From Esprit, an essay on the presence of African literature and the evolution of literary criticism, publishing, and readership. The Caribbean Review of Books is a delight to the book-hungry mind (and more). Arise, Sir Salman: Rushdie's knighthood reignites "Salmanophobia" at home and abroad. Tender is the knighthood: Salman Rushdie could have been an icon for the best kind of literary globalisation; instead he has become a global Guy Fawkes. Angels in the Mud: Writers and poets are flocking to New Orleans in droves, drawing inspiration — and the usual assortment of unique characters — from Katrina's sad aftermath. Whose life is it anyway? In a reckless moment the poet throws his life on to a scrapheap. He feels no better and tries to retrieve it. But it’s been stolen.

From Think Tank, an interview with Wiley Hausam, executive Director of the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University, and Judy Kaye, on the American Musical (and part 2). Can the masses appreciate modern art? The Documenta art extravaganza in Kassel is betting they can. For the first time ever, organizers are doing everything they can to help locals to understand the art — and art-lovers to understand the locals. L'Art Pour L'Art: Art makes a lie out of the expression the sky is the limit. One hot seat: On the centenary of Charles Eames's birth, a tribute to his revolutionary chair, which helped launch the notion of democratic design. When Dave Marcucci decided to turn his lawn into a public square, people thought he was crazy. Now, though, everyone wants a seat.

From The New Criterion, an essay on David Halberstam and the media's ethos of irresponsibility. Like a Feral Beast: Tony Blair on how today's media are too concerned with "impact" (and a response by Daniel Henninger of The Wall Street Journal). Big Media vs. the grassroots: OJR talks to two experts about the role of government in ensuring equal access to the marketplace of ideas. Internet repression is eroding freedom of expression online as more governments block sites and arrest bloggers, Amnesty International warns. See no evil? There's an inverse correlation between the regulation of speech and the freedom of a society. Trying to filter the internet is ridiculous and dangerous. An article on YouTube and the battle of Technology vs. Censorship.

From Technology Review, Second Earth: The World Wide Web will soon be absorbed into the World Wide Sim: an environment combining elements of Second Life and Google Earth. The Power of Poo-Poo: How a 30-second video clip about chapped lips propelled a local man to Internet stardom and taught the world to love Poo-Poo. A review of The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture by Andrew Keen (and more). Mass Culture 2.0: Prominent librarian Michael Gorman utters dire warnings about new media. Scott McLemee hits the books. From Wired, an article on Narcissistic Blog Disorder and other conditions of online kookery.

From Sign and Sight, Europe's oppressive legacy: Nobel Prizewinner Imre Kertesz on the legacy of the last century and the challenges facing Europe in the next; and from closed circuits to communicating tubes: Polish journalist Adam Krzeminski points the way toward a European public sphere. Europe's Centre for Economic Policy Research has launched a new website called Vox, that seeks to become the focal point for discussion and analysis of policy-relevant economics. Unless Europe gets its act together, the world will continue to ignore it. How the West Was Lost: Theodore Dalrymple reviews The Last Days of Europe: Epitaph for an Old Continent by Walter Laqueur.

From Der Spiegel, it was a long time in coming, but finally Germany saw the birth of the new Left Party. Many see it as a collection of demagogues and former communists, but the political establishment is worried it could draw voters away from mainstream parties; and the Social Democratic Party is in trouble. A new poll shows they have their lowest approval ratings since elections in September 2005. The Left opposition in Germany: Why is the Left so weak when so many look for political alternatives? Ingo Schmidt investigates. A History of Hostility between Poland and Germany: Under the Kaczynski twins, ties between Germany and Poland have deteriorated to a level of animosity not seen since prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. 

From FT, how politics lost its punch: Alas the tradition of legislative fights long ago withered in Westminster and Washington.  Life, liberty, and politicians' maddening way with words: Anne Applebaum on the infuriating blandness of political speech. From National Journal, Michael Barone on Open-Field Politics: Politics have changed. Surprises have become the norm as political alliances change overnight and voters feel free to move beyond party lines.

From Reason, The Minority Leader: Is Sen. Tom Coburn an extreme social conservative, a libertarian hero, or both? Uncompassionate Conservatives: Call them heartless and frugal—they'll be flattered. Sore losers: Michael Currie Schaffer on why Republicans are crybabies. A review of A Mormon in the White House? 10 Things Every American Should Know about Mitt Romney by Hugh Hewitt. Ron Paul is making a long-shot presidential bid to revive conservatism and lasso a party gone wild. The Party of No Ideas: Paul Waldman on the astonishing vacuousness of the GOP presidential campaigns. 

From Business Week, The CEO Mayor: How New York's Mike Bloomberg is creating a new model for public service that places pragmatism before politics. Short Jewish billionaires from Manhattan who love gun control, gays and abortionists don't win national elections. Walter Shapiro on how Mike Bloomberg could buy the White House: Does America crave a sane version of Ross Perot with actual governing experience?  Who would a Bloomberg presidential run hurt most? John B. Judis investigates (and more).

