High-profile efforts to fight malaria confront an ever-changing enemy that has evolved alongside man Bad Air. Even the word “malaria” tells us that the disease caused by the plasmodium pathogen is out of the ordinary. The name “Mal-Aria” didn’t come into common medical usage until about 300 years ago, but for many more centuries “swamp [...]
Archive for November, 2010
Scourge of Humankind
Posted in Health on November 20, 2010 | Comments Off
Never Mind Neutrality, Our Friends Are in Trouble
Posted in History on November 20, 2010 | Comments Off
David van Epps, in a duffel coat, with members of the 894 Royal Naval Air Squadron. He and other Americans chose to fight for Britain before the U.S. entered World War II. Between the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939 and Hitler’s declaration of war against the U.S. in December 1941, [...]
The Cold-Weather Counterculture Comes to an End
Posted in Other on November 20, 2010 | Comments Off
Not so long ago, any young man who was so inclined could ski all winter in the mountains of Colorado or Utah on a pauper’s budget. The earnings from a part-time job cleaning toilets or washing dishes were enough to keep him gliding down the mountain by day and buzzing on cheap booze by night, [...]
You’ve Got to Be Kidding
Posted in Literature on November 20, 2010 | Comments Off
Why W.C. Fields is funnier than G.K. Chesterton. Or is he? Judd Apatow’s Collection of humor pieces, “I Found This Funny,” comes with a warning right there on the cover. The subtitle promises Mr. Apatow’s “Favorite Pieces of Humor” but cautions that the selections include “Some That May Not Be Funny at All.” Just in [...]
The Adventures of Samuel Clemens
Posted in Literature on November 20, 2010 | Comments Off
Twain’s autobiography, finally available after a century, is a garrulous outpouring—and every word beguiles There was always something divided about Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a psychological fault line implicit in his desire to be known professionally as “Mark Twain” and in the word twain itself. One half of the great writer sought to reveal himself in [...]
Not Quite a Genuine Likeness
Posted in Literature on November 20, 2010 | Comments Off
‘Steve Martin doesn’t feed off the audience’s energy—he instills energy in the audience,” the movie critic Pauline Kael once wrote. “And he does it by drawing us into a conspiratorial relationship with him.” Over the past decade, Mr. Martin has diverted some of that energy into writing three rather serious novels. Are readers as prepared [...]
The Splendid Spoils of Standard Oil
Posted in Arts and Entertainment on November 20, 2010 | Comments Off
The Rockefeller family’s vast cultural legacy resulted from a sense of civic duty and a love of beautiful things In the fanciful 1953 film “Bienvenido Mister Marshall,” director Luis Berlanga envisioned America’s aid to Spain as Santa Claus dropping bags of presents from a gleaming silver airplane. Within the realm of institutional arts funding, the [...]
Ten of the best spas
Posted in Literature on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
“Tunbridge Wells” by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester The mineral spring waters of the Kent town allured fashion-conscious Restoration folk, witheringly described in Rochester’s poem. “I trotted to the waters / The rendezvous of fools, buffoons, and praters, / Cuckolds, whores, citizens, their wives and daughters”. His fellow punters “without drinking, made me purge and [...]
Would the South Really Leave?
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Nov. 11, 1860 With nearly half a year to prepare for the possibility of a Lincoln election, the editorial writers of the South had ample time to sharpen their rhetoric, and the arias of wroth and venom unleashed after last Tuesday’s decision proved that those months were not idly spent. “If we submit now to [...]
The Man Who Launched a Blockbuster
Posted in Literature on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Previously unpublished emails show how Stieg Larsson set out to defy the conventions of the crime novel Stieg Larsson did not live to see the enormous success of his Millennium trilogy, which has now sold over 46 million copies world-wide. But a new book, “On Stieg Larsson,” offers a window into the creative process behind [...]
Fantasy Not Just For the Young
Posted in Literature on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking-Glass By Lewis Carroll (1865, 1871) The only good thing, I found, about having gone to Rugby School, the famous and wretched boys’ boarding school in the British Midlands, is that Lewis Carroll went there too. The two Alice books are wonderful for children, and in some ways perhaps [...]
Drawing Funny
Posted in Other on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
This is the ninth in a series. The subject of this column is caricature, but I’m not going to explain or demonstrate it myself. When the art god was doling out the syrup of graphic wit, he must have slipped on a banana peel just as he got to my cup and most of it [...]
Enthusiasts for Hard Power
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
On the day that Harry S. Truman left the presidency in January 1953, he and senior members of his administration enjoyed a long, bittersweet luncheon at the Georgetown house of his secretary of state, Dean Acheson. Truman then took the train back to Independence, Mo., wrote his memoirs, established a presidential library and spoke out [...]
A Senator Secedes – Reluctantly
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Charleston, S.C., Nov. 12, 1860 Almost everyone in Charleston, it seemed, had gone wild for secession. Flags with the state symbol, the palmetto tree, flew on every street, and even from ships in the harbor. Abraham Lincoln was burned in effigy. News agents throughout the city vowed never again to sell Harper’s Weekly – the [...]
A Slaveholder’s Diary
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Nov. 12, 1860 On Friday morning, Nov. 9, 1860, Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard, a 57-year-old widowed plantation mistress, who lived some 10 miles east of Columbia, SC, wrote in her diary, “Oh My God!!! This morning heard that Lincoln was elected.” In the breathless entry that followed, she recorded her thoughts and fears: I had [...]
