Praktike

THE BOY WHO CRIED MARTIN WOLF….I’m enjoying Martin Wolf’s Why Globalization Works, and I recommend that all good Americans read the book. Most Democrats and Republicans will find much to agree or disagree with because Wolf’s policy preferences don’t map well to the American political scene: he’s an old-school British liberal internationalist. I’d say his […]

FUN WITH SATELLITE IMAGERY….Daniel Terdiman has an article in Wired about all of the candid world moments caught by the Digital Globe satellite and discovered on Google Maps–including a bombing in Baghdad and a firefight in Najaf. Right now on the Digital Globe homepage, there’s a pretty cool shot of Vatican City and the line […]

WHO LOVES JOHN BOLTON?….Steve Clemons is asking around: I am presently at a foreign policy conference called the CSIS Think Tank Summit organized by Simon Serfaty and Robin Niblett at the Wye Conference Center on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with a broad array of intellectuals who think about Transatlantic issues, the National Defense University, […]

LE SHORTER….“Plus court” just doesn’t have the same ring to it, but good for Emmanuel for attempting to bring this fantastic liberal blogospheric tradition to the benighted French-speaking masses. Emmanuel writes: Il a peu ? peu ?volu?, sous l’influence de Sadly, No! et , surtout, de Busy, Busy, Busy, vers la forme canonique ?voqu?e plus […]

CHINESE NATIONALISM: REAL OR ORCHESTRATED?….There were lots of interesting comments and emails in response to my Friday musings about nationalism. I want to focus on China, for obvious reasons. One strain of comment was that the Chinese had a right to be angry at the Japanese because the Japanese hadn’t apologized sufficiently for what they […]

IT’S BAAACK…President Bush devoted his Saturday morning radio address to flogging his energy bill. Richard Stevenson has the details: Although the bill would do little or nothing to address the current spike in crude oil and gasoline prices, Mr. Bush suggested that the legislation was necessary to deal with the underlying causes of it: the […]

ABORTION POLITICS IN IRAN….I’m surprised that this hasn’t been commented upon more widely: The Iranian parliament has voted to liberalise the country’s abortion laws. Under the law approved on Tuesday, a pregnancy can be terminated in the first four months if the foetus is mentally or physically handicapped. Both parents must give their consent and […]

WHY IS THE EGYPTIAN OPPOSTION SO WEAK?….Magdy Samaan highlights one aspect of the answer: they’re broke. For the most part, Egypt?s opposition parties are chronically broke, both due to restrictions on fundraising and corruption of the system. With membership fees and donations drying up, most of the parties, with the exception of the Wafd and […]

SOCIAL SECURITY….Calculated Risk has posted links to the video of the debate between Michael Tanner of the Cato Institute, Josh Marshall of Josh Marshall, Inc., and Paul Krugman of Princeton and New York Times fame. It was a very civil debate, but it’s clear to me that Tanner is making moral arguments that the general […]

THAT BOOK MEME….Now that Kevin has given Julie and me this soapbox for the weekend, I feel somewhat more obligated to respond to this game than I have been to various other well-meaning souls who want me to waste everyone’s time with this tomfoolery. You?re stuck in Fahrenheit 451. Which book would you be? Water: […]