All entries by this author

New Guy Ditches 8 Years of Bad Policies *

Jan 27th, 2009 | Filed by

Moves on freedom of information, presidential archives, all in direction of more transparency.… Read the rest



Obama Tells Regulators to Tighten Auto Rules *

Jan 27th, 2009 | Filed by

The directives make good on a campaign pledge and signal a sharp reversal of Bush administration policy.… Read the rest



Sheer poetry

Jan 26th, 2009 6:19 pm | By

Wo, what’s that?! Oh – it’s a blast of fresh air.

President Barack Obama has called for the US to become energy independent, saying its reliance on foreign oil and global warming posed threats…Mr Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review its refusal of a waiver which had previously allowed California to set its own – stricter – vehicle emission and fuel efficiency standards. He said California had taken bold moves in implementing the standards. Mr Obama said: “The days of Washington dragging its heels are over. My administration will not deny facts. We will be guided by them.”

Cue the Hallelujah chorus! And Aretha Franklin singing The Star-spangled Banner! And Springsteen doing Eyes on the Prize … Read the rest



The Biggest Policy Reversal of All *

Jan 26th, 2009 | Filed by

‘My administration will not deny facts. We will be guided by them.’… Read the rest



Thailand Bans Current Issue of The Economist *

Jan 26th, 2009 | Filed by

The issue contains an article about an Australian writer who was jailed for slandering the monarchy.… Read the rest



Thailand: Writer Sentenced for Lèse Majesté *

Jan 26th, 2009 | Filed by

Harry Nicolaides alluded in a novel to the way King Bhumipol’s son treated one of his mistresses.… Read the rest



Atlanta: Father Accused of ‘Honor’ Killing *

Jan 26th, 2009 | Filed by

Sandeela Kanwal wanted out of her arranged marriage, father thought a divorce would shame the family.… Read the rest



Tom Hanks Apologizes to Mormons *

Jan 26th, 2009 | Filed by

A Mormon said it is ‘un-American to tell people that they shouldn’t vote their conscience.’… Read the rest



Tom Hanks Calls Prop 8 Un-American *

Jan 26th, 2009 | Filed by

‘I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper in any of the 50 states in America.’… Read the rest



The Choice of Hercules

Jan 26th, 2009 | By Max Dunbar

Two attractive women approach you. Introducing themselves, one tells you that she is the personification of Duty, and invites you to follow her down the road of virtue, piety, sacrifice and hard slog. The second beauty represents Pleasure: she wants to guide you down a path of indolence, vice and hedonism. Which do you choose?

This was the famous ‘choice of Hercules’, put to him while he was a farm labourer in exile: appropriated by various religions and mythologies, it can be argued that millions of people who have never read the classics still think of life in these terms of virtue versus pleasure: the good life versus the Good Life. A C Grayling’s achievement is to expose this dichotomy … Read the rest



The doll study

Jan 25th, 2009 5:50 pm | By

I was excited and exhilarated to see this article.

Educators and policy makers, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, have said in recent days that they hope President Obama’s example as a model student could inspire millions of American students, especially blacks, to higher academic performance. Now researchers have documented what they call an Obama effect, showing that a performance gap between African-Americans and whites on a 20-question test administered before Mr. Obama’s nomination all but disappeared when the exam was administered after his acceptance speech and again after the presidential election.

Yeah…

I started thinking about things like that some time last spring, when I finally accepted that Obama wasn’t just a charismatic but basically random candidate. I … Read the rest



Switzerland Not Eager to Introduce Sharia *

Jan 25th, 2009 | Filed by

Social anthropologist wrote a paper suggesting the idea, wiser heads prevailed.… Read the rest



Vatican Accuses Obama of Arrogance *

Jan 25th, 2009 | Filed by

Religious dictator chosen by groupuscule of priests accuses democratically elected president of arrogance.… Read the rest



Obama Makes al Qaeda Desperate *

Jan 25th, 2009 | Filed by

Bush was the perfect recruitment poster, Obama not so much.… Read the rest



Taliban Threatens Swat Nightly on the Radio *

Jan 25th, 2009 | Filed by

Taliban enforcer announces newly proscribed ‘un-Islamic’ activities, names people killed for disobeying.… Read the rest



Study Finds Obama Effect Lifts Black Test-takers *

Jan 25th, 2009 | Filed by

Performance gap all but disappeared when the exam was administered after the election.… Read the rest



Another chorus of ‘Pot, kettle’

Jan 25th, 2009 11:28 am | By

The great thing about religion, you know, is that it teaches people humility.

The Vatican has condemned President Obama’s move to restore US funding for family planning clinics abroad that give advice on or carry out abortions. One Vatican official warned against the “arrogance” of those in power who think they can decide between life and death.

That’s terrific, isn’t it? An ‘official’ of an authoritarian moth-eaten hidebound reactionary gang of priests calls a guy elected in a landslide ‘arrogant’…What does the Vatican ‘official’ think the Vatican is if not arrogant? Humbly obedient to god, no doubt, being conveniently blind to the fact that it’s hard to obey someone who never communicates, and that what the Vatican chooses to … Read the rest



Feel Entitled Much? *

Jan 24th, 2009 | Filed by

Caroline Kennedy didn’t have to campaign in the same way that an unknown person has to.… Read the rest



Bailout is a Windfall to Banks *

Jan 24th, 2009 | Filed by

‘We’re not going to change our credit policies to accommodate the needs of the public sector.’… Read the rest



John McWhorter on Obama’s Second Language *

Jan 24th, 2009 | Filed by

‘Yes we can’ was couched in a Black English intonation – partly church, maybe even a dash of street.… Read the rest