More than two years later, the Raymond Davis episode has been largely forgotten in the United States. It was immediately overshadowed by the dramatic raid months later that killed Osama bin Laden — consigned to a footnote in the doleful narrative of America’s relationship with Pakistan. But dozens of interviews conducted over several months, with government officials and intelligence officers in Pakistan and in the United States, tell a different story: that the real unraveling of the relationship was set off by the flurry of bullets Davis unleashed on the afternoon of Jan. 27, 2011, and exacerbated by a series of misguided decisions in the days and weeks that followed. In Pakistan, it is the Davis affair, more than the Bin Laden raid, that is still discussed in the country’s crowded bazaars and corridors of power. -
The Spy Who Lost Pakistan (SL NYTIMES Magazine)
posted by beisny
on Apr 9, 2013 -
53 comments
LCD Soundsystem + Miles Davis: "No editing or other tricks, just 2 youtube videos played at the
same time." (SLYT)
posted by juliplease
on Nov 15, 2012 -
50 comments
Pete Cosey dead at 68. Though he had a career as a session guitarist prior to and had some important appearances after, Cosey is most well known for his brief time playing with Miles Davis (1973 - 1975) during an era of Miles' that has at times confounded critics*. Cosey appeared on
Get Up with It, Dark Magus, Agharta and
Pangaea with Miles.
[more inside]
posted by safetyfork
on Jun 3, 2012 -
14 comments
The Reynoso Task Force has released its
findings (pdf) on the UCDavis pepper spray incident: "There is little factual basis supporting Lt. Pike’s belief that he was trapped by the protesters or that his officers were prevented from leaving the Quad" ... "Further, there is little evidence that any protesters attempted to use violence against the police."
[more inside]
posted by oneirodynia
on Apr 11, 2012 -
79 comments
"
Davis didn’t have time to ponder their motives. The intersection of Jail and Ferozepur roads was packed with cars, bicycles, rickshaws, and pedestrians; the motorcycle pulled around his car and stopped just ahead of it. Shamshad, on the back of the bike, turned. He raised his pistol. He cocked it." [
Black Ops and Blood Money] (
previously and
previouslier)
posted by vidur
on Jun 15, 2011 -
30 comments
"
At a hearing of the Lahore Sessions Court convened for security reasons at the Kot Lakhpat Jail today, CIA contractor Raymond A. Davis was arraigned on double homicide charges and then quickly acquitted and released. Attorneys for Davis and the victims' families announced that they had entered into an agreement in which Davis offered compensation to the families -- $1.4 million total -- and they forgave him."
[more inside]
posted by vidur
on Mar 16, 2011 -
60 comments
Davis, California is a small town by almost any measure, yet is home to one of the
busiest local wikis in the world. The Davis Wiki chronicles the
mundane and the
bizarre, but also serves more practical information, such as lunch specials, housing guides,
news events, and the hours of the local
bike collective. In recognition of the outstanding success of the Davis Wiki, the founders were recently awarded a $350,000 grant to develop their
Local Wiki software for more general application, including intensive development of wikis in a number of pilot communities.
Many communities already have a wiki, though only a few have really taken off; with luck and a bit of a kickstart, the
experience of the Davis Wiki founders can be applied to make this invaluable resource available in more cities.
posted by kaibutsu
on Jul 29, 2010 -
46 comments
As jazz fans know, fifty years ago on March 2, 1959,
Miles Davis, Bill Evans,
John Coltrane,
Cannonball Adderley, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb met at the Columbia 30th Street Studios in NYC for the first session of Miles new album,
Kind of Blue. (Link goes to the 50th anniversary collector's box set edition page at amazon.) It was the touchstone for many other future recordings bearing its mighty influence and it fostered several high profile careers, and a new modal sound for jazz.
Kind of Blue went on to be
certified platinum, selling 4 million records, the most ever for a jazz album. Bill Evans had left the band in late 1958, but was called back by Miles for the sessions, which included his new pianist Wynton Kelly on one track only,
Freddie Freeloader. The tunes they did that day,
"So What",
"Blue in Green" (written by Evans, though credited to Miles) and "Freeloader" all became standards as did "All Blues" from the April session. Documentaries and entire books have been written on this one album alone. The phenomenon lives on. (
previously on AskMeFi, but just on Trane and Miles.)
posted by Seekerofsplendor
on Mar 3, 2009 -
71 comments
The Supreme Court today issued a one line statement
refusing to hear Troy Davis' appeal.
Troy Davis was convicted of the 1989 murder of a police officer in Savannah, GA, and sentenced to death solely on eyewitness testimony. No murder weapon or any physical evidence linked him to the crime. Since the conviction, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted or changed their stories, and one of the two who haven't changed their stories is the other suspect in the case. Things were looking good for Davis when the Supreme Court
issued a stay two hours before his execution last month. Justice may really be dead in this country.
posted by x_3mta3
on Oct 14, 2008 -
60 comments
"The most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression it has been my displeasure to hear," Frank Sinatra wrote of rock 'n' roll during the time of Elvis Presley. But Frank wasn't stupid... he knew his relevance was fading and if you can't beat 'em, you have to join 'em. So in
1960, Elvis Presley was welcomed home from his two year
military tour by the
Frank Sinatra Timex Show "Welcome Home Elvis" special. Later Sinatra said,
"I'm just a singer. Elvis was the embodiment of the whole American culture."
posted by miss lynnster
on Feb 26, 2008 -
17 comments
This evening, I entertained myself with these clips from YouTube and Google Video.
Come inside if you like Bette Davis, Charles Laughton, Kubrick, Frankenstein, Shakespeare, and company...
posted by grumblebee
on May 21, 2006 -
46 comments
State Rep. Forwards Racist E-mail A state representative forwarded an e-mail to fellow lawmakers this week that claimed, "Two things made this country great: White men & Christianity....There's a lot of it that's truth, the way I see it," Davis said. "Who came to this country first -- the white man, didn't he? That's who made this country great."
i don't know about you, but i feel dumber for having just read that story.
posted by adampsyche
on Aug 22, 2001 -
26 comments
