Ms. Stealth, Ben Carter and My Version of 'Old' Zale's Street Incident!

Dershowitz reviews the opera "Klinghoffer."  (See 1 below.)
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An Atlanta developer - Ben Carter - has come to Savannah with bulging pockets filled with dollars and he wants to make an architectural impression on our city's main shopping area- Broughton Street.

He is offering high prices for historical buildings in order to move tenants out so he can refill them with  his retail ideas.

Savannah is unique and I question whether Mr. Carter's sensitivity to Savannah's charm and historical significance has our city's best interest in mind notwithstanding, what may be a sincere desire to bring change.

Time will tell whether the city manager and government can withstand the pressure he is willing to bring.

"The Garden of Good and Evil" put Savannah on the map, SCAD has been a boon to the city's redevelopment and we have become a destination town.  Yes, Savannah is more laid back than Charleston but it has a charm that makes it a wonderful place to live to visit to experience.

Our District Attorney, Meg Heap, is doing a superb job of pursuing crime and criminals and we have a new police chief who, one can only hope, will make the city safer and bring order to this important department. Savannah has poor city government though, the current mayor is an improvement but we have a long way to go when it comes to vision and ethical  and responsible governance.

Tread slowly Mr. Carter and listen to those who are challenging some of your actions.(See 2 below.)
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A recent LTE I sent but which probably will not get posted:

Ms. Stealth

Who is Michelle Nunn?  She appears to be a stealth candidate who has painted herself with the same material Lockheed uses to apply to planes that make them undetectable.

Like Pelosi said about Obamacare, we have to pass it to find out what's in it and the same is being asked of Georgia voters by Ms. Nunn.

As best as I can tell she is a white female community organizer who wants to hug everyone but whose first vote will be to pay back Harry Reid for his monetary support.  Harry Reid is the Senate Majority Leader who has run the Senate as a personal play pen fiefdom in order to protect a monarch president and Democrat Senators from voting on anything that would benefit the nation while saving their collective political skins.

What I find ironic is that Obama's own party members are rejecting his campaign appearances on their behalf in droves but not the  money raised  by his constant campaigning. Money talks.  Obama's platitudinal words have become turn offs.

Consequently, Ms. Nunn cleverly chose to have Michelle Obama campaign for her in furtherance of reminding voters Republicans are at war with women,  government should  tell us what to eat and how those doctors we can keep should take care of our bodies. 

Meanwhile, Ms. Nunn's party, which she denies being a member of, has brought this nation nothing but economic misery, energy dependency and Obama's foreign policies has proven nothing short of disastrous - ask Iran and ISIS if you think otherwise or those New York policemen attacked in a work place incidence. (See 3 below for my version.)

The election of Ms. Stealth will validate the fact that Georgians remain incapable of sound independent reasoning  and are no more than southern sheep who have a long history of being shorn by Democrat shears!.

And so it goes! A vote for Democrats is tantamount to screwing yourself.  Now if you get pleasure in engaging in that activity then go one better and vote  for Ms. Stealth!  (See 3a below.)

A liberal friend of mine, whom I am quite fond of, asked me to publish this rebuttal .  I told him I would. 

The author of the posted article, having been associated with Ga. Tech, is obviously very close to Sam Nunn and the Sam Nunn School housed at Ga. Tech.  (See 3b below.)

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Dick
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1)"Klinghoffer" by Alan Dershowitz 
  

On Monday night I went to the Metropolitan Opera.  I went for two reasons: to see and hear John Adams’ controversial opera, The Death of Klinghoffer; and to see and hear what those protesting the Met’s judgment in presenting the opera had to say.  Peter Gelb, the head of the Met Opera, had advised people to see it for themselves and then decide.

That’s what I planned to do.  Even though I had written critically of the opera—based on reading the libretto and listening to a recording—I was also critical of those who wanted to ban or censor it.  I wanted personally to experience all sides of the controversy and then “decide.”  

Lincoln Center made that difficult.  After I bought my ticket, I decided to stand in the Plaza of Lincoln Center, across the street and in front of the protestors, so I could hear what they were saying and read what was on their signs.  But Lincoln Center security refused to allow me to stand anywhere in the large plaza.  They pushed me to the side and to the back, where I could barely make out the content of the protests.  “Either go into the opera if you have a ticket or leave.  No standing.”  When I asked why I couldn’t remain in the large, open area between the protestors across the street and the opera house behind me, all I got were terse replies:  “security,” “Lincoln Center orders.”

