God Strikes Back

Fascinating study of the relationship between Atheism and Communism. Xerxes in on the move. So my reports were a little erratic this past week and for the forseeable future. The Spectator.co.uk

Bush the Optimist

From Britain comes an interesting analysis of Bush. Optimism and hope are the Bush qualities most admired together with resolute moral conviction. Iain Duncan Smith finds Bush bashing sophisticates to be off the mark. The Spectator.co.uk

Happy New Year

Year of the hurricanes?

The Beeb studies hurricanes and concludes that they perform the useful task of transferring heat from the equator to the Poles. BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Year of the hurricanes?

Vanishing Intellectuals

Terry Eagleton writes an interesting piece on the effort by the cultural left to discredit the notion of a public intellectual. Good Stuff New Statesman - Books

Internet Disaster

Herewith a blurb from the Guardian postulating that mathematicians may be close to solving a problem that could allow any code to be broken thus imperiling th sacurity of the Internet. Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Maths holy grail could bring disaster for internet

Classical Musical Pushed to Periphery

More bad news for afficianados of good music. Pushed to the margin is the verdict of this critic -- but then aren't all arts being pushed to the margin? JS Online: Classical musical world being pushed to periphery

Zizek - Toilets - Geopolitics

This is one of those pieces that proves that we have not seen or heard it all. This is a review of a London Review of Books piece by Dr. (psychoanalist) Slavoj Zizek. He is also a phiosopher and apparently quite the rage in collegiate circles. He finds great meaning in toilets. Enough said. - MSNBC Newsbriefs

Black Holes and Fundamentalism

Umberto Eco believes that the scientific method provides a refutation of fundamentalism. A fascinating review. Books | Testing, testing...

Best Burgers in the Land

Looking for the best hamburgers in the Country? Look no further than the ever reliable Trib. IHT: The good, the greasy and the huge

Economies at Risk

Five reasons or possible events that could throw the world economy into chaos are detailed here. Three of them relate to the United States. As the election approaches, we need to be mindful of who and which party will best keep our part of the world economic bargain. Economist.com

Steyn on Islamic Terror

Mark Steyn at his most trenchant. He lays out the theory that we in the West still don't appreciate what we are facing in Islamic fundamentalism. The Spectator.co.uk

The pattern is global, but the causes are local

William Pfaff is a highly astute analyst. He is right to opine that the root causes of terrorism are local. There may be international funding and support, but the without a local cause, the terrorists would have no incentive. IHT: The pattern is global, but the causes are local

Time for Kerry to Change His Pitch

Here is Tina Brown's take on the campaign so far. Now that Carville and Beglala are on the team, her advice may be taken. washingtonpost.com: Time for Kerry to Change His Pitch

Books | Plum on target

Stephen Fry undertakes a review of Wodehouse. What a treasure. The review is actually of Robert McCrum's new biography of the master himself. Undoubtedly required reading for those of us afficiandos of the great master. Books | Plum on target

A Trailing Kerry Has Been There, Won That

John Kerry has been in tight spots before. Bill Weld opened their campaign for the Senate as a strong favorite yet lost to a strong closing Kerry. An interesting paradigm for this election? Maybe/maybe not. Los Angeles Times: A Trailing Kerry Has Been There, Won That

A Guided Tour of the 'Ownership Society'

Michael Kinsley explores the flaws in the Bush Ownership Society. It just doesn't meet the problems which beset our economy. One can only hope that these issues will take a more prominent role in the campaign debate. It really seems to be more important than what either candidate did in Viet Nam. Clearly the deficits, the entilements and the GDP deserve our attention. One would hope that each candidate would have an articulated plan to address the economic issues facing us. Los Angeles Times: A Guided Tour of the 'Ownership Society'

Kerry v. Bush

A pretty insightful analysis of why the candidates are still neck and neck. - More Useful Everyday

Football!

The Season Begins.

A Magazine Apologizes

Here is an interesting novelty. A prominent news source prominently apologizing. We see the not so subtle hand of their solicitors and barristers here, but the novelty remains. The Economist

Harvard Stays Number One

Those of us who graduated from Fair Harvard are heartened to know that our University still ranks high in the world. While I believe that these sorts of rankings are generally useless; they are worth touting when Harvard is involved. The Economist citing highly reputed sources.

Isaiah Berlin :: Clive James

What does one do when one of one's favorite authors writes about another? Read it avidly. One of my favorite recent reads is Clive James' AS OF THIS WRITING. It is a collection of his work in literary criticism. In the cited piece from the TLS, he reviews some of Isaiah Berlin's best. Worth a read. Weekly book reviews and literary analysis from the Times Literary Supplement

The Terminator ::From Abroad

The phenomona of Shwarzeneger is something to behold. Can he be another Reagan? Unlikely given his true politics. This piece is an amusing comment on the Governator's speech at the RNC on Tuesday night as seen through a British lens. The Spectator.co.uk

Books as Dating Aids

So there Mr. McLuhan! Britain's Penguin Publishing has begun marketing its titles as a dating aid. They claim that reading a book makes one look more appealing to prospects. Poets&Writers, Inc.

No More Books?

Here is a fascinating piece by the head of the Harvard University Press on the future of books and publishing. He sees a time, as Marshall McLuhan predicted, when books would no longer be "necessary". This is a thoughtful and somewhat scary piece for a bibliophile like myself. The Village Voice: Features: The Essay: Bonfire of the Humanities by Lindsay Waters