The fate of Detroit isn’t a matter of economics. It’s a tragic romance, whose magic was killed by bureaucrats, bad taste and busybodies. The phrase “bankrupt General Motors,” which we expect to hear uttered on Monday, leaves Americans my age in economic shock. The words are as melodramatic as “Mom’s nude photos.” And, indeed, if [...]
Archive for May, 2009
The End of the Affair
Posted in History, Photo galleries, Travel and Transportation on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
After 1,250 Columns, It’s Time to Shift Gears
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Media on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
T he first of 1,250 columns, nine years ago, spoke of a time that seems impossible now, of heady young tech moguls flush with money and drunk with possibility, instructing the chef at The Palm in Tysons Corner to spell out “Netscape” for them — in crabmeat. Today’s is my last column, and as I [...]
Oregon man, 92, promoted to admiral in Polish navy
Posted in Living, Strange but true on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Jerzy Tumaniszwili Jerzy Tumaniszwili was a 23-year-old naval gunnery officer in the Polish navy when his destroyer left port to escape the imminent 1939 German invasion of his county. He achieved the rank of lieutenant commander while serving 5 1/2 years during World War II, chasing German U-boats and protecting troops on D-Day in 1944. [...]
After Many Tuneups, A Historic Overhaul
Posted in Economy and business, Politics on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
A Global Industry Is Transformed In Race to Reinvent U.S. Automakers. Frank Stronach, chairman and founder of Magna International. In the space of five head-spinning months, the economic downturn and a few strong-willed financial officials in the Obama administration have done what legions of car executives, consultants and policymakers had failed to do in three [...]
A Red State Booster Shot
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Those in the red states still smarting over Barack Obama’s election victory can perhaps take solace in this: The Democrats’ No. 1 domestic policy initiative, universal health care, is likely to help red America at the expense of blue. Health-care reform may be overdue in a country with 45 million uninsured and soaring medical costs, [...]
Freedom on the Defensive
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics, tagged Cuba, OAS, Venezuela on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
After pledging to defend democracy, the Organization of American States ignores Venezuela — and courts Cuba. “THE PEOPLES of the Americas have a right to democracy and their governments have an obligation to promote and defend it.” So reads the first sentence of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which was adopted on Sept. 11, 2001, by [...]
GM Is Sunk. Just Ask the Merchant Marine.
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion, Politics on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Once, the U.S. merchant marine included hundreds of ships that regularly transported a significant portion of U.S. imports and exports and employed tens of thousands of Americans at sea and on land. Today, only a handful of such liner vessels plying regularly scheduled routes still fly the Stars and Stripes and employ crews of U.S. [...]
A Killer’s Charmed life
Posted in Living, tagged Bill Bond on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Bond, in front of his Baltimore home with his Briard named Magic. Murdering his father with a hammer spawned surprisingly few complications in Bill Bond’s avid pursuit of the good life. But that may finally be changing. The killer at middle age lives in a stately, terra-cotta-colored Georgian colonial on the same Baltimore block as [...]
The Trauma of 9/11 Is No Excuse
Posted in Conflicts and wars, Editorials and opinion, Politics on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Top officials from the Bush administration have hit upon a revealing new theme as they retrospectively justify their national security policies. Call it the White House 9/11 trauma defense. “Unless you were there, in a position of responsibility after September 11, you cannot possibly imagine the dilemmas that you faced in trying to protect Americans,” [...]
Today in History-May 31
Posted in History, This day in history, tagged May 31 on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Today is Sunday, May 31, the 151st day of 2009. There are 214 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History On May 31, 1889, more than 2,000 people perished when a dam break sent water rushing through Johnstown, Pa. On this date: In 1809, composer Franz Joseph Haydn died in Vienna at age [...]
Cum Laude in Evading Bandits
Posted in Practical advice, Travel and Transportation on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
One of the great failures of American universities is that they are far too parochial, rarely exposing students to worlds beyond our borders. If colleges provide credit for dozing through an introductory Spanish class, why not give credit for a “gap year” in a Bolivian village? If students can learn about microfinance while sitting comatose [...]
There is no ‘we’ in identity politics
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Law, Politics, tagged Empathy, Michaëlle Jean on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
How will Sotomayor make the imaginative leap into the experiences of others different from her? Michaëlle Jean knows the meaning of empathy. Barack Obama does not. Real empathy is the ability to project into the experience or feelings of those unlike ourselves. If you know how someone else feels because they are people of your [...]
Telegraph report over Abu Ghraib ‘abuse’ photos confirmed
Posted in Conflicts and wars, Politics, tagged Taguba, Torture on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
A former senior US army officer who spoke to the Daily Telegraph about photographs of rape and sexual abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has confirmed the story, despite denials from the White House. This newspaper reported that photographs showed a soldier apparently raping a female prisoner, a translator apparently raping a male [...]
Unlocking the cloud
Posted in Computers on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Open-source software has won the argument. Now a new threat to openness looms. “FIRST they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Mahatma Gandhi probably never said these words, despite claims to the contrary, but they perfectly describe the progress of open-source software over the past 15 years [...]
Dying man wins bet he would live
Posted in Living, Strange but true on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Mr Matthews said he would give most of the money to charity A Buckinghamshire man diagnosed with terminal cancer is to collect a second winning payout of £5,000 after betting he would stay alive. Jon Matthews, 59, from Milton Keynes, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos, in 2006 and told he had [...]
