Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Round up of Syrian Musicians, part II
Michele Malkin disposes of rumors that the 14 Syrians on Flight #327 were the band Kulna Sawa.
Michelle discusses a Joe Sharkey piece about the incident which appears in the New York Times today. A former PBS executive, Dave Powelson. who has tried in the last couple of years to develop a world music series for public television, and is familiar with some "band travel: issues, wrote Sharkey (and cc'd Michelle) with some interesting commentary.
Since I was trying to learn a bit about Syrian Musicians and their presence here, this part of his letter interested me:
He also manages to make the point about somthing I noticed. Sharkey's "real" reporting didn't get the name of the band, any more than Annie Jacobsen did, something she has been inexplicably and repeatedly been criticized for not including in her original story. No one's telling the name, and I wish I knew why.
Michelle discusses a Joe Sharkey piece about the incident which appears in the New York Times today. A former PBS executive, Dave Powelson. who has tried in the last couple of years to develop a world music series for public television, and is familiar with some "band travel: issues, wrote Sharkey (and cc'd Michelle) with some interesting commentary.
Since I was trying to learn a bit about Syrian Musicians and their presence here, this part of his letter interested me:
"I can tell you that it is always the case that when a 'world music' group travels, they're doing a concert tour with as many stops as possible. (No self-respecting Middle Eastern group with any reputation would pass through NY without playing in Brooklyn, for example).
I don't think you'll ever hear of a case of a 'mid level' or lower group flying to one city for a one or two day stint...at an LA area Indian casino??? It would have made sense if the group had played in Detroit with that city's very large Arab American community...but searching the Detroit News on Lexis-Nexis (and the Detroit News has a very very extensive arts/entertainment calendar), I see no mention at all of any Syrian or "Damascus" based group performing over the past 60 days.
He also manages to make the point about somthing I noticed. Sharkey's "real" reporting didn't get the name of the band, any more than Annie Jacobsen did, something she has been inexplicably and repeatedly been criticized for not including in her original story. No one's telling the name, and I wish I knew why.
Comments:
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When this individual concludes all of her anguish (in Part II) by saying with "I come up blank" - that may be true because....she hadn't thought of the possibility that maybe....she was mistaken?
I don't mean she was mistaken to:
a) have had some suspicions
b) nor mentioning them to the flight attendant
c) nor filing an inquiry with the airline or TSA
after they arrived safely, nor even
d) following up on security issues (in general) or
these musician passengers (in particular)
......All of this seems understandable to me.
No, I mean that after finding out the facts, that......maybe these men were guilty of Flying While Brown...and nothing more? It doesn't appear to have crossed her mind.
Instead, she seems to have a "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up". Nowhere can I find a "hey, maybe I was wrong about these particular guys, but still think my overall point...etc."
These writings speak less about our overall security needs and more about herself. Have a look at today's Salon for another view.
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2004/07/21/askthepilot95/index.html
I don't mean she was mistaken to:
a) have had some suspicions
b) nor mentioning them to the flight attendant
c) nor filing an inquiry with the airline or TSA
after they arrived safely, nor even
d) following up on security issues (in general) or
these musician passengers (in particular)
......All of this seems understandable to me.
No, I mean that after finding out the facts, that......maybe these men were guilty of Flying While Brown...and nothing more? It doesn't appear to have crossed her mind.
Instead, she seems to have a "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up". Nowhere can I find a "hey, maybe I was wrong about these particular guys, but still think my overall point...etc."
These writings speak less about our overall security needs and more about herself. Have a look at today's Salon for another view.
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2004/07/21/askthepilot95/index.html
When Annie concludes with "I come up blank" - it appears that she hadn't thought of the possibility that....maybe she was mistaken?
I don't mean mistaken to:
a) have had suspicions, nor to
b) mention them to the flight attendant, nor to
c) file an inquiry with the airline or the TSA, nor
d) to follow up on the issue (in general) or the passengers (in particular).
All of this is eminently understandable.
No, I mean that after finding out all of the facts, that......perhaps these men were guilty of Flying While Brown and nothing more? It doesn't appear to have crossed her mind.
Which is why pilot Patrick Smith's July 21st column in Salon hits home.
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2004/07/21/askthepilot95/index_np.html
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I don't mean mistaken to:
a) have had suspicions, nor to
b) mention them to the flight attendant, nor to
c) file an inquiry with the airline or the TSA, nor
d) to follow up on the issue (in general) or the passengers (in particular).
All of this is eminently understandable.
No, I mean that after finding out all of the facts, that......perhaps these men were guilty of Flying While Brown and nothing more? It doesn't appear to have crossed her mind.
Which is why pilot Patrick Smith's July 21st column in Salon hits home.
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2004/07/21/askthepilot95/index_np.html
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