The Abolitionist’s Epiphany
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Boston, Nov. 7, 1860 Throughout most of the nation’s history, it had taken weeks for votes to be counted and for Americans to find out who their new president was. But by 1860, telegraph lines – more than 50,000 miles of them – had spread so far and wide across the country that the results [...]
Coming Face to Face with the Animal Kingdom
Posted in Photo galleries on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
In the search to find this year’s European Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the German Society of Wildlife Photographers has compiled a collection of the most spellbinding moments caught on camera in the natural world. A hummingbird stares into the eyes of a snake. A hunting kingfisher dives into a school of fish. A lonely [...]
Philosophers Through the Lens
Posted in Other on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
I have spent almost a quarter century photographing philosophers. For the most part, philosophers exist, and have always existed, outside the public spotlight. Yet when we reflect upon those eras of humankind that burn especially bright, it is largely the philosophers that we remember. Despite being unknown at a time, the philosophers of an era [...]
Getting the Attention of Serena and Andre
Posted in Other on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
To be an effective speaker, you first have to win the confidence of your audience. In my case, I’m usually working with very talented young tennis players, often teenagers. My goal is to help them to develop into world-class competitors. To achieve this, they need to view me as a benevolent dictator. I have to [...]
Chechen Exile Murder Trial Begins in Vienna
Posted in Law on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Kadyrov’s Web of Influence Kadyrov (seen here in 2007) denies all involvement in the murder case. A trial involving the spectacular murder of a Chechen exile begins Tuesday in Vienna. Austrian investigators believe it was a contract killing which may be linked to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who is alleged to have a network of [...]
A Superabundance of Velocity
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Nov. 9 -15, 1860 The day after Lincoln’s election, revolutionary fever breaks out in South Carolina. Nearly all of the state’s federal officials resign, and the state legislature speedily passes a bill authorizing a state convention to meet on Dec. 20 to consider, and if it desires, to authorize, secession. “The greater number is generally [...]
Good Gracious
Posted in Living on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Surrounded by beautiful things from a tender age (her mother owned an antiques shop in her native New Orleans), interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein has made a career of showcasing them. Interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein Her Los Angeles store, Hollyhock—a destination for fine antiques and new decorative objects—and the homes she creates for clients both display [...]
Silence Before the Storm
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
The words of a president can convey — or conceal — a great deal of meaning. As the United States approached the central crisis in its history, there was no reason to expect great eloquence from the man whose election had precipitated that conflict. Abraham Lincoln was often described as an uncouth barbarian, and had [...]
Good Hope in Bad Trouble
Posted in Politics on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
‘If we didn’t dine with thugs and crooks,’ says one South African leader, ‘then we’d always eat alone.’ Trevor Manuel, the South African finance minister from 1996 to 2009, got his job when the aging Nelson Mandela asked, at a cabinet meeting, who was a good economist. Mr. Manuel raised his hand thinking Mr. Mandela [...]
The Meat Eaters
Posted in Living on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Viewed from a distance, the natural world often presents a vista of sublime, majestic placidity. Yet beneath the foliage and hidden from the distant eye, a vast, unceasing slaughter rages. Wherever there is animal life, predators are stalking, chasing, capturing, killing, and devouring their prey. Agonized suffering and violent death are ubiquitous and continuous. This [...]
An All-Time Great Marine
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
After it emerged in the 1990s that Madeleine Albright, Wesley Clark and Christopher Hitchens—notable goyim all—had discovered the existence of Jewish ancestors, I formulated Boot’s Law of Genealogy: Everyone is Jewish; some people just don’t know it yet. Further confirmation, if any were needed, comes courtesy of this new biography of Lt. Gen. Victor “Brute” [...]
Return of the Samurai
Posted in History on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Tokyo Bay, Nov. 10, 1860 A contingent of some 60 Japanese ambassadors and their staff returned to Tokyo on Nov. 10, 1860, after a long trip to the United States. Strange music, discordant to local ears, echoed across the harbor: a brass band playing “Home, Sweet Home” and “Auld Lang Syne.” Dozens of small [...]
Photos Show Beauty Lurking Under the Microscope
Posted in Photo galleries on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Far from your typical photography competition, Nikon Small World reveals the hidden beauty of tiny things. The annual shortlist zooms in on the complexities of life under a powerful lens. This year’s collection includes close-up shots of a mosquito heart, a wasp nest and even soy sauce. The rules of the game are simple: Any adult with a light microscope [...]
The Lost Art of Argument
Posted in Other on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
Polemic seems to have gone the way of the typewriter and the soda fountain. The word was once associated with the best practitioners of the form: Voltaire, Jonathan Swift, George Orwell, Rebecca West. Nowadays, if you say “polemic,” you get strange looks, as if you were referring not to refined argument, especially written argument, but [...]
Purpose-Driven Prose
Posted in Other on November 19, 2010 | Comments Off
“Have you ever written political speeches? It’s a particularly low form of rhetoric.” Thus did Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., who knew a few things about writing political speeches, welcome me to the guild. It was early 1998, and I was just preparing to join the White House staff as a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton—who, [...]
