US President Barack Obama’s Middle East policy has been hesitant and indecisive. Whereas he first demanded a “freeze” in the construction of Israeli settlements, he has since backed away from that position. This image comes from a visit to Jerusalem in July 2008 when Obama was still a presidential candidate Hopes were high in the [...]
Archive for March, 2010
Obama Unites Israelis and Arabs in Disappointment
Posted in Politics on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
Rushing health reform could be a death wish
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
As Democrats consider shoving health-care reform through the House with a process known as “deem and pass,” it is helpful to return to square one and ask: What, again, is the rush? A year ago, when reform work got underway, Democrats were hell-bent on passing legislation before year’s end. Because? There was no way, Democrats [...]
Planes, Trains And Miseries
Posted in Other on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
The hugger-mugger squalor endured by the planet’s traveling billions. No one pretends anymore that it is fun, or even pleasant, to fly on any airline in the U.S. these days. It is a task—a travail, from which French linguistic origins the word travel is most appositely derived—to which few can possibly look forward. Perhaps only [...]
Professional fathers are downing tools to play with their children AS THE rich have got richer and those in work ever busier, people with children have discovered a new way of spending their money: on handymen to do the sorts of odd jobs fathers used to roll up their sleeves and take care of. Despite [...]
Walking the dog
Posted in Law, Weird cases on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
There are now over 3,000 different motoring offences that a motorist can commit under English law. Someone in that rule-making department needs to get out more. One of the rules is Regulation 104 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. It makes it an offence for anyone to drive in circumstances that mean [...]
My Wild Irish Woes
Posted in Other on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
Tomorrow America belongs to her Irish. From the St. Patrick’s Day exchange of shamrocks at the White House to the march up New York’s Fifth Avenue, the day will be given over to celebrations of Irish-American achievement. And rightly so, for the story of Irish-America is the story of America: of a people who, given [...]
Charging Ahead
Posted in Other on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
Power-packed—but enough to run a fleet of cars or store solar energy for a rainy day? The battery is a relatively simple device. Its powers rest on the differing ability of metals to attract and hold electrons. If two different metals are placed in a conducting liquid, called an “electrolyte,” ions with extra electrons will [...]
ObamaCare and the ‘Buzzsaw’ of Opposition
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health, Politics on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
A little over a year ago, when President Obama first took up health-care reform, Republicans reached out to him in the hopes of working together on solutions that would lower health-care costs for families and small businesses. A bipartisan bill focused on lower costs could have been sent to the president’s desk last year, and [...]
The Settlements Aren’t the Problem
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on March 17, 2010 | Comments Off
I once got an angry letter from Baruch Goldstein’s father. Goldstein, remember, was an Israeli settler who in 1994 entered the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and gunned down 29 Muslim worshippers. A decade later, I wrote a column for the Jerusalem Post in which I described Goldstein as personifying Israel’s lunatic extreme. The [...]
Who are the war criminals?
Posted in Law on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
From 1971: Our report on the military court proceedings that followed the My Lai massacre Unlike most tribunals, a military court does not explain its judgments. The long full trial proceedings in the case of Lieutenant William Calley left no room for doubt that he did in fact kill many unresisting Vietnamese villagers at My [...]
Lords a-leaping
Posted in Politics, Religion on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
Even for the lords spiritual, the times are changing TO OUTSIDERS, one of the oddest features of Britain’s semi-theocracy is that 26 Anglican bishops have the right to sit in the upper chamber of the legislature, even though their church can claim the active adherence of less than 5% of citizens. But the “lords spiritual” [...]
Sweetheart deals gone sour
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health, Politics on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
Democrats are in a tight spot on health-care reform. The only way they got the legislation though the Senate was with a series of sweetheart deals — including the now infamous “Louisiana Purchase,” “Gator-aid,” and “Cornhusker kickback.” Those deals won the support of recalcitrant senators. But now they’re now the biggest obstacle President Obama and [...]
Initial reactions to Rielle Hunter’s interview with GQ were swift and strong. Ruth Marcus branded her “a hands-down winner for the title of most loathsome” among the cast of characters in “John Edwards: The Meltdown.” When you see the photos of her or the video of the photos being taken of her you’ll understand why [...]
Pragmatism’s Gift
Posted in Living on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
“Pragmatic” is a compliment sometimes paid to politicians (Barack Obama’s supporters describe him that way), and it is often used as an honorific indicating a person of common sense who knows how to get things done. “Pragmatic” is also related (at least etymologically) to pragmatism, the name of a distinctively American philosophy that emerged in [...]
The Health Care Letdown
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
WHILE Democrats may yet enact health care reform via a convoluted process that involves passing three separate bills, many people may wonder, “What happened to the postpartisan era?” Both President Obama’s 11th-hour meeting with Republicans and the Republican leaders’ demands to “start over” are recognized by Americans for what they are — political talk substituting [...]
The Spirit of Sympathy
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
Human beings, the philosophers tell us, are social animals. We emerge into the world ready to connect with mom and dad. We go through life jibbering and jabbering with each other, grouping and regrouping. When you get a crowd of people in a room, the problem is not getting them to talk to each other; [...]
