[Feb 28] From Thailand, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra assails his academic critics as ignorant. From Canada, splashy front pages help The Globe and Mail, a once-staid newspaper, prosper. From Italy, the story of the Fascist soccer star and the Auschwitz survivor. From Japan Focus, SUNY-Albany's Lawrence Wittner on Algeria, Vietnam, Iraq and the Conscience of the Intellectual. From American Heritage, a look back at when Kuwait was liberated: "And then what?" Marketing humanitarian crises: Needy groups compete to market plights and win global attention. From National Journal, TIA lives on: A special report. What are we going to do with the secret prisoners who cannot be tried in our courts? Nat Hentoff on the CIA's "black sites". An interview with Mark Danner on Bush's State of Exception. From Harper's, Lewis Lapham on The Case for Impeachment. On what you can learn from Scooter Libby's case from his new Web site. Will Tom DeLay’s redistricting in Texas cost him his seat? Jeffrey Toobin investigates. A study finds term limits have not increased competition in legislative races. From Government Executive, it's increasingly clear that 21st century government at all levels is, on the whole, at least as good as the private sector when it comes to serving customers. What's the Matter with Buffalo? From the Brookings Institution, the transcript of a symposium on One-Fifth of the Nation: A Comprehensive Guide to America's First Suburbs. A review of Absolute Convictions: My Father, a City, and the Conflict That Divided America. From Wired, here are Scenes from the MySpace Backlash (and a cheat sheet for parents). Rumors of blogs' demise are exaggerated, but a lot less obsession would be healthy. Slate has 8 millions readers. Honest. Or maybe it's 4 million. Which should you believe? And John Shafer on how Byron Calame, the New York Times public editor, frets and sulks over employee discounts

[Feb 27] From Great Britain, Tony Blair defends his government's record on civil liberties; and a review of American Ally: Tony Blair and the War on Terror and Chris Patten’s Cousins and Strangers: America, Britain, and Europe in a New Century. A review of Putin’s Russia: Life in a Failing Democracy. An essay on bringing down Aleksandr Lukashenko, Europe's last ex-Soviet dictator. An article on what civil war could look like. A review of Overseas American: Growing Up Gringo in the Tropics. Since the '60s, the Ellis Island immigrant has replaced the Mayflower Pilgrim as the symbol of American success. But not everyone in this "nation of immigrants" is created equal. Americans admire extended families — except when immigrants share a house in the suburbs. Migrant workers in the US are doing the jobs that Americans won't, but are vulnerable to bigots and big business. Jenry Gonzalez was shot while trying out for Pop Warner football. His unsolved shooting shows how reversing a climate of witness fear will take a lot more than pulling "Stop Snitchin'" T-shirts off the shelves. Stephen Colbert, playing the deadpan reporter in his "Better Know a District" is injecting a new levity into politics. Hackers are hijacking thousands of PCs to spy on users. If you think your computer is safe, think again. Here's a list of the fifteen best conservative country songs. And so what's the secret of The Economist?

[Weekend 2e] From Uganda, Yoweri Museveni wins a third term as president. From Canada, a review of Marginal Man: The Dark Vision of Harold Innis. An article on why populism is not democracy. From The Texas Observer, an interview with Frank Rich, and can Houston's king of right-wing talk radio, Dan Patrick, bust into the Texas Senate. More on Michael Kazin's A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan. An excerpt from The Making of the American Conservative Mind. More on The Meaning of Marriage: Family, State, Market, and Morals. More on Tim Harford's The Undercover Economist. From Psychology Today, can men and women be friends? A review of Homewrecker: An Adultery Reader. Can movies change our minds? And an interview with Six Apart's Mena Trott on the future of the blog

[Weekend] From Australia, a symposium on a decade of Howard Government; and put out more flags: An article on the making of another America. From Russia, many identify democracy and the rule of law with an insecure and troubled existence. From Malaysia, an article on the burden of knowledge. One in a billion: A review of books on China. A interview on Uganda's Presidential Elections. London is not Paris: The British model is practical and durable, but by far not ideal. Should the European Union have a defence budget? It’s the “just Israel” bit that is the worry. Why is it singled out? The Center on Democratic Performance at SUNY- Binghamton gives President Bush a "D" for his policies and performance on central issues related to human rights. Why should anyone worry about whose communications Bush and Cheney are intercepting, if it helps to find terrorists? John Dean wants to know. Stuart Taylor on how to fix FISA. And from National Journal, Republican centrists have found themselves exercising newfound influence. They were bolder in 2005 than perhaps at any other time since 1994; and the media are brimming with profiles of potential 2008 presidential contenders, but these stories rarely expose who is behind the image-selling -- the "brand managers" who create campaigns

[Feb 24] From Bolivia, why has no one called the victory of Evo Morales a "revolution", despite it sharing some of the characteristics of the "coloured revolutions" in post-Soviet countries? From the Philippines, continuing 20 years of instability, armed forces stop coup attempt. From Russia, Verkhoyansk is the iciest city on the globe. It's now trying to use the frigid record to attract tourists. The only problem? Another nearby town claims to be even colder. A review of East to West Migration: Russian Migrants in Western Europe. Uganda's president Yoweri Museveni is likely to be re-elected, but his political project is exhausted. Argentina's history reminds Xolela Mangcu of the value of African memory. A review of Bangladesh: The Next Afghanistan? David and the Prophet: Can you compare Holocaust denial to the Danish cartoons? From Writ, an explanation for the Bush Administration's War-On-Terror mishaps: Do governors tend to make poor presidents? From TNR, an article on Kevin Warsh, a suspect appointee to the Fed. An article on the meaningless transparency of the public editor column. Jacob Weisberg on how to solve Google's Beijing problem. An article on Amsterdam as a libertarian paradise. Influence for fashion has long been sought from the most remote corners of the world. But where might this process be leading us in the era of globalization? (and a slideshow). Trashy magazines junked! A limitless appetite for nothing may have been sated at last. Your taste in music can reveal a lot about you, giving accurate clues to your personality. And free Bob Marley! He's been hijacked by stoned suburban teenagers

