This sort of misses the point: John Mueller, an official at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and a former Congressional staff member, recalls that in 1981, Reagan appointed a bipartisan commission headed by Alan Greenspan to recommend measures to put Social Security on a sound financial footing. Sixteen months later, the commission had compiled […]
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TNR: Set Your Writers Free!
Laura’s takedown of Keelin McDonell’s churlish critique of Sarah Vowell is well-put and rather apt. Of all the targets cluttering up the contemporary political landscape, Keelin decided to launch an assault on Vowell? Talk about your misplaced priorities… The big mystery to me, though, is whether that’s who Keelin wanted to deride or that’s what […]
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Recommendation of the Day
If you get a chance, pick up this week’s New Yorker. It’s really, really, really good. The Malcolm Gladwell piece on Power Laws furnished this post for me, and Joan Acocella’s article on Mary Magdalene and Peter Hessler’s recounting of a matchmaker experience in China are both superb, if a bit less bloggable. And I […]
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Trier’s America
It is easy to hate Lars von Trier. The Danish rabble-rouser of international cinema knows how to push the buttons of America’s educated liberal elite (the only ones in this country who see his films), and he does it in the most egregious manner possible: by dismissing any idea of a benevolent American social order. […]
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More On Nerd Love
It’s worth saying that in Garance’s otherwise excellent riff on my post observing that intelligence and ambition have become prized dating characteristics, “intellectual arm candy” really isn’t the right term. Arm candy denotes a sweet chosen solely because she makes you look good through a quality (attractiveness) with little-to-no intrinsic worth. I’m not sure I […]
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Link of the Day 2
Reza Aslan offers a contrary view on the Danish cartoons, one that should be taken seriously. It is the case that other, more politically efficacious religious movements, have no problem bringing down massive pressure on media outlets that offend them. Think the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, or the Catholic Church. But since they have electoral/financial clout […]
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NAFTA and Nativism
Everybody talks about globalization; nobody ever does anything about it. The world labor market looms over every horizon with its promise of cheaper goods and lower pay. The public is skeptical, rightly, about the benefits of globalization, but the process of harnessing it, of writing enforceable rules that would benefit not just investors but most […]
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On The Riots
David Brooks, still behind that nasty Times Select wall, gets this rather right: At first I sympathized with your anger at the Danish cartoons because it’s impolite to trample on other people’s religious symbols. But as the rage spread and the issue grew more cosmic, many of us in the West were reminded of how […]
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Quote of the Day
Lance Mannion: The reason there is so much more female nudity in the movies isn’t simply that actresses are unfairly pressured. It’s that actors are unfairly not asked. Heh.
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Link of the Day: Robert Samuelson Smackdown Edition
The good professor takes on Robert Samuelson’s retrospective of the Clinton economy. Samuelson’s not just wrong — he’s dishonest! Readers interested in more Samuelson hackery should check out this Tapped post of mine from last month, where I caught the guy simply lying about studies.