Slaughter House Rules
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Health on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
How Democrats may ‘deem’ ObamaCare into law, without voting. We’re not sure American schools teach civics any more, but once upon a time they taught that under the U.S. Constitution a bill had to pass both the House and Senate to become law. Until this week, that is, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi is moving to [...]
Yuan to stay cool
Posted in Economy and business on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
The best thing American politicians can do to encourage a stronger Chinese currency is keep calm ONE of the few good things about the Great Recession of 2008-09 was a merciful absence of complaints from America’s Congress about China’s currency. The yuan’s gradual appreciation stopped in July 2008, and China has since kept its currency [...]
Obama’s Turn Against Israel
Posted in Editorials and opinion, tagged Israel on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
In recent weeks, the Obama Administration has endorsed “healthy relations” between Iran and Syria, mildly rebuked Syrian President Bashar Assad for accusing the U.S. of “colonialism,” and publicly apologized to Moammar Gadhafi for treating him with less than appropriate deference after the Libyan called for “a jihad” against Switzerland. When it comes to Israel, however, [...]
Night Lights, Lullubies and Blankets
Posted in Living on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
I remember a lamp that stood on the floor in the opened doorway to the bedroom where my sister Liv and I slept. My mother put it there every night so the darkness would never be total. This is an old memory and around it are the usual fogs that dim recollection, but the light [...]
It’s My Party, and You Have to Answer
Posted in Other on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
HERE’S an etiquette experiment for you: E-mail an invitation for a party, one month out, to 45 friends. Request an R.S.V.P. Provide a follow-up e-mail message, two weeks later, politely reminding them to get back to you. How many will? My experiment arose from plans for an evening of food, drink and literature, with readings [...]
Hollywood’s Political Fictions
Posted in Arts and Entertainment, Editorials and opinion, Politics on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off
Americans believe in evil, but we’re uncomfortable with tragedy. We accept that there are wicked people in the world, with malice in their hearts and a devil whispering in their ears. But the idea that many debacles flow from choices made by decent, well-intentioned human beings is more difficult for us to wrap our minds [...]
Five myths about the war in Afghanistan
Posted in Conflicts and wars, tagged Afghanistan on March 14, 2010 | Comments Off
The war in Afghanistan is in its ninth year, and even officials supportive of the U.S. presence there acknowledge the challenges that remain. “People still need to understand there is some very hard fighting and very hard days ahead,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said during his trip to Afghanistan last week. But the conflict [...]
Justices Will Prevail
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Law on March 14, 2010 | Comments Off
IN his State of the Union address, when President Obama criticized the Supreme Court, Justice Samuel Alito shook his head, scowled and mouthed a two-word dissent: “Not true.” Chief Justice John Roberts, meanwhile, smiled serenely, apparently untroubled by the president’s attack. Now we know what Chief Justice Roberts really thinks. Last week, he fired back, [...]
Who’s Buried in the History Books?
Posted in History on March 14, 2010 | Comments Off
RONALD REAGAN deserves posterity’s honor, and so it makes sense that the capital’s airport and a major building there are named for him. But the proposal to substitute his image for that of Ulysses S. Grant on the $50 bill is a travesty that would dishonor the nation’s bedrock principles of union, freedom and equality [...]
The week ahead
Posted in The Week ahead, tagged March 14 2010 on March 14, 2010 | Comments Off
Barack Obama’s off-again-on-again trip to Asia • BARACK OBAMA is set for a trip to Asia, beginning with a stop at his boyhood home of Indonesia. But the visit, originally set to start on Thursday March 18th, will be delayed until Sunday 21st so Mr Obama can be present to give health-reform a final push [...]
Tale of the tape
Posted in The Word, tagged March 14 2010 on March 14, 2010 | Comments Off
Duck or duct? A sticky question. The sticky stuff you use to remove warts, make wallets, and occasionally seal a leaky seam: Is it “duct tape” or “duck tape”? Reader Mike Webster wrote recently to revive the question, which still vexes word sleuths despite years of searching. You may think the matter is settled, and [...]
‘Mad as a Hatter’: The History of a Simile
Posted in Literature on March 14, 2010 | Comments Off
Is the Hatter mad? Since 1865, when “Alice in Wonderland” was published, readers have quoted and parsed his every utterance. He’s called simply the Hatter in “Alice” and Hatta in “Through the Looking-Glass,” but we know he’s mad; the Cheshire-Cat tells us so. Like the Cowardly Lion, the Mad Hatter is such a familiar figure [...]
The Moral Ambiguity of Looting
Posted in Other on March 13, 2010 | Comments Off
GROCERIES People caught staples thrown from a market in Concepción, near the center of Chile’s earthquake. “The law, in its majestic equality,” wrote the 19th-century novelist Anatole France, “forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets and to steal bread.” If crushed bodies were the enduring [...]
The Limits of Rahmism
Posted in Politics on March 13, 2010 | Comments Off
AS A DOZEN or so top White House officials gathered in Rahm Emanuel’s corner West Wing office one morning in early January, the president’s political director, Patrick Gaspard, reported on the latest poll numbers in Massachusetts. With less than two weeks until a special Senate election, the Republican candidate was gaining momentum — just nine [...]
