From CRB, a review of The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature by Elizabeth Kantor; a review of American Speeches: Political Oratory from the Revolution to the Civil War and American Speeches: Political Oratory from Abraham Lincoln to Bill Clinton; and a review of Lincoln’s Sword: The Presidency and the Power of Words by Douglas L. Wilson and The Gettysburg Gospel: The Speech that Nobody Knows by Gabor Boritt. The Bible's literary sins: Whether its central character exists or not is beside the point - the Christian scriptures are a barely readable mess. My Yiddishe Bookshelf: A secular revival of Yiddish allows non-Orthodox Jews to express their identity without becoming entangled in the politics of the Middle East.

Hamlet.doc? Shakespeare didn't have a word processor, but almost all writers today do. Scholars must play a major role in deciding how to preserve and study the various electronic versions of literary works. Haven't you ever wondered how someone like Joyce Carol Oates churned out all those novels, stories, poems, plays—even boxing essays? It's unnatural. "Writer's little helpers" transformed a modestly productive academic into a terrifyingly prolific human writing machine. What do reviewers mean when they talk about a “good” or “bad” translation? English still rules Indian literature: The language of the former colonial masters continues to dominate India's written culture - but Nehru's dream of an independent literature remains alive. Frida Kahlo's last secret finally revealed: The artist's confessions to her doctor were locked up for 50 years. Now the details of her misery at not being able to bear children have been exposed.

A new direction: Do the recent deaths of four icons of 20th-century art-house cinema spell the end of the auteur? Of course not. Control freak: A review of Not Remotely Controlled: Notes on Television by Lee Siegel (and more). Brain that Tune: A review of This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel Levitin and The Pleasure of the Text by Roland Barthes. Scaling the heights: Venezuela's pioneering classical music programme for children has produced world-class artists such as the young conductor Gustavo Dudamel. It has also quietly transformed the social fabric of the country. Elvis Presley’s music had stood for the breakdown of barriers, both musical and racial. This is not how it is always perceived 30 years after his death.

From Japan Focus, an article on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Toward a regional and global realignment? China's communism, which features a competitive exchange rate to create jobs for the masses, and its capitalism, which is aimed at getting a better return on state money, are fusing into one. The Forbidden City of Terry Gou: His complex in China turns out iPhones and PCs, powering the biggest exporter you've never heard of. A review of Vishnu's Crowded Temple by Maria Misra. Two books on the history of Russian philosophy and the treatment of its intellectuals provide chilling context for developments in the Vladimir Putin era, writes Carlin Romano.

Liberalism, Democracy, and the Jewish State: A review of Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine by Joel Kovel; A Stranger in the Land: Jewish Identity Beyond Nationalism by Daniel Cil Brecher; Walled: Israeli Society at an Impasse by Sylvain Cypel; and Will Israel Survive? by Mitchell G. Bard. The Hamas Dilemma: With all eyes focused on Palestine, will the Islamic Resistance Movement choose violence and ideology or pragmatic rule? An article on how a "Good War" in Afghanistan went bad. Universities flourish in Kurdistan Campuses are packed with students in a region largely untouched by war. David Gardner on America’s illusory strategy in Iraq.

From City Journal, a review of The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics by Matt Bai (and more). What do the Democratic presidential candidates talk about when they talk about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues? Partners and power: How far can a “two-for-one” candidacy go? Hillary as right's choice? Clinton's free-trade economics and posturing on security could endear her to conservatives unimpressed by the GOP field. From The New Yorker, sparring partners: Hendrik Hertzberg on Obama vs. Clinton; Jeffrey Toobin on The Shrum Curse; and Mayberry Man: Is what New York never liked about Rudy Giuliani exactly what the heartland loves? From Portfolio, Please, Not Another M.B.A. President: Mitt Romney has private equity cred, but that might not be so useful in the White House.

From The American Interest, Walter Russell Mead on Faith and Progress: The history of the world has been shaped decisively by the exploits of English-speaking people. Anglo-American freedoms, which are the very sources of worldly success, are rooted in religious faith. The Word according to Dubya: George W. Bush talks to God but he also talks about God. Here are his top 50 quotes about religion, the Almighty, and putting words into God's mouth. The concept of treason, which only a few years ago might have seemed archaic and even ridiculous, is back with us. From SleptOn, an article on the threat of U.S. fascism: A historical precedent. A video surfaces of Dick Cheney, in 1994, warning that an invasion of Iraq would lead to a "quagmire". Henry Farrell on conservative debates over the Iraq war and before.

