Posts Tagged ‘Saudi Arabia’
February 14, 2017
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! While I don’t have a specific Valentine, I do have many people to whom I would like to send Valentine’s greetings. Consider them sent.
This is a day devoted to love.
Unless you live in Saudi Arabia where celebrating Valentine’s Day could get you into a whole lot of trouble.
When I was in grade school, we always sent everyone else in our class a Valentine’s Day card. Years ago, I stumbled upon a cache of them and smiled at our cursive, much struggled over. Now they don’t even teach cursive writing, which seems a shame. Handwritten letters are such a joy to receive in this day of electronic communication.
At this minute, I am sitting on the deck outside my room at Selera Dunia, the little hotel on Saba where I am ensconced for the next few days. It is owned by a Dutchman, Hemme, and his wife, and their raison d’être seems to be making me happy. YES! I’m all for that.
It is decorated lavishly with objects they have brought back from their sojourns abroad, mostly from Indonesia but beneath me, I’m told, is a treasure trove from their time in Africa to be utilized when they add the next few rooms.
I slept wonderfully last night, my doors unlocked. Crime has not crept onto Saba yet and may it long stay away.
Ah, but here I am, far away, in a crime free piece of Caribbean paradise while at home who knows what crimes are afoot?
Michael Flynn, the NSA Advisor to President Trump, has resigned after he seems to have had discussed our sanctions against Russia prior to the time when he should have and then misled Vice President Pence as to his actions.
MIC, a website devoted to news by millennials for millennials, wrote today that the crime, to them, in the Trump Administration seems not to be the crime itself but the crime of being caught. Is this what millennials are thinking about our government?
JFK was profoundly flawed in so many, many ways. At least his words lifted us to some better place and inspired us. Not so in these our Trumpian days when Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to the President, declared there would be a time when the President’s word would be absolute.
Seth Meyer mocked him, saying it could only be more frightening if he had said it in German. And Stephen Miller is Jewish.
So, this is what millennials are seeing: a young man [he’s 31] saying the President’s word will be absolute. Do call me horrified. There are three branches of government [as Trump, to his annoyance, is finding out].
Mitch McConnell is saying it’s “highly likely” there will be an investigation of Michael Flynn’s actions. “Highly likely?” Mitch, oh Mitch, my low opinion of you sinks even lower. Had you said, “Absolutely,” I might have thought you were standing on the right side of history. And you’re not.
Thanks to Lindsey Graham and a few other Republican Senators who are working to see this is not brushed under the rug until we know the truth.
The Ethics Office has suggested it would be appropriate for Kellyanne Conway to be disciplined for her “go buy Ivanka’s stuff” moment from the White House Briefing Room. They felt it was tantamount to a TV commercial. Let’s see if it happens. Personally, think it should but…
If you are a millennial, you probably know PewDiePie, a Scandinavian YouTube star with millions and millions and millions of followers. He’s been the hottest thing on the net for a few years now, making 14.5 million dollars last year. He has deals with Disney and others and it’s all falling down today because he made some anti-Semitic jokes in his postings and Disney and YouTube are running in the other direction.
The sun is beginning to set; the mountain across from me is sun kissed at this moment, full of deep foliage and limitless green though now the island is beginning to move into its dry season. Water is scarce. My friends are taking what once was a pool and making it into a cistern for grey water to help with the plants.
Tonight, we are going down the hill to a BBQ joint in the little enclave that is their town. Hygge. More soon.
Tags:BBQ, cursive writing, Disney, Ethics Office, Ivanka's Stuff, JFK, Kellyanne Conway, Lindsey Graham, MIC, Michael Flynn, Mitch McConnell, PewDiePie, Saba, Saudi Arabia, Selera Dunia, Stephen Miller, The Donald, Trump, Trump Administration, Valentine's Day, White House Briefing Room, YouTube
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Entertainment, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political, Political Commentary, Russia, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
January 30, 2017
It is a little past seven at the cottage; the weekend is winding down, “Swing Jazz” is the Amazon music station playing. Marcel, Lionel and Pierre’s poodle, is situated comfortably on the couch, looking at the door to see when they will return, which will be in a few days. The flood lights illuminate the creek and I am at the freshly polished dining room table, writing.
It’s the end of a good weekend, mostly very “hygge.” [Pronounced hoo-ga, it’s Danish for living a cozy life.] And it’s been a cozy weekend. Young Nick has returned from his walkabout and came over Friday afternoon and helped me prepare for what turned out to be a most excellent dinner party.
Saturday was cleaning up and being domestic, a solo lunch at the Dot, dinner with Lionel and Pierre at their house, home to sleep.
But all the hygge in my life has been overshadowed and squeezed by the events in the world around me. President Trump has been issuing Executive Orders to his heart’s content. They feel a bit like Imperial Edicts. Do this. Ban that. It’s been stunning. And equally stunning is the response of the American public.
When he banned individuals from seven countries, all primarily Muslim, from entering the United States, hordes of lawyers went to airports and became filing appeals, sitting on the floor in the terminals, laptops plugged into whatever outlet could be found.
It made me proud.
At those same airports, crowds appeared. At JFK, several New York Congressmen were there, attempting to help. One quarantined gentleman was an Iraqi citizen who was on his way to the US because he had been an interpreter for our soldiers and his life was in danger. Thankfully, he was released.
People with green cards are in limbo, depending on the airport they flew into. Federal Judges are ordering limits on Trump’s ruling and some officials are ignoring them.
