My new blog
Left-wing highlighting of the most relevant recent news stories.Sunday, July 18, 2004
Excellent piece by Barbara Ehrenreich on Ralph Nader's electoral bid. However, I must dissent when she says
Who could have guessed that ...a whole slew of candidates — Dean, Kucinich, Sharpton, Moseley Braun — would be preaching your vision of peace and social justice from within the Democratic Party? Kucinich is the only progressive among this bunch.And he has not amassed nearly enough delegates to seriously challenge the Democratic Leadership Council. The crisis of political representation will continue even if Bush is defeated.
Friday, June 04, 2004
Nicholas Kristof says that regarding the potential of democracy in China following the increasing presence of the market, "No middle class is content with more choices of coffees than of candidates on a ballot." Hello, Nicholas? What country do you live in? I will concede that I greatly prefer Kristof's 'we'll win 'em over with Britney Spears' version of imperialism to the neo-con's 'bomb them into democracy.'
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Confidential to Colin Powell: Always more dignified to make real amends yourself than to demand them from others.
The New York Times looks for something positive about the current situation in Iraq. Even by their own standards, "defined realistically as an absence of civil war, a gradually improving economy, and slowly declining rates of political and criminal violence" the info they give in the form of a chart is quite unimpressive. Most notably, in terms of 'slowly declining rates of political... violence', the US casualty rate for April was four times that of December or August. As for the economy, the unemployment rate remains a staggering 45%. The number of Iraqis who want the US to leave has jumped. Oil production and electricity have not yet returned to pre-war levels (telephones are at higher levels than pre-war). 6% of Iraqi soldiers (in terms of the goal) and 19% of police have been trained. Interestingly, 90% of 'other security' have been trained--I'm guessing that's people who are given a gun and told to guard a refinery. Also 'Iraqi noncombatant fatalities' (is that Timespeak for civilians?) were way up last month--can't be a good sign. Interesting to ask why these Brookings Institution types feel so obligated to put a positive spin on this debacle.
I'm back. The semester's over, and I at last have time to share my views of the world with random passers-by.
Sunday, March 09, 2003
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Friday, March 07, 2003
Wow! A dream comes to true. Conde Nast is planning a new magazine whose concept would be 'Lucky for Men'. Interestingly enough, they claim the encouragement for the magazine comes from similar mags in Japan, rather than the commercial success of Lucky itself. Full article.
From Chuck Shepherd's News of the Weird: "according to Britain's The Sun, both George Bush and Saddam Hussein recently ordered the same $975 handmade shoes from the Milan, Italy, shoemaker Vito Artioli (Bush in size 10, Saddam 9 1/2)". Full article. And while some might think naked-for-peace protests represent a threat to clothing, and hence the very existence of this page, shopaholic wants to go on record as believing that rigorous adherence to any uniform is good for the fashion imagination.
Sunday, February 09, 2003
From Marilyn Kirschner's report on New York Fashion week, a "nice surprise:William Barrett's Blue Khaki launch: real clothes for real men- chic, elegant, and luxurious". Hope it get's sold beyond a couple of boutiques in NYC. full link.
Monday, January 20, 2003
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