From Financial Times, a review of The End of Government ... As We Know It: Making Public Policy Work by Elaine C. Kamarck and Instruction to Deliver: Tony Blair, Public Services and the Challenge of Achieving Targets by Michael Barber; and improving infrastructure is hard without raising taxes. But how does one rebuild America’s public spaces without violating people’s reluctance to spend money? The first chapter from Digital Government: Technology and Public Sector Performance by Darrell M. West. Cog or Co-worker? The organization man isn't extinct or even endangered—but the role has been refined over the past 100 years. From Time, a look at the Worst Jobs in America.

From American Scientist, a review of Aldo Leopold's Odyssey: Rediscovering the Author of A Sand County Almanac by Julianne Lutz Newton; and a review of The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement by Mark Hamilton Lytle, and Courage for the Earth: Writers, Scientists, and Activists Celebrate the Life and Writing of Rachel Carson. From the Indian Journal of Political Science, an essay on Ecopolitics and Ideology: Relocating Green Themes in Modern Ideological Thinking. Plastic bags are killing us: The most ubiquitous consumer item on Earth, the lowly plastic bag is an environmental scourge like none other, sapping the life out of our oceans and thwarting our attempts to recycle it.

T.J. Donahue (Johns Hopkins): Political Principles: Why Normative Political Theories Depend on Ethics (the introduction to a dissertation, and more). William A. Edmundson (Georgia State): Morality Without Responsibility. Thom Brooks (Newcastle): Hegel's Critique of Kantian Morality. From PhaenEx, Bela Egyed (Concordia): Spinoza, Schopenhauer and the Standpoint of Affirmation; David A. Duquette (St. Norbert): The Unity and Difference of the Speculative and the Historical in Hegel's Concept of Geist; Richard Matthews (Mount Allison): The Limits of Transcendence; Farhang Erfani (American): Something New Under the Sun: Levinas and the Ethics of Political Imagination; and Benedict O'Donohoe (Sussex): L'Étranger and the Messianic Myth, or Meursault Unmasked.

From American Scientist, a review of From Clockwork to Crapshoot: A History of Physics by Roger G. Newton; a review of Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science by David Lindley and Faust in Copenhagen: A Struggle for the Soul of Physics by Gino Segre (and more); and a review of Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson. Science or Folktale? Current cosmological theory rests on a disturbingly small number of independent observations. Are planetary systems filled to capacity? Computer simulations suggest that the answer may be yes. But observations of extrasolar systems will provide the ultimate test. 

From Inside Higher Ed, 4 months of holidays? Not quite! Celeste Brotheridge and Raymond Lee are tired of non-academics who think professors live a life of leisure in the summer. The Numbers Guy on the science of the sophomore: Too many studies use college students as their guinea pigs. Steven Levitt, author of Freakonomics, has reached a settlement with the economist John Lott, who had brought a defamation lawsuit against him. From The Chronicle, Walden on the Blue Ridge: An English professor and his students seek their inner Thoreau; and in Romance in the Ivory Tower: The Rights and Liberty of Conscience, Paul Abramson argues that the Constitution protects professor-student love.

A new issue of Context, is out, including A Kick in the Pants: Reintroducing Henry Miller; and The Rise of Market Criticism in the U.S.: A review of The Shape of the Signifier: 1967 to the End of History by Walter Benn Michaels. After a long period of waning, satire is back in American culture. Check out The New Haven Review of Books, founded to publish reviews, essays, poems, fiction, and occasional pieces by writers who live in the New Haven area. Post-Katrina Literature: After millions of words of factual reports about the 2005 natural disaster, only now is fiction beginning to reflect its impact. A Pulitzer Prize winner who spends very little time writing? Hailed as the most important poet of his generation, Paul Muldoon likes to keep a clear head. 

The first chapter from The Warhol Economy: How Fashion, Art, and Music Drive New York City by Elizabeth Currid. Modernism gets brutalist treatment: Historic buildings are in danger of being lost to bland commercial development, as the work of an entire generation of architects is purged from the landscape. A review of God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain by Rosemary Hill. Only React: A coolly cerebral engagement with the arts may be the mark of an intellectual, but why not succumb to an effusion of emotion? 

What are the social consequences of this new kind of ground-up web activity called Web 2.0? A review of Second Lives: A Journey Through Virtual Worlds by Tim Guest; The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting Our Economy by Andrew Keen; and The Internet Imaginaire by Patrice Flichy. A space of her own: Danah Boyd believes politicians fail to understand the internet as a public space not unlike a park in which rules of social interaction have to be observed. An arch and fiery spirit: On her blog, the late Theresa Duncan shared what caught her fancy. A fan follows the map. Spcok.com is preparing to launch an ambitious Internet search engine that it hopes will eventually track down the names of the world's six billion people.

