archive

Sour on all this sweetness

From TNR, Michael Crowley on the reinvention of Robert Gates: How his ideological journey will shape the war. As the enormity of the actions of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan sinks in, we must ask whether we are confronting a new phenomenon of violent rage, one we might dub — disconcertingly — "Going Muslim." Marc Lynch on Fort Hood, Nidal Hassan and Islam: There is a connection between what critics are calling "political correctness" and national security, but it runs in the opposite direction. The Zealot: Christopher Hitchens reviews Koestler: The Literary and Political Odyssey of a Twentieth-Century Skeptic by Michael Scammell. 3,000+ words of jackassery: Christopher Hitchens enjoys widespread acclaim as an intellectual provocateur of the highest caliber — that is, until his ego overshadows his argument. Linguistic Currency: In an information economy, tiny asymmetries in language comprehension translate into vast profits — and large-scale collapses. From n+1, an essay on gentrification: "The gentrifiers now have the opportunity to recognize themselves as what they are — the dominated members of a dominant class — with the power to ally with the displaced". America has been flooded by a tsunami of cute — we’re drowning in puppies and kittens and bunnies and cupcakes — that is transforming marketing (the Geico Gecko), automobiles (the Smart car), and movies (Up), but is the world bound to sour on all this sweetness? A review of Why We Suck by Denis Leary. Malcolm Gladwell explains Christmas to Craig Brown. F&%#ing ineffable: Apparently “f&ck” has replaced “God” as the most popular word in the English language.