Friday, 29 February 2008

William F Buckley Remembered

The National Review editor was a conservative, to some an extremist, but always erudite and never rude. Salon invites those who know him to look back on his life.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/02/28/william_f_buckley/

For Obama, a Taste of What a Long Battle Holds

Hilary is a pussycat compared to the Republicans

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/us/politics/29oppo.html?hp

US imprisons 1 in 100 adults

The New York Times reports on a report by the Pew Center on the "Land of the Free's" stunning incarceration rates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/us/29prison.html?hp

Websites of evil

Macleans tours the the wonderful web world of "The online worlds of Kim Jong Il, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other notorious unfriendlies"

ttp://www.macleans.ca/canada/features/article.jsp?content=20080130_112120_8176

The Tragedy of Britney Spears

"More than any other star today, Britney epitomizes the crucible of fame for the famous: loving it, hating it and never quite being able to stop it from destroying you." Rolling Stone on the whole sad-arse farce of one silly girl's mess of a life and the voyeuristic schadenfreude of millions of women everywhere.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/18310562/cover_story_the_tragedy_of_britney_spears

The myth of the surge

The surge. More US troops were meant to make the difference in Iraq. In fact the US is simply bribing Sunni gangs to keep quiet, according to this article in Rolling Stone.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/18722376/the_myth_of_the_surge

Amber Room in sight?

The baroque glory of the Prussian/Russian Amber room may be found in crates down a hole in East Germany. Or not. According to this article in Der Spiegel.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,537992,00.html

Can Turkey Succeed in Northern Iraq

Its an incursion that the US reluctantly sanctioned but like the US incursion in Cambodia in the Vietnam War its not achieving much, claims this article in the Der Spiegel.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,538169,00.html

How Europe lost Africa

Europe's treatment of Africa is losing friends and alienating people according to this article from Der Spiegel.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,537699,00.html

Up, up and away what's driving the price of oil

Its not supply and demand according to Der Spiegel, which points the finger at speculators diversifying away from dodgy American real-estate into oil futures.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,538412,00.html