Links to the best chat on the web
ISSUE #13 - Monday, 20th October 2008
- Michael Tomasky, The Guardian
"The Republicans have lifted the lid off their rightwing id"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/20/commentanddebate-john-mccain-barack-obama
DJR's gist: Tomasky is editor of Guardian America, and can therefore be assumed to view the world through glasses that are more than a little liberal-tinted. However, his description and analysis of the sheer lunacy and hypocrisy of the political and social positions being increasingly adopted by Republicans. "Anti-American"? Don't even get me started on the number of ways in which that's horsecrap.
- Sebastian Mallaby, The Washington Post
"Bretton Woods, The Sequel?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/19/AR2008101901333.html
DJR's gist: Europe, led by Sarko with GB alongside, has managed to bring about a global economy summit dubbed "Bretton Woods II". But as Mallaby points out, the analogy is at best erroneous - Europe is not recovering from the Second World War, and fixed exchange rates are anything but the order of the day. So what can this summit actually achieve? Well as this American columnist is keen to point out, a big step would be for "declining powers" like Britain and France to cede some of their power over institutions like the IMF to the growing powers of the developing world. Likely? I think not.
- Salameh Nemat, The Daily Beast
"Why Iraq hates Biden"
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-16/why-iraq-hates-biden-1
DJR's gist: The Middle East doesn't like Joe Biden. That's the crux of this article, which essentially voices the opinion that because Joe Biden was in favour of a proposal to split Iraq into three sections - one for each of its ethnic groups - and thus avoid a civil war - he is not a popular figure in the Middle East. Ironically, John McCain and Sarah Palin are not disliked, because no one knows anything about them. Which begs the question - why hasn't Sarah Palin said anything about Iraq? Probably because she doesn't know where it is. Or even that it exists.
- Paul Krugman, The New York Times
"The Real Plumbers of Ohio"
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/opinion/20krugman.html
DJR's gist: Fresh from become a Nobel Laureate, Professor Paul Krugman takes this opportunity to point out that, amongst other things, Joe the Plumber would definitely be better off under Obama than McCain, John McCain's policies would essentially continue those of George W. Bush - which has already proven to be disasterous, and that whatever today’s G.O.P. is, it isn’t the party of working Americans".
- Dom Joly, The Independent
"'Clash of sticks' leaves me feeling left out"
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/dom-joly/dom-joly-clash-of-sticks-leaves-me-feeling-left-out-966979.html
DJR's gist: Dom Joly, star of the great television show that was Trigger Happy TV, takes this great opportunity to illustrate how hockey discriminates against left-handers. What's more, hockey seems to be doing the exact opposite of football - on the other side of the Atlantic, the former is very much a male sport, while the latter is for girls. In the UK, football is, obviously, for men, while hockey becomes increasingly grouped with netball and lacrosse in the category of "female sports". Interesting, but totally useless article.
- VIDEO: Terry Tate, YouTube
"Reading is fundamental"
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=07kO9TtHYzQ
DJR's gist: Terry Tate is a hero - a trailblazer of the managerial philosophy that employs the "stick" over the carrot. This is his latest contribution to the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment