Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
The recent arrest of a "ring" of Russian spies in the US brings back memories of the Cold War--well, for those of us who were alive and aware at the time. Readers of this blog know that I have a lifelong interest in Russia that ended up with some interesting business and other types of …
Continue reading "Russian Spying: "It Didn't Do Us Much Good""
E.J. Dionne is sounding awfully triumphalistic these days: This week's hearings over Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court will mark a sea change in the way liberals argue about the judiciary. Democratic senators are planning to put the right of citizens to challenge corporate power at the centre of their critique of activist conservative …
Continue reading "Kagan's Confirmation: Getting the Judiciary to do the Legislature's Job"
Where we read the following: I am the Good Shepherd; and I know my sheep, and my sheep know me-- Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep besides, which do not belong to this fold; I must lead them …
It's hard for some of us to contemplate, but any "traditional" student wandering around today's college campus--to say nothing of those coming up behind them--has no living memory of the Cold War. For Boomers, it's a different story: the Cold War, and its hot portions such as Vietnam, basically framed the world view of an …
Continue reading "Book Review: The Fifty Year Wound: The True Price of America's Cold War Victory"
Tina Brown thinks that Barack Obama should move from father figure to raw politics: Tomorrow he’s announcing something concrete—an escrow account out of BP to get the cash to all the Gulf workers whose livelihoods have been trashed. But will this be deemed leaderly enough to assuage the angst among his supporters that the oil …
Or, more accurately, what it did look like... I've posted this before, but in view of recent events (i.e., the sea fight between the Israelis and the Turks/Palestinians) it bears repeating. I think it's fair to say that the recent changes in Turkey have as their long-term objective the recapturing of Ottoman glory, caliphate included. …
Continue reading "What Palestine Would Look Like Under Turkish Rule"
While going through a few things, I stumbled upon this graph showing the growth in the Federal prison population from 1950 to 2005. That's just to 2005. And it doesn't include the state and local prisoners either. Irrespective of the causes--breakdown of society, too many laws, whatever--the incarceration rate in this country is (or at …
No kidding, this, from Rubin on Tax: A theme we have often mentioned is that capital flows to where it is best treated. Obviously, the level of tax imposed on businesses is a key element of how capital is treated in any given jurisdiction. A 2010 KPMG guide analyses the current tax competitiveness of 10 …
Continue reading "Mexico: The Tax Haven for Those Who Survive the Lead Rain"
Someone has finally put forth the case that only Ivy Leaguers should really be on the Supreme Court: The gatekeeper power of such institutions is why it was so important to desegregate them (using affirmative action, among other tools) and why virtually all leaders of great universities talk about diversity and access. For about 40 …
That's exactly what they're implying in their defence of Elena Kagan: The White House declared publicly, even before President Obama nominated Elena Kagan, that she is not a lesbian. "False charges," White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said after a conservative blogger wrote last month on a CBS News Web site that Kagan would be the …
Continue reading "Does the Obama Administration Think Being Lesbian is Wrong?"
Positive Infinity 