Excuse me, what? What?
Heads are spinning.
Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief political operative, has been given a seat on the National Security Council while the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs and the Director of National Intelligence have been demoted.
What? What?
In the morning now, I get up, make my coffee and call my Senators and my Representative in Congress and tomorrow I don’t know what issue to focus on. There are so many.
A relative sent me a clip of a State of the Union Address given by Bill Clinton, in which he talked about the dangers of illegal immigration. The headline before the clip was “The hypocrisy of liberals!”
Well, really, hypocrisy? Take a look at this article. Mike Pence opposed what Trump has done and now is praising it. Is that not hypocrisy? Political opportunism?
Immigration has been an issue ever since we stopped accepting just about everybody. Don’t know about you, but I’m here, an American citizen, because my great grandparents came over from Germany and settled in Minnesota. Back then, almost everyone was taken in. [Though my great grandparents arrived in First Class so they didn’t have to go through the indignities of Ellis Island.]
Then it changed and immigration has been an issue ever since. Okay, I get that. And what President Trump has done is unprecedented. His list of excluded countries does not include Saudi Arabia from which came many of the 9/11 hijackers. It does not exclude Pakistan, one of whose citizens was part of the Riverside massacre. It’s a bit bewildering. The banned countries have barely contributed to the numbers who have died from terrorist acts in the US.
And, amazingly, it appears the list was compiled during the Obama Administration but never activated. Boggles the mind.
Not even during Viet Nam was I this agitated. Agitated does not describe my mood when I am not working very hard at hygge.
In an article I scanned two days ago, it speculated that Trump may be to Millennials what Viet Nam was to my generation, a catalytic event.
You see, there is a movement to stop abortions. There is a generation of young women who have grown up believing they had the right of choice. Now some people want to take that it away from them. No, not happy. And abortions have been decreasing and in 2014 were the lowest since 1973.
There are young people who are in college whose friends are in limbo because they come from one of the banned countries and went home over winter break and may not be able to come back despite having valid visas.
And there are people like me, a Baby Boomer grown old, who is incensed in a way I have not been for god alone knows how many years. The protests will not stop. They will not go away. The country is fired up in a way that hasn’t been seen since Viet Nam.
Wow! The games have begun.
To be completely clear, I am one of the founders of Blue DOT [Democracy Opposing Trump] Hudson Indivisible. It is my time of being an activist. This Presidency must be opposed. It is divisive. It is immoral. It has in its first week demonstrated a willingness to flaunt conventional order.
Tomorrow I am calling the office of John McCain and Lindsey Graham who are opposing Trump to thank them for their efforts. We are all in for a rocky ride and maybe this was a good thing to happen.
The Left is galvanized the way the Right was when Obama was elected and already seems, and I hope it continues, to be more emphatic than the Tea Party movement.
The game is afoot…
Tags:Amanzon, Baby Boomers, Bill Clinton, Blue DOT Hudson, Hygee, immigration, Lionel White, Mike Pence, Muslim ban, Obama, Pierre Font, President Trump, Saudi Arabia, Steve Bannon, Tea Party, The game is afoot, Viet Nam, Young Nick
Posted in 2016 Election, Civil Rights, Claverack, Columbia County, Education, Entertainment, Gay, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Nazis, Obama, Political, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
September 30, 2016
As I have been sitting here, listening to “Smooth Jazz” twilight has become almost night. The last glimmerings of the silvery light are slipping away.
This week I have been dog sitting Marcel, Lionel and Pierre’s poodle, who will soon turn sixteen. Every night, he takes me for a walk. We leave my cottage and he marches me over to his house, across the street from mine and takes me for a tour of his yard. He goes to the front door and looks at me uncomprehendingly when I do not let him in.
He is reluctant to leave once he is on his home territory; actually, he fights me. He doesn’t want to come back to my house but eventually he realizes that he is not going home tonight and walks with me back to my place.
He is very smart, is little Mr. Marcel. And sweet. And I am enjoying his company right now though I realize my own time for pets is past. I still come and go too much to give any pet like Marcel a real home. And I am single. Were there a partner, it would be easier.
There are soft sounds from woodland creatures that filter into my time here at the laptop, soft sounds from the night outside.
It is, this moment, a soft and gentle world that seems unconnected with all that is happening beyond me. I feel, here, encapsulated, as if the outside world did not exist.
But it does.
The Syrians under Assad and their Russian allies have been brutally pulverizing Aleppo. It has only become worse since the last time I wrote. It is the kind of brutality we have not seen for a long time. And, as I said before, I wonder about the poor boy in the ambulance. Has he survived this assault? I wonder about that day and night. I am haunted by wanting to know.
Here, at home, there was a horrific crash of a New Jersey Transit Train at Hoboken. One person is dead. 100 are injured, some seriously. I texted my friend Mary Dickey to check on her. She had changed her plans today and did not take the train into New York City. Just as something had diverted her the morning of 9/11 or she would have been under the Towers when one of the planes hit.
Congress overturned Obama’s veto of a law that would allow 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia. Personally, I think it was a political move that will have unintended consequence. The Saudis are rethinking their alliance with us and it opens the door for a lot of problems we don’t want to have. Like everyone in Iraq suing us for our “meddling.”
Not quite knowing how to parse this but right now there are reports that Trump may have violated the embargo that was in place during the 1990’s with Cuba. If true, it will wound him with Cuban Americans in Florida, which is essential in his path to the Presidency.