[Feb 23] From Venezuela, an article on the saga that is Las Cristinas. From Turkey, an article on Orientalism versus Occidentalism. From Australia, Keith Windschuttle on John Howard, cultural warrior. From Great Britain, Robin Harris, the Thatcherite who gave David Cameron his first job, says he is not impressed; and more and more legislation is about sending signals. What's wrong with that? Why do the French need laws to dictate the right interpretations of the past? It is because of the confusion in French minds between history and memory. Jytte Klausen, a professor of politics at Brandeisand author of The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe, on the real story of how a provincial newspaper's prank turned into a global crisis. Politicians from Serbia and Kosovo are finally sitting down to discuss the troubled province's final status. 2005 was a big year for international development. But there are strict limits on what outsiders can do to help poor countries. The rapid decline of Africa's lakes is illustrated dramatically by satellite images from a United Nations Atlas. Many Africans now face a tough future without access to safe drinking water. An article on how Nigerian corruption works. Bilateral free trade areas are being used for self-serving agendas: An interview with Jagdish Bhagwati. The monetary and fiscal framework created in Britain after 1992 has enjoyed a long run of success. But with tougher times ahead, critics are wondering how much of that success is down to the new rules and how much to benign global conditions. From Reason, why a presidential line-item veto seems like a good idea, but isn't. President Bush will likely be remembered as an innovator whose ideas just didn't pan out in the end. A look at how efforts to ID voting problems have become a partisan mess. What's complicating Bernanke's balancing act? Finding the right level for interest rates is trickier in a more global economy. And who is Richard Berman, and why does he hate labor unions so much?

[Feb 22] Der Spiegel interviews President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, US Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, and ex-Latvian Foreign Minister Sandra Kalniete about Belarus, Russia and the EU; and an article on America's Shame: Torture in the Name of Freedom (and part 2). Nuremberg at 60: How the US is turning away from its proud history. That the International Criminal Court should become an effective institution was always intended – yet it has confounded even its own architects with its unexpected growth and popularity. From Cafe Babel, a series of articles on nationalism. The services directive and the Mohammed cartoon affair each demonstrate the need for a spirit of managed mutual recognition in Europe and beyond. Saskia Sassen sees the Danish cartoon conflict as part of the making of a new global territory where principles like free speech are being renegotiated. Why isn't the US defending Denmark? Christopher Hitchens wants to know. David Rees never wanted to be a political cartoonist, but then 9/11 revealed the ambivalent relationship to violence at the heart of American culture. From Slate, a guide to the conservatives and Republicans who have turned on the president. President Bush's conception of his own powers is even more dangerous than his specific abuses. Progressives do not think much of the debate. But there are lots of reasons they should find the idea of a national ID appealing. From The Economist, here are the winners of the Priceless Pranks competition. A review of Beyond a Joke: The limits of humour. For blogs, it is the best of times, and the worst of times -- depending on who you listen to. And the planet's population is projected to reach 6.5 billion at exactly 7:16 p.m. EST Saturday

[Feb 21] From Austria, court sentences David Irving to prison for denying the Holocaust. A petition asks the Newspaper Association of America to concede that it spurned persecuted journalists fleeing Hitler. Land versus State: A look at the Israeli army and state after disengagement. In the Mideast, the Third Way is a myth. From Japan Focus, an article on Hong Kong, Singapore and the Asia Pacific Economies. A review of China’s New Nationalism: Pride, Politics and Diplomacy. In the twilight world of Musahars, an untouchable community in India, Girija Devi is a shining exception. From The Independent Institute, a look at how U.S. money aids the world’s worst dictators. An article on Che Guevara: Revolutionary, movie star, killing machine. Will Kymlicka on how the Bush Administration has influential persons who are not interested in democracy in the Middle East. From The New Yorker, on how an internal effort to ban the abuse and torture of detainees was thwarted (and more). At some point, when the history books get written, the question will have to be asked: Was George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United States, or was it actually Dick Cheney? Niall Ferguson explains. The Spectator names Matthew d’Ancona its new editor. An article on Zygmunt Bauman, Starbucks, and the "third space". And "Your PM is a sissy": Punk rocker Henry Rollins is declared a threat to Australia

[Feb 20] From Great Britain, for society to work, we have to hold each other to account. If we don't, we can hardly complain when the powers that be take over. From Pakistan, an article on re-learning military history. From India, a look at how the egalitarian project of the Left is growing new roots around the globe, and a review of Rebuilding Sustainable Peace. A flower shop in Lithuania stands accused of racism. Its pricing structure depends on the color of the delivery man's skin. Hitler's willing bankers: Research shows Dresdner Bank supported the Nazi regime much more actively than had been previously thought. Nina L. Khrushcheva on why Russia still loves Stalin, and on the day Khrushchev buried Stalin, and Robert Conquest on the speech that shook the world. From LRB, a review of Endgame in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa’s Last Colony. In the protests and seminal debates roiling the larger Islamic world, China's Muslims are almost invisible. Jyllands-Posten editor Flemming Rose on why he published the Muhammad cartoons. How did Jordan, the Middle East's most stable and modern country give rise to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and a generation of border-crossing Islamist radicals? Unless the world refocuses economic policies to address the adverse impact of economic inequality on growth and poverty reduction, the poor and the privileged will continue to live worlds apart. Much of the discussion about Iran's nuclear program is quite simply hysterical. Immanuel Wallerstein explains why. Sometimes the framers of an election law can wildly miscalculate, allowing one faction to game the system and gain power far out of proportion to its share of the vote. In the 2006 Congressional elections, soldier candidates are marching across the campaign field in numbers not seen in a half-century. Should the law make room for warrantless wiretapping? The debate has already begun. In a world assailed by fear and uncertainty, and overwhelmed by messages of unity and patriotism, dissidents were moving targets. Nearly a year after the death of Terri Schiavo, the fight over her fate continues--in bookstores. And EJ Dionne on phony White House populism

