Archive for May 2010
The unreliability of memory
In his latest novel, the mostly hopeful story of a dying man trying to make sense of his life, Paul Auster ditches his usual formalism in favour of creating engaging characters. Read my review of Invisible, by Paul Auster, in the spiked review of books, here.
This week’s articles of note
“Rescuing the rescuers,” The Economist “Al-Qaeda in the New National Security Strategy,” Foreign Policy, by Marc Lynch “Does Obama feel the Gulf’s pain?” Salon, by Joan Walsh “The teachers’ unions’ last stand,” The New York Times Magazine, by Steven Brill “The plastic panic,” The New Yorker, by Jerome Groopman “London firm Today Translations gives tourists […]
On the criticisms of Obama and BP over the Gulf oil spill
In a press conference today, President Obama defended the federal government’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, including his own response. He also announced a suspension of drilling in the Gulf, Virginia and the Arctic. Clearly, the oil spill in the Gulf has proved to be much more difficult to stop […]
1,200 troops sent to Mexican border to… do what exactly?
President Obama has ordered 1,200 National Guard troops to the border in the Southwest. The New York Times reports that Obama’s decision came after Obama met with Republican senators who had demanded more troops. But Republicans were generally not placated. Senator John McCain of Arizona said it was not enough, and called for 6,000 in […]
“NYC Super Bowl”
The National Football League owners have decided that the 2014 Super Bowl will be played in the Meadowlands of New Jersey, in the yet-to-be built stadium. The New York Daily News and the New York Post are excited. So, as a New Yorker and a Giants fan, I’m supposed to be too. But I’m not. […]
Global exposure to European default
There’s more discussion of how the European sovereign debt crisis is global in scope. Tony Barber of the Financial Times writes about a Royal Bank of Scotland report, published on Monday, that suggests that banks outside of southern Europe have much greater exposure than previously thought. RBS estimates that institutions outside of Greece, Portugal and […]
Racism reduced to a liberal smear
Last week Rand Paul made some comments about his support for the 1964 Civil Rights Act during an interview with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, and the media commentary has continued to run since. Paul suggested that Act should not have covered discriminatory policies of private businesses. It’s hard to see the relevance of having a debate about […]
Why Mrs Europe is bashing the bankers
Angela Merkel’s unilateral decision to ban “short selling” shows how deluded and divided the political class is. Read my spiked article in full here.
This week’s articles of note
“The failure of the American Jewish establishment,” The New York Review of Books, by Peter Beinart “Sex and the Shiite,” Newsweek, by Christopher Dickey “The Kerry-Lieberman scheme for carbon rationing,” Reason, by Ronald Bailey “What did Jesus do?” The New Yorker, by Adam Gopnik “Take your kids to the park, and leave them there,” spiked, […]
Observations on Tuesday’s votes
Some quick observations about the results of the various elections that took place on Tuesday: Neither party can be said to have come out of it better than the other. The Democrats’ victory in John Murtha’s old House seat in western Pennsylvania, in particular, showed that it wasn’t an entirely Republican day, as some had […]
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