Trump has had both a good year and a bad year. He is the Republican nominee for President, a reality no one thought possible six months ago. His net worth, according to Forbes, has dropped by $800 million this last year but it still leaves him with 3.7 billion dollars, according to the magazine. Forbes is generally thought of as a conservative publication.
Samsung, the company of exploding Galaxy Note 7s, has a new problem. Its washing machines are also exploding. So glad I did not choose to get a Samsung gas stove when I bought new appliances for my kitchen.
It’s a brand in trouble. Big trouble.
We were facing a government shutdown tomorrow but it has been avoided. The government is funded until December 9th, after the elections. Zika funding was approved to the tune of $1.1 billion.
It is a quiet evening here. I have looked into the world and now I am going to take myself to bed, watch a little video and go to sleep, happy. The way I woke this morning.
Tags:Assad, Claverack, Claverack Cottage, Cuba, Forbes, General, Google, Hoboken Crash, Lionel White, Marcel, New Jersey Transit Train, Obama, Pierre Font, Putin, Russia, Samsung explosions, Samsung washing machines, Saudi Arabia, Syria, technology, Trump, Zika
Posted in 2016 Election, 9/11, Education, Elections, Entertainment, Greene County New York, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
June 2, 2016
It is Wednesday evening, the 1st of June and it has been a lovely day on the Vineyard. I woke to a brilliant sun, skiffing off the water in the harbor, glinting up into my room.
It was a quiet day at Edgartown Books. I came home relatively early and am sitting down to write a letter while the sun slips away, beneath clouds that are rolling in from the ocean, promising a cooler and less brilliant day tomorrow.
Before his death, my father was the Minneapolis Manager for Taystee Bread and all of his children were taught to straighten up the loaves of our bread in any market we went into. I am feeling that way about the books in the shop. If I see something out of alignment, I get itchy to go fix it, make it neat.
Before leaving the house today, I checked the news online.
Documents from Trump University and statements from its former employees made the “university” sound more a scam than an educational opportunity. One manager called it a “fraudulent scheme.” Ouch. The principle seemed to be sell, not educate.
But, it must be noted, the program did have its supporters.
If elected, Trump could become the first President elect to have to testify in a fraud trial against himself.
Hillary Clinton seized the day and the news, using the Trump University documents as a reason to call Trump a fraud. I am sure he will call her a loser; he thinks everyone but him is a loser.
Later in the day, my phoned pinged with a news update: there was an apparent murder/suicide on the campus of UCLA. The reasons are yet unknown; it appears a student shot a professor and then himself.
A French ship has detected another sort of ping, from one of the Black Box recorders from the Egypt Air Airbus which crashed into the sea.
Saudi Arabia, which is attempting to diversify its oil economy, has invested $3.25 billion in Uber, which also looks at the Mideast as a great place to grow its business. And since Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women to drive, having the service may give its women more freedom.
In Mogadishu, capital of tattered Somalia, a car bomb went off and killed at least 15.
While watching the news with Jeffrey, I discovered that today would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 90th birthday, had she not died in 1962. From the time of her discovery until her death, she lived 17 tumultuous, star crossed years and remains one of Hollywood’s most potent icons.
Once upon a time, in my early days in Hollywood, I did research for some Hollywood writers, among them Richard Lamparski who wrote all the “Whatever Became Of…?” books. He called her death “a good career move.”
Tragically, he was right. In death she has earned far more than in life. While Elizabeth Taylor was earning a million a film, she was being paid a hundred thousand. Monroe’s estate has carefully managed her assets and through licensing has made millions every year.
I remember as a little boy bringing in the morning paper with huge headlines: MARILYN MONROE DEAD. I couldn’t believe it. But it was true. And she is wound together in the Kennedy mythology because she reportedly slept both with John F. and Robert Kennedy.
It is even said she called Jackie to tell her that she was having an affair with Jack Kennedy. Reportedly, Jackie responded: go ahead, marry him. Then you have all the problems.
My god, but what figures played on the world stage then. The Kennedys, all of them… Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Martin Luther King, Lyndon Johnson, great figures who dwarf what we offer today.
Obama and Hillary Clinton will go down in history. He the first black President, she, win or lose, the first woman to credibly march toward the Presidency.
But my childhood was filled with giants and there are few of them left. Jack Kennedy may have been one of the most flawed men to sit in the Oval Office yet we cannot not seem to love him and his era.
That Trump is a serious contender for the Presidency points to the paucity of spirit in this time. Really, Trump? A bombastic, narcissistic loon who seems more related to Mussolini than to Lincoln is going to be the Republican nominee for President?
As someone who is, I think, a thinking American, I am APPALLED.
However, as a commentator said the other day: hey, it’s 2016, anything can happen.
The light has faded over Edgartown harbor and as my battery grows low on my laptop, I must cease.
Really, Trump? This is the best the Republicans can do? Where is Everett Dirksen when we need him?
Tags:Donald Trump, Edgartown Books, Egypt Air, Elizabeth Taylor, Hillary Clinton, Jack Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Lyndon Johnson, Marilyn Monroe, Martin Luther King, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mogadishu, Obama, Robert Kennedy, Saudi Arabia, Somalia bombing, Taystee Bread, The Donald, Trump University, Uber, UCLA shootings
Posted in 2016 Election, Entertainment, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood, Martha's Vineyard, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Mideast, Obama, Political Commentary, Politics, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
February 11, 2016
Amtrak Hudson River Gary and Angel Koven The Knot Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Einstein Theory of Relativity Oregon Standoff Ammon Bundy NATO Syria Russia Secretary Kerry Lavrov Saudi Arabia
As I start this, I am riding south on Amtrak, heading into the city to see my primary care physician, who is in the city, to bring him up to date on my medical adventures.