[Weekend 2e] From China, fired editors of Freezing Point journal call for free speech in public letter. From Jamaica, facile talk by cunning linguists: "The English language, constant work in progress that it is, rolls on like the proverbial steam-roller." From Bangladesh, an article on the state of the republic. An article on the Al Qaeda escape in Yemen: Facts, rumors and theories. Recent clashes between Kyrgyz and Dungan youth are a symptom of growing resentment and nationalism, some fear. An article on the growing importance of Japan's engagement in Central Asia. The Weekly Standard on Nicholas Sarkozy, the Man Who Would Be le Président. This year sees the 350th anniversary of Cromwell readmitting Jews to Britain, and a review of Plato's Children: The State We Are In. A review of The Shackled Continent. Eduardo Galeano on the second founding of Bolivia. Carlos Fuentes sees an epistolary future in his latest take on the absurdity of Mexican politics, The Eagle’s Throne. Puerto Rico could soon get a real vote on status for US statehood or independence. Politicians of all stripes have them: blunders that are engraved in the public memory. Scholars rate worst presidential moments ever. What some inquiring minds want to know about presidency. This is the story of a recent Los Angeles Times “scoop” that was error-ridden and misleading and resulted in a hysterical right-wing attack, led by Jonah Goldberg, on a famed author nearly 40 years after his passing. Judging by the number of self-publishing websites, it may not be long before we reach the tipping point of mass adoption. A review of Marshall Berman's On the Town: One Hundred Years of Spectacle in Times Square. An article on the enchantment of Disney. Girlfriend X has three basic components, designed to help you maintain a "parallel dating" lifestyle giving each woman that extra bit of individualized attention. And why is there such a thing as the Elks?

[Weekend] From The Globalist, an essay on macroeconomics and the clash of civilizations. Muslim moderates may grab the headlines with their speeches in the capitals of the West, but are they really heard in their own countries? Here are excerpts from a book on Tariq Ramadan, Brother Tariq by Caroline Fourest. How does a person in movement come to "belong" to a country? Europe's blood-and-soil confusions towards its would-be citizens highlight the crisis of identity in the continent itself. A review of Roma and Gypsy-Travellers in Europe: Modernity, Race, Space and Exclusion. Europe, a continent that inflicted colonial brutality all over the globe for 200 years, has little claim to the superiority of its values. Free speech as inherent right or group consensus? How did the concept get into such a mess? Because liberalism persists in seeing a "right" as something to be claimed rather than accorded, says Tom Stoppard. Is that really me up there? A Eurocrat is surprised to see how he is perceived for dramatic purposes. Robert Wright on how the Muslim uproar over those Danish cartoons isn't as alien to American culture as we like to think. Michael Lind on how the American Century shows no sign of ending. The Imperial Presidency is often viewed as an abuse or even subversion of the Constitution, but it can also be seen as a product of history and national ambition. Two pillars of support for President Bush's Iraq policy - neoconservative hawks and evangelical Christians - have begun lining up with liberals and environmentalists in challenging the White House's energy policy. Jonathan Rauch on where the missing middle went. From Pop and Politics, an interview with Geraldine Ferraro. Numbers don't lie, but sometimes they mislead. Michael Kinsley explains. Journalists went overboard on the Cheney story. Good for them. From Salon, facing a slow death, newspapers are desperately trying to reach young readers with dumbed-down tabloids full of stories about Kobe, Britney and dental bling. And the evangelists say that blogging is about to finish off newspapers and make a lot of people rich. They’re wrong. Most blogs are boring, overblown and don’t make a penny

[Feb 17] From Haiti, one two three perspectives on the recent election, and a review of Notes from the Last Testament. Carlos Fuentes takes measure of Latin America's new Left. An article on the issues facing small states in the global political economy. In most parts of the world, colonialism has been out of fashion for decades. But in the tiny Pacific archipelago of Tokelau, it is the political philosophy of the moment. From B&W, silent but not deadly: Consider all the epidemics that haven't happened. Can hepatitis B help explain why men outnumber women in the developing world? There's a new way of predicting a malaria epidemic months in advance. From Political Affairs, an article on the New Left force in Germany. When deciding whether to broadcast offensive material, the BBC must weigh up giving a platform to extremism against the journalistic duty to inform, says the director of the BBC Global News Division, but the decision of some European newspapers to reprint the Mohammed cartoons smacked of arrogance and moral posturing, says Ian Jack, editor of Granta. From Salon, never-published photos, and an internal Army report, show more Iraqi prisoner abuse. You might think three major reports on Guantanamo Bay, all released within a span of two weeks, might constitute a big story. But somehow they do not (and Slate launches a new feature called "Document of the Day". From Campus Progress, here are the winners of a contest to create names for legislation so deceptive, contradictory, and euphemistically “optimistic” that they would make Bush proud. Drill sergeants are being told to yell less and mentor more. Will this gentler approach create softer soldiers? If you want to understand why the Great Zucchini has this kind of success, you need look no further than the stresses of suburban Washington parenting. An inability to step outside of one's own head may be behind e-mail miscommunication. And on the Twilight of the Blogs: Are they over as a business?

[Feb 16] From India, Homo Economicus vs. Aam Aadmi: An article on the crisis of democracy. From Australia, why a change in corporate governance thinking may be more fruitful than strict laws. From Finland, tiny island Aland is ready to stop Europe in its tracks. Large sections of the populations of countries at the peripheries of the EU are in permanent migratory motion. The trend towards overcoming arbitrary socio-political territories has its apotheosis in the Internet's utopian horizon of absolute mobility. An excerpt from Social Rights and Market Freedom in the European Constitution. Beijing is launching a massive campaign to modernize Marxism and make it relevant to the contradictions of today's China. From Open Democracy, one two three four articles on Iran and democracy. A review of books on Protestants in Ireland. From Financial Times, what will it take to wake us up to the ever-tightening grip of oligopolies over ever more of our global marketplaces? Here are six reasons to kill farm subsidies and trade barriers. Anyone who thinks that the federal income tax code is baffling now ought to brace for what lies ahead: big changes and uncertainty. Justice Scalia says people who believe the Constitution would break if it didn't change with society are "idiots". Jacob Weisberg on Dick Cheney's assault on the public's right to know. Does the NRA really take safety seriously? OpinionJournal announces the launch of the OpinionJournal Federation of top political Web sites and blogs. Sometimes in journalism, the medium is the story. So it is with the ongoing saga of The Blogs vs. The Mainstream Media. With Web 2.0, the second generation of the Internet has arrived. It's worse than you think. The Ghost of Horace Greely: America's free press has been threatened with violence before. An interview with Lewis Lapham. From Salon, filled with headless nudes and inflated breasts, Vanity Fair's Hollywood issue is a giant package of artificial cheese. For all its philosophical blather about Ayn Rand, the Star & Buc Wild Show is no better than a modern-day minstrel show, trading on black self-loathing for profit. A look at why conservatives just can’t quit " Brokeback Mountain". A look at how blade escalation and plastic have feminized today's young men. And Batman kicks Al Qaeda's ass: Frank Miller talks about upcoming book

