Author: jbenton

chandawatch, french 04

Yes, friends, it’s that time of year again. Time for another installment of that crabwalk.com franchise we’ve all come to know and love: ChandaWatch.
(For newish readers, I went to high school with Chanda Rubin, one of the world’s top women’s tennis players. So, for the last two years, I’ve posted updates on her career here, focusing on her progress through the grand slams. Also, this gives me an excuse to mention the names of many women’s tennis stars — a pattern which, when combined with out-of-context use of the word “naked,” leads to many, many Google hits. If only I had a nickel for every “anastasia myskina naked” search that leads crabwalk.com’s way.)
Anyway, seeds were announced for the French Open today. Chanda’s the 13 seed this time around, a bit lower than normal. That’s no doubt because of her recent knee problems. (She had left knee surgery in both 2001 and 2002; she tweaked the knee again whooping up on Rita Grande in February.) Chanda took three months off and had her first match back on Wednesday. Unfortunately, she lost to Trotskyite nobody Alina Jidkova, 6-7, 7-6, 4-6. In other words, the knee’s not exactly 100 percent.
Anyway, as the bracket lines up, Chanda is favored by seed through to the fourth round, facing a qualifier and then (if seeds hold) the Zimbabwan Cara Black and the Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga. Then would come Venus Williams and a likely demise. (At least that’s how it worked out in 2002 at Roland Garros.) But cross your fingers anyway, everyone.

veterans of future wars

We all know how strapped for manpower the military is at the moment. I read the other day that of the Army’s 10 active-duty divisions, nine are either in Iraq and Afghanistan or on their way there. There are rumblings of a draft, and we’re hearing about inactive reservists and past military types being called back into service. In some ways, it’s looking like everyone is going to be involved in the war effort at one point or another.
So maybe it’s time to revive an old idea: The Veterans of Future Wars.
Times were tough during the Great Depression. To ease the economic pain a little, veterans of World War One lobbied Congress to pay them their war bonuses ten years early. Congress readily acquiesced and passed the Harrison Bonus Bill in January 1936.
This pre-payment was a source of inspiration for Lewis Gorin, a senior at Princeton University. It seemed logical to him that if present-day veterans could get their war bonuses early, why shouldn’t future veterans also receive their money up-front

sy hersh is the man

It’s well established that I’m a Sy Hersh groupie. He’s such a wonderfully tough old bastard, and he’s been kicking ass on the Iraqi prison story.
Here’s another piece on him (and, more broadly, The New Yorker’s war coverage) in the Boston Globe. (Written by the potentially Cajun Don Aucoin.) My favorite quote is the last one, after Aucoin apparently has gotten gruff ol’ Sy saying nice things about New Yorker editor David Remnick:
“You’ve got me saying nice things about my boss. I’m going to lose my Guild membership. I’m out of here. Goodbye.”

emily miller, evil flak

This Emily J. Miller sure seems like a saint. The best is what she told a WaPo writer who was profiling her previous boss, Tom DeLay:
“You lied!…You betrayed him! You twisted his words!…We don’t know you. You don’t exist….You are dead to us.”
For the record, anyone who has ever said the words “You are dead to us” — in any context other than mocking hilarity — is a self-important ass.

oc gang rape followup

For those of you who read my post Thursday on the Orange County gang rape case, the O.C. Weekly has been doing a good job following the case. (And taking advantage of the fact that, as an alt weekly, they can publish all the bad words the O.C. Register won’t.)
First, this piece, which does a convincing job showing was a bunch of drunken teenaged goons these rapists are.
But this piece is the one to read. The first half is about a (probably minor) courtroom screwup by the prosecution. But the last two paragraphs may be the a new low for the legal profession. How these defense attorneys can sleep at night, I’ll never know.
The victim in the case, known only as Jane Doe, testifies tomorrow.