The Hudson is a steely grey, occasionally looking like burnished silver when the sun breaks through the heavy cloud cover. My friend, James Linkin, is sitting beside me, happy to see me up and walking.
The river is choppy, not surprising as the wind is up and biting, making it feel much colder than the temperature. I am tired as I often am these days though grateful to be up and out of bed and on the move.
My world feels altered in some way by my sojourn in the hospital. My friends often describe me as thoughtful and I am more so right now. The last few days, I have lived in quiet, without my usual jazz playing in the background. I’ve started to turn it on and then decided against it, preferring silence as my solace.
Tonight, I will have dinner with my friends Gary and Angel. They have been married now for four + years and I was at their wedding. Today their love for each other is as incandescent as it was the day they married. I recommended them for a shoot for the 20th anniversary of The Knot, a website devoted to marriage. One of the crew told me they were his favorite couple.
While I have been recovering, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump won their respective races in New Hampshire. Headlines wonder whether Hillary’s campaign is about to implode and I wonder about the future of the country. The Trump juggernaut continues and that scares the hell out of me.
I’m sure I’m not the only one. The Daily News had scathing headlines about his victory saying zombies had come out to vote. One wonders…
Scientists are wondering less since they have found gravitational waves which fit into Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Great scientific excitement and my friend, James, was particularly excited. He’s a fan of the physicist and shares his birthday with Einstein.
The Oregon Standoff is over. Bundy, Sr. has been arrested, following son Ammon to jail. And other standoff chapter is finished and this time, thankfully, without mass deaths.
NATO is sending warships into the Aegean to see if it can stem the flow of refugees, many being transported by human traffickers. The seas are rough, dozens are dying and the fighting rages back in Syria.
Saudi Arabia is said to have made a “final” decision to send troops to Syria. That is not going to uncomplicate things.
And while they might be sending troops, they’re not taking in their brethren, rather letting them suffer their fate on water than let them into their own lands.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Lavrov, says this will result in an terminable, never ending war with the possibility of a new world war at the end of the game. Loverly.
The Saudis might make their move in concert with the Turks, who have been engaged in verbal hostilities with Russia ever since they downed a Russian jet before the New Year.
Secretary Kerry is desperately trying to get the Peace Talks going but it seems hard to get the sides into the same building not to mention the same room. Well, actually, they have no intention of being in the same room. If there is any dialogue, it will be through messengers shuttling between rooms. Could cost a lot of shoe leather but if there is progress, it would be worth it.
The Mideast already seems mired in that “interminable war.” 470,000 have died in Syria since the outbreak of protests against Assad five years ago. Millions of Syrians are in camps and desperate to get out to a better life, somewhere.
The day has faded. I am sitting in a deli in the city, sipping a cup of black coffee [I’m not allowed cream yet], looking out into the night that has fallen, the bright lights of cars heading down 7th Avenue, people scurrying from the cold.
All peaceful here. But for how long?
Tags:Ammon Bundy, Amtrak, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Einstein, Gary and Angel Koven, Hillary Clinton, Hudson River, Kerry, Lavrov, NATO, Oregon Standoff, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, The Knot, Theory of Relativity
Posted in 2016 Election, Airstrikes, Claverack, Columbia County, Entertainment, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mideast, Political Commentary, Politics, Putin, Russia, Social Commentary, Syria, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
October 30, 2015
Autumn. Hudson River Valley. Obama. Syria. John Kerry. Saudi Arabia. Douma. European Refugee Crisis. Halloween. Marco Rubio. GOP Debate. Donald Trump. Jeb Bush. Ben Carson. The Donald. One child policy. China. Alexander the Great. Gordian knot.
The autumn colors on the trees may have just past their peak but they are still wonderful as I ride north on Amtrak. The west bank of the Hudson is awash with shades of orange, red and some green. I am heading home for the weekend, having been in the city a bit longer this week than I had planned.
As I waited for the train to exit the tunnels so that I might have Internet again, my phone buzzed twice. First it was AP and then it was the BBC, letting me know that President Obama is sending fifty special operations troops to Syria to assist the rebels we support.
While he was announcing this, Secretary of State Kerry is in Vienna, dealing with the countries that have a stake in Syria, though Syria is not, apparently, there itself. The eyes of the world are on how Saudi Arabia and Iran will react to being the same room together. They are positioned so that they don’t have to look into each other’s eyes.
Meanwhile, on the ground in Syria, at least 40 have died in Douma, a town ten miles north of Damascus, with another hundred wounded. So far a quarter of a million people have died and ten million have fled their homes.
The resulting refugee crisis means that millions of Syrians are living in camps or attempting to go west, sometimes dying in the effort. 570,000 individuals have transited through Greece this year, making the crossing from Turkey in small boats or rubber dinghies. Yesterday 22 more died and 144 were rescued.
It is all far from here as I move north, along the Hudson River, absorbing fall colors and contemplating a quiet weekend at the cottage.
