The Times Magazine this weekend, in addition to an interview revealing Paz de la Huerta's bath troubles, features a profile of Wyclef Jean--the would-be savior of Haiti who may be better known for his years with the band the Fugees. The article's author seems to suffer some cognitive dissonance as he tries to reconcile Read More
The title of John Szwed's objective, detailed, above all loving biography of Alan Lomax, The Man Who Recorded the World (Viking, 448 pages, $29.95), is hardly an understatement. For a majority of his life, Lomax traveled the world looking for musicians to match the intensity of the prewar recordings of Robert Johnson that so enthralled Read More
Eric Schneiderman announced today that his office has shut down two companies that are charged with defrauding Haitians affected by the 2010 earthquake.
The companies allegedly targeted Haitian nationals who had been affected by the earthquake, illegally providing them with fake immigration services and falsely promising them legal immigrant status. By misrepresenting a new law Read More
Judah Friedlander is known for sporting some pretty obtuse catchphrases on his trucker hats, but at SPiN's "Ping Pong with the Models" charity event for Haiti, the slogan was actually appropriate: "WORLD CHAMPION."
"I play here all the time," Judah told us as he manned the net at the newly opened ping pong parlor, scooping out Read More
Moments after Wyclef Jean took a seat at table one for an early lunch at Michael's in midtown, a bodyguard of sturdy carriage advised moving to a different Breur Cesca chair facing away from the lunch crowd. "It's for security," Mr. Jean good-naturedly told the Transom from his new perch. Potential threats seemed unlikely Read More
An average Joe discovers a $200 million trove of Ansel Adams negatives at a garage sale, struggling art vendors protest new regulations, and flip-flop wearing bargain hunters clamor for Lawrence Salander's belongings. This week in art news: don't forget the little guy. 1. YouTube Play Generates Buzz and FrustrationThe jury for the Guggenheim's Read More
When major newspapers around the country don’t have Haiti bureaus, what happens when disaster strikes?
Last Tuesday evening, hours after the earthquake hit Haiti, the L.A. Times’ New York correspondent Tina Susman got the call. She found a JetBlue flight that was taking off to Santo Domingo a little after midnight, bought the ticket, packed Read More
When major newspapers around the country don’t have Haiti bureaus, what happens when disaster strikes?
Last Tuesday evening, hours after the earthquake hit Haiti, the L.A. Times’ New York correspondent Tina Susman got the call. She found a JetBlue flight that was taking off to Santo Domingo a little after midnight, bought the ticket, Read More
As vacation time nears, it is safe to say that no matter how rotten things get on the big screen during the rest of the summer, the worst of it is over. Hollywood cannot pollute the ozone with anything more idiotic, contrived, amateurish or sub-mental than Lady in the Water. This piece of pretentious, paralyzing Read More
The difference between threat and bluster is the power to back up one's words. Of late, President Bush has had many loud words to say, and he accompanies them with the threat of force, which is certainly a form of power. But how powerful is his power-and, by extension, ours?
He is so short of soldiers Read MoreHardly anybody is speaking of it, and then only in a whisper, but President Bush, his administration and the American people are about to face an explosive and divisive issue: the draft.
For those of a certain age, the very idea of restoring the draft brings back memories of how the system worked, and how it Read MoreAlthough early in the last century there was a brief flurry in a few American business circles about oil in Haiti, the idea died decades ago. Hence, let us assume that George W. Bush's arrival in Port au Prince had nothing to do with the American national appetite for black gold, there being none on Read More
The Dew Breaker , by Edwidge Danticat. Alfred A. Knopf, 244 pages, $22.
Only a few hours away by luxury jet lies an island paradise of palm trees and warm sand where the air itself feels forgiving. Lovely chocolate-skinned women wear pink nightgowns, jacarandas grow wild and the customary old-fashioned way to say "You're welcome" Read MoreRipped From the Headlines,
A Sad, True Novel About Haiti The Dew Breaker , by Edwidge Danticat. Alfred A. Knopf, 244 pages, $22. Only a few hours away by luxury jet lies an island paradise of palm trees and warm sand where the air itself feels forgiving. Lovely chocolate-skinned women wear pink nightgowns, jacarandas grow wild Read MoreAs the ranks of the Herberts dwindle, the time has come to pronounce a requiem, extending the heartfelt sympathies of this Herbert to the other Herberts still wandering, bereft and ridiculed, doomed to represent stodginess in a hostile world of Bruces, Neils and unruly Jacobs. Other Herberts, I feel your name.
Everybody knows that babies' names Read More