Archive for January, 2008
Monday, January 21st, 2008
Blood and Oil in the Orient and Europe
I just finished reading Tom Reiss’ celebrated biography of Lev Nussimbaum, The Orientalist. The biography’s subtitle is “Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Mysterious Life”, yet the book doesn’t quite do that, nor does it serve as the definitive argument proving that Nussimbaum was in fact Kurban Said (the author of Ali and Nino). […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays, literature by eric
Monday, January 21st, 2008
World Bank Disgrace
If governments around the world are rife with all sorts of corruption, doesn’t it logically follow that world organziations (the World Bank Group, IMF, United Nations) — made up of appointees of those governments and citizens of those countries — are mere reflections of that corruption, the sum of their parts?
In any event, here are […]
2 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
Bush Clinton Bush Clinton . . .
Does anybody realize what alternating dynasties and revolving door presidencies say about our country? I think that our history, our country, and the world deserve so much better.
Unfortunately because we’re in the primaries, a certain degree of decorum (and party loyalty) impedes Obama from raising this fundamental question about the state of the American democracy […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays, Obama 08 by eric
Friday, January 18th, 2008
Two Cinematic Let Downs
I just fnished watching two disspointing films (luckily I didn’t have to buy a ticket): American Gangster and Lust and Caution.
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Friday, January 18th, 2008
The Vast Clinton-wing Conspiracy
I am trying to change course, but I just can’t give it a break. I promise I will do better, but it’s just that I was reading these lines from an article in The Economist,
In a remarkable exercise in doublethink she claimed on one of the Sunday talk shows that “you have a woman running […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays, Obama 08 by eric
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
The Case Against Hillary
I will try to give this whole topic a nice, long breather for a while, but please indulge this addtional post on why I am in favor of Obama and against what I see as the tiresome legacy of Hillary and the Clintons, as if they were a once fashionable but now long-outdated 50’s pop […]
1 Comment » - Posted in Essays, Obama 08 by eric
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Bullying, Protectionism, and Free Trade
Here’s a good op-ed from the New York Times by Steven E. Landsburg on the similarities between bullying and trade protectionism and the moral fallacy of protecting jobs at home:
4 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
Living la vida española
I just saw a new Facebook group called, “You know you’ve lived in Spain when . . .” that was kind of stupid, but did include some things that I thought were pretty on point. Here are the fairly accurate ones:
No Comments » - Posted in Living la vida española by eric
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
Business Time
I still haven’t had a chance to check out Flight of the Conchords about a New Zealander duo trying to make it big in New York City.
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
Weeds
I hate to admit it, but for the first time in decades, probably, the U.S. is producing TV that doesn’t bite, and I don’t like TV. This started with The Sopranos (which I have never seen), and then went onto other more cinemagraphic style TV shows such as 24 and Lost. As I have mentioned, […]
