Carson's PostCarson's PostTwo guys talking about politics and current events, a generation apart. Articles
Rice?s Peace Mission: Prospects Grim
2007-10-17 17:07:00 How difficult will it be for Condi Rice to get anything meaningful from her proposed peace mission for Palestine and Israel? Time has an interesting article that answers the question in its title: Rice’s Peace Mission : Prospect s Grim. While the world can offer their best wishes for some achievement, we can also question the wisdom of such ... More About: Politics
On Kant and how the atheists have it wrong
2007-10-17 16:51:00 Religion has faced formidable foes in its history. But atheism hasn’t generally been one of them ? until today. A recent string of bestselling books has put believers of all stripes on the defensive. Religion, say authors such as Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens, is an unreasonable form of blind faith, often leading ... More About: Religion , Wrong , Atheists , Theist
Iraq: fish or cut bait
2007-10-16 20:34:00 After listing some of the countless failures in Iraq , 12 former captains in Iraq make this demand: There is one way we might be able to succeed in Iraq. To continue an operation of this intensity and duration, we would have to abandon our volunteer military for compulsory service. Short of that, our best option is ... More About: Politics , Fish , War
In the maniacal pursuit of riches, does history matter?
2007-10-16 20:16:00 From the windows of what was once the Skype headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia you can look out at the crumbling aftermath of stolid soviet-era office blocks and wonder, who was to blame? But inside, the aesthetic influence of Northern California is undeniable. The high-tech, open-plan offices; the “playroom,” complete with pool table and sauna; the young, ... More About: History , Matter , Riches , The Man , Suit
The Tragic Black Problem
2007-10-16 19:58:00 The most important step toward ending the tragic cycles of violence and poverty among African-Americans also happens to be the heaviest lift ? reconnecting black fathers to their children. ?You go into whole neighborhoods and there are no fathers there. What you find is apathy in a lot of the males who don?t even know that ... More About: Lifestyle , Tragic , Black , Problem
The new format for record sales?
2007-10-16 18:56:00 Radiohead could start an avalanche Mathew Ingram, globeandmail.com: Ingram 2.0 When Radiohead’s “pay what you want” download experiment was first announced a couple of weeks ago, it seemed obvious that fans (particularly the poor ones) would like the idea. But would it actually work? And would the band make any money, or would most people download it ... More About: Internet , Technology , Sales , Record , Format
Butter or margarine?
2007-10-16 18:38:00 This near age-old question is addressed by the NY Times: The Claim: Margarine Is Health ier Than Butter . The debate has been around nearly as long as butter and margarine themselves: Is one truly healthier than the other? The confusion persists for good reason. Butter, which has been used for thousands of years, is made from animal products, ...
The 4 Faces of Palestine through 60 years
2007-10-16 18:00:00 Mapping Palestine since Partiton in 1947. The 1947 Partition Plan Following World War II: The United Nations Partition Plan of 1947 divided Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Arabs rejected the plan, launching a war. 1948 to 1967 The 1948 war: Israel won the war and gained more territory. The 1949 armistace agreements created neutral zones ... More About: Politics , Faces , Years
Bringing Blackwater to justice ? a long-shot
2007-10-16 17:38:00 “There will be no compensation because the American Army did not kill your brother,” an apologetic U.S. soldier told a grieving relative. Blackwater USA did. Here are some notes about just how difficult it will be for Iraqis to seek justice for wrongs committed by militant contractors, from an LA Times article Iraqis shot by contractors ... More About: Justice , War , Shot , Long
Putin, Ahmadinejad, the Caspian Sea nations and the US
