Content tagged politics
Blog Entries
Freakonomics authors suggest investigating a geoengineering solution to global warming. (The post is apparently written in response to environmentalists … gulfstream/2652
“The Iraqi who saved Norway from oil.” The surprising story of an Iraqi who moved to Norway and apparently became instrumental in establishing the … gulfstream/2640
The voter information gathering and fundraising software used by Obama, and other big political campaigns in the US. gulfstream/2634
Christopher Hitchens on the lessons to be learnt from Sri Lanka’s victory over the Tamil Tigers: “It’s just not true, as some liberals tend to believe, … gulfstream/2622
NY Times’s “Global Edition—; replaces the International Herald Tribune. Still rather US-centric though (compared to, say, the BBC’s international … gulfstream/2608
This is great: holds public prognosicators to account by recording their predictions. A bit like the Long Now Foundation’s Long Predictions, except … gulfstream/2604
Errol Morris talks to press photographers about their favourite pictures of George Bush. gulfstream/2594
Why the state of the stock market is not necessarily indicative of the state of the economy as a whole. gulfstream/2592
More on “meritocracy” from Michael Young, who came up with the term: “It is good sense to appoint individual people to jobs on their merit. It is … gulfstream/2582
Surprising: positive story about Wal-Mart in Boing Boing, from a writer who worked undercover as an associate. Sounds as though he might’ve started … gulfstream/2581
US Presidents’ approval ratings over time. gulfstream/2576
Interview with the “notorious lawyer” Jacques Vergès, defender of war criminals. “A doctor must provide help, but as an attorney, you are not obligated … gulfstream/2558
Barack Obama unlikely to be able to keep his BlackBerry (or even email of any sort) as President, due to legal requirements regarding record keeping (huh? … gulfstream/2552
Associating the colour red with Republicans and Blue with Democrats only became universal in 2000. (According to Wikipedia, NBC’s David Brinkley famously … gulfstream/2547
Cartoon illustrating one difference between the 43 Presidents of the United States that have already had a go, and the 44th. gulfstream/2546
A surprisingly well-done McCain vs. Obama dance-off contest. gulfstream/2545
Artist created McCain/Obama New Yorker cover with Photoshop 3.0 and Macintosh OS 7. (But he must have another machine for email, right?) gulfstream/2533
Strange, funny, Sarah Silverman commercial urging her fellow Jews to go to Florida and convince their grandparents to vote for Obama (!). A campaign of … gulfstream/2530
Unusual betting behaviour at on Intrade is apparently pushing Obama contracts lower than they should be, and exposing arbitrage opportunities. gulfstream/2529
The Earth’s Facebook feed: “Georgia is no longer friends with Russia,” etc. gulfstream/2492
Negative, rather political review of Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine: “But Klein was intellectually unfazed. Rather than re-think the economicist … gulfstream/2483
delicious
The 10 Downing Street Door
oh, england: the "0" on 10 downing street is fixed at an angle, because the original had a badly-fixed "0" also.
LA Weekly
the right still has fun, the left, not so much
The New York Review of Books: Their Master's Voice
So misplaced are many of his citations from Islamic scripture that in all likelihood, one of the best ways to diminish the al-Qaeda leader's stature would be to publish his words more widely in the Muslim world.
The Dark Side of China’s Rise
chinese economy about to do not so well?
Granta: 'How to write about Africa' by Binyavanga Wainaina
"Health Care Forum" by Adam Gopnik and Malcolm Gladwell
BBC NEWS | UK | Hindus criticise Christmas stamp
Just Supposin' - In defense of hypothetical questions. By Michael Kinsley
The History Channel - Great Speeches: Politics & Government
Anne Applebaum - Merkel's quiet ascension in Germany could envelope Europe - washingtonpost.com
On Merkel's successes: "But Merkel provokes no jealousy or competitiveness among the alpha males who run large countries, and she inspires no fear among the citizens of smaller ones."
Anne Applebaum - Anne Applebaum on the political response to swine flu - washingtonpost.com
On H1N1, and the curiously different responses of governments: "Each of these countries has produced different medical explanations for its actions, and each medical explanation is widely perceived to be a cover for political machinations, at least by the opponents of the relevant government." Oh WHO: "And hardly anyone knows what to make of the WHO or its Web site. Is the word "pandemic" just medical bureaucratese for a cough and a sore throat? Or does it mean that everyone who isn't vaccinated will die?"
By T.R. Reid -- Five Myths About Health Care in the Rest of the World
Op-Ed Columnist - Would You Slap Your Father? If So, You’re a Liberal - NYTimes.com
"One of the main divides between left and right is the dependence on different moral values. For liberals, morality derives mostly from fairness and prevention of harm. For conservatives, morality also involves upholding authority and loyalty — and revulsion at disgust." hrm maybe.
Michael Kinsley - The Cuba Embargo a Proven Failure - washingtonpost.com
"To this day, there is one communist country toward which American policy has been unrelentingly hostile. One communist government with which we have never even attempted detente. One communist country that we invaded without even a fig leaf of an invitation from a legitimate government. One communist country where we have never tried the seductive power of capitalism and instead have maintained a total trade embargo. And now, 20 years after communism collapsed almost everyplace else, in this same country a communist government survives unreformed and unapologetic."
Taking Power, Sharing Cereal - New York Times
"Think MTV’s “Real World” with a slovenly cast of Democratic power brokers. While Washington may have more than its share of crash pads for policy-debating workaholics, few, if any, have sheltered a quorum as powerful as this one. About a quarter-mile southeast of the Capitol, the inelegantly decorated two-bedroom house has become an unlikely center of influence in Washington’s changing power grid. It is home to the second- and third-ranking senators in the new Democratic majority (Mr. Durbin, the majority whip, and Mr. Schumer, the vice chairman of the Democratic caucus) and the chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee (Mr. Miller)."
PolitiFact | The Obameter: Tracking Barack Obama's Campaign Promises
keeping score on 500 campaign promises
Copenhagenize.com - The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog: Critical Miss or Critical Mass?
(anti critical mass post) critical mass makes cycling seem like an extreme, activist activity: "He'll realise that in order to ride his bike he would have to infiltrate a sub-culture populated by individuals very unlike himself."
Africa is giving nothing to anyone -- apart from AIDS
More tiresome demagoguery about candidates' income and property. - By Christopher Hitchens - Slate Magazine
"But this is the time, which boringly occurs every four years, when every politician in the country tries to act as if he or she went barefoot to school."
Robert A. Caro - Lyndon Johnson’s Dream, Obama’s Speech - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
All Aboard for the Senator - washingtonpost.com
PRINT Magazine - The Law of the Letter
the surprisingly deep politics of type
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) - Dedicated to advancing understanding, acceptance, & support for the autistic community
i need to start collecting these, autistic organisation claiming that autism is not an illness or disability, just a difference
putin and medvedev on the front page of the times
showing "trickery" in the region of medvedev's crotch
Two letters@Everything2.com
"To my successor: When you find yourself in a hopeless situation which you cannot escape, open the first letter, and it will save you. Later, when you again find yourself in a hopeless situation from which you cannot escape, open the second letter."
The Party of Lincoln ... - By David Greenberg - Slate Magazine
licoln was a republican/how democrats became the party for blacks over the 30s, 40s, 50s
Profiles: The Conciliator: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker
Democracy index | Liberty and justice for some | Economist.com
How NASA Screwed Up (And Four Ways to Fix It)
COLOURlovers :: Blog / 11 Great Color Legends
why colours are associated with various things. most surprising is that until 2000, democrats and republicans didn't always have blue and red as their colours (is this right?)