From the Editorial Board of the New York Times: "Impeach."

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/14/opinion/sunday/trump-impeachment.html

Op-ed essay by former Senator Slade Gorton, about impeachment: "My Fellow Republicans, Please Follow the Facts"

Sen. Gorton's essay is from today's New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/opinion/my-fellow-republicans-please-follow-the-facts.html

Revised edition of "The Lucky Strike Papers"

 

The 2019 Revised Edition of The Lucky Strike Papers can be purchased, at a discounted price, at the link below.

https://andrewleefielding.com/purchase

New York Times: "Trump Has Considered Firing Intelligence Community Inspector General"

From the article, below:

"President Trump has discussed dismissing the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson, because Mr. Atkinson reported a whistle-blower’s complaint about Mr. Trump’s interactions with Ukraine to Congress after concluding it was credible, according to four people familiar with the discussions."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/us/politics/trump-michael-atkinson-inspector-general.html

From the American Bird Conservancy: "Bird-friendly Garden Tips for Fall"

https://abcbirds.org/blog/bird-friendly-plants

The death of al-Baghdadi: "The ‘Whimpering’ Terrorist Only Trump Seems to Have Heard"

From the November 1st New York Times article, below:

"As for Mr. al-Baghdadi, it is certainly true that there was no mourning his death in Washington this week. During his five-year reign, the Islamic State proved itself one of the most brutal terrorist organizations on the planet, establishing a murderous rule over millions while beheading and raping captured Americans.

"Nor did anyone argue with the characterization of Mr. al-Baghdadi as a coward after he detonated a suicide vest with children nearby on Sunday, killing them along with himself.

"But that was apparently not enough for Mr. Trump. In his announcement and subsequent question and answer session, he used the word 'whimpering' six times, 'crying' five times and 'screaming' four times."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/01/us/politics/trump-isis-leader-baghdadi.html

From The New York Times: "In Iowa, Amy Klobuchar Gets a Second Look After Debate"

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/21/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-iowa.html

An essay about Elijah Cummings

The tribute, which appeared in The Washington Post, is by television host (and former Congressman) Joe Scarborough.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/17/elijah-cummings-did-more-than-serve-baltimore-he-gave-hope-hopeless/

Elijah Cummings (1951-2019)

From the New York Times story, below, about Congressman Cummings: "In the House, Elijah was our North Star,” [Speaker] Pelosi said in a statement. “He was a leader of towering character and integrity, whose stirring voice and steadfast values pushed the Congress and country to rise always to a higher purpose.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/us/politics/elijah-cummings-death-illness.html

Editorial: "Trump’s blunder in Syria is irreparable"

From The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trump-had-one-foreign-policy-success-he-just-threw-it-away/2019/10/14/165c96cc-ee87-11e9-89eb-ec56cd414732_story.html

Retired Marine Gen. John Allen, on CNN: "There is blood on Trump's hands for abandoning our Kurdish allies"

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/13/politics/syria-marine-general-john-allen-trump/index.html

An interview with David Ortiz

From The Boston Globe:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2019/09/14/would-wake-feeling-like-going-die-david-ortiz-speaks-for-first-time/q5h6CpyaI0IBzmLXL4sq9M/story.html

The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention

The annual (and always enjoyable) Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention is taking place this week--from today (Sept. 12th) until Saturday (Sept. 14th)--in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

I've attended several times, but regret that I'm unable to do so this year.

https://www.midatlanticnostalgiaconvention.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MidAtlanticNostalgiaConvention/

September 11th

This is a photograph which was taken on September 11, 2001, but was not published until the next year. The picture, taken by Will Nuñez, appeared in the September 2002 issue of Vanity Fair, with other previously unseen images of the September 11th catastrophe, in an article titled "Two Towers: One Year Later." Mr. Nuñez's photograph also appeared in a book released the same month, Here is New York: A Democracy of Photographs (Scalo Verlag Publishers).

As the caption in Vanity Fair noted, in part: "After the first plane hit Tower One, bond analyst Will Nuñez went to his corner newsstand and bought a $14.99 disposable camera, hoping to record the scene for history's sake.  Minutes later, from his downtown office window, he captured United Flight 175 as it sped toward Tower Two."