2007-10-16 17:06:00 What a difference a couple of weeks make. Remember when Columbia University Chancellor Bollinger stood near Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and castigated him for his words and conduct? Ya, well that’s Russian President Putin beside him today and they’re threatening the US on behalf of all Caspian Sea nations. Opportunities for meaning diplomacy are few. ... More About: Politics , Nations
The male demographic: something for nothing and the rent is free
2007-10-15 20:44:00 Is one demographic being radically over-served by the entertainment industry? It would seem so. Here is some evidence. The film ‘The Heartbreak Kid,’ targeting the same demographic as that other Farrelly brothers film, ‘There’s something about Mary,’ opened this month with a paltry $14 million in US and Canada sales, well below expectations. Why? Wait ? ? there’s more. ... More About: Lifestyle , Free , Male , Rent , Demographic
Gore, driving the Right insane
2007-10-15 19:55:00 It is shameful that even global warming can be politicized, but it is, as Paul Krugman points out in his NY Times column, Gore Derangement Syndrome. On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal?s editors couldn?t even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore?s name. Instead, they devoted their editorial ... More About: Politics , Driving , Insane
Ian Rankin, cheating you all the way to the bank
2007-10-15 18:33:00 So Ian Rankin has just published another Rebus, Exit Music, the 18th and perhaps the last novel in his series about Detective Inspector John Rebus. Good time for a bitch: I love Rebus, but not enough to buy every one of the 18 books multiple times ? like Rankin and his frigging publisher are trying to trick ... More About: Books , Cheating , Bank
Hard drives getting bigger and smaller
2007-10-15 18:09:00 Coming to a computer near you: a hard drive that can hold terabytes. Hitachi Ltd. says its researchers have successfully shrunken a key component in hard drives to a nanoscale that will pave the way for quadrupling today’s storage limits to 4 terabytes for desktop computers and 1 terabyte on laptops in 2011. A terabyte can hold ... More About: Technology , Hard , Hard drives
Are Blackwater gunmen ?unlawful combatants??
2007-10-15 17:30:00 In what could prove to be a monumental irony, the same rules that the Bush Administration has concocted to hold prisoners in Guantanamo may be used in international courts to prosecute members of the US contract militia. Here is the issue, as identified by the LA Times in America’s own unlawful combatants? The designation of lawful and ... More About: War , Blackwater , Gunmen , Comb , Awful
Israel-Palestine: US should level the playing field
2007-10-15 16:59:00 The only way the Israel -Palestine peace talks next month have any chance of succeeding is for the US to remove its financial and emotional underpinning of Israel and thereby level the playing field. If, indeed, “it’s time for the establishment of a Palestinian state,? as Ms Rice has said, might not she add: ? “that is why ... More About: Politics , Field
Singapore gets its first Airbus A380
2007-10-15 16:51:00 Airbus has delivered its first A380 to Singapore Airlines, 18 months behind schedule. The superjumbo jet, like the Boeing Dreamliner, has been beset with production delays that could cost its European consortium over $8 billion. Airbus claimed on Monday that it will meet its A380 target for 2008 and thereafter. Currently, it has 189 confirmed orders including ... More About: Technology , Airbus
Is GM getting serious about hybrids?
2007-10-15 16:25:00 Yes, according to Time magazine, no according to others. General Motors ? is finally getting serious about hybrids. After dismissing them for years as a niche unworthy of attention, GM will release an average of one new hybrid model every three months for the next two years, beginning with the industry’s first full-size hybrid SUVs late ... More About: Technology , Hybrids
The end to American exceptional?
2007-10-15 16:01:00 American exceptionalism ? the view that America is unique among nations ? is a treasured creed. That’s why it is so troubling to observe radical changes in American public life that threaten to make the United States look like many other countries, including those in the so-called third world, writes Andy Zelleke In his Christian ... More About: Politics , American , Exceptional
Like rats from a sinking ship; what will happen the big music?
