From The Washington Monthly, Jeffrey Leonard on The Plug-in Revolution: A grand plan for America’s energy woes; a review of Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship by Ken Silverstein; a review of War and Taxes by Steven A. Bank, Kirk J. Stark, and Joseph J. Thorndike; and a review of Warrior King: The Triumph and Betrayal of an American Commander in Iraq by Nathan Sassaman. Are al Qa’eda’s leaders — fuelled by resentment of Hizbollah’s appeal — moving to rebrand themselves a “resistance” group? Ed Husain seems to think that all Islamists eventually become terrorists, but why single them out? What about racists, left wing sympathisers, or even people who care about animals and the environment? An article on "voluntourism": See the world — and help conserve it. A review of The World is Curved: Hidden Dangers to the Global Economy by David M. Smick (and two excerpts). Paolo Virno's latest, Multitude, contends that the question of human nature — good or evil? — is suddenly topical, thanks to "immaterial labour"; but, if true, how useful is this insight? From TED, Alison Jackson on a surprising look at celebrity; Alisa Miller on why we know less than ever about the world; Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process; and Al Seckel says our brains are mis-wired — enjoy it!