It is Halloween this weekend and I’m not sure I am going to do anything. Generally, I have gone down to the Red Dot for their annual party. Last year I dressed as a Roman Emperor. This year, I am not feeling quite so festive. I was thinking more of a martini and a movie at home.
Since last I wrote, there has been another Republican Debate. Not well wired in the city, where I was, I have had to get a feel from it from written articles. General consensus, Marco Rubio won and CNBC, the platform for the debate, lost. The debaters turned the table on the moderators, putting them in their place. Trump wasn’t as Trumpish and Jeb Bush was still Jeb Bush.
Trump is genuinely surprised to find himself trailing Ben Carson in Iowa. Perhaps the Donald will learn a bit of humility.
China has revoked the “one child” only policy though most are indicating they won’t have more than one child. It’s too expensive in time and money now. More and more couples are choosing to remain childless. China will begin to look like Japan, with an aging population. Hard to fathom…
As I finish writing my letters, I find myself pondering the state of the world, working to grasp it. I don’t always get it, usually not at all. The complexity of the politics in the Middle East are so knotted that it is probable that they may never get undone. It will take an Alexander the Great to undo this Gordian knot. He didn’t undo it; he cut through it with his sword.
Tags:Alexander the Great, Ben Carson, China, Donald Trump, European Refugee Crisis, GOP Debate, Gordian Knot, Halloween, Hudson River Valley, Jeb Bush, John Kerry, Marco Rubio, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Obama, One child policy, Saudi Arabia, Syria, The Donald
Posted in European Refugee Crisis, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary | 1 Comment »
July 28, 2015
It feels a little later than it is; the sun is shaded by clouds and I’m sitting in a darkish office in Chelsea, doing some work and getting ready to meet a friend for dinner.
It was a magic morning coming into New York today. Fog clouded the road from Claverack into Hudson, a wisp at every turn. As the train moved south, the fog followed; sometimes it was so thick it was impossible to see the river. Flotillas of pleasure boats floated on the river, shrouded by the fog.
The city was warm today and I lunched at the Bryant Park Café, outside, with Neva Rae Fox who works for the Episcopal Church here in New York in the Communications Department. Over the years I was working with Odyssey we became friendly and I haven’t her seen for a while.
We talked of their recent conference in Salt Lake City and the vigil that was held to honor victims of gun violence. It is one of the things they will be focusing on, that as well as racial reconciliation.
It seems strange to be back in the city after a week in the country. When I have been away from New York City for a week, I always have a little trouble re-inserting myself into the bustle and the crowds and sirens. So it was today. I gingerly left Penn Station and threaded my way through the rush hour crowds and felt I had reached an oasis of civility when I got to the office.
It is a languid time and a contemplative time, with my mind juggling all the opportunities for my future. Stay here? Live up in the country? I am allowing it to flow through me, as I know the answer will reveal itself. A friend advised me, should I go to the cottage full time, to give myself time to grieve for the life I was leaving behind. Thinking about it, I realized I would mostly grieve for the friends I wouldn’t see as often.
My “grief” is a very first world problem. The families and friends of 25 killed by a suicide bomber in Nigeria are experiencing deep grief, the kind that time softens but does not really “heal.” A fire in a furniture factory in Cairo also killed 25. Grief walks there, too.
In Yemen, a five-day humanitarian truce appears to be crumbling. At least 6.5 million people are on the edge of starvation and some are calling the Saudi Arabians “war criminals” for preventing supplies from reaching the populace. 21 million Yemenis, 80% of the population, is in need of assistance.
I am sure that grief is walking there, too. The Saudis have been relentless in their bombing. The lack of food is also partially because there is no infrastructure to disperse the goods, roads having been destroyed by bombing and no fuel delivered for vehicles.
Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Col. Gaddafi, once ruler of Libya, was sentenced to death by shooting in a court in Tripoli. He was not there; he is being held in a prison in Zintan, a hundred miles away. The Zintan group hates the Tripoli group so much they probably won’t turn him over. It’s not that they love the son; they despise him. Famous for lecturing people and pointing his finger at his audiences, the Zintan group chopped off the offending finger when they captured him.
One of Trump’s lieutenants stepped in it. He said there was no such thing as raping your spouse. In fact, it is a crime in all fifty states. Michael Cohen has apologized. The topic came up because of a comment by ex-wife Ivana Trump some twenty years ago, one she has backed away from. In their bitterly contested divorce, she allegedly accused him of the act. Today she says the accusation is “without merit.” She and The Donald are “the best of friends.”
Mr. Cohen had some other choice words for the reporter who published the story in the Daily Beast. He used several Anglo Saxon expletives.
The Donald is still leading in the polls and it looks like he will be in the first Republican debate. Not that will be something to watch.
Also worth watching is the clock. I’m getting close to the time when I need to be heading for the restaurant to meet my friend Mitch and get his take on his newly married life.
Tags:Bryant Park Cafe, Cairo Factory Fire, Claverack, Daily Beast, Donald Trump, Episcopal Conference, Gaddafi sentencing, Hudson, Ivana Trump, Marital Rape, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Micheal Cohen, Mitch Saloway, Neva Rae Fox, New York, Nigerian Suicide Bombing, Penn Station, Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, Saudi Arabia, Tripoli, Yemen, Zintan
Posted in AT&T, Elections, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Nigeria, Political Commentary, Social Commentary | Leave a Comment »
July 16, 2015
It has been a lovely day in New York City. The day dawned warm, sunny and not humid. As I walked up 93rd Street to the subway, I cherished every moment, looking up at the trees, moving slightly in the wind. People were out walking their dogs, chatting with them as they did morning duty. There is a bulldog I see occasionally; he has a face only a father could love. He walks sprightly with him on many a morning as I am making my way to Broadway and the subway.
