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The
Good Fight: Why Liberals - and Only Liberals - Can Win the War on Terror
and Make America Great Again
by Peter Beinart
Beinart's
book reflects not a new liberal philosophy so much as the strange convergence
of a segment of (neo)liberal and a segment of (neo)conservative thinking
and practice, in which ethically-oriented war is the means by which
a lax and decadent America can achieve moral renewal.
Alex
Gourevitch
Vote
for the funnyman?
Armando Iannucci, comedy and politics
We
may live in a society which lacks political ideas, but that doesn't
mean 'narratives' from comedic sources are always better than nothing.
The celebration of comedy as better than nothing reveals the weakness
of contemporary public discourse, but the Cult of Comedy is no solution.
Tessa
Mayes
Death
and the author
Infamous Douglas McGrath, Running Stumbled John Maringouin,
Stranger Than Fiction Marc Forster, at the London Film Festival
2006
Despite
the abundance of death in film history, the intellectualisation of the
concept of death and its cathartic power necessary to the creation of
art is still essentially virgin territory for the medium. The London
Film Festival showed that there are now serious attempts to make up
for this.
Ion
Martea
The
Architecture of Happiness
by Alain de Botton
The
current 'Happiness' agenda needs beefing up with substantial intellectual
input, and de Botton may be the man for the job. But in serving this
function, de Botton is reluctant overtly to mention Modernism's most
mystical category. For him, a true homage to the perfect home must find
some way to convey a void.
Aidan
Campbell
An
End to Suffering: the Buddha in the World
by Pankaj Mishra
Mishra
deftly situates the Buddha in the context of modern and ancient creeds,
quoting many artists, scientists, and philosophers, including 'Albert
Einstein [who] called Buddhism the religion of the future since it was
compatible with modern science'.
Namit
Arora
The
Smartest Guys in the Room
Alex Gibney
The
explosive growth in risk trading was the result of risk aversion rather
than, as the documentary suggests, a gung-ho mentality. The primary
impetus for the growth of such financial instruments is as a sophisticated
form of insurance rather than straightforward gambling.
Daniel Ben-Ami
Reportage:
Pro-Test Demonstration in support of animal testing, Oxford, 25 February
2006
Luckily
it seems the public are willing to do what the university won't, and
take a stand against the intimidation. One of the chants ran 'No more
threats, no more fear, animal testing wanted here!' and well expressed
the attitude of the marchers.
Nell Barrie
More
Stupid Gits A short history of British Public Information Films (part
two)
Many
films reek of the desperation of forty years spent trying to get the
message across to these idiots. But perhaps PIFs are one of the prices
we pay for being relatively free. Or, as governments might see it, the
price authority has to pay for letting people remain free.
Kevin Donnelly
Stupid
Gits A short history of British Public Information Films (part
one)
You
can just imagine the committees designing these PIFs looking at accident
statistics and shaking their heads. 'Just how do we get through to these
nutjobs? I know, let's use Space Invaders.'
Kevin Donnelly
Struck
Dumb The December 2005 New York transit strike
Workers
from the Local 100 of the TWU were used as a stage army in the service
of the union leadership's negotiation strategy, without being engaged
in discussions about what could be hoped for or expected. Then, as the
going got tough, the strike was called off.
Alan Miller
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