‘Lost’ music instrument recreated
Posted in Arts and Entertainment, History, tagged Lituus on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
New software has enabled researchers to recreate a long forgotten musical instrument called the Lituus. The 2.4m (8ft) long trumpet-like instrument was played in Ancient Rome but fell out of use some 300 years ago. Bach’s motet (a choral musical composition) “O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht” was one of the last pieces of music [...]
Berlusconi wins party photos ban
Posted in Politics, tagged Berlusconi on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Silvio Berlusconi said the images intruded on his guests’ privacy Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has succeeded in blocking the publication of potentially embarrassing photos of young women at his new year’s party. Mr Berlusconi, 72, is under pressure to explain his relationship with 18-year-old Noemi Letizia, who was among the guests. He denies having an [...]
Dream over: Boyle finishes 2nd in reality show
Posted in Arts and Entertainment, tagged Susan Boyle on May 31, 2009 | Comments Off
Anthony McPartlin, left, and Declan Donnelly with Susan Boyle at the finals of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ television program in London. Boyle finished in second place on the reality show. She gave a final curtsey, a shimmy of her hips, and walked off stage, leaving the winners to perform an encore. But it’s unlikely that finishing [...]
Once Again, British Ruling Class Stirs a Revolt
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics, tagged England on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
Every so often, Britons in large numbers seem to rally around a common theme, a newly coined orthodoxy that brooks no dissent and rudely demands change. And, as events over the years — indeed the centuries — have shown, their leaders ignore such junctions in the nation’s history at their peril. It happened, perhaps mawkishly, [...]
Driving the Bond Markets to Ruin
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion, Politics, tagged Bondholders, Chrysler, General Motors on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
GENERAL MOTORS bondholders have until 5 p.m. on Saturday to accept a parsimonious offer to exchange their loans for stock and warrants. Most likely, enough of the creditors will say no to force G.M. into bankruptcy. But there is no escaping the long-term damage that has been inflicted on credit markets by the Obama administration’s [...]
Some Thoughts on the Pleasures of Being a Re-Reader
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Living on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
I’ve always admired my friends who are wide readers. A few even pride themselves on never reading a book a second time. I’ve been a wide reader at times. When I was much younger, I spent nearly a year in the old Reading Room of the British Museum, discovering in the book I was currently [...]
The GM Quagmire
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion, Politics on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
Congress should question the need for nationalization. IN MARCH, we cheered President Obama when he extended a federal lifeline to General Motors and Chrysler. He was risking a fair bit of tax dollars — $6 billion, on top of $17.5 billion in emergency loans tendered since December — but he said he was setting tough [...]
Health Reform’s Savings Myth
Posted in Health, Politics, tagged Health insurance on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
“Health-care reform is entitlement reform” has become a mantra of the Obama administration. The idea is that Congress can add a massive health-care program this year — covering the uninsured — and use the same measures that pay for the health reform to fix the broader budget problems. If that sounds too good to be [...]
‘Shock And Awe’ Statism
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
Epiphanies are a dime a dozen among congressional Democrats as they discover urgent new reasons to experience the almost erotic pleasure of commandeering other people’s money. For example, freshman Rep. Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat whose district includes Disney World, was recently there and was inspired. The world, he realized, would be a sweeter place [...]
Be Chill Ye Bleating Pundits
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Law, Politics on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
First came the breaking-news e-mail alert: President Obama would appoint Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Within minutes, a dozen other e-mails tumbled through the hatch enumerating all the reasons Sotomayor was a terrible pick: affirmative action, identity politics, the Ricci case, double standards, racism, sexism. Boom shacka-lacka-lacka . . . You could practically [...]
The Tough Question of What Not to Disclose
Posted in Media on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
In the 1952 movie classic “Deadline-U.S.A.,” a crusading editor played by Humphrey Bogart is on the phone with a gangster who warns him: “Print that story, and you’re a dead man.” A defiant Bogart, holding the receiver so the presses can be heard in the background, tells the bad guy: “That’s the press, baby. The [...]
Holding On to Our Humanity
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Living on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
Overload is a real problem. There is a danger that even the most decent of people can grow numb to the unending reports of atrocities occurring all around the globe. Mass rape. Mass murder. Torture. The institutionalized oppression of women. There are other things in the world: a ballgame, your daughter’s graduation, the ballet. The [...]
In Alaska, a Wilderness to Call Your Own
Posted in Photo galleries, Travel and Transportation, tagged Alaska on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
While the Inside Passage in southeastern Alaska is a popular route for cruise ships, there are still portions where civilization only exists on the fringes of the backcountry. Left, the Three Lakes Loop Road in the Tongass National Forest. Cascade Creek in Tongass National Forest. This part of Alaska gets more than 100 inches of [...]
Chávez Seeks Tighter Grip on Military
Posted in Politics, tagged Venezuela on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
President Hugo Chávez, left, in 2004 with Gen. Raúl Isaías Baduel, who is now a critic of Mr. Chávez and a prisoner. They say prison life can be lonely, but not for Raúl Isaías Baduel, Venezuela’s former army chief and once one of President Hugo Chávez’s confidants, who was detained last month. Among his cellmates [...]
Today in History-May 30
Posted in History, This day in history, tagged May 30 on May 30, 2009 | Comments Off
Today is Saturday, May 30, the 150th day of 2009. There are 215 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc, condemned as a heretic, was burned at the stake in Rouen, France. On this date: In 1854, the territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established. In [...]
