Archive for March 2010
March Madness!
Pictured above: Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson March Madness is here! The NCAA college basketball tournament has to be one of the most exciting sports times of the year. It’s also a time when employers generally look the other way as employees fill in their brackets in office betting pools. Apparently, the US economy will lose $1.8 billion in lost […]
This week’s articles of note
“The real danger of debt,” Foreign Policy, by Richard A. Posner “Midwest success stories,” New Geography, by Aaron M. Renn “Saviors & sovereigns: the rise and fall of humanitarianism,” World Affairs, by Mark Mazower “Who’s still biased?” The Boston Globe, by Drake Bennett “How not to prosecute a sexting case,” Slate, by Emily Bazelon
To US critics of China’s currency: get your own house in order
The noise coming from the US about China’s supposed “manipulation” of its currency, the yuan (also referred to as the renminbi), has become noticeably louder this past week. Since July 2008, China has pegged its currency at about 6.83 yuan to one dollar. American critics assert that China’s policy effectively keeps its currency artificially low, […]
“Jihad Jane” and the politics of fear
Far from “keeping America safe”, the elite’s depiction of the US as fragile and at-risk makes even lonely weirdos seem like a deadly threat. Read my spiked article in full here.
Curbing short-selling is shooting the messenger
Towards the end of February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted, by a 3-to-2 margin, to restrict the “short-selling” of stocks when they are declining rapidly. This is the result of fear on the part of regulators that the process of deleveraging could get out of control. But it only puts off the necessary restructuring, by slowing […]
St. Patrick’s Day in New York
Today is St. Patrick’s Day, which means that Manhattan was a sea of green for the parade. It’s claimed that New York’s parade is the world’s largest for St. Patty’s, with about 150,000 marchers and 2 million spectators (ie, partiers).
Did I mention that JihadJane is from the suburbs?
You’ve probably heard of JihadJane, the internet name of Colleen R. LaRose. JihadJane is an American woman who is accused of joining with Islamic militants overseas and plotting to kill the Swedish cartoonist who drew Mohammed’s head on the body of a dog. Her arrest by federal prosecutors sent ripple waves across the country, as it now seemed […]
Tiger Woods is a golfer. Let him golf
Tiger Woods has announced that he will return to golf at the Masters in April. This has led a number of commentators to question his decision. Mike Walker at golf.com says the Masters is “sports at its best” while the Tiger saga is “sports at its worst”, and the Masters is likely to suffer from the circus surrounding Woods. Michael […]
The Pacific starts
(Video: The Pacific trailer) HBO aired the premiere of its new ten-part series, The Pacific, last night. It was, as the network says, an “event”. The Pacific is a drama about the US Marine Corps operations in the Second World War’s Pacific theatre. Many are referring to it as similar to Band of Brothers (a […]
Restoring teacher authority
Guest Post by Alex Standish Good teaching is essential to learning, yet interference by politicians, policymakers and business in schools has undermined the authority of teachers. We need to value the transfer of knowledge for its own sake and give teachers the freedom to educate. Elizabeth Green’s recent article the New York Times Magazine (“Building a better teacher”) contains some […]
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