The end result was that the protestors were talking to and facing an empty plaza.  It would be as if the Metropolitan Opera had agreed to produce The Death of Klinghoffer, but refused to allow anyone to sit in the orchestra, the boxes or the grand tier.  “Family circle, upstairs, side views only.”

That’s not freedom of expression, which requires not only that the speakers be allowed to express themselves, but that those who want to see and hear them be allowed to stand in an area in front of, and close to, the speakers, so that they can fully participate in the marketplace of ideas.  That marketplace was needlessly restricted on the opening night of The Death of Klinghoffer.

Unable to see or hear the content of the protest, I made my way to the opera house where I first registered a protest with the Met’s media person and then sat down in my fourth row seat to listen and watch the opera.  

I’m an opera fanatic, having been to hundreds of Met performances since my high school years.  This was my third opera since the beginning of the season, just a few weeks ago.  I consider myself something of an opera aficionado and “maven.”  I always applaud, even flawed performances and mediocre operas.  By any standard, The Death of Klinghoffer, is anything but the “masterpiece” its proponents are claiming it is.  The music is uneven, with some lovely choruses—more on that coming—one decent aria, and lots of turgid recitatives.  The libretto is awful.  The drama is confused and rigid, especially the weak device of the captain looking back at the events several years later with the help of several silent passengers.  There are silly and distracting arias from a British show girl who seems to have had a crush on one of the terrorists, as well as from a woman who hid in her cabin eating grapes and chocolate.  They added neither to the drama nor the music of the opera.  

Then there were the choruses.  The two that open the opera are supposed to demonstrate the comparative suffering of the displaced Palestinians and the displaced Jews.  The Palestinian chorus is beautifully composed musically, with some compelling words, sung rhythmically and sympathetically.  The Jewish chorus is a mishmash of whining about money, sex, betrayal and assorted “Hasidism” protesting in front of movie theaters.  It never mentions the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, though the chorus is supposed to be sung by its survivors.  The goal of that narrative chorus is to compare the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians—some of which was caused by Arab leaders urging them to leave and return victoriously after the Arabs murdered the Jews of Israel—with the systematic genocide of six million Jews.  It was a moral abomination.  

And it got worse.  The Palestinian murderer is played by a talented ballet dancer, who is portrayed sympathetically.  A chorus of Palestinian women asks the audience to understand why he would be driven to terrorism.  “We are not criminals,” the terrorists assures us.

One of the terrorists—played by the only Black lead singer—is portrayed as an overt anti-Semite, expressing hateful tropes against “the Jews”.  But he is not the killer.  Nor, in this opera, is Klinghoffer selected for execution because he is a Jew.  Instead, he is picked because he is a loudmouth who can’t control his disdain for the Palestinian cause.  

At bottom The Death of Klinghoffer—a title deliberately selected to sanitize his brutal murder—is more propaganda than art.  It has some artistic moments but the dominant theme is to create a false moral equivalence between terrorism and its victims, between Israel and Palestinian terrorist groups, and between the Holocaust and the self-inflicted Nakba.  It is a mediocre opera, by a good composer and very bad librettist.  But you wouldn’t know that from the raucous standing ovations received not only by the performers and chorus master, who deserved them, but also by the composer, who did not.  The applause was not for the art.  Indeed, during the intermission and on the way out, the word I heard most often was “boring.”  The over-the-top standing ovations were for the “courage” displayed by all those involved in the production.  But it takes little courage to be anti-Israel these days, or to outrage Jews.  There were, to be sure, a few brief expressions of negative opinion during the opera, one of which was briefly disruptive, as an audience member repeatedly shouted “Klinghoffer’s murder will never be forgiven.”  He was arrested and removed.

What would require courage would be for the Met to produce an opera that portrayed Mohammad, or even Yassir Arafat, in a negative way.  The protests against such portrayals would not be limited to a few shouts, some wheelchairs and a few hundred distant demonstrators.  Remember the murderous reaction to a few cartoons several years ago. 

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Editor’s Note: Last week, a publicist for Atlanta developer Ben Carter offered an interview and tour of Broughton Street to GPB Savannah. Carter says he’s investing $100 million in redeveloping the popular shopping district, and the publicist said this would be a chance for Carter to share his vision with GPB. Reporter Emily Jones sat down with him this week. They started with the interview - and never made it to the tour. Read on to find out why. Here’s a transcript of that conversation, edited for length and repetition, and excluding words like “um.”

Emily Jones: What is it, first of all, about Savannah that makes it the right place for a development project like this?