As I took the 1 train to 28th, my car had scattered bunches of tourists. There was a young French couple, a small group of Germans; some folks with mid-western twangs. It is the fabric of the city this time of year. Later in the day there was a group of older tourists from Italy on Fifth Avenue, getting their bearings before strolling down the block.
Today, having only had a light dinner, I was hungry and stopped at the little Greek diner on the corner of 28th and 7th, appropriately called The Greek Corner. The menu has Santorini splashed across its cover. Once I asked the waitress if the owner came from Santorini. She shrugged and said: no, he’s from Sparta. I suspect he thought Santorini more beautiful than Sparta.
She is from Spain and was not terribly friendly at first but now she smiles a little when I come in. She now expects me not to need a menu though, like today, I sometimes ask for one. She always tries to serve me coffee even though I have never had a cup there.
Places like The Greek Corner are disappearing from New York City. There are articles in The Times chronicling their vanishing in all the boroughs.
As I was eating my food, another aspect of New York shuffled through the door, a homeless man, looking for water, smelling of dirt and urine. He was being respectful and the Spanish girl filled a cup for him with water and he shuffled away. It breaks my heart to see men and women like this, scattered all over the city.
As I walked down 7th Avenue to 30th, there is a woman who is there everyday, selling fruit. Yesterday, I wanted to ask her about her story, how she came to be selling fruit on 7th Avenue in New York, far from her homeland.
Since my last letter, a deal has been announced with Iran on its nuclear program. I am not sure how I feel about it, good or bad it is a path that is being played out. The Republicans and some Democrats have vowed to scuttle it and Obama says he will veto any legislation that will stop it. Rouhani of Iran is attempting to sell it through to his people and the all-powerful Ayatollah Khamenei. Neither of the men have an easy job.
The Iran drama has just reached a new stage and for some reason elicits a sense of exhaustion from me for reasons I can’t quite name. Despite the agreement, there is the reality of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the US all vying for position in the Middle East.
The Great Game continues, I guess.
TLC has cancelled, officially, the suspended “19 Kids and Counting” after the oldest son admitted abusing five underage girls, including two of his sisters. There was a celebration on Twitter that was quite amazing, I’m told.
In Chattanooga, TN, a shooter was killed after he had killed four others. The man identified as the shooter has an Arabic sounding name and one official, at least, has said it probably is a case of domestic terrorism. It happened at a military facility. The young man was born in 1990, which would make him twenty-five. He was so young to choose a path of violence. What rage burned in him? In any of these young men and women who seem to find killing so easy?
To no one’s great surprise, Dylann Roof, accused in the Charleston killing of nine churchgoers, had a troubled childhood. He grew more silent and withdrawn as time went on, using drugs and having non-violent run-ins with the law.
Tomorrow, North American Muslims will be celebrating Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting observed by Muslims. There will be gifts given and much family time enjoyed.
The potential for hate crimes makes it hard for some to enjoy. Recently, a man in New York fractured the jaw of a 19-year-old Muslim woman, while spewing anti-Muslim remarks.
As I write this, the world is waiting for the verdict in the case of James Holmes, who killed twelve and injured seventy in a shooting in a theater showing “Batman” in Aurora, Colorado. Before I post this, we should know.
Tomorrow is the year anniversary of the downing of MH17, brought to earth over Ukraine. There are at least two investigations going on. One has indicated it believes the most likely scenario is that Ukrainian separatists brought down the plane. There is talk of a UN Tribunal. Mr. Putin thinks it “premature.”
Lest we forget, Emmy nominations were announced today. Streaming services rise and broadcast slips in numbers of nominations.
The phone has buzzed three times. The verdict is in for James Holmes; he is guilty of murder and faces the death penalty.
Tags:19 Kids and Counting, 93rd Street, Chattanooga, Eid Al-Fitr, Iran Nuclear Deal, James Holmes Verdict, Khamenei, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, MH17, New York City, Obama, Putin, Rouhani, Santorini, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sparta, The Greek Corner, TLC, Ukraine, Violence in the Middle East
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May 12, 2015
Once again, when I went to sleep last night, I expected rain today. When I woke it was cloudy but rain was not in the forecast. It’s sunny and warm and summery in the city. I am working from the office of Broderville Pictures, founded by my friend Todd and I’m doing some work for him.
Another friend is helping organize a documentary film festival in China in December and I’ve recommended a few people to him and will see if I can come up with others.
It’s been an interesting week. I’ve been networking with lots of friends and catching up with people. It’s been good. I had lunch yesterday with Ty West, who is producing “Charlie Rose: The Week” for PBS. He is a good friend; another one I met on the train between New York and Hudson.
Today I had my eyes examined and am just beginning to see again after having had my eyes dilated. My eyes have changed a fair amount in the last two years. My left eye is weaker. My right eye is stronger and now I need to go through the painful [for me] process of choosing new glasses.
I am lucky. I live in a world of choices. Too many people must feel like they have no choices when they are living in places like Yemen and Nepal.
Beleaguered Nepal suffered another massive earthquake, killing more, shaking down more buildings, and frightening the population even more. An American helicopter, involved in aid work, seems to have gone down there. The newest quake will make it even more difficult to get the aid to remote villages. Some roads that had been cleared are now filled again with rubble.