[Feb 28] From Foreign Affairs, Keir A. Lieber (Notre Dame) and Daryl G. Press (Penn): The Rise of U.S. Nuclear Primacy; Stephen Biddle of the Council of Foreign Realtions on Seeing Baghdad, Thinking Saigon; Amartya Sen reviews William Easterly's The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. A review of Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis and Thicker Than Oil: America's Uneasy Partnership With Saudi Arabia. Peter Bergen on a guide to the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Juan Cole reviews The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global, Knowing the Enemy: Jihadist Ideology and the War on Terror and The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting It Right. Does masturbation lead to suicide bombing? One would think not. Ian Buruma explains. An interview with Yenny Wahid, an eloquent (and elegant) foe of Muslim fundamentalists. Barry Posen on why we can live with a nuclear Iran. Niall Ferguson on how the civilisations of the modern world are more likely to collapse than collide. Francis Fukuyama on Europe vs. Radical Islam: Alarmist Americans have mostly bad advice for Europeans. From First Things, Benedict XVI on Europe and its discontents; an essay on Will Herberg's Protestant-Catholic-Jew, then and now; a review of The Ways of Judgment; a review of Garry Wills' What Jesus Meant; a review of Life After Death: A History of the Afterlife in the Religions of the West. Rev. Timothy J. Keller preaches the Word and quotes the Voice in the Upper West Side. Obituary: Henry Morris, founder of the Institute for Creation Research. From The New Yorker, who gay is your priest? A memo to help identify and root out truly committed homosexuals. And God is back in fashion among intellectuals. But even spiritual movements today are motivated by Western fundamentalism: the Enlightenment

[Feb 27] Is freedom just another word for many things to buy? That depends on your class status. A review of Better for All the World: The Secret History of Forced Sterilization and America's Quest for Racial Purity. A review of The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception. A review of The Running of the Bulls: Inside the Cutthroat Race from Wharton to Wall Street. A review of Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism. Gertrude Himmelfarb on welfare and charity: Lessons from Victorian England. A review of Earthly Powers. An excerpt from Benedict XVI’s The Spiritual Roots of Europe: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. A review of Jim Wallis’ God's Politics. A review of Michael Lerner’s The Left Hand of God. More on Bruce Bartlett’s Impostor. Some experts believe the age of oil is near its end. Others insist that there are trillions of untapped barrels left -- and that the future of oil depends more on what happens above ground than below. From The Toronto Star, black, a divisive unifier: How one word insults dozens of cultures yet still defines a single history. An essay on Betty Friedan’s enduring mystique. The animal rights group Peta was back in the news last week after flour-bombing Paris Hilton during London fashion week: An interview with Ingrid Newkirk. And a review of Something Happened: A Political and Cultural Overview of the Seventies

[Weekend 2e] From Global Agenda, the richest country in the world is living beyond its means, says Joseph Stiglitz. The question is not when, but how hard, the landing will be; In 2005 millions rallied to the war on poverty, but poor countries also have a responsibility to use aid effectively and transparently, says Paul Wolfowitz; we should appeal to altruism rather than self-interest to reach our aid targets, says Jagdish Bhagwati, and be much more imaginative about how we deliver; Noam Chomsky sets out his vision of fair globalization; democracy cannot take root in countries such as Iran unless individuals enjoy freedom of expression, says Shirin Ebadi; the solutions to the global refugee crisis are simple, says Angelina Jolie, if only we had the will to address it; and there is, perhaps, a 50% chance that humankind will be annihilated this century, says Nick Bostrom

[Weekend] From NPQ, an interview with Francis Fukuyama. A look at how the neoconservative right adopted the worst errors of the left. George Will reviews The Making of The Conservative Mind, National Review and Its Times, and Impostor. For all you rational egoists out there: Introducing The Objective Standard. The practice of using political boundaries to define economic boundaries is troublesome. In fact, the term "American economy" is more misleading than useful. From Foreign Policy, what exactly is soft power and how useful is it in dealing with today’s challenges? Joseph Nye explains. The radical Islamists are on the offensive. Will we defeat them? William Kristol wants to know. An interview with Michael "Faster" Ledeen. Pejman Yousefzadeh is in defense of a powerful Vice Presidency. An article on why JFK and RFK were right to wiretap MLK. A new issue of Clamor is out, including an essay on Blackness and Political Freedom on Hispaniola. What are we to make of the "Parecon" phenomenon? A review of Michael Albert's work, and a response by Albert. A review of Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics. A look at why left-activist work can be liberating. And the end of the world is coming, and some Orange County Christians can't wait

[Feb 24] Potpourri: From Asia Times, Spengler on the devil's sourdough and the decline of nations. Karl Marx himself saw capitalism in a positive light; in its very progress he saw its demise. A demise precipitated by the anarchistic heart of the network society. William Bennett and Alan Dershowitz on a failure of the press. Unconstitutional constitutionalism: Is the "rule of law" simply the promulgation and enforcement of legislation, regardless of their content and the methods of their enforcement? Catfight at LewRockwell: Paul Craig Roberts on conservatives and the Leader Principle, a response by Viet Dihn and a reply. From The New Yorker, a review of The Happiness Hypothesis and Happiness: A History. An article on the politics of the Weather Underground. From spiked, an article on why it is morally right to use animals to our ends; and conspiracy theories about everything from Iraq to Hurricane Katrina to spiked writers are polluting the mainstream media. From The Economist, a review of books on Wal-Mart. From Monthly Review, Oxford's Arshin Adib-Moghaddam on the Muslim in the Mirror. An interview with journalist Jeffrey Blankfort: "The anti-war movement has failed". George Will on why Liberalism is not conducive to happiness. How Teddy Roosevelt became a cowboy: An excerpt from Rough Rider in the White House: Theodore Roosevelt and the Politics of Desire. More on The Revenge of Gaia. A review of A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror. Stanley Kurtz on Fanatical Swedish Feminists. And a review of Witnessing Their Faith: Religious Influence on Supreme Court Justices and Their Opinions