Ben Carter: Well, Savannah is obviously an old city and is the largest historic district in America. And I’ve been in the retail and the mixed-use development business for my whole life, and I noticed in Savannah that...Broughton Street, which is the former high street of Savannah, had a lot of vacancy on it, but it also had a lot of great local retailers as well as national retailers...The national stores that are here are Gap and Banana [Republic] and Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, and in my business they’re known as being the pioneers to start a rejuvenation of a lot of urban markets around the country. So, when I saw them here, saw the good locals, saw the extent of vacancy, I started talking with some of my retailer friends and it seemed like Savannah was a place where a lot of people wanted to consider expanding. So we started our project.

EJ: Ok, and then sort of on the other side of that, why is this particular project and these particular stores the right project for Savannah?

BC: Well, Savannah demographically is a greater metropolitan population of about 800,000 people, and it has 13 million tourism visits. If you contrast that to Charleston, the population’s about 40,000 less and the tourism is 4 million versus 13 million, which is a really unknown fact. Savannah’s tourism business is huge. And so, there’s not a lot of shopping here like there is in Charleston and other great tourism venues. So we want to do both retail, restaurants, and try to revitalize Broughton Street in the process.

EJ: Great, now, a lot of the places that you’re talking about bringing in are national brands, so what will make this or keep this uniquely Savannah, since a lot of places do have a lot of the national brands?

BC: Well, the national brands are important to raise the foot traffic in terms of sales potential. These national brands are international brands as well, so H&M is a building that we’re going to build from scratch on an old historic property that burned down years ago. They’re all over the world as a fantastic international fashion brand. And then some of the national retailers who have sales expectations in the 4, 5, 600 dollars a square foot range will increase sales, so the locals should benefit from that. We’re also actively talking to people not only in Savannah but retailers and restaurants that are around the Southeast and in some case brand new rollouts in New York and LA and other places. So it’s not all about nationals, but the nationals set the stage for emerging retailers to feel more comfortable with the market.

EJ: Now you mention the new construction of the new building for H&M, and one of Savannah’s biggest draws is its beautiful, old historic buildings and all the history here. So how do you envision this project and especially the new things like H&M that you’re planning on building fitting in with the historic Savannah feel and look?

BC: Well, Savannah has a historic review board, who’s a board of professionals that approve all the designs of buildings that are being built. So we’ve received their approval for the H&M building. It’s very much in keeping with the historic district, and their approval endorses that. The rest of our projects are really renovations of old buildings. These buildings are a hundred and fifty to two hundred fifty years old, and they’re in dire need of some tender loving care...So our work here is to restore what we can to its historic, original condition, or as close to it as we can, and we’ve received approvals, again, from HRB for a lot of these efforts. In Savannah, you have design guidelines and there are two ways to approach it: you can stucco over the old facades, or you can uncover the old facades and try to restore the brick and masonry work. The latter is a lot more expensive, but that’s what we’re electing to do because I actually believe in historic renovation.

EJ: So what about the concern that some of these changes and new stores will drive up rent on the street such that some of the local businesses might not be able to afford it anymore and might be forced to leave?

BC: Well, I think I addressed that earlier. If the sales expenditures on the street increase, it’s up to the local retailers to be able to capture that additional market share, and if their sales go up they should be able to pay more rent. That’s America, that’s economic progress. It’s up to the retailers to be able to keep up with their market.

EJ: Ok. And a similar concern is something I’ve also heard with regard to the Tax Allocation District and Community Improvement District that you’ve proposed or asked the city for to help improve the streetscape, and there’s been concern as well that those additional costs, the additional taxes could also make things tougher for small businesses. Is that a possibility?

BC: I don’t know. I mean, I think that’s up to the city. It’s really not my project, it’s just a suggestion.

EJ: So, over the summer you added some like planters and statues and things to the street, and I know a lot of people definitely thought that that was an improvement, especially on some of the vacant lots and things it definitely makes it look better, but there was a little dust-up because there wasn’t actually approval from the city for that. So I’m wondering if something like that has the potential to - I guess - is that a precedent for how some of the rest of this project could go? I mean, are there things that you might just move forward without, necessarily, city approval or city involvement?

BC: That’s a totally inappropriate question, I’m not going to answer it the way you posed it, but I’ll tell you everything I’m doing’s under the city’s approval. You need to get your information correct.

EJ: I don’t think it’s an inappropriate question, because I think that it did raise concern that -

BC: Where are you getting your information from?

EJ: From-

BC: The newspaper?

EJ: Yeah.

BC: The newspaper’s not factual.

EJ: It’s a newspaper.