Today a ceasefire is to begin in Yemen. In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, the Saudi led coalition bombed Sana’a relentlessly. An Iranian cargo ship is headed there, convoyed by Iranian naval vessels. The UN is suggesting they deliver the aid to a distribution center in Djibouti, an African nation directly across from Yemen. The Iranian convey has everyone nervous. The Saudis are supporting the Sunni side and the Iranians the Shia side. The new UN envoy to Yemen is saying that fighting will solve nothing but that’s what they seem intent upon doing.
No longer having any choices whatever is Ananta Bijoy Das, a secular blogger in Pakistan who was hacked to death on his way to his day job at a bank in Sylhet, in the northeastern part of Bangladesh. He is the third secular blogger hacked to death in that country.
Tomorrow is the day when John Kerry is supposed to meet with Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, site of the last Winter Olympics. Putin is supposed to be there; that’s why Kerry is en-route but today the Russians said Putin was yet to be confirmed. Last time Kerry saw him, Putin was three hours late for the meeting.
For the last five years the El Nino effect has been quiet. Now it is rearing its head again with unpredictable results. British forecasters are suggesting it might mean record snow next year in the UK, Australians are saying there might be severe drought in northern Australia. It could mean heavy rains on the US West Coast and its Gulf Coast but may be not enough or soon enough to ease the drought in California. The Australians think it is going to be severe and meteorologists in Canada and the US are suspecting it will be moderate. Wait and see. Weak or strong, it’s coming.
My friend, Lionel, just move to Baltimore to be Vice President of Ad Technology for AOL. Today I woke to the news that AOL had been purchased for $4.4 billion by Verizon, mostly for their ad technology. One business pundit said something like that was pocket change for Verizon and another said it was another bad move by Verizon in the Internet space while others thought it was a very smart move. Time will tell, as they always say.
In the long ago and far away days when I was working in Los Angeles for an Internet start-up, one of my very good friends was dating Sandra Lee, the TV food star. Later I was best man in his wedding to another woman but during their tenure, I met Sandra a few times. She is now living with Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York. Today she announced she had breast cancer. I wish her well.
The day is beginning to come to a close. I am going up to the Café du Soleil tonight for a bite and then home to read a book.
Tags:AOL, AOL Verizon Deal, Cafe du Soleil, Charlie Rose: The Week, El Nino, Iran, Iran Cargo Ship, John Kerry, Lionel White, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Nepal, Nepal earthquake, Putin, Sana'a, Sandra Lee, Saudi Arabia, Shia, Sunni, Tim Armstrong, Ty West, Verizon, Yemen
Posted in Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Social Commentary | 2 Comments »
May 11, 2015
Today dawned gloriously, bright shiny sunlight came barreling down from the east, casting a disc of yellow/white onto the creek, glinting up at me as I stood on the deck for a moment before heading for the city.
The Hudson looked peaceful as I rolled south on the train, giving no evidence that there had been a fire at Indian Point, the nuclear reactor forty miles north of midtown Manhattan or that oil from there had seeped into the river, causing environmental concerns. Governor Cuomo was there over the weekend, being briefed on the happenings. It makes him and many others nervous about a nuclear plant that close to the city.
Anything nuclear makes me nervous.
For those who have a fond spot for Britain, it may be time to be nervous. While last week’s election has saved the political career of David Cameron it might just herald the beginning of the end for “Great Britain.” The SNP [Scottish National Party] won 56 of 59 seats that Scotland has in Britain’s Parliament. They also are very much in favor of holding another vote about Scotland going its own way from the rest of the United Kingdom [England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland]. Just doesn’t seem right but it could happen.
What does seem right is the idea of a truce in Yemen that is supposed to start tomorrow to allow aid to reach the Yemenis. Fuel resources are almost exhausted and food is scarce. Days ago it was estimated that 80% of Yemenis were going hungry. It’s only become worse since then.
As the time for the truce draws near, the Saudis are deploying a strike force near the Yemen/Saudi border. Trucks carrying tanks have been traveling through the night to take positions. The Houthis say they will honor the truce as long as the Saudis do but if there are infractions they will immediately respond.
One UN official felt five days would not be enough time to get aid to the Yemenis but it is all they have, if they manage to hold the truce for that amount of time.
Secretary of State John Kerry is off to Sochi, Russia to meet with Vladimir Putin to discuss Syria, Ukraine and Iran. I wonder what that conversation is going to be like?
In more Washington news, writer Seymour Hersh has written a piece for the London Review of Books claiming that the story of Osama Bin Laden’s death was a lot of bunk and the truth is quite different. Seems he thinks that it was an American/Pakistani conspiracy and that OBL was actually a Pakistani prisoner at the time of the raid and the raid was a cover-up for Pakistan’s involvement.
Pretty far fetched and, like most conspiracy theories, pretty hard to prove.
From The Moscow Times, an English language newspaper in Russia not known for partisanship to Putin, claims that Russian soldiers have, in small numbers, quit the army after being forced to serve in Ukraine.
According to Vladimir Putin, no Russian soldiers are in Ukraine, only volunteers.