2007-10-15 15:13:00 Last week an email from circulated around the headquarters of music label EMI. It was from Guy Hands, whose private equity group owns the label. According to the Telegraph, it came with a stark message: “The recorded music industry… has for too long been dependent on how many CDs can be sold,” he wrote. “Rather than ... More About: Music , Technology , Culture , Corporations , Ship
Gore and what might have been; Giuliani and what might be
2007-10-14 18:38:00 He may be one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, talented men in America and remarkably well-equipped to lead the nation, but it?s Mr. Bush?s less-than-curious, less-than-distinguished son, George W., who is president. NY Times columnist Bob Herbert has an interesting column The Trivial Pursuit on both what might have been and what might be. What might have ... More About: Politics , Gore , Giuliani
What is a Fair Share for oil revenues?
2007-10-14 18:19:00 When, later this month, Alberta’s Premier Ed Stelmach makes “the most important economic decision in the country this year” by determining what is a fair share for energy royalties, it will be the people making the decision, not the corporations. That’s the central message of this fascinating Globe and Mail article about royalties from the Alberta ... More About: Economics , Share , Fair , Venues
Where is Michael Ware?
2007-10-14 18:11:00 Michael Ware seems like such an honest journalist, at a time when there are so few of them, that you wonder how long he could last at CNN, or anywhere else for that matter. Reader Tom Scott is wondering, too ? I have been following Michael Ware?s extremely candid coverage of the Iraq war for some time. ... More About: Media , Journalism , Michael
Israel?s don?t ask, don?t tell militancy
2007-10-14 17:56:00 That Israel strike at Syria last month? You know the one we aren’t allowed to talk about? Well, it was probably against the very early stages of a partly constructed nuclear reactor. But we can’t know for sure because ? In Washington and Israel, information about the raid has been wrapped in extraordinary secrecy and restricted to ... More About: Terrorism , War , Militancy
Australian PM announces election
2007-10-14 17:41:00 The dominant political perception of Australia, that it unilaterally supports Bush’s US unilaterialism, may be in for a drastic change on November 25, the date of the next federal election. After 11 years in office, conservative John Howard is tipped to be defeated by left-of-centre Labour’s Kevin Rudd. In fact, all the polls say it is ... More About: Politics , Election , Australian , Anno
Why do dogs yawn?
2007-10-12 19:46:00 I have two bear dogs. When they aren’t sleeping or running they are yawning. Why is that? Enter, the internet. Google: Why do dogs yawn? Answer: Q. When dogs yawn, are they sleepy or bored? A. (From the book “Why Do Dogs Drink Out of the Toilet?”) Neither, really. Think of yawning as a kind of switching gears. A ... More About: Politics
Books and talk shows, an incestuous loop
2007-10-12 19:25:00 Warning: If you are not already famous or infamous, don’t write a book, you’ll have no chance of getting it promoted. Why? Because every person who is famous or infamous has written a book, often multiples books, and because they’ve already got a public pedigree they are invited on all the talk shows to promote ? ... More About: Entertainment , Lifestyle , Books , Talk , Loop
On US Watch Lists
2007-10-12 17:31:00 It is clear from this inundation of personal stories of abuse and retribution against ordinary Americans that a network of criminal behavior and intention is catching up more and more mainstream citizens in its grasp. It is clear that this is not democracy as usual — or even the corruption of democracy as usual. It ... More About: Politics , Terrorism , Watch , Lists
The rogue nation to defend against rogue nations
2007-10-12 16:41:00 The US says it needs a missile defence system to counteract “rogue states” like Iran and North Korea. So, on the off-chance that one of these rogue nations has the technology and the will to fire a rocket against the US, it is building a defense system in Poland and the Czech republic even though that ... More About: Politics , Technology , War , Nations , Nation
What is marriage?
More articles from this author:2007-10-11 19:00:00 Is marriage contractual ? you give to get, or is it covenantal - you enter into it not for yourself but for the other’s best interests? The always interesting Sarah Hampton takes on this issue in the Globe and Mail: Love - it’s not all about you. But she avoids a third alternative which I, in my ... More About: Lifestyle , Marriage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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