BC: That doesn’t mean it’s factual. Excuse me, but -

EJ: Ok, did you get city approval to put things like the planters and the statuary and things on your properties?

BC: I don’t need approval to put a statue on my own piece of property, number one. Number two, I did exactly what the city asked me to do regarding the planters. Number three, get your facts correct. If you’re gonna interview me, the press is not always correct. Don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper. Guess what? There are more cases of Ebola than they’re reporting.

EJ: Ok, let me, um - (Carter stands and walks away) Excuse me? I have more questions.

BC: I don’t like the tone of what you’re doing. You’re asking questions about a newspaper report that’s not factual, ma’am.

EJ: Ok.

BC: What kind of journalism is this? (Carter is pacing the area and picking up and slapping down papers on the table during this exchange)

EJ: Ok, can I ask you questions about other things, then? Other than that newspaper report?

BC: I don’t know. (Carter sits.) I’m here to talk to you about facades.

EJ: Ok.

BC: Do you want to talk about facades? Let’s talk about facades. You want to be more dramatic, we can be more dramatic.

EJ: I don’t feel that I’m being dramatic. This is a question I’ve heard not just - (Carter reaches over and turns over the recorder, then stands again.) Please don’t do that. (turns recorder back on) This is a question that I’ve heard not just from the newspaper.

BC: (walking away) I’m sorry. (returns) Let’s wrap it up. (sits)

EJ: I’m sorry?

BC: Let’s wrap it up.

EJ: So, earlier this year you named a date of March 1, 2015 for completion of the finished product on Broughton Street. Is that still your estimated timeline?

BC: Absolutely.

EJ: And around the same time you said that you wanted to make Broughton Street a top-five destination in the country within 18 months. How do you plan on doing that?

BC: It already is. Number three in the country right now most desired places to be. Read the newspapers.

EJ: But you don’t want me to read all the newspapers?

BC: That’s actually a really unfair position on your part. I find this to be an unfair interview. You should come more prepared. You can read on the Savannah Chamber of Commerce website and the tourism, it’s already been ranked as the top third most important place to go visit in America, it’s ranked in the top five in terms of most romantic cities, US News and World Report, Conde Nast, so I would really appreciate if you would do your homework before you come interview me because you don’t have your facts correct.

EJ: I did do my homework. So, how much are you working with local organizations and with other businesses on Broughton Street as you plan especially things like the streetscape that really affects everybody?

BC: I’m having numerous public meetings, including a meeting last week with 200 people, including the Downtown Business Association and the Downtown Neighborhood Association. Are you not aware of that? It was on the newspaper and the TV.

EJ: I am aware of that.

BC: Then why’d you ask the question?

EJ: I’d just like your take on it and to know how much you plan on continuing that in the future.

BC: Of course I will continue that in the future. Thank you very much for the interview, I appreciate your time today.

EJ : Thank you very much as well. (Carter walks away, leaves the office).

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3) My Version of Just Another: "Street Place Incident "

Hatchet-man, who wounded two New York City police officers, one  critically, turns out to be a self-radicalized convert to Islam who apparently acted alone in what law enforcement officials, on Friday, wanted to  call a terrorist attack,. However, in deference to Obama said was simply  a street place incident.

Zale Thompson, was shot dead by two  officers on Thursday afternoon on a street in the borough of Queens. Prior to this street place incident 'ole Zale had made anti-Western postings on social media and visited websites associated with several radical Islamic groups, according to  police.

A search of computers seized from the home of  'Old' Zale's father in Queens, revealed 'Old' Zale  spent time reading online about beheadings, a recent intrusion at the White House and attacks in Canada.

Police investigators were trying to determine whether Thompson, a black man who converted to Islam two years ago, had any connection to an area mosque. Police said the social media postings of 'Old' Zale described him as an unemployed recluse who was "anti-government, anti-Western, anti-white" and most probably pro-Obama!

"The fact that 'Old Zale' was walking around with a hatchet makes it clear he had some sense of doing something anti-social because trees no longer grow in the Queens!

The attack on Thursday, which took place in a shopping district, unfolded in a matter of seconds, police said. A group of four police officers were posing for a freelance photographer when Thompson charged them, swinging his hatchet. One officer was struck in the arm and another in the head before two other officers opened fire, killing 'Old' Zale.

A 29-year-old female bystander was struck in the lower back by a stray bullet and critically wounded. No doubt the public will call for the resignation and trial of the policeman who cannot shoot straight.  Perhaps he can seek employment with the Ferguson, Mo. Police Department!

Kenneth Healey, the 25-year-old officer hit in the head, remains in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital, and
the officer struck in the arm, Joseph Meeker, 24, was treated at the hospital and released.

