Category: world
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The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto
Source: art_es_anna I saw it this morning, at about eight. I said, “Oh… my… God.” Benazir Bhutto, long–and probably accurately–seen as the best choice for prime minister of the troubled mess that is Pakistan, was assassinated. For good or ill, it’s the most important political assassination I remember. I’m far too young to have experienced […]
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“There is almost no problem we can solve all by ourselves”
Source: cursedthing Former President Bill Clinton was on Charlie Rose last Friday. He said a lot of interesting things, and though they also did a fair bit of rehashing tired arguments about the presidential campaign, it is a pretty good interview to watch. Without question, the line that most caught my attention was this one: […]
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The Nuclear Dilemma
I’m rather certain that my favorite Republican presidential candidate during the 2000 election cycle was John McCain. I’m also rather certain that he’s my favorite this time too. It’s not that he’s perfect. Far from it. I’m well aware that he’s got flaws, and I’ve certainly taken issue with some of the things he’s said. […]
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The Mandarins
A few days ago I created a new text document on my desktop–the way I almost always jot down notes when I’m at the computer–and titled it “the mandarins” and put this inside: I used to believe that the world was controlled by extraordinary individuals who were somehow different than people like me. I’ve come […]
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Of Teddy Bears and Ignorance
By now you’ve probably heard something about a teddy bear in the news. But it seems to me that the way people understood the story had a lot to do with where they heard about it. So in the tradition of this piece, I’ve created two very different interpretations pared down from different news sources. […]
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Review: Downfall
There has always been a great deal of idle speculation about what it is that people find so fascinating about Hitler’s Germany. My favorite theory–which hardly makes it correct–is that people want to understand what allows people to do such depraved things to each other. That people probe the Holocaust looking for ways that we […]
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The Myth of the Magic Bullet
I’ve long been seeking one thing–a song, a poem, a quotation, even a book–that once found will magically save all people–save them from their greed, their fear, and their unnecessary antipathy for one another. One day I met my anti-prophet, who told me this: I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t exist, it can’t […]
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Professional Human Beings
I’m not even sure where I first heard the term “Professional Human Beings,” but it’s an idea I can’t seem to shake. I often think that the world needs more Professional Human Beings. But I should be clear: this is different than needing more “professionals.” Professional Human Beings are people who spend their time being […]
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Review: The Wind that Shakes the Barley
The first half of Ken Loach’s The Wind that Shakes the Barley can easily be seen as a justification for terrorism and a condemnation of torture–the obvious reading for an American in a country now more or less obsessed by the topics. If justifying terrorism seems a hard thing to do, The Wind that Shakes […]
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The Serenity Prayer
When you look around at the world, it’s easy to be angry. There are socio-political problems all over: Darfur, Myanmar, Iraq, China, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Somalia… the list could go on and on. There are also the scourges of poverty and hunger that never seem to leave us. And the more mundane but pervasive problems […]