New York, yours, mine and theirs: In 9/11 politics, it’s the “I was there” camp versus the “Get a life” advocates. Hawks and Hogs: Why no one dares attack the waste in defense spending. Know your neocon rhetoric? An 11-quote quiz on the Bush Administration's war of words. Top ten movies Human Events would like to screen in US Embassies (and part 2). Guerrillas in our midst: The Justice Department goes after "freedom fighters", and rankles conservatives. A moratorium wired to stop the war: A new Iraq Moratorium effort will leverage grassroots and online activism. Martin Woollacott welcomes Paddy Ashdown's intelligent survey of recent western military operations, Swords and Ploughshares. From HNN, a review of Cullen Murphy’s Are We Rome? An excerpt from Islamic Imperialism: A History by Efraim Karsh. Amitai Etzioni on illiberal Muslim moderates as the global swing vote.

From Foreign Affairs, Walter Russell Mead reviews That Sweet Enemy: The French and the British From the Sun King to the Present by Robert Tombs and Isabelle Tombs. An interview with Jed Babbin, author of In the Words of Our Enemies. A review of The Idea That is America: Keeping Faith With Our Values in a Dangerous World by Anne-Marie Slaughter. From Jewcy, Rise of the Faux-cialists: Three poseurs — George Galloway, Hugo Chavez, Tariq Ali — who would have Marx spinning in his grave (plus their real-deal counterparts). A review of Comrades!: A History of World Communism by Robert Service. Paul Johnson on how greed is safer than power-seeking. It's time to dismantle the conservative dogma: inequality is not natural.

David Cole reviews Richard Posner's Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency. An excerpt from A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency by Glenn Greenwald. Bush to Congress: Drop Dead: A new report shows how the president gets to sign a law and kill it too. Testimonial Two-Step: Dahlia Lithwick on mastering the intricate dance of congressional testimony. Impartial arts: An expert witness’ credible court report and impartial testimony stand between winning a case or a miscarriage of justice. The latest Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty will give prosecutors huge latitude to pick jurors who enthusiastically embrace capital punishment. Bad Execution: Lethal injection can cause undue suffering to the condemned. What's to be done? You Can't See Why on an fMRI: What science can, and can't, tell us about the insanity defense.

Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation, on winning hearts and minds: Why rational appeals are irrational if your goal is winning elections. Dumbocracy in America: An interview with Bryan Caplan, author of The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies. A review of Foundations of Betrayal: How the Liberal Super-Rich Undermine America by Phil Kent. What's Up With Kansas? How the Right Wing lost control of the Cyclone State. Small-Government Schmoozing: Scenes from a libertarian journalism conference at the Institute for Humane Studies. A Day at the Right-Wing Think Tank: An interview with Andrew Cohen, author of  The Unfinished Canadian: The People We Are.

From Philo, a review of Warranted Christian Belief by Alvin Plantinga. A review of The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. From Secular Web, an essay on The Culture of Atheism. From the Society of Mutual Autopsy, an interview with Christopher Hitchens, and more on God is Not Great (and more on a bad faith effort).

Carolyn Evans (Melbourne): Religious Freedom and Religious Hatred in Democratic Societies. A review of Religion and Law: An Introduction by Peter W. Edge. A review of Early Christianity by Mark Humphries. A review of The Church in the Age of Constantine: The Theological Challenges. A review of Out of the Storm: The Life and Legacy of Martin Luther by Derek Wilson. Church leaders brace for battle over the soul of Anglicanism: Observers fear coming vote on same-sex unions may break church.  

From Forward, name five contemporary Jewish theologians saying something interesting about Jewish belief who had not already published a major work by 1990: Where have all the theologians gone?  A look at how Muslims lost their temporal power first, then their grip over science. And science is important but social sciences are more important. Isaac Newton believed the Apocalypse would come in 2060 – exactly 1,260 years after the foundation of the Holy Roman Empire, according to a recently published letter. Luckily for modern scientists in awe of his achievements, he based this figure on religion rather than reasoning.

From PopMatters, a review of The Physics of Christianity by Frank Tipler. In Christian theology we are told, “God is that which nothing is greater than.” The scientific corollary might be, “Light is that which nothing is faster than” — a statement true both in spirit and fact. Black holes might not exist – or at least not as scientists have imagined, cloaked by an impenetrable "event horizon". A controversial new calculation could abolish the horizon, and so solve a troubling paradox in physics. A review of A Natural History of Time by Pascal Richet.

From LiveScience, an article on the Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena. A review of Lake Monster Mysteries: Investigating the World's Most Elusive Creatures by Benjamin Radford and Joe Nickell. Manners! Condors are taking the concept of junk food to an entirely new level. Of mammals and men: A review of In Defense of Dolphins: The New Moral Frontier by Thomas I. White and Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind by Dorothy L. Cheney and Robert M. Seyfarth. Artificial life: Move over Dolly. Synthia is on her way. From IEET, an essay on naturalistic pluralism and the challenge of human enhancement. Here are 12 questions about the future of robotics. Future shock: A look at some extraordinary technologies that are just around the corner. 

From Metapsychology, a review of Bioethics and the Brain by Walter Glannon, a review of The Case of Terri Schiavo: Ethics at the End of Life, a review of Nano-Bio-Ethics: Ethical Dimensions of Nanobiotechnology, a review of Ethics and the Metaphysics of Medicine: Reflections on Health and Beneficence by Kenneth A. Richman, a review of Listening to the Whispers: Re-thinking Ethics in Healthcare, and a  review of Surgically Shaping Children: Technology, Ethics, and the Pursuit of Normality. From ARPA, a review of Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs by Kieran Healy.