Thompson, who was involuntarily discharged from the Navy in 2003 for undisclosed reasons, lived with his father at a home in Queens, but stayed at his mother's residence the night before the incident.

Thompson was arrested in southern California six times between 2002 and 2003, likely for domestic disputes, according to a New York Police Investigator.

At age 16, in 1998, Thompson was apparently the victim of an assault, and he has been 'pissed' ever since 

When president Obama was asked was this a terrorist occurrence he replied Atty. General Holder was looking for another definition in The Webster Dictionary, and promptly boarded  Air Force One for a campaign fundraiser.

Reporters then sought Atty. Gen Holder for his view and he responded that The NRA was to blame and said he would ask the president to seek legislation banning police from carrying weapons of mass destruction!

ISIS applauded the incident and have called 'Old' Zale a martyr and we now know what Obama meant by "whackadoodle!"

3a) Did you receive your Medicare Handbook for 2015 yet? If you have already received yours in the mail please turn to page 12 and go down to the bottom of the page and read, “Find out what you pay for Medicare (Part A and Part B)”.  It states that the premium and deductible amounts were not available at the time of printing. It further states you may call 1-800-633-4227 to get the most up-to-date info.

 

A friend talked with a Medicare representative. She told him they probably would not have those figures in until the end of the first week or possibly the second week of November. Now, let that sink in.

 

As soon as she stated that  he replied, “My, isn't that convenient for the Obama Administration to actually hold off on those figures until after the 2014 election results.” There was dead silence on the other end of the line. He said thank you and would call back.

 

I may be wrong, but I really think he is right!

 

You see on our Social Security increase for next year we are only receiving an increase of around 1%. Even the military are getting just over 1%. You can bet after the November 4th election, the increases for Medicare A & B will be greater than 1%. That is why they are delaying what the increases will be, because if they had put it in that handbook, the elderly would be voting against the Democrats.

 

So anyone voting for the Democrats in the forthcoming elections deserves to get the increases that are coming after November 4th.

3b) Andrew Harris: Georgia needs consensus-building senator

By ANDREW HARRIS

It appears that we are in the midst of another typical political campaign in Georgia with all the negative PAC ads and untruths.

It is a very sad state of affairs but not surprising given the polarized political landscape these days. With so many commercials and so much rhetoric, how does one know who truly is the best person to represent us in the U.S. Senate? Well, here are my non-partisan thoughts:

First of all, I know both of the candidates, David Perdue better than Michelle Nunn. I have known David and Bonnie Perdue for several years through Georgia Tech and down at Sea Island.

David and Bonnie are good people. David is a hard-charging, CEO type and has made a lot of money. I do not think, however, he is well suited to serve in the Senate. Here’s why.

David, as I said, is a hard-charging CEO and is accustomed to “being in charge” and “running things” basically. The Senate, of course, is not run by any one person, not even the president of the Senate or the majority leader.

The Senate is a deliberative body where each member has to compromise and work patiently toward a consensus with others, even with those he or she does not share the same values or views. It is my belief that David will become frustrated and grow tired of the process quickly. Once he does, I fear he will become just another rank and file member who takes the money, adopts his party’s marching orders and rails against the other side, which does nothing for the people of Georgia.

Ms. Nunn on the other hand, has made a career out of reaching out to others, building coalitions around issues and getting things done by consensus — precisely what is needed these days in the Senate.

Her father, former Sen. Sam Nunn, was a master at this as well, working with his Republican colleagues to build a strong national defense as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee as well as keeping several of Georgia’s military bases intact during the base realignment process in the 1990s.

We currently have a lot of needs in our state that require a partnership with Washington, whether we like it or not. We have a port that needs dredging that will require several hundred million in federal funds. We have a long list of transportation needs that are funded with 80-90 percent federal funds.

We need a person in our Senate delegation that can work with both sides — someone who can bring projects and appropriations to our state, not someone who will continue to alienate the White House and their Democrat colleagues in the Senate.

This is particularly important since there is a reasonable chance another Democrat could be elected president and that the Senate will likely remain Democrat controlled.

Bottom line — we need to elect the person that is most likely to get something done for our state, regardless of whether they are man, woman, Democrat or Republican.

Andrew Harris worked for the Georgia General Assembly and for Gov. Joe Frank Harris and served on the Decatur City Commission and as mayor pro-tem for 12 years. He recently retired from Georgia Tech, where he spent 17 years as special assistant to President Wayne Clough and as an adjunct professor of political science.

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