Two quick notes so while I crash through my book deadline, one serious, one less so:

I have even less useful to say about Gaza than I had on Mumbai. So I’ll take refuge, as I often do, to the one spot of hope I know of in that part of the world. I remember visiting there in 1990, and I’m always comforted to know that they’re still doing the work – creating a new generation that can, maybe, figure the rest of the shit out. Turns out they’re also speaking out against the current insanity.

The video’s a bit long, but worth it:

If you haven’t put The Smoking Gun.com on your list of sources, you’re missing out. In addition to a full supply of investigative stuff — grand jury testimony, mug shots — It turns out to be the place to go if you want to know more than you thought was out there about the super-short military careers of …

Jack Kerouac, who stopped by in between terms at Columbia during World War II and was discharged as completely out of his mind;

and Jimi Hendrix — who gets discharged for, as TSG, playing too much on his instrument. (The Army charged him for the laundry bills, too!) Which gives me an excuse to put this up – I’d forgotten how amazing it is. Just watch it first, otherwise you’ll only look at his hands.