Last weekend's July 4th threw TFO's schedule off the mark, full Economist coverage returns to Wednesday this coming week.
-The bailout of American troops from Iraq hit a major milestone, with the withdrawal from the cities purported to have reached conclusion. I'd insert a sarcastic remark about how this story got buried by the death of a celebrity, but I actually wasted a good portion of on-the-clock time watching the fucking thing myself, so I'm part of the problem.
-Gay sex in India is no longer served with a ten year prison sentence. C'mere. Let's celebrate. In India. By fucking.
-When North Korea says they have enough plutonium to make nuclear bombs, we all kind of go "yeah right." But when South Korea says that North Korea has enough plutonium to make nuclear bombs, the response is a little different. (Because South Korea is not run by a crazy liar.)
-No one's quite sure why China held off on a country wide plan to install "web-filtering" software on all new computers in the country, but a smart guess would be that the Chinese government's "web-filtering" software is pretty easy to circumvent. Because it is, because it was made by somebody over 40 and boo-hoo, post-40 something people suck at writing code. They can often do more push-ups though. Trade off!
-The prime minister of Croatia resigned, no notice. He just quit. Maybe he's planning on becoming a celebrity pundit type? Oh wait, Croatia. I was thinking of that governor who looks like Lisa Ann.
-There's a lot of news about Russia in this week's issue, but the one piece that burns the most is this: they banned casinos and gambling houses in huge swaths of the country. What are the bored and angry men going to do with their time now? Like, besides alcoholism.
-Never really sure how one should feel about a US House vote that comes down to 219 versus 212. Those numbers are so close that they smell like pragmatism. Snarl, pragmatism. Snarl. (It was about the cap-and-trade program.)
-A Gallup poll said that drinking numbers haven't increased since the recession began. Another way to look at that is that people haven't started drinking LESS since Obama took office. I don't know how you dealt with George Bush hating black people, but I was wearing a barrel about seven nights a week.
-Hey, they didn't let Sir Allen Stanford out on bail. That's a smart move. Houston (in jail) versus Antigua (in palatial estate with billions). Which would you have picked?
-A German bank wouldn't loan Porsche $2.5 billion dollars. Shit man, where's the violins? Go get me some violins.
-Mozilla dropped the new Firefox, said it's way faster than it used to be. The same week, Netscape Navigator got arrested for trying to sell stolen copper wire to an electrical firm based out of Detroit. Ugly shit, the past.
-It's a huge, Russia focused week. The op-ed that opens the magazine serves as both a laying out of the magazine's opinion on Russia/American relations and a sort of expanded table of contents. (If you read it on the website, it's almost a linkblog.) The Economist has beat these drums of complaint before, but considering the nature of Obama's "reset" policy, it's worth the retread of what's between the two countries. Here's some tidbits on the notoriously under reported superpower: Russia's death rate is double that of countries at its comparable developmental level, it remains the world's largest oil and gas producer, has a nuclear arsenal, and is in the midst of an unsettling backslide into the bad old days of corruption and elitist control. The people are exposed to a near toxic level of nationalistic control, their freedoms encroached upon at an alarming rate, and while their economy is beginning to sink, they remain one of the most powerful countries on Earth. Their relationship with America isn't the best, and the last time Barack Obama came to the country, he was detained by border guards for hours, where he and Senator Dick Lugar were treated as criminals. One wants to believe it can't get worse. Hopefully, by the time you're reading this, that will prove true.
-The Economist doesn't like to dive into America's ugly past interfering in South American elections, so it's not surprising that they don't make a bigger deal out of Barack Obama speaking out against the illegal coup that took Honduran President Manuel Zelaya out of office. To their credit, it isn't a HUGE deal, it's totally possible that America would've condemned it anyway. And although Obama's criticism for the coup is unlikely to change anything about it, it speaks to the better relationship the US know has with South America. Manuel Zelaya was no reliable friend to the US. In the 70's, maybe even later, the accusations that the US had something to do with his ousting would have been fast and furious, and they would probably have been right. For now, Honduras is dealing with Honduras. That's a good thing.
-Regarding the European Union's current pursuit of financial reform: "Europe's ability to distract itself from the substantive issues far outweighs its capacity to resolve them." and "The real chance of meaningful reform to the financial system lies elsewhere." It's important to remember that the Economist actually believes in the European Union. This is how they're talking about the current financial reforms that the EU is bringing to the table. Nothing hurts like the criticism of a pal.
-Although there's a good bit to argue with in this op/ed regarding the relationship between elite private schools that serve as feeders for the top colleges in the world, the conclusion--that government run schools have serious problems--seems inescapable. Education reform--will you ever not be a pain in the ass?
Letters
-David Killam takes one for the grammar squadron, writing in to point out that the Economist forgot to include a verb in the run-on sentence that opened a previous article. He's right, of course. But you'll need a conviction for child molestation on your record before I'll start criticizing run-on sentences. I love me some run-on sentences.
-Although the Al Franken "won by a nose" story doesn't bring much to the table that you aren't already aware of, it does include a quote from President Obama's congratulatory statement. After welcoming the dude, Obama said that he couldn't wait to work with Franken on "lowering health-care costs and investing in the kind of clean energy jobs and industries that will help America lead in the 21st century." That's how you do it right, boys and girls: smile, shake hands and say "Here's what you'll be doing for me, radio bitch."
-You don't have to go far to find an article that boils down to "how you gonna pay for this stuff, Alfie", where Alfie is Obama, and "stuff" means health care, new energy technology, financial regulation, infrastructure investment, pies, moon, sky. And by "don't have to go far", I mean, like. Right here. Here's one.
-One of the weirdest parts of the various stimulus programs has been how little of the money in those massive buckets has been spent--this article only focuses on the "green energy" portion, but it's a good take on the subject, and a bit preferable to the histrionic fire squirting out of that Reason website. Getting specific about the problems with energy spending helps to point to the larger problem of having a shitload of money for industries almost completely unprepared to accept it. Nice.
-A Supreme Court decision came down on the New Haven firefighters case, and it gets a full article. In case you live on the moon, you already know why--it's a case that Sonia Sotomayor was involved in prior to her nomination to join the Court. At this point, there isn't much to add, other than that the case is over, and the Court disagreed with Sotomayor.
-If you take the federal governments unemployment money, you have to take the federal governments new rules regarding it. So a few states have refused, thinking that the money won't last as long as the Fed claims it will, and they'll be stuck with rules they didn't create. It's like a whole new Civil War, except it's about math. And the Economist calls the article "mo money, mo problems".
-Historic Event, News Nerds! Lexington is fucking done man, she/he is DONE. 13 years of writing these columns, 13 years of living in the US, and homeboy/girl is on his/her way back to the belly of the UK beast, this cat is FINITO, and this is his goodbye. I won't spoil it, except to say that he compares himself to Alexis de Tocqueville. Sort of.
-Ecuador's plan is to sell bonds based off the impact of carbon emissions if they were to exploit the estimated 846 million barrels of oil in the ITT area of the Yasuni national park. In other words, you pay them, they won't take out the oil out of that area (oil is extracted from another site nearby, and will soon be extracted from a second one as well.) They'll leave it--and the native tribes living nearby--alone. If the government reneges on its promises in the future and does start drilling in the ITT area, they'll pay the bondholders back, "with interest".
-The story that the Economist has been predicting for at least a year is finally here, with the Kirchners getting a swift teeth kick to the referendum they had claimed as their own. If you trust the Economist implicitly, you saw this story coming. If you don't, you probably did anyway: so did everybody else. (Except the Kirchners.)
-Biggest Muslim-majority democratic election on the way. We're in the Asia section, so I'm betting you know this one....no? It's okay, it always slips my mind too. Here's a hint: the woman who didn't win (although she used to have the job) has the first name "Megawati". That's a great name. Here's her Facebook page, by the way. Don't consider this an endorsement or anything, i'm not near educated enough to have a horse in the race. I just think her Facebook page is funny.
-While those stories about universal ID cards almost always lend themselves to Orwellian comparisons--in the case of the UK's aborted project, they are pretty apt--the case made for the one in India is pretty strong. There are roughly 100 million "invisible" people in the country, and the proposed card could help them receive the government benefits that are currently denied them. Nanden Nilekani--one of the smartest men in the country--has taken the reins.
-Wanna go to a Thai prison? Move there, start blogging about the royal family. It doesn't need to be true, it doesn't need to be reporting, it just needs to be mean. Repeat until incarcerated.
Middle East and Africa
-While Ahmadinejad has officially won Iran's election, and the protests in the street are now going to be policed as heavily as anything else the Iranian clerics don't like, the black mark on the region and its unelected rulers is a bad one. Up until June, the world could extend a token respect for Iran's middling democracy. It now appears that the curtain has been pulled on that comfortable lie.
-AIDS in Africa isn't a story that ever goes away, although reporting about it certainly does. This piece on the Sudan--an area where 27.5% of the country's imams (a trusted authority to the population) believe that mosquitoes can transmit the virus--tries to focus on the brighter spot of an active AIDS-support group, but it can't fight the numbers. They're terrifying.
-One the world's most frightening places got worse last week, with beheadings in Somalia apparently topping out at 6, all at the hands of militant fanatics. The victims were accused of collaboration with the only government Somalia has left. The small African peacekeeping force was incapable of protecting them. The world, it seems, has made its choice. Somalia will be left to burn to a cinder, and the people within it will be left to rape, murder, and extermination.
China, never an enemy of Robert Mugabe, has decided to place some stock in Morgan Tsvangirai as well. The stock is $950 million in loans, an amount vastly beyond the $500 million he was able to find throughout his recent tour of the Western world. Nice job, rest of the world.
Europe
-They actually arrest people for hip-hop lyrics in France? That's kinda stormtrooper-y. Well, don't let that little factoid stop you from reading about how France is beating the world with hip-hop, a judgment the Economist makes based off a couple of "world championships" in turntable and breakdancing competitions. Does Ghostface or the RZA judge these world championships? Because if neither of those dudes are involved, the trophies are suspect.
-Another year, another fight between the European Union and Russia/Ukraine over gas prices. This one is playing out differently--because as the Economist points out, "timing is everything." Pretty easy to say "no thanks" to high gas prices when it's summer. We'll see you in the winter, when this one gets rolling again.
-In Kosovo, it's really easy to be a journalist. You just have to repeat whatever the government says. If you want to make things hard on yourself, try "reporting" or "criticizing" the government. That's an express train to all kinds of problems.
-Charlemagne tried to write a column this week, but his hands kept getting blocked by the thighs of Sweden, because his mouth was buried in their short and curlies. Like, Sweden is pretty great for a lot of people, like Swedes, I totally agree, but how hard is it to be great when your taxes are that high? You can give everybody health care and a fucking mansion on Swedish taxes.
International
-These blog posts usually go pretty hard on the international section, and I'd argue that it's deserved--it's the most inconsistent part of the magazine, and it's an obvious dump ground for failed leader pieces. This week is different though--one article, a numbers-heavy theoretical examination of the current state of food supplies following what was called "the food crisis" of 2007-09. It's not a horror show of statistics, there's a lot of solid thought in it, and it's as good as any article in the magazine. Probably better.
Business
-The article is subtitled "Customers are working for companies free of charge, and they like it." The argument is that when you choose to use a computer to place an order, or talk to a robot when you call customer service, you're handling the work that some human being could be doing while on staff. Which is true, I guess. I just wonder how many people "like it."
-Ikea has been trying to make the whole Russia thing work for a long time. Now? They've suspended their investment in the country due to corruption. That's right kids: Ikea just gave up. I don't know why I find that surprising--as far as I can remember, there aren't any Ikea commercials based around "we don't give up" philosophies--but I did. So there.
Finance and Economics
-This brief acknowledgment of the 150 year sentence dropped on Madoff doesn't contain any new information. But I was watching that Enron doc from a few years ago, the one that opens with Tom Waits--man, I hope they do one of those on Bernie. That was a good flick.
Science and Technology
-The sheep of Scotland are getting smaller. I hate to be the one to tell you, but it's a biological fact. Sheep in Scotland? Getting smaller.
-Remember how they powered the Back To The Future car with garbage, and we were all "man science fiction is fucking crazy"? And then they started running some cars on vegetable oil and we were all like "weird dude, that's weird as hell"? Well, now they're going to use chicken feathers to make fuel tanks. I bet that would have blown your mind back like when they made that movie about Michael Keaton doing his mom.
-While the world might seem to get bigger through facebook and twitter and...hey, assholes on blogs! It's actually not, because most people send emails to people in the same city. Hey, I know you're different. You've got friends in Tangiers and China, you're unique, bucking the curve. Anyway, it's ruining the spreading of baby names. (This is a weird article.)
Books and Arts
-James Ensor's art hasn't seen a show like the current one at MOMA in 30 years, and while the Economist is kind of rough on it and there's no nice way to spin a statement like, "...only one canvas feels truly fresh." I completely dis-a-fucking-gree. See it. It's exceptional, and--fuck man, 30 years! That means "rare opportunity."
Obituary: Michael Jackson
The best reason in the world to get married is because it means you've finally found somebody who is legally obligated to pretend to care when you have a fucking cold, wants to talk about "the craziest dream i've ever had", or because you want someone to give a shit about what you have to say regarding the death of a celebrity. Because everybody else? They don't care. It isn't because they're an asshole, either. No. You are. Take that shit to the bank.
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