Cover Story vs. Cover Band Press

Did any of you catch the Clinton vs. Obama debate last night? Obama was a little shaky, especially when talking about Israel and Iran. I just re-read the transcript and his long pauses and rather evasive answers don't come across as blatantly in written form, but you can read the whole debate here: The New York Times. Come on Obama, bring your A game.

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I just finished reading Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World. (Non-fiction, biographical work by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder).

The title sounds corny, but it's not a corny book. It centers on the work of Paul Farmer, a physician and anthropologist who has taken on the crises of TB and AIDS in Haiti, Peru, and Russia. He and Jim Kim founded Partners in Health in 1987 (weird fact: the band Arcade Fire promoted this charity on their tour of the album Neon Bible). You'll learn about American drug companies, how our own country as well as other nations debates issues of "cost efficiency," different approaches to the TB epidemic, the history of Haiti and its political, economic, and social climate in the 90s and early 00s, Russian prisons, Russian oligarchs, etc. But on a basic level, political tensions aside, it's about human to human respect and what can happen when you stop blaming/disregarding those who suffer in extreme conditions.
Dr. Farmer:

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Ugly Duckling Presse has some events coming up. More at the end of the month, but this is happening on Saturday:

Saturday, April 19, at 4pm [NYC]
DAN MACHLIN / SEGUE SERIES
@ BOWERY POETRY CLUB
308 Bowery, between Houston & Bleecker

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Last night I read the last of Mountains Beyond Mountains and then I watched an episode of The Lives of Mammals. This time on "Chiselers." The whole season is divided up by how/what different animals eat.

So, I learned about the Capybara, the largest rodent in the world. It can run as fast as a small pony. No Joke. It also looks like a gigantic Guinea pig (is related to said animal, actually):


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I took a bit of a break from reading poetry but now I'm diving back in.

But does anyone want to recommend some good documentaries to me?