DJR's gist: There is one week left of campaigning before election day in the US, and things are not looking good for John McCain. Barack Obama has more money, more grass-roots activists, a lead in the polls and a running mate who is both vaguely competent and not an emblem of everything that is wrong with the US. This could, should, and hopefully will be the beginning of the end.
DJR's gist: An extremely thought-provoking piece by Moïse suggests that while Europe is literally desperate for an Obama victory, the powers-that-be in Asia may actually support McCain - albeit for wildly conflicting reasons. Japan, for example, support a hard-lined US to counter the power of China - a philosophy seemingly embodied by McCain. However, China want also want the status quo - the Republican administration has coincided with an increased view of China as a positive counter to the US, and they naturally worry that Obama will create a tide of positive US sentiment which, by extension, represents negative China sentiment. India, for what it's worth, has probably enjoyed the US' capitulation in terms of economic and political clout and international integrity and would like a few more years of the same to consolidate its position.
However, Moïse is purely analysing the views of the elites of Asia. If the common man was voting, it's fairly safe to assume that the world would be a tidal wave of blue.
DJR's gist: It looks like Barack Obama will win the Presidency. But even if US voters are somehow spooked into not voting for the only credible option, it is looking increasingly likely that they will still take the opportunity to give the Republican Party the kicking of their lives. And crucially, if the Democrats manage to get hold of over 60% of the seats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, then it really doesn't matter who's in the White House - the power will be with Congress. Checks and balances...
DJR's gist:Quantum of Solace, the latest instalment in the multi-million pound James Bond 007 franchise, has its world premiere in Leicester Square on Thursday. And with its release is an opportunity to ask the question - is James Bond cool? Or is he representative or everything that's wrong. Obviously the answer is the former. But it's quite interesting to read the rants of feminists and killjoys.
DJR's gist: An interview, leave alone an exclusive one, is a rarity when the interviewee is Sir Alex Ferguson. But picking his mind provides some great insights into the thinking of Britain's most successful manager. Particularly on the brilliance of Eric Cantona, and the uselessness of Peter Kenyon.
DJR's gist: Lord Foster and Partners have revealed their plans for the new "Isle of Dogs" station that will connect the new £16bn Crossrail scheme to Canary Wharf and the thousands of financial employees working there. The plan involves a giant "green" bubble - an enclosed area of parkland combined with shops and restaurants, with the station itself accessed underground. Looks whacky... perfectly in tune with the area.
DJR's gist: Finkelstein was part of the Tory government when it so spectacularly disintegrated in May 1997, and has some insightful words of advice to Republicans as they gear up to blame each other over their seemingly imminent loss. The advice? No one will care. After Labour's 1997 landslide, there was euphoria and an overwhelming sentiment for change that transcended how the public actually voted, and meant that the only news was about the new people who would be the change. The losers were history, and until they realised that they were unable to grow out of it. Lets just hope the Republicans have the opportunity to decide whether "that realisation [is] more painful than the battles themselves."
DJR's gist: Securing the distinct honour of being the first journalist to feature in two consecutive issues of The Linkrod, Holly Watt's excellent account of her coast-to-coast-to-coast road-trip presently sees her in the traditionally red-as-a-tomato state of Indiana. The Republicans Presidential candidate has taken Indiana in every election since 1936, and 4 years ago Dubya winged it by a massive 20-point margin. So what the hell is she doing there? Well surprise, surprise, this state has been brought into play in the tide of pro-Obama sentiment. This has been aided by Obama's position as Senator of neighbouring Illinois, as well as Indiana's proximity to the urban sprawl and Democratic stronghold that is Chicago. If Indiana goes blue, there is surely little stopping an absolute rout.
DJR's gist: Heathrow is, without doubt, horrifically overcrowded with no capacity for growth without getting millions of West London residents crying like little girls. The hassle is just astronomic. I'm all for Boris' airport island, and if he can manage to push this one through then he will have, in one foul swoop, ensured that his legacy as Mayor of London is on a par, if not greater, than anything Red Ken achieved in his decade in the job.
DJR's gist: Despite the fact that we on the enlightened side of the Atlantic seem to have survived fine with small cars for... well, ever, your average American has always had to weigh up the environmental and economic benefits of a smaller car with a perception that driving a smaller car increases the likelihood that you and/or your family will meet with a messy, spine-crunching, face-shattering end as your runt of a vehicle is totalled by some 4x4 gas-guzzling behemoth. As Chambers reports, small cars are built tough. Particularly when they're Japanese. Or European. Or, apparently, if they're from pretty much anywhere that isn't Detroit.
DJR's gist: On the topic of Detroit, the technology world has its eyes on a Microsoft conference taking place in LA. What's the link? Well much like Microsoft now, once upon a time Detroit had massive market share and a dominant position in the US, and indeed global car market. But market power is useless if you stop making what consumers want, and as "cloud computing" begins to emerge as the future paradigm for technology, Microsoft has to make sure it doesn't replicate Detroit's mistakes. If it's any consolation, the likely beneficiaries should they fail will still be from the West Coast... namely Apple of Cupertino or Google of Mountain View.
DJR's gist: Last week's edition of Science - one of the world's two most prominent scientific journals (along with Nature) - included a study about how the temperature of different drinks can affect human emotions and actions. Namely, that cold drinks increase rationality and are thus ideal when making economic decisions, while warm drinks increase empathy and encourage emotional warmth. The crux is that hot chocolate is good on dates, but not so good when booking a holiday. Or something like that.
DJR's gist: Keynesian economics, whose prescription of government intervention to support full employment formed the basis of policy through the middle of the 20th century, seemingly died a natural death with Thatcher's monetarist policies of the 1980s. The "new economic paradigm" of low inflation, high growth and low unemployment seemed to have consigned Keynes to the scrapbook. How things change in a few years. The "new economic paradigm" is in tatters, "neo-classical" economics that minimised government intervention has resulted in a crisis caused by the market itself, and all the while Keynes had warned of the cheer uncertainty that could, would, and has caused carnage.
DJR's gist: The Queen, the ever apolitical face of the United Kingdom (and some other countries that claim her as their Queen) has been on another state visit (adding to a tally that already has over 60 visits under its belt). This time it was Slovakia and Slovenia, where she has been greeted in the same vein as The Beatles. Which is some feat, and certainly good to see from the UK-standpoint. And as this report describes, it's always good to see that even in the most meticulously organised events, the BBC manage to put a spanner in the works.
DJR's gist: The US election may not be over yet, but Republicans are already beginning the post-mortem into how and why they've lost this election. Hopefully they will conclude that it's because their policies are anchored in a stone age view of society and a global perspective on a par with a 4 year old. The most obvious conclusion regards Sarah Palin - "a fatal cancer on the party", and the very "symptom and expression of a new vulgarisation in American politics". If she's still considered a viable candidate in 2012, then it's fair to say Barack Obama will have failed in 4 years as President.
DJR's gist: Casting your mind back to January and the caucus held in Iowa - Barack Obama secured a major and significant victory over Hilary Clinton in the very blue-collar state that Hilary should have been taking for granted. Meanwhile, John McCain largely ignored Iowa to focus on the primaries in other states such as New Hampshire. Fast forward to the present, and Barack Obama's seeds have been planted all over a state that looks set to reverse its colours for 2008.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