(Photograph ©Will Nuñez, and Scalo Verlag Publishers, 2002)

The man with the white Stetson: James R. Leavelle dies, at age 99

Front page of New York Daily News, Nov. 25, 1963

Mr. Leavelle, a Dallas homicide detective, was one of the officers escorting Lee Harvey Oswald, in 1963, when Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby; the shooting took place.in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters.

Mr. Leavelle is seen at the left of both of the above photographs (wearing a tan suit, and a white Stetson); the top photograph was taken by Jack Beers, of the Dallas Morning News; the bottom photo, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize, was by Bob Jackson, of the Dallas Times Herald.

Mr. Leavelle died on Thursday, at age 99.

Here is an obituary, from the New York Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/us/james-leavelle-dead.html

Here, too, is an additional post about Mr. Leavelle (and the historic 1963 photographs in which he figured prominently), from my primary blog:

http://andrewleefielding.blogspot.com/2019/08/james-leavelle-dallas-homicide-detective.html

New York Times editorial, about Gov. Jay Inslee:

From August 23rd: "Jay Inslee’s Lonely Campaign for Climate Change Policy."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/opinion/jay-inslee-climate-change.html

Essay from Tablet magazine, after Mr. Trump's comments about American Jews and "disloyalty"

A good piece in Tablet, the online Jewish-oriented publication, from this past Wednesday (Aug. 21st).  It is by Carly Pildis, and is titled "What Donald Trump Will Never Understand About Jews."

https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/290038/what-donald-trump-will-never-understand-about-jews?fbclid=IwAR2-XH3LFgoC0n2pb96eYrCgmqBgRk6fbgFNZ33G-UshI3QjLVx820D-afM

New York Times story: "How the El Paso Killer Echoed the Incendiary Words of Conservative Media Stars"

From the Times, August 11th:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/11/business/media/el-paso-killer-conservative-media.html

August 9,1974

Forty-five years ago today, Richard Nixon's presidency ended.  During a televised speech, the night before, he had announced he would he leaving office the next day. 

From Max Boot, in The Washington Post

Mr. Boot wrote, in an August 4th column: "You will lead our country to destruction, Mr. President, unless you act to curb gun violence — and your own hateful rhetoric."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/04/anything-real-say-about-shootings-mr-president/

The podcast "On Mic with Jordan Rich"

Jordan Rich, a terrific radio talk show host, has been heard on Boston radio since the late 1970s. For twenty years, he was the very popular weekend overnight host at the news and talk station WBZ-AM. He retired from his WBZ weekend hosting duties in 2016, but continues to appear on the station--periodically, as a guest host, and, each week, through recorded features (including the food/wine/restaurant-oriented "Connoisseurs Corner").  His decades-long work in voice-overs also continues.

I have known Jordan (about whom I've written previously in this space) for a number of years, have for years listened (with great pleasure) to his radio shows, and have been his guest, on the air, in the past. 

 

As an interviewer, as a conversationalist, he is warm, witty, knowledgeable, insightful.  

 

Since 2017, he's been the host of an excellent podcast, "On Mic with Jordan Rich." On July 21st, the podcast's 100th episode appeared. The programs are recorded at Chart Productions, the audio and video production house, outside of Boston, that he co-owns with broadcaster Ken Carberry. They founded the production facility in 1978. 

 

I was recently interviewed by Jordan for the podcast; it was an enormous pleasure talking with him. We spoke about my book about early television (the revised edition of which was released at the end of January).  

 

Here is a brief promotional video concerning our recent conversation, from the "On Mic" Facebook page: 

 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=690951084677718 

 

Here, too,  is the full interview: 

 

https://onmicwithjordanrich.blubrry.net/2019/07/15/andrew-fielding-099/ 

 

Lastly, here is the "On Mic with Jordan Rich" page, at the Chart Productions website: 

 

http://chartproductions.com/mic-jordan-rich/

2019 Revised edition, "The Lucky Strike Papers"

The list price of the 2019 Revised Edition of my book (softcover version) is $24.95.  As of a couple of days ago, the book could be purchased at my website for $27.25 (at the slightly discounted price of $24.00, plus $3.25 for Media Mail Shipping). 

For a limited time, the book is now available, at my website, for $22.95 (with Media Mail Shipping included).  Please see the link below.

https://andrewleefielding.com/purchase

Here, too, is the amazon.com link for the book:

https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Strike-Papers-Journeys-Television/dp/1629334081/ref

June 19th essay by Peter Wehner, in the Times: "Trump Is Betting That Anger Can Still Be Power"

Some of the best commentary about President Trump, today, comes from conservatives who oppose him. The excellent piece, below, is by Peter Wehner, a Contributing Opinion Writer at the New York Times.

He writes, in the essay: "...in their ferocious defense of the president, Trump supporters are signaling that decency is a form of weakness, that cruelty is a welcome and highly effective political weapon and that the low road is the preferred road. At one point, Republicans were willing to tolerate Mr. Trump’s brutish tactics and reprehensible character as the price of party loyalty; today many of them seem to relish it. They see the dehumanization of others as a form of entertainment."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/opinion/trump-2020-announcement.html

Juneteenth

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) is one of the great works of American literature. In 1999, five years after Mr. Ellison died, at age 80, his novel Juneteenth was released. He had worked on the novel for decades, yet it remained unfinished at his death. His literary executor, John F. Callahan, a professor at Lewis & Clark College, assembled the book from some two thousand pages of manuscript and notes Mr. Ellison had written.

https://www.amazon.com/Juneteenth-Novel-Ralph-Ellison/dp/0394464575/ref

In 2010, a much longer version of the novel--Three Days Before the Shooting--was published. The book, made up of more than one thousand of the two thousand pages of material Mr. Ellison had left behind, was edited by Mr. Callahan, and writer/critic Adam Bradley, professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Days-Before-Shooting/dp/0375759549/ref

Today, June 19th, marks the observance of the day known as Juneteenth--June 19, 1865, two months after the conclusion of the Civil War--when the end of slavery in Texas was officially carried out. The holiday commemorates not only the end of slavery in Texas, but, more broadly, its abolishment in the United States as a whole.

As noted on Wikipedia: "Texas was the most remote of the slave states, and the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, was not enforced there until after the Confederacy collapsed." Says Wikipedia:  "On June 18, Union Army General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston Island with 2,000 federal troops to occupy Texas on behalf of the federal government. The following day, standing on the balcony of Galveston's Ashton Villa, Granger read aloud the contents of  'General Order No. 3', announcing the total emancipation of those held as slaves."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteenth

Here is a story from CNN.com, today, about observances of Juneteenth. Pennsylvania, today, became the latest state to officially recognize the holiday; four states have yet to do so.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/19/us/juneteenth-state-holidays-trnd/index.html

The Bird of the Week, from the American Bird Conservancy

From June 7th: the Red-shouldered Hawk.

https://abcbirds.org/bird/red-shouldered-hawk/

CNN reporter Jim Acosta's new book

The book, just released, is titled The Enemy of the People: A Dangerous Time to Tell the Truth in America (Harper).  I'd like to read it.

https://www.amazon.com/Enemy-People-Dangerous-Truth-America/dp/0062916122/ref

June 11th essay by Frank Bruni, in the New York Times

The column's headline: "Donald Trump’s Medical Malice."  

The sub-headline:  "There’s a word for his insinuations that something is wrong with Joe Biden. It’s 'sick.' ”

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/opinion/trump-biden-health.html

Robert Caro's new book, "Working"

An excellent/interesting review, by writer and editor Harold Evans, of Robert Caro's new book, "Working" (subtitled "Researching, Interviewing, Writing"). Am looking forward to reading it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/16/books/review/robert-a-caro-working.html

Copies available

Copies of the Revised Edition of my book about early television are now available at my website.

Please see the information at this link:

https://andrewleefielding.com/purchase

"The Lucky Strike Papers," 2019 Revised Edition

The Revised Edition of the book, published by BearManor Media (as was the original edition, in 2007), is now available:

https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Strike-Papers-Journeys-Television/dp/1629334081/ref

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, CNN Town Hall, tonight

Am looking forward to watching this program, this evening at 10 (eastern time).

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/18/politics/amy-kobuchar-cnn-town-hall/index.html