sole burden of providing health insurance. What politician will want to be responsible for that?

This opt-out thing is looking smarter and smarter. So far, anyway.

Know Better Learn Faster

I feel like I've been a bit light on the music side of this blog for a while, so I vow to make a better effort at it. That's why I started this thing in the first place, so.

Thao Nguyen's new record is a great place to start. I sort of stumbled onto her first one by accident, and it was indeed a grower, the jittery folky rhythms, her strained and odd voice, the childishly insightful lyrics all brought me back for repeated listens and, in the end, big payoffs.

Know Better Learn Faster, though I wouldn't have said it on first listen, might even be better. A few days ago I'd have said it was good, but it didn't have any immediate killers like "Beat" or "Bag of Hammers," both great singles off the first record (We Brave Bee Stings and All).

But then I listened some more, and it's quite possible that the title track "Know Better Learn Faster" is her best song ever. The lyrics are urgent and meaningful if sparse, the repeated calls to do what the title says, for them to be "better than me" and me to do "better than you" seem to speak to the experience of advancing generations in America in a way that many of us fail to consider.

There are tons of gems to be mined from these songs, from the opening oddness of "Clap" and jangle of "Cool Yourself" to the grrr of "Fixed It!" and the wistfulness of ""The Give." And the more you listen, the better it gets. Her band, the Get Down Stay Down, are solid here, too, bringing more of the energy and force of the live show to this record.

The Public Option

I am not MoveOn's biggest fan. But this is a pretty good ad. We NEED the public option for health care reform to mean anything. This says why.

NY Times Cuts Newsroom Jobs

The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of the death of the newspaper.

The New York Times plans to eliminate 100 newsroom jobs — about 8 percent of the total — by year’s end, offering buyouts to union and non-union employees, and resorting to layoffs if it cannot get enough people to leave voluntarily, the paper announced on Monday.

It just gets worse and worse. I admit, I haven't subscribed to a print newspaper in many years. (I live in Boise, so the quality of the Idaho Statesman does give me an excuse, albeit a lame one. But that doesn't change the problem that, as physical papers continue to decline, what happens to the type of journalism they've long been home to?

The model is changing. We don't know yet what it'll change into, but let's hope Huffington Post and Drudge Report are not it.

Happy Friday

Andrew Bird + St. Vincent

This kind of thing is what's so cool about the ease of sharing media via the Interwebs. Andrew Bird and St. Vincent are touring together, and here we get a half hour of the two of them playing to a small group of people, in a small room, in France.