Newley Purnell

My New Classes
The new term is off to an excellent start. I’ve got three classes: a 103 level adult class from 7-8 a.m (you read that correctly–7 in the a.m.), a 403 (literature and creative writing) high school-age class from 3:00-4:20 p.m., and another 103 level high school age-class from 4:30-5:50 p.m. My students are great.

Funniest moments so far: yesterday, I prepared my 103 students for an in-class reading by brainstorming U.S. cities they’re familiar with. They threw out the ones they knew–New York, L.A., Chicago, etc.–and I wrote them on the board; they hit a wall after about 10.

And then, in both classes, in virtually the same reluctant, half-serious manner, someone volunteered another American town: Springfield. As in the home of “The Simpsons.” Or as they’re known here, “Los Simpsons”.

Rumsfeld and the Pentagon (Cont’d)–and the Media
Joshua Marshall has written more about Rumsfeld’s less-than-cozy relatioship with the Pentagon. I find this inside-war-planning stuff quite interesting–and it illustrates an interesting point regarding the media’s coverage of the conflict.

Here in Ecuador, if you pick up one of the local papers, El Mercurio (from Cuenca) or El Comercio (from Quito), you’ll see lots of photos of Iraqi civilians fleeing burning towns. The news coverage focuses on the human element of the war–especially civilian deaths, since Ecuador, like most of the rest of the word, disagrees with the war America’s waging.

But if you check out an American or British paper, you’ll see much more focus on military strategy–elaborate illustrations and maps detailing where troops are going and where coalition forces are dropping bombs. The American media’s portrayal of the war, in particular, is much more clinical and antiseptic than the images and descriptions being broadcast here.

Hersh on Rummy
Wow. Sy Hersh says there’s no love lost between Don Rumsfeld and the Pentagon; the Pentagon blames Rummy and his civilian advisors for the less-than-spectacular start to the war. And I keep asking myself: where’s this whole thing going?

The Bush hawks’ possible master plan–and the article I linked to the other day is so powerful that I have to link to it again–may or may not come to pass. And you have to imagine that Hussein will eventually be toppled. But man–this war’s a lot messier than most people thought it’d be.