From Media for Freedom, an essay on the political economy of love and the eradication of extreme poverty in the world. The maladies of affluence: The poor world is getting the rich world's diseases. The Politics of a Health Crisis: Alex de Waal on why AIDS is not threatening African governance. Deepak Lal on happiness, growth and capitalism. The mandarins of money: Central banks in the rich world no longer determine global monetary conditions. The Arctic killers By Marek Kohn The scramble for the Arctic's oil and gas has begun. In this most sensitive of environments, the plunderers count on climate change for help.

From Harvard International Review, Hemispheric Echoes: A look at the reverberations of Latin American Populism; The Great Transformation: An article on Latin America’s political economy of the possible; an interview with Steven Levitsky, author of Informal Institutions and Democracy: Lessons from Latin America; and an article on reinventing integration of Muslims in the West. A review of Secularism Confronts Islam by Olivier Roy. From Middle East Online, Athens or Jerusalem: It is the task of cultural studies to take the courageous path and diagnose and analyze the maladies of our culture: to bring back to light the whole generation of Athens philosophers that had foreseen the degeneration of the West 100 years ago.

From CJR, a look at the Good-Citizen Quiz: What Americans know; and an article on The Greenhouse Effect: Hurricane Linda blows C-SPAN cameras away. Morals of a Muckraker: Dan Moldea tracks down peccadilloes of the powerful like the news hound he is. He says it's on principle. Stark raving mad: While the national media can sometimes be a lamb, Mike Stark, left-wing blogger, is always a lion. All the News That Seemed Unfit to Print: The Weekly World News is folding. Brian Tierney, who aggressively pushed to buy The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News, represents what some say offers the best hope of survival for many papers: the return of the local press baron.

Francis Fukuyama on how big business will pacify the clash of cultures: The world will move together as it builds the bodies through which we can all trust each other more. Who's sorry now? Michael Ignatieff apologizes for being wrong on Iraq. If only mainstream media acknowledged all the people who were right. A review of Beyond Preemption: Force and Legitimacy in a Changing World. George Scialabba reviews Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire by Morris Berman. Evolved for War: An interview with David Livingstone Smith, author of The Most Dangerous Animal. If you were a terrorist, how would you attack? Steven Levitt wants to know. 

From TNR, Paul Berman on the death of an anarchist, the murder of a police chief, and the remaking of the European left. From The Economist, the conservative movement that for a generation has been the source of the Republican Party's strength is in the dumps; and  is America turning left? Probably—but not in the way many foreigners (and some Americans) hope. The Progressive Center: Howard Dean helped spark a movement that has pushed the Democratic Party so far left that it is now squarely in the mainstream.  An interview with Dinesh D’Souza, author of The Enemy at Home. The introduction to White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism by Kevin M. Kruse. 

Paul Butler (GWU): Much Respect: Toward a Hip-Hop Theory of Punishment. From The Nation, a review of American Furies: Crime, Punishment, and Vengeance in the Age of Mass Imprisonment by Sasha Abramsky; Punishment and Inequality in America by Bruce Western; Marked: Race, Crime, and Finding Work in an Era of Mass Incarceration by Devah Pager; Locked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy by Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen; and The Prison and the Gallows: The Politics of Mass Incarceration in America by Marie Gottschalk. Born equal? The US is no longer a land where people of humble origin become film stars and presidents.

ABC Adi (Tsukuba), Kenneth Amaeshi (Warwick) and Paul Nnodim (MCLA): Revisiting the Rational Choice and Rationality Debate in the Social Sciences: Is Theory Possible Without Rationality?  The introduction to Do Economists Make Markets? On the Performativity of Economics. The introduction to Upward Mobility and the Common Good: Toward a Literary History of the Welfare State by Bruce Robbins. A review of Tyler Cowen's Discover Your Inner Economist (and an interview). They've Got Your Number: A review of The Tiger That Isn't: Seeing Through a World of Numbers by Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot and Simplexity: The Simple Rules of a Complex World by Jeffrey Kluger.

From PopMatters, Hey, You Got Your Ghost in My Machine! The body and the machine are born innocent. It’s the soul and the mind that make them dirty and evil. Johann Hari on why he supports liberal eugenics. Blossoming brains: Exactly how mental maturity develops—and the anatomy responsible for its emergence—is being revealed. A review of The British Moralists on Human Nature and the Birth of Secular Ethics by Michael B. Gill. From Secular Web, an article on Darwin's conflict with his wife and God. The gullible age: Richard Dawkins’s book The God Delusion sold a million copies. In a new and hilarious onslaught he pits hard science against astrology, tarot, psychics, homeopathy and other gullibiligy. 

