online archive
1:00PM
JUL 9 2007
Religion and nature, politics and law
From the inaugural issue of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, an introduction to the journal, and Stephen R. Kellert Yale): Connecting with Creation: The Convergence of Nature, Religion, Science and Culture; Kocku von Stuckrad (Amsterdam): Finding Data: Some Reflections on Ontologies and Normativities; Adrian Ivakhiv (Vermont): Religion, Nature and Culture: Theorizing the Field; Roger S. Gottlieb (WPI): Religious Environmentalism: What it is, Where it’s Heading and Why We Should be Going in the Same Direction; and Penelope S. Bernard (Rhodes): Re-Uniting with the Kosmos.
From Secular Web, section one on Mind and Will of God or Blind Nature? Philosophers Debate the Evidence. A review of Muses, Madmen, and Prophets: Rethinking the History, Science, and Meaning of Auditory Hallucination by Daniel B. Smith. A review of Passions and Tempers: A History of the Humours by Noga Arikha. The Gregarious Brain: Williams syndrome — a genetic accident that causes cognitive deficits and a surplus of unguarded affability — is revealing much about what makes us social beings.
A review of The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering by Michael Sandel. The Dangers of Utopia: Alan Ryan reviews Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia by John Gray (and more). Why the Left is right: A review of Globalisation, Democracy and Terrorism by Eric Hobsbawm (and more and more). A review of Reflexive Democracy: Political Equality and the Welfare State by Kevin Olson. The people has its political reason, of which political theory knows nothing: A review On Populist Reason by Ernesto Laclau.
From CUP, an excerpt from Objectivity and the Rule of Law by Matthew Kramer; an excerpt from The Nature of Customary Law: Legal, Historical and Philosophical Perspectives; an excerpt from An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure by Robert Cryer, Hakan Friman, Darryl Robinson and Elizabeth Wilmshurst; and an excerpt from Financial Stability, Economic Growth, and the Role of Law by Douglas W. Arner.
1:00PM
JUL 9 2007
The war on terror, Americana and political economy
Paul C. Light on The Homeland Security Hash: The Department of Homeland Security gets little credit for the fact that terrorists have not staged an attack on American soil since 2001, and it is an open question whether it deserves much. Conceived in haste and crippled by its design, the newest addition to the cabinet desperately needs an overhaul. Why Big Things Fail: Crispin Sartwell on gigantism and the U.S. government. A review of Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror by Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr. and Aziz Z. Huq. From Law and Politics Book Review, a review of The Constitution of Law: Legality in a Time of Emergency by David Dyzenhaus; a review of Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age by Bernard E. Harcourt.
The United States of America is the only country in the world that doesn’t have a name: the first two words define its political organization, the last the continent it sits on. Creation myth: A review of The Fourth of July and the Founding of America by Peter de Bolla (and more and more). A review of American Connections: The Founding Fathers, Networked by James Burke. From American Heritage, Face-off: The Fourth of July vs. Bastille Day.
A look at a grassroots movement, dedicated to breaking the US into smaller, more functional nations. It provides some extra information on each of the new, smaller American nations, and a fresh map so that anyone can submit a new proposal. A review of Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front-Porch Anarchists by Bill Kauffman. A review of Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott.
From Monthly Review, an article on Wage Stagnation, Growing Insecurity, and the Future of the U.S. Working Class. Correcting the Guards: Why the shaky relationship between organized labor and correctional officers is doubly harmful to the American left. In an excerpt from the new book, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: The New Liberal Menace in America, Stephen Marshall takes on liberals like Thomas Friedman, who would have you believe that our capitalist system is inherently just and self-regulating when, in reality, it is anything but. A review of The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner-Take-All America by Daniel Brook.
1:00PM
JUL 9 2007
Russia and the Middle East
From NYRB, a look at how Russian journalists have suffered crippling attacks in recent years, as Vladimir Putin pursues his policy of strengthening the "vertical" dimension of his administration's "power pyramid". Putin Strikes Again: Murdering journalists is simply the most visible manifestation of the constant campaign against the press. A review of A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption, and Death in Putin's Russia by Anna Politkovskaya (and more and more). A review of Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB by Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko (and more).
