Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Towards the end of David Savage's piece on John Paul Stevens, this: Stevens' early life had more than its share of grand moments and deep tragedies. He was born in 1920, the youngest of four boys in a wealthy family. When he was 7, his father opened the 28-story Stevens Hotel on Michigan Avenue (now …
Continue reading "The Legacy of John Paul Stevens: Illinois, the Hardest Place to Run a Corporation"
Not a moment too soon either: Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, targeted for defeat by Tea Party activists for his crucial role in securing House approval of the health care overhaul, said today he would retire from Congress this year. The nine-term congressman told the Associated Press he could have won re-election and insisted he wasn't …
That's the opinion of former British diplomat (to Uzbekistan) Craig Murray: So, there we have British elections today: an unfair electoral system, censorship of candidates' electoral addresses, little real political choice for voters, widespread postal ballot-rigging and elections administered by partisan council officials in a corrupt political climate. Some of the "on the ground issues" …
Continue reading "British democracy is no better than Uzbekistan's. Is the US's?"
As we in the US slog through another tedious (but very important) election cycle, the British accelerate the process with Gordon Brown calling an election on 6 May 2010. There's a lot to say about this but let's start with the fun observation. The Times has a way cool interactive election chart which is a …
Continue reading "Brits Place Their Bets on a General Election"
More worried about tax cheats than prosperity: Capital, and all of its blessings, flows to where it is treated best. The recently passed Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010 (the "HIRE" Act) imposes new obstacles to the flow of capital into and out of the U.S. While ostensibly limited to "reporting" requirements to …
Continue reading "Boorishly Provincial: Penalising Capital Flow In and Out of the U.S."
It's a story I've brought up on this blog (and elsewhere) but Kristof finally puts it in front of the "right" people: Some 2,400 years ago, a Chinese king invited a legendary military strategist named Sun Tzu to give a demonstration in military training — using women from the palace. Sun Tzu agreed, organizing 180 …
If the Administration is serious about this, that's what it amounts to: The Obama administration is expected to announce by Wednesday its updated plan for oil and natural gas drilling in U.S. waters, including whether to allow exploration for the first time along the U.S. East Coast. The plan could pave the way for a …
Continue reading "European Style Government Deserves European Style Offshore Oil Policy"
Some people just haven't figured this out: President Barack Obama, after a year of fitfully searching for compromise, is taking a more aggressive tack with his Republican adversaries, hoping to energize Democratic voters and possibly muscle in some Republican support in Congress. On Thursday, the president challenged Republicans who planned to campaign on repealing his …
Continue reading "The Only Thing Obama Runs Against is Reality"
Sure sounds that way, as the U.S. House Third District (TN) Republican candidate's campaign manager lashes out against Mike Huckabee's endorsement of her opponent: "Given Huckabee’s history of denouncing candidates for office that contribute large sums of money to their campaigns in order to win elections, it is curious that he would choose to support …
Continue reading "Robin Smith and the Politics of Resentment"
Recently an "old China hand" friend of mine sent around an email with this piece about the analogies between our current situation and that of Nazi Germany in the 1930's. Leaving aside the attribution problems of the piece itself, I'd like to address this issue, because I keep hearing it come up in our discourse. …
Continue reading "Is the US Really Headed Down the Road of Nazi Germany?"
Positive Infinity 