[Feb 23] From Prospect, Edward Skidelsky on why Leo Strauss, father of neoconservatism, is not the fascist thinker of left-wing caricature. But neither is he a figure with whom democrats can feel comfortable. He believed in virtue rather than liberalism; was the Iraq adventure doomed to fail or did the US administration mess it up? A review of books; a review of Oliver Kamm's Anti-totalitarianism; and an article on the myths of appeasement: Appeasement did not spring from military weakness. 1930s Britain was well armed. Pat Buchanan on Churchill, Hitler, and Newt. Cleveland’s Aryan Barbarian oversees the collapse of a neo-Nazi powerhouse. From Open Democracy, two new books cast light on the diplomatic pressures exerted by the United States and its British ally to win support for the military option in Iraq. An article on neoconservatives as the new hippies. What have airport queues got to do with democracy and citizenship? Everything. From National Review, an interview with Michael and Jana Novak, authors of Washington's God. From the archives of America magazine, an article on the secrets behind the Index of Forbidden Books; a review of Christian Community in History, Volume I: Historical Ecclesiology; a look at the life and work of John Courtney Murray; and was Jesus a techie? Who is St. Maroun, the founder of the Maronite Catholic Church? From Christianity Today, Mark Noll reviews America and the Challenges of Religious Diversity; and Rick Santorum's It Takes a Family is an example of how not to fight the culture wars. An investigation into the private and public finances of Rick Santorum might want to reconsider becoming the ethics czar (and more). An article on purpose-driven spirituality: How deep does Rick Warren go? Ken Ham, who says creationism is the cure for racism, brings his $15-million-a-year crusade to Rocky Mount. And Jesus loves strippers! Lori Albee of JC's Girls Girls Girls wants to help spread the message of God's love to those in the sex industry

[Feb 22] From The Village Voice, an article the birth and life of the '9-11 Truth movement', the basics of alternative 9/11 theories, and a look at what it takes to make a conspiracy theory. Joseph Nye on the right way to think about oil: The problem is not that there is too little oil, but that it is in the wrong place. From TomPaine.com, a reaction to Francis Fukuyama's essay on neoconservatism. Can democracy really be "exported"? What democratic path is possible in the Muslim world? Does U.S. foreign policy encourage democracy in the rest of the world? An interview with James Fallows on getting it right in Iraq. From Salon, "freedmen," blacks whose ancestors were enslaved by Cherokee and other tribes, are suing to become tribal citizens. But the tribes say they are ineligible because they don't have Indian blood. Acting white: One professor studies the fight between identity and achievement. One student copes with it. From Nerve, an article on why it's so hard to get birth control at Planned Parenthood. Tim Harford on the economic case for polygamy. To call sex trafficking "modern slavery" fails to see it as the consequence of the sexualization of culture. From Mother Jones, a series of articles on The Last Days of the Ocean. Greening the Left: Tycoons will pay to generate leftist ideas in voters' minds, but now they want to see results. We bemoan the rise of the McMansion, the slash-and-burn path of the strip mall—but the real problem may be lurking in the shrubbery. A look at where our yards are now. A review of ReadyMade: How to Make (Almost) Everything. And from Transhumanity, an article on the Ubermensch, the Superman and the Posthuman, a look at how Rael continues to hurt the transhumanist cause, and on why and how transhumanists must transcend their nerdy aura

[Feb 21] From TNR, Thomas Nagel reviews Kwame Anthony Appiah's The Ethics of Identity and Cosmopolitanism. From Dissent, Mark R. Beissinger on Promoting Democracy: Is Exporting Revolution a Constructive Strategy?; a symposium on assessing the state of the labor movement; an article on Reducing Inequality: Merit Goods vs. Income Grants; and an essay on Herbert Hoover and Hurricane Katrina. From In These Times, why the left should forget DC: The battle is in the states; and have the marketplace successes of Michael Moore and Robert Greenwald changed the chances for documentary films? An interview with George Soros on the global movement for an ‘open society’. More on War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare From World War I to Al-Qaeda. More on The Bomb in the Basement. A review of Against Empire: Feminisms, Racism, and the West. A look at why the Romans are important in the debate about gay marriage. Is 'gay Muslim' simply an oxymoron? Forget the virgins: Is there sex in heaven? From B&W, Brian Leiter reviews Leon Wieseltier's review of Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell. Edward Rothstein on how Breaking the Spell and how history illuminates the rage of Muslims. A review of Sacred Cow, Mad Cow: A History of Food Fears. And more on Benjamin Friedman's The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth

[Feb 20] Chili and liberty: Amartya Sen on the uses and abuses of multiculturalism. Irving Louis Horowitz on Democracy's Visions and Divisions. An interview with Alfred McCoy, author of A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror. Conventional wisdom says that none of us is safe from terrorism. The truth is that almost all of us are. A review of God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad. An article on the rational suicide bomber. A review of While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam Is Destroying the West From Within. A review of The Right to be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America. A review of Michael Lerner's The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country From the Religious Right. A review of The Untied States of America: Polarization, Fracturing and Our Future. An interview with Michael Parenti about his new book, The Culture Struggle. A review of Three's a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, and Republican Resurgence. A review of Solidarity for Sale: How Corruption Destroyed the Labor Movement and Undermined America's Promise. An interview with James Garbarino, author of See Jane Hit: Why Girls Are Growing More Violent and What We Can Do About It. A review of Choosing Children: The Ethical Dilemmas of Genetic Intervention. A review of books on satisfaction, sanity and all those feelings in between, and more on Happiness: A History. More on Breaking the Spell. On the Enlightenment's impact on the Mass: an interview with Jonathan Robinson, author of The Mass and Modernity: Walking to Heaven Backward. James Wood reviews The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary. An interview with Eric Metaxas, author of Everything You Always Wanted to Know About God (but were afraid to ask). Despite the vast incompleteness of our knowledge, recent research suggests that most people think that they know far more than they actually do. Most of what "everyone knows" about what matrimony used to be and just how it has changed is wrong. How much do you really know about marriage? And the length of a single night's sleep has decreased over the years, but the quality of our sleep has improved significantly