From Busted Halo, her are 25 Things Every College Freshman Should Know Before Classes Start. From Campus Progress, the Student Association for Voter Empowerment is trying to get past the "big smiles and empty rhetoric" and turn youth voting into something substantive. Razing West Harlem: Why Columbia's proposed expansion has met resistance. Funding Higher Ed: The Congressional overhaul of federal student aid is a good first step, but true reform of the system will require an effort on the scale of the GI Bill. If colleges and publishers could change the way they do business, they would make a substantial dent in the cost of higher education and provide a real benefit to students.

From Cultural Survival, a special issue on rescuing critically endangered Native American languages. A tiny part of the brain appears to play an important role in how well adults can learn another language, a new study finds. A space of her own:  Internet guru Danah Boyd has rare insights into the workings of online communities and the net's failings. Let's hear it for Stumpy, Keano and the zorse: Animals are the unsung heroes of the news agenda. What explains toddlers' linguistic leap? Math: Simple math may explain why toddlers experience a sudden burst of words—and why some talk earlier and more than others.  Why do certain things charm us so? A review of Taking Things Seriously by Joshua Glenn and Carol Hayes.  A review of Marooned: The Next Generation Of Desert Island Discs. 

From Utne Reader, The Wide World of Online Literary Journals: A guide to literature on the web. Let's Get Killed: Arthur magazine is back from the ashes but still looking for a lifeline. Open Library: Imagine if world’s most complete card catalog were just a mouse-click away. Scott McLemee chats with a young programmer who is making it happen. YouTube vigilantes: Will Internet shaming turn Average Joes into Big Brother? A review of Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal by Irvin Muchnick. An article on curbing homophobia in Reggae. Don't Drink the Balloon Juice: Michael Weiss on good, bad, and ugly things to name your blog. Wars of ideas: An article on the ten greatest legal battles in technology. 

From The Atlantic Monthly, a review of Frank Sinatra: The Man, the Music, the Legend by Jeanne Fuchs. O’Malley to Murdoch to Chance: A story about how the media mogul was no Midas on the diamond. A genetic string band: A computer programme that turns DNA into music helps to bring the arts and sciences closer. Nope, Yup, Nope, Yup: An ontological treatise on flipping coinage. A review of Cake or Death: The excruciating choices of everyday life by Heather Mallick. The Gospel according to Edward De Bono: Blair to Branson, Gorbachev to Gerry Adams, many and varied are those who have sat at the feet of the lord of lateral thinking and pope of H+. If nothing is what it seems, are you sure this column is real? 

From Moldova's The Tiraspol Times, what on earth is this? Pridnestrovie claims it is a state. But opponents of independence say it isn't. Democracy in action: The gloriously Greek, freedom-loving attitude of Athenians to smoking fits perfectly with the city’s history. Tale of ruling class privilege touches a nerve in Italians: A review of The Caste: How Italian Politicians Became Untouchable. The other Europeans: An integrated 'Romanian' Asia and Middle East, a Swedish safe-haven-no-more for Iraqi refugees, and Africans voyagers dying in Mediterranean waters. How the migration tide has crashed and burned over Europe's east, north and south. The introduction to Democratic Breakdown and the Decline of the Russian Military by Zoltan Barany. 

How the West was won over: The sprawling new Taoist temple north of Toronto is a reflection of the growing popularity of China's ancient faiths. A review of The Khat Controversy: Stimulating the Debate on Drugs by David Anderson. The first cut: Practised for religious, cultural and health reasons, circumcision has not been required by mainstream medicine. But will studies suggesting it protects against HIV sway those who consider it barbaric? Building big, starting small: A radical new way for poor countries to get the phones, power, and roads they need. A review of Merchant of Death by Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun. To Russia, with dub: Want to fight racism in Russia? Send in Lily Allen, some reggae bands and an outspoken Muslim rapper. The Romance of Ruin: The wrecking ball can be an uncannily honest artist, laying bare the hidden truth – and beauty – of a structure. A tour of Toronto the Broken. 

From the Center for American Progress, here's a an Iraq Timeline: The Broken Record on "the Next Few Months". From Forward, a review of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States by Trita Parsi (and more). Henry Siegman on the Middle East Peace Process Scam: There is no peace process. A crucial test case for Arab democracy: Can Morocco’s Islamists check al-Qaida? The first chapter from Reaching for Power: The Shi'a in the Modern Arab World by Yitzhak Nakash (and an interview). Split in anti-war left: Congress’s failure to secure a timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq has split anti-war activists on the tactical question of whether to attack Democrats.