A review of The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In by Hugh Kennedy. Theodore Dalrymple on the case for mistrusting Muslims: The latest terror plots are confronting tolerant Britons with uncomfortable choices. For Muslim extremists, religion matters more than socio-economic status. Aiming to present a less threatening face of Islam on the global stage, the Aga Khan, one of the world’s wealthiest Muslim investors, preaches the ethical use of wealth. The Iran Crisis and Possible Scenarios: The Sunni states—especially Saudi Arabia—are alarmed by a now dynamic Iran and any move toward the acquisition of nuclear weapons will probably provoke an equal gesture by Riyadh. When Dictators Dictate: Why do Arab thugs always get away with murder? A review of Saddam on Trial: Understanding and Debating the Iraqi High Tribunal by Michael P. Scharf and Gregory S. McNeal.
From TAP, a benchmark or a giveaway? Why Iraqi oil workers oppose the much-vaunted oil law; an interview with Faleh Abood Umara, general secretary of the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions, and Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, president of the Electrical Workers Union of Iraq; and a photo essay documenting unionized Iraqi workers and their fight to prevent the privatization of their nation's oil industry. An excerpt from A Poisonous Affair: America, Iraq, and the Gassing of Halabja by Joost R. Hiltermann (and an interview). A review of The Mess They Made: The Middle East After Iraq by Gwynne Dyer. An interview with Dennis Ross on Palestine, Tony Blair’s new mission, and the failure of American statecraft, and a review of Statecraft: And How to Restore America’s Standing in the World.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank use only 12 percent of the land allocated to them, but one-third of the territory they do use lies outside their official jurisdictions, according to a new report released today by Peace Now. Hollow Land: The apparently random patchwork of settlement in the occupied West Bank in fact reveals a deliberate plan of colonisation and control. Shlomo Avineri on how post-Zionism doesn't exist. Her Jewish State: Israel is growing steadily more prosperous — and less secure. Where is its political center, and what is its future? If there is an answer, it may lie with Tzipi Livni: daughter of Zionist militants, ex-spy, foreign minister and rising political star.
1:00PM
JUL 9 2007
Art, journalism, publishing and nature writing
From Eurozine, Suprealist art, suprealist life: Suprealism is a "movement" pioneered by Leonard Lapin that combines suprematism and realism; it mirrors the "suprealist world", where art is packaged for consumer culture, and Suprealist manifesto: "Suprealism brings popular kitsch into the art gallery and high culture to the masses; it introduces into art the naivety of the producer of kitsch while retaining the elitism of the professional artist". From CNQ, Alex Good on Adventures in the Reviewing Trade: A Cultural Primer. The Man in the Middle: On John Lahr, critic and profiler.
Cartoonist who equalled Cervantes: Sarah Boxer marvels at the world of George Herriman, the creator of the ludicrously imaginative comic strip Krazy Kat From Editor & Publisher, editorial cartoonists discuss the future of their profession, while cartoonists have varying degrees of enthusiasm for blogging.
In light of a recent story exposing journalists' donations to political candidates, media outlets should consider letting reporters reveal more about themselves to their readers via the Internet. A review of Tabloid Prodigy: Dishing the Dirt, Getting the Gossip, and Selling my Soul in the Cutthroat World of Hollywood Reporting by Marlise Elizabeth Kast. Green is the New Yellow: Jack Shafer on the excesses of "green" journalism. An interview with John Burnett, author of Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions: Travels with an NPR Correspondent (and part 2).
Connoisseurs of peeve-ology, here comes the book you'll love to hate: She Literally Exploded: The Daily Telegraph Infuriating Phrasebook, a collection of despised English usages. At last, hide-bound traditionalists open a small window on the world: A change from perhaps the least fashionable part of publishing. A steady stream of Penguin Classics has been arriving that seem genuinely multicultural - or, to put it less politically correctly, open-minded. Carlin Romano on spoils of success: Full-time writing life.
Flying to Arcadia: Novelist Barbara Kingsolver is the latest writer to chronicle her decision to live off the land. Adam Nicolson met her to discuss food, family and fantasies of escaping the city (and more and more and more on Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: Our Year of Seasonal Eating). A review of Planet Chicken: The Shameful Story of the Bird on Your Plate by Hattie Ellis and Jungle Capitalists: A Story of Globalisation, Greed and Revolution by Peter Chapman.