[Weekend 2e] Can a movement turn away from militarism and toward a more durable use of power? Francis Fukuyama on After Neoconservatism. From Behavior and Social Issues, Robin Rumph, Chris Ninness, Glen McCuller, and Sharon K. Ninness (SASU): Twenty Years Later: Commentary on Skinner's "Why We Are Not Acting To Save the World"; and John Nevin (UNH): The Inertia of Affluence pdf. From Zenit, a review of The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism, Capitalism's Achilles Heel, and The Ethics of the Market. "My sin was ripping off people around the world": John M. Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, taps the fears of Big Business. From 49th Parallel, a review of A Story of America First: The Men and Women Who Opposed US Intervention in World War II, a review of Pursuing the National Interest: Moments of Transition in Twentieth Century American Foreign Policy, a review of Keeping Us Safe: Secret Intelligence and Homeland Security, and a review of America's Oil Wars. A review of Ecological Ethics, Half Gone, The Revenge of Gaia, and State of the World 2006. A review of books on faith and terror. A look at the work of McGill's Gregory Baum and the new Muslim intellectuals. More on George Packer's The Assassins' Gate and James Risen's State of War. From Radical Middle Newsletter, a review of Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank, and an article on the politics of literature 101: Did father know best? Dickens, Joyce, Henry James... they’re enough to put kids off books for life. Why is Julia Kristeva, icon of postmodern theory, writing detective novels? Novelist and essayist William Gass talks about philosophy and fiction, Europe and America, and the value of words in a visual age. Why do English-speaking authors no longer look to continental Europe for inspiration? And the supreme irony of the publishing industry is that it is killing itself with words

[Weekend] From The New York Review of Books, David Cole reviews The Next Attack, a review of Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden, and Peter Bergen's The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader; a review of L. Paul Bremer's My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope and George Packer's The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq; and an article on Hamas and the perils of power. A review of The American Era: Power and Strategy for the 21st Century. From Grist, here's the introduction to a seven-week series on the intersection of economic and ecological survival. A review of Capitalism at the Crossroads: The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems. All economics is local: A review of Tim Harford's The Undercover Economist. Economist Robert Shiller has a knack for translating economic theories into plain English. He also picked the stock market crash, so how far away is the property meltdown? How we spend our money is changing. In the new 'experience economy' we pay to do things, not have things. From FT, hope to die before you get old? Baby-boomers are taking their own unique approach to mortality. Narcissists are charming, exasperating, captivating and sometimes downright ludicrous. The weird world of the megalomaniac, explained; and you're more than the star and author of your own life story. You're also the spin master. From Alternet, an interview with Cristina Page, author of How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics, and the War on Sex (and an excerpt). Peter Singer on why there's something inconsistent about moralizing that blocks stem cell research while justifying and downplaying collateral damage. Robert Sirico writes on the passing of Edmund Opitz. From The Weekly Standard, an article on what today's leaders can learn from Andrew Jackson. A new issue of The Occidental Quarterly is out, including the introduction to Sam Francis' Race and the American Prospect, and an interview with Alain de Benoist pdf. And white supremacist gang leader and murder suspect says he was brutalized by jail deputies

[Feb 17] From The Economist, why governments, employers and workers all need to change to keep baby-boomers on the job; more than a notional improvement: State pension systems that mimic private accounts; older workers want to retire later; companies fear they will soon be short of skills. Why can't the two get together?; understanding how the brain ages could help to slow deterioration; and a review of The Baby Business. A review of Fightback! Labour's traditional right in the 1970s and 1980s. From Smithsonian, South Pacific villagers worship a mysterious American they call John Frum - believing he'll one day shower their remote island with riches; when an Amish couple were accused of killing their daughter through abuse, pediatrician D. Holmes Morton went to work; and does a young Egyptian's unhappy stay in a small Colorado town in the 1950s explain why many jihadists hate America today? A review of The Osama Bin Laden I Know: an oral history of al-Qaeda's leader, Messages to the World: the statements of Osama Bin Laden, and Knowing the Enemy: jihadist ideology and the war on terror. Statistically speaking, the terrorist threat to America has always been low. So why are we spending such vast amounts on ineffectual Homeland Security? A review of Peter Singer's The President of Good and Evil: The Ethics of George W. Bush. More on Bruce Bartlett's Impostor. A review of Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of countercultural conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican Party). Let the nativist "vulgar jerk," as Christopher Hitchens rightly pegs Garrison Keillor, go on laughing. Elevated radio jocks are one thing, philosophers something else. From Revolution, Chairman Bob on the U.S. Constitution: An Exploiter's Vision of Freedom. And from Lyndon LaRouche's Executive Intelligence Review, Carl Schmitt set precedent: Leader can change law

[Feb 16] Ronald Dworkin on why even bigots and Holocaust deniers must have their say. Islamic culture has continually transgressed its own taboos. But sustained provocation will put off even the best of wills. From Chronicles, Thomas Fleming and Srdja Trifkovic on the cartoon jihad. Europe’s newspapers have the right to print offensive cartoons? Certainly. Was it a wise thing to do? Probably not. A review of The West Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations? Will we let Jill Carroll be killed? Peter Singer on the morality of dealing with kidnappers. The introduction to Amos Oz's How to Cure a Fanatic. A review of Dangerous Alliances: Proponents of Peace, Weapons of War. The first chapter from The Impact of Human Rights Law on Armed Forces. From AEI, a lecture on a religious idea called "America": How Puritanism created it, what it means, why it matters. An interview with Catholic University's Monsignor Robert Sokolowski on the philosophy behind Deus Caritas Est. From American Daily, think Father Coughlin was a conservative? Think again. Communism isn't an ideology but a religion; like Christianity it has its saints, its scriptures, and its iconography. And yes, Soviet Communism is just getting started. Will Wilkinson on solidarity: More than a feeling. Given the option of harmony without tyranny, why aren’t you an anarchist? From Alternet, an interview with Andrew Gumbel, author of Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America (and an excerpt). From PUP, the introduction to The Minds of Marginalized Black Men: Making Sense of Mobility, Opportunity, and Future Life Chances. An interview with Nick Adams, author of Making Friends with Black People. A look at the racial case against the Winter Olympics. Is it time we let athletes take what they like, provided it is safe - and might it even be fairer? Japanese and Americans don't see eye-to-eye on how athletes achieve gold. During the Olympics, the mirror neurons of whole nations will be electrically identical. Why America stopped caring about international sports competitions. An interview with Bernard-Henri Levy on the value of traveling par hasard. An interview with Lawrence Weschler, author of Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences. And you have $1. How should you spend it to do the most good?