While the migrant focus has been on the thousands attempting to cross from Libya to Italy, another migrant drama has been playing out. Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshi immigrants have been rescued at sea attempting to reach Malaysia since Thailand has been cracking down on human trafficking. The Rohingya are not allowed citizenship in Myanmar and as Muslims are a minority in that mostly Buddhist country and have been singled out for ethnic violence. Because of the Thai crackdown, aid workers are concerned that many have been abandoned at sea by their smugglers.
George Zimmerman, he of the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, is back in the news today, having been himself slightly wounded in a road rage incident.
And Tom Brady, Quarterback of the Patriots, has been suspended by the NFL for four games while the Patriots were fined a million dollars and two draft picks in coming years. Seems a slight slap on the wrist though it is almost assured that Brady will appeal his suspension. Ah, Deflategate!
Prince Harry, now fifth in line for the British throne after the birth of his niece, Charlotte, is in New Zealand, learning about the aftereffects of the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch. By all accounts he is charming the New Zealanders to no end.
And that brings me to the end of today’s Letter From New York. I am about to do a conference call and then see about some dinner. That sounds charming.
Tags:Andrew Cuomo, Bangladesh, Britain, Christchurch, Cuomo, David Cameron, Deflategate, George Zimmerman, Great Britain, Houthis, Indian Point, John Kerry, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Moscow Times, Myanmar, Osama Bin Laden, Pakistan, Patriots, Prince Harry, Princess Charlotte, Rohingya, Saudi Arabia, Scottish National Party, Seymour Hersh, SNP, Sochi, Tom Brady, Trayvon Martin, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Yemen, Yemen Truce
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Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From Saba 02 14 2017 Happy Valentine’s Day from a sliver of paradise…
February 14, 2017Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! While I don’t have a specific Valentine, I do have many people to whom I would like to send Valentine’s greetings. Consider them sent.
This is a day devoted to love.
Unless you live in Saudi Arabia where celebrating Valentine’s Day could get you into a whole lot of trouble.
When I was in grade school, we always sent everyone else in our class a Valentine’s Day card. Years ago, I stumbled upon a cache of them and smiled at our cursive, much struggled over. Now they don’t even teach cursive writing, which seems a shame. Handwritten letters are such a joy to receive in this day of electronic communication.
At this minute, I am sitting on the deck outside my room at Selera Dunia, the little hotel on Saba where I am ensconced for the next few days. It is owned by a Dutchman, Hemme, and his wife, and their raison d’être seems to be making me happy. YES! I’m all for that.
It is decorated lavishly with objects they have brought back from their sojourns abroad, mostly from Indonesia but beneath me, I’m told, is a treasure trove from their time in Africa to be utilized when they add the next few rooms.
I slept wonderfully last night, my doors unlocked. Crime has not crept onto Saba yet and may it long stay away.
Ah, but here I am, far away, in a crime free piece of Caribbean paradise while at home who knows what crimes are afoot?
Michael Flynn, the NSA Advisor to President Trump, has resigned after he seems to have had discussed our sanctions against Russia prior to the time when he should have and then misled Vice President Pence as to his actions.
MIC, a website devoted to news by millennials for millennials, wrote today that the crime, to them, in the Trump Administration seems not to be the crime itself but the crime of being caught. Is this what millennials are thinking about our government?
JFK was profoundly flawed in so many, many ways. At least his words lifted us to some better place and inspired us. Not so in these our Trumpian days when Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to the President, declared there would be a time when the President’s word would be absolute.
Seth Meyer mocked him, saying it could only be more frightening if he had said it in German. And Stephen Miller is Jewish.
So, this is what millennials are seeing: a young man [he’s 31] saying the President’s word will be absolute. Do call me horrified. There are three branches of government [as Trump, to his annoyance, is finding out].
Mitch McConnell is saying it’s “highly likely” there will be an investigation of Michael Flynn’s actions. “Highly likely?” Mitch, oh Mitch, my low opinion of you sinks even lower. Had you said, “Absolutely,” I might have thought you were standing on the right side of history. And you’re not.
Thanks to Lindsey Graham and a few other Republican Senators who are working to see this is not brushed under the rug until we know the truth.
The Ethics Office has suggested it would be appropriate for Kellyanne Conway to be disciplined for her “go buy Ivanka’s stuff” moment from the White House Briefing Room. They felt it was tantamount to a TV commercial. Let’s see if it happens. Personally, think it should but…
If you are a millennial, you probably know PewDiePie, a Scandinavian YouTube star with millions and millions and millions of followers. He’s been the hottest thing on the net for a few years now, making 14.5 million dollars last year. He has deals with Disney and others and it’s all falling down today because he made some anti-Semitic jokes in his postings and Disney and YouTube are running in the other direction.
The sun is beginning to set; the mountain across from me is sun kissed at this moment, full of deep foliage and limitless green though now the island is beginning to move into its dry season. Water is scarce. My friends are taking what once was a pool and making it into a cistern for grey water to help with the plants.
Tonight, we are going down the hill to a BBQ joint in the little enclave that is their town. Hygge. More soon.
Tags:BBQ, cursive writing, Disney, Ethics Office, Ivanka's Stuff, JFK, Kellyanne Conway, Lindsey Graham, MIC, Michael Flynn, Mitch McConnell, PewDiePie, Saba, Saudi Arabia, Selera Dunia, Stephen Miller, The Donald, Trump, Trump Administration, Valentine's Day, White House Briefing Room, YouTube
Posted in 2016 Election, Columbia County, Entertainment, Hudson New York, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Media, Political, Political Commentary, Russia, Social Commentary, Television, Trump, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »