NYT Op-Eds (3)

"John McCain may feel compelled to go back to his guilt-by-association theme. And this has me feeling very guilty about my associates" (Collins); "It is paradoxical for the “pro-life” Bush administration to adopt a policy whose result will be tens of thousands of additional abortions each year" (Kristof); "If the nation plunges into a deeper recession, the deficit will be even larger as a proportion of the economy. Yet all is not what it seems" (Reich).
Posted by Ian Alterman, Thursday, October 9, 2008

NYT (3): International News

The effects of the U.S. financial meltdown are spreading through Europe; Palin and the economic meltdown increase French angst re the U.S.; and an amusing new spin by the Somali pirates: "Think of us like a coast guard."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, October 1, 2008

NYT (3): International News

The stand-off against Somalian pirates intensifies; Olmert has some harsh words as he leaves office; and French Muslims find haven in Catholic schools.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, September 30, 2008

NYT (3): International News

Putin and Chavez strengthen their alliance; a modern-day "Jack Sparrow" gets more than he bargained for; and an outspoken Croat in Bolivia is under attack.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, September 27, 2008

NYT Books in Review: “Left in Dark Times,” “The Angel of Grozny,” “Bumping Into Geniuses,” “Hitler’s Empire,” “Soldiers of Reason”

Bernard-Henri Levy "confronts French leftists"; an update on children orphaned by the Chechnyan war; an insider's look at the music biz; how inability to govern helped sink Hitler; and the political influence of the RAND Corporation.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, September 21, 2008

NYT (5): International News

One of the worst-ever acts of terrorism in Pakistan kills 40 and injures 150, including Americans; Sarkozy fears France is next in global economic meltdown; Chavez expels Human Rights Watch workers; a Sunni group hacks and defaces an important Shiite website in Iraq; and Mbeki may be out in political coup.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, September 20, 2008

NYT (2): International News

Myanmar's junta eases some restrictions on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; and Mugabe and Tsvangirai sign a power-sharing deal that will make the latter prime minister.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, September 16, 2008

NYT (2): International News

Russia is once again creating "satellite" states; and a rare instance of a calm, democratic election in Africa.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Naomi Klein: One Year After the Publication of The Shock Doctrine, A Response to the Attacks

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Klein responds to a hit piece in The New Republic and a "background paper" from the Cato Institute - mab
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Wednesday, September 3, 2008

NYT Op-Eds (7)

"The disconnect between the reality of this campaign and how it is perceived and presented by the mainstream media is now a major part of the year’s story" (Rich); "In the draft of the 2008 Republican platform, the writers delight in powerlessness and the fierce urgency of not right now" (Guest Op-Ed); "Imagine my delight when the hokey chick flick came out on the campaign trail, a Cinderella story so preposterous it’s hard to believe it’s not premiering on Lifetime" (Dowd on Palin); "America needs to stand behind Dr. Halima Bashir, a young Darfuri woman whom the Sudanese authorities have tried to silence by beatings and gang-rape" (Kristof); "It was heartening to stand in an Iowa field and hear public figures talk thoughtfully about issues of war and peace, about the life and soul of the country that has been entrusted to all of us" (Guest Op-Ed); "The Communist Party in China is trying to break the old mold without breaking its hold by searching for ways to make the economy greener and smarter" (Friedman); and the cantankerous, curmudgeony William Safire shows why he needs to be put out to pasture.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, August 31, 2008

NYT (4): International News

Russia recognizes independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia [N.B. I'm confused: isn't independence supposed to be a GOOD thing?]; what does a dictator do when the opposition party takes over Parliament? Simple - arrest oppositions members before they can get to the building!; Thailand becomes an increasing hotspot in what is already the most dangerous and unstable area of the world; and the World Bank revises its figures for global poverty - up.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Wednesday, August 27, 2008

NYT (2): International News

China deports American protestors early (almost certainly because it would have looked really bad to have kept them after the end of the Games); and some real forward political movement for the opposition in Zimbabwe.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, August 25, 2008

NYT (4): International News

After bombing the Georgian capital, Russia issues an ultimatum; the Taliban successfully repel a government offensive in Pakistan; Morales' referendum win avoids a military coup in Bolivia; and Mugabe and Tsvangirai continue power-sharing talks.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, August 11, 2008

NYT: Trove of Endangered Gorillas Found in Africa

A small piece of environmental good news in a world full of bad.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, August 5, 2008

NYT Books in Review: “Buying In,” “Moral Clarity,” “Say You’re One of Them,” “The End of Food”

Think you're impervious to advertising? Think again; a book for "grown-up idealists"; African miseries and why they continue; and the author of "The End of Oil" takes on the food crisis.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, July 27, 2008

NYT (3): International

Africa adds fuel crisis to food crisis; a law-and-order candidate in Britain "now rails against Big Brother"; and Russia punishes the Czechs for signing a U.S. deal.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, July 12, 2008

Let my people go, AIDS profiteers

Posted by Bill Swiggard, Monday, June 30, 2008

NYT Op-Eds (5)

Frank Rich suggests that "it’s been a Beltway axiom that Bomb in American City=G.O.P. Landslide," but fails to consider that this might be done DELIBERATELY; Thomas Friedman says, "My fellow Americans: We are a country in debt and in decline...Our political system seems incapable of producing long-range answers to big problems or big opportunities. We are the ones who need a better-functioning democracy — more than the Iraqis and Afghans. We are the ones in need of nation-building. It is our political system that is not working"; a variety of short guest pieces on "the consequences - unexpected, unnoticed, unrealized, good, bad, or indifferent - of really expensive fuel"; Nicholas Kristof suggests two possible exit strategies for Mugabe; and Maureen Dowd sows some dis-Unity.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Sunday, June 29, 2008

NYT Op-Eds (5)

"The mental health toll of multiple combat tours" (Herbert); Godwin on Zimbabwe; "The president's leadership traits, for better and worse" (Brooks); "Linguistic change isn't the same as behavioral change" (Klinkenborg on 'carbon footprints'); and a paean to Carlin from Seinfeld.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, June 24, 2008

NYT: Mugabe’s Rival Quits Runoff, Citing Attacks

Thwarting democracy the old fashioned way: with violence and threats of violence. Are there no international laws governing this type of blatant anti-democratic behavior?
Posted by Ian Alterman, Monday, June 23, 2008

NYT Saturday Profile: Zimbabwe Rival Is a Flawed but Enduring Leader

"No one must be killed fighting for me. We all are in the line of danger fighting for our country."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, May 24, 2008

NYT: Famine Looms as Wars Rend Horn of Africa

"Somalia — and much of the volatile Horn of Africa, for that matter — was about the last place on earth that needed a food crisis. Even before commodity prices started shooting up around the globe, civil war, displacement and imperiled aid operations had pushed many people here to the brink of famine. But now with food costs spiraling out of reach and the livestock that people live off of dropping dead in the sand, villagers across this sun-blasted landscape say hundreds of people are dying of hunger and thirst. This is what happens, economists say, when the global food crisis meets local chaos."
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, May 17, 2008

NYT: Zimbabwe Opposition Reunites

Moving closer to finally wresting power from Mugabe.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Tuesday, April 29, 2008

NYT: Zimbabwe Rounds Up Opposition Members and Election Monitors

"A sharp escalation of a deepening and increasingly violent political crisis." And Mugabe ups the ante.
Posted by Ian Alterman, Saturday, April 26, 2008

Robert Weissman: IMF - The Times They Are A-Changin’

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"The IMF has announced its support for the fiscal stimulus plan in the United States — a country with significant budget deficits and massive foreign debt. The support for government intervention runs directly counter to the IMF’s longstanding support for strait-jacketing governments in poor countries, by demanding “structural adjustment” — a series of market fundamentalist, corporate-friendly policies, including hyper-restrictive macro-economic policies" - Weissman
Posted by Mike Blaxill, Tuesday, April 15, 2008