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[Feb 28] From The Chronicle, Carlin Romano on why Cold-War cultural tactics should be a hot topic; Upton Sinclair has been in the news lately, and it's not just the 100th anniversary of The Jungle. Seems the man was a liar; and how should we teach The Jungle? A review of Thucydides: An Introduction for the Common Reader. A review of Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia. A review of Human Life, Action, and Ethics: Essays by G.E.M. Anscombe, and a review of Daniel Dennett's Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness. Dennett responds to Judith Shulevitz's essay “When Cosmologies Collide” from The New York Times' Book Review. A review of A People's History of Science: Miners, Midwives and 'Low Mechanicks'. Robert Huber, a Ph.D. student in physics at the University of Delaware, is a member of the Skinhead Hall of Fame. An interview with Slavoj Zizek on "Zizek!". The Weekly Standard's Terry Eastland on God and Man at Davidson. Rahmatullah Hashemi was the Taliban’s chief spokesman abroad. So how did he end up at Yale? And anyone see a problem with that? From TNR, an essay on what Larry Summers's fall says about the future of higher education. Why the university would do well to pick a Larry 2.0 next. Summers never won over Harvard's faculty. That cost him his job, or did an exposé help sink Harvard's president? How the liberal arts got that way: Summers' s fall as president of Harvard started 140 years ago. When it comes to case studies in failed management, l'affaire Larry provides excellent pointers for once and future chief executives. The U.S. News college ranking is harmful not only for the schools but for the students as well. A review of David Horowitz’s The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America, and Horowitz responds to his critics. And student, you're lazy! Professor, you're a zero

[Feb 27] A new issue of the Post-Autistic Economics Review is out, including William Kaye-Blake (Lincoln): Economics Is Structured Like a Language; and the results of Greatest Twentieth-Century Economists Poll. A new issue of The Economists’ Voice is out. A review of The New Development Economics: After the Washington Consensus. More on For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and their enemies. A review of David Runciman’s The Politics of Good Intentions: History, fear and hypocrisy in the New World Order. A review of Richard Pipes’ Russian Conservatism and its Critics: A Study of Political Culture. More and more on AC Grayling’s Among the Dead Cities. A review of The Destruction of Memory. Historian Dan Smail wants his colleagues to push the clock back--way back. A review of William Vollmann’s Uncentering the Earth. A review of Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago. More on Death's Door: Modern Dying and the Ways We Grieve. A review of Unspeak (and more and more). Can neuroscience really explain our deepest thoughts and emotions? A review of books. Adam Phillips on why psychoanalysts have no business acting like scientists. Across the city, novelists, artists, architects, musicians, playwrights, screenwriters and poets abandon their homes for café society. And a review of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

[Weekend 2e] From Axess, an article on how the world is being equalised by cheap labour, so globalisation will not, in the long run, favour western living standards, more on how small nations can adapt, and the transitions will not be easy, but progress is. From The Weekly Standard, too bad Harvard's president wouldn't take his own side in a quarrel, Peter Berkowitz explains. A profile of Jacques Attali, banker and champion of Marx. The Economist's focus on a single global readership may explain its growing success at a time when most magazines are experiencing declines in circulation. More on The Courtier and the Heretic. More on Breaking the Spell. For scientists eying distant planets for signs of alien activity, the first order of business is to keep an open mind. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what is plagiarism? The least sincere form? A genuine crime?

[Weekend] Archon Fung (Harvard): Practical Reasoning About Institutions: Governance Innovations in the Development of Democratic Theories pdf. Sanford Levinson (Texas): Disenchantment & Desire: What is to be Done doc. A review of Philosophy: The Latest Answers to the Oldest Questions. A review of The Cambridge Companion to Anselm. A review of Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others (and a response). A review of War in the Wild East: The German Army and Soviet Partisans. A review of AC Grayling's Among the Dead Cities: Was the Allied Bombing of Civilians in WWII a Necessity or a Crime? A review of Death's Door: Modern Dying and the Ways We Grieve: A Cultural Study. A review of Why Most Things Fail: Evolution, Extinction & Economics. A review of The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution, by Richard Dawkins. It’s not just intelligent design that scientists need to worry about — it’s witches. What does the research show? Do children do better academically in a single-sex or mixed environment? Americans work more, seem to accomplish less. The Historical Statistics of the United States is a book for people who love numbers. From Israel, here are three legal etudes. The bigger, the better? A British small publisher begs to differ. And as long as Google sells ads, publishers be damned

[Feb 24] From Intercollegiate Review, Rémi Brague (Sorbonne): Are Non-Theocratic Regimes Possible?; Mark Mitchell (PHU): The Homeless Modern; Christopher Olaf Blum (Christendom): On Being Conservative: Lessons from Louis de Bonald; Allan Carlson (HC): The Problem of Karl Polanyi; Joshua Hochschild (Mount St. Mary's): Globalization: Ancient and Modern; a review of The Right War; a review of The Myth of Hitler’s Pope and Righteous Gentiles; and a review of Equality, Decadence, and Modernity: The Collected Essays of Stephen J. Tonsor. From The Nation, an article on how Robert George, Princeton's star professor of jurisprudence, is intensifying conservatism's imprint on the university's curricula. From Mother Jones, an interview with Kwame Anthony Appiah. Tibor Machan calls Bruce Ackerman a liar. A review of Symbolism and Modern Urban Society. A review of A Mad, Bad and Dangerous People? England 1783-1846. Olga Gurova is helping to fill the information gap on underwear that developed during the cold war. From New Scientist, is our universe about to be mangled? An article on the latest from the wacky world of anti-senescence therapy. More on why Europe needs its very own research powerhouse--or maybe not. President Summers brought D.C. style to the university, and the faculty revolted. Peter Beinart on what Summers did wrong. The ousting of Larry Summers had more to do with the balance of power on campus than ideology. The legal defeat for student journalists and the debate over publishing Muhammad cartoons should worry academics. And what you don't know about Facebook: It may be more sinister than you think

