Search results: Is

“Useful Enemies”: U.S. admitted not just Nazis after WWII, but their sadistic collaborators

by on May 21, 2013 in Crime & Corruption, War & Security, World

Why did the United States feel the need to admit Baltic and Eastern Europeans who at times exceeded the Nazis in brutality? Lost count of the sordid episodes in America’s past? In Useful Enemies: John Demjanjuk and America’s Open-Door Policy for Nazi War Criminals (Delphinium Books, 2013), Richard Rashke chronicles one that few of us […]

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The Rest is Noise (6)—Descent into the Maelstrom

by on May 17, 2013 in History, Music & Popular Culture, World

It’s been leading up to this, the past several months, as we have tracked the descent of the twentieth century into its mid-century madness through the course of its music. Alex Ross’s book is quite clever in this—but it seeks to illuminate the music of the century through its intellectual and social history. The focus […]

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Redneck jokes are racist

by on May 17, 2013 in American Culture, Economy, Race & Gender

I am not one of those people that believes in reverse discrimination, and that old white males are struggling for equality in a pitiless world run by women and people of color. (Affirmative action is a bad idea, but a necessary one to counteract a worse one, segregation and institutionalized povertization of the black underclass.) So […]

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Largest study of peer-reviewed literature to date finds overwhelming climate disruption consensus (UPDATED)

by on May 15, 2013 in Environment & Nature, Science & Technology

A new study of 11,944 peer-reviewed papers over the course of 21 years finds that 97% of all papers with a stated position on climate disruption, and 98.4% of their authors, agree that human activity is driving climate disruption.

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Angelina Jolie and a brave, terrifying decision

by on May 15, 2013 in Health, Race & Gender

Subjective rant in 3…2… This one’s for those with opinions about Angelina Jolie’s boobs, especially those who don’t have ‘em. Sadly, it seems even some women don’t get this. Generally, I couldn’t give less of a crap about celebrity anything, but I’ve got a soft spot for her. I respect her for the difficult decision […]

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Expand nuclear weapons programs to protect missileers’ tender psyches

by on May 15, 2013 in War & Security

Nuclear missile officers’ jobs weigh heavy on them but not for the reasons you’d think. On May 8 we posted about an article by Robert Burns of the Associated Press, in which he reported that the Air Force removed authority to control – and launch – nuclear missiles from 17 officers of the 91st Missile Wing in Minot, […]

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Blatter “appalled” by racist abuse of Balotelli: hey Sepp – less talk, more action

by on May 13, 2013 in Race & Gender, Sports, World

Racist abuse of AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli by AS Roma fans in yesterday’s Serie A match caused the official to briefly suspend play. After an PA announcement warning the offending supporters to cease and desist, the game was resumed. While these things are hardly uncommon in Italian football (or throughout the rest of Europe, […]

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Maira Kalman’s The Principles of Uncertainty: an appreciation of New York and New Yorkishness by a New Yorker

by on May 12, 2013 in American Culture, Arts & Literature, ArtSunday

Maira Kalman’s collage/slam book/illustrated diary The Principles of Uncertainty probably deserves better than it’s going to get here. This latest completed read from my 2013 reading list has put-up job written (and drawn) all over it. While this book has charm, it also has smarm in abundance. Only a New Yorker with “the right connections” – in publishing, in society, in […]

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Forced miscarriages, however horrible, should not qualify as “murder”

by on May 10, 2013 in Crime & Corruption, Family & Marriage, Politics, Law & Government

Yesterday I heard that Ariel Castro was being charged by the prosecutor with several counts of “aggravated murder” for each of the miscarriages he caused Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and/or Gina DeJesus. I don’t have a problem with Castro, assuming he’s found guilty of the various crimes that he’s been charged with, being locked away […]

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Would Pakistan respond to India’s use of conventional weapons with nukes?

by on May 10, 2013 in War & Security, World

Theoretically Pakistan is poised to respond to Indian military retaliation for a terrorist strike with tactical nukes. It’s debatable how much nuclear weapons add to national security. But what’s undeniable is that they add layer upon layer of complexity, sprinkled with convoluted and even counterintuitive thinking (such as how missile defense systems are seen as […]

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So you wanna be a citizen journalist? Good luck with that.

by on May 9, 2013 in Internet, Telecom & Social Media, Journalism, Media & Entertainment

Citizen journalist. Citizen journalist? How does that adjective modify journalist? What is a citizen journalist? How does a citizen journalist differ from a plain, ink-stained (or digitally adept), adjective-unfettered journalist? CJs (let’s call them that; it sounds cool) are in demand. MSNBC wants them. It asks, “Be part of the dialogue of the issues affecting […]

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Minot’s launch control fail: Reason #532 why nuclear deterrence is a fragile foundation for peace

by on May 8, 2013 in War & Security

To concerns about human error in nuclear launch control add moodiness. Robert Burns of the Associated Press reports that the Air Force removed authority to control – and launch – nuclear missiles from 17 officers of the 91st Missile Wing in Minot, North Dakota after they were given a poor review for a series of mistakes. The […]

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Is CNN’s Howard Kurtz still credible? We’ll see.

by on May 5, 2013 in Internet, Telecom & Social Media, Journalism, LGBT, Media & Entertainment, Race & Gender, Sports

How much credence should I place, beginning now, in whatever media reporter and critic Howard Kurtz says or writes? First came his ill-considered contretemps regarding NBA player Jason Collins’ announcement that he is gay. That led to this morning’s mea culpa on Kurtz’s “Reliable Sources” program on CNN, quizzed on his credibility by two other […]

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Emphasis added: the foreign policy week in pieces

by on May 5, 2013 in Politics, Law & Government, War & Security

As if Iran Isn’t Noticing [Philip Coyle of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation] worries that the overall effect of the White House’s about-face on nuclear weapons policy could prove counterproductive. “We don’t want more nuclear weapons in the world,” he says. “We’re asking North Korea to stop its program. We’re asking Iran to stop […]

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New oxygen microparticle technology breakthrough: Man, what would Lance Armstrong have given for this?

by on May 2, 2013 in Science & Technology, Sports

by Michael Pecaut, PhD A spectacular story was making the rounds on Facebook yesterday: Scientists Invent Oxygen Particle That If Injected, Allows You To Live Without Breathing. A team of scientists at the Boston Children’s Hospital have invented what is being considered one the greatest medical breakthroughs in recent years. They have designed a microparticle that […]

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S&R Poetry: “Rebuked,” by MJ De Angelis

by on May 2, 2013 in S&R Literature, S&R Poetry, WordsDay

Rebuked Because the thunderstorm needed watching, I rocked on the front porch to behold the night scolded by lightning. Above me a buzzing bulb drew a twisting cloud of insects. When they reached it, they ricocheted, scalded and blind. _____ M.J. De Angelis lives on the Lamprey River in Durham, New Hampshire and enjoys fly […]

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