[Feb 23] James Gordon Finlayson (Sussex): (1) Habermas’s Moral Cognitivism and the Frege-Geach Challenge; (2) The Theory of Ideology and the Ideology of Theory? Habermas contra Adorno; and (3) Adorno on the Ethical and the Ineffable. From The Red Critique, an essay on the opportunism of the transpatriotic Left, articles on race theory, global networks and culture, anti-communism, and reading, and why is the new family so familiar? A review of The Cambridge Companion to Montaigne. More from Prospect: The historian AJP Taylor was one of the first "telly dons." But over the years, those who admired him, as a scholar, stylist and gadfly, have gradually been disabused; and Arab and Islamic scholarship is dying in the west. Edward Said must share the blame. Summers was an Ivy Mack Truck: An article on what Larry Summers's resignation means for Harvard and the university system. A look at what President Summers never learned about Harvard. What does demise of Summers' Harvard presidency suggest about academic leadership, faculty power and women in science? In modern academe, leaders face spotlight. Neglectful rulers and faddish aid policies have led to the steady decline of African universities. Are they now due for a rebirth? Is your professor a red jalapeño pepper? From Scientific American, an article on unlocking the secrets of longevity genes. From Business Week, Hans Rosling's brainchild, a nonprofit called Gapminder, uses interactive design to render global statistics comprehensible. With the Olympics, we mark the passage of time and it serves as a cultural marker of geo-politics, spectacle, instant celebrity and Shakesperean plot lines, a full on party with a global outlook: Guy Debord would be rolling in his grave. From The Morning News, an interview with Andrew Delbanco, author of Melville: His World and Work. James Wood on why realism in fiction is nothing like as naive as its opponents claim. And is French gastronomy out? Has it been replaced by the much more happening "fooding"?

[Feb 22] From APSA, the editors of PS: Political Science and Politics invite contributions to a symposium on the state of the editorial cartoon. From Egypt, here's the introduction to a new quarterly, Beyond, and its first three issues. A review of Naturalistic Hermeneutics. A review of Persons and Passions: Essays in Honor of Annette Baier. A review of Mediterranean Paradigms and Classical Antiquity. A review of The Cambridge Companion to The Age of Justinian. A review of Creating East and West: Renaissance Humanists and the Ottoman Turks. A review of The Weekly War: Newsmagazines and Vietnam. Michael Shermer on natural scams "he" doesn't want you to know about. The European Union is to unveil plans for the creation of a rival to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From America, a review of I'm the Teacher, You're the Student: A Semester in the University Classroom, and a review of When Jesus Came to Harvard Making Moral Choices Today. Harvard president Larry Summers resigns (and more and more and more; and more from Boston Magazine). Scott McLemee on David Horowitz's The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America, and a question for David Horowitz: "Will there be future editions of The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America? If so, can you give any advice to academics who would like to be listed?" An excerpt from Why Truth Matters, by Ophelia Benson and Jeremy Stangroom. Philosopher Agnes Heller wins the 2006 Sonning Prize for her efforts to explore European culture. A review of Beyond the Gray Flannel Suit: Books from the 1950’s That Made American Culture. And a review of Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America

[Feb 21] From German Law Journal, a special issue on the publication of Darker Legacies of Law in Europe: The Shadow of National Socialism and Fascism over Europe and its Legal Traditions, with contributions by Hauke Brunkhorst, Martti Koskenniemi, and William Scheuerman, among others. A review of The Penguin Freud Reader. Therapy goes beyond the couch: Book, websites, DVDs and even MP3s are helping patients help themselves. A review of Darwin: The Indelible Stamp: the evolution of an idea, and Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral. Science comes to the masses (you want fries with that?) Obituary: Historian Paul Avrich. A review of War and the Ivory Tower. An article on the attacks on America’s Middle East Studies. Serious bloggers: Academics should worry less and experiment more with their online writing. Students continue to take the risk in plagiarism, perhaps partly because the consequences tend not to be so dire after all. Javier Marías on what his collection of portraits can tell us about writers. A look at how not to translate situationist texts. And from Literate Values, here are Some Thoughts on Herbert Marcuse vs. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World; an essay on How Never to Write a “Scholarly Article”: On Falling Afoul of Academic Bigotry; and an article on Paleocons vs. Neocons in Board Wargames

[Feb 20] George Bragues (Guelph): David Hume vs. Thomas Reid: Is Justice Socially Constructed or Natural? William Bull (London): Rights and Duties Under the Law of Nature: Contractarianism and the Moral Status of Animals. Btihaj Ajana (London): Surveillance and Biopolitics pdf. Michael Carolan (CSU): Ecologically Embedded Sociology pdf. Leonard Seabrooke (Copenhagen): John A. Hobson as Economic Sociologist. Thomas Nale and Anne-Marie Slaughter (Princeton): Transparency: Possibilities and Limitations pdf. Larry Alexander (San Diego) and Larry Solum (Illinois): Popular? Constitutionalism? From ISSR, Ben Dorfman (Aalborg): Thinking the world: a comment on philosophy of history and globalization studies, and an essay on the Westphalia overstatement. The latest issue of Inclusive Democracy is now online, and here's the text of the recently published book, The Multidimensional Crisis and Inclusive Democracy, by Takis Fotopoulos. The latest issue of Portal: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, on social movements, is now online. The first chapter from The Family and the Political Self. From The Chronicle, CUNY's Phyllis Chesler on the failure of feminism, and an essay on the consequences of sex selection. Having a son tends to make parents more conservative, it appears, while a daughter makes them more liberal. A crime-fighting theory that says stopping major crimes begins with stopping small ones has influenced policing strategies since the 1980s. But scholars are starting to question whether fixing broken windows really fixes much at all. Nobel laureate John Polanyi on an optimistic view of our progression toward a civilized, peaceful world. An article on Bastiat's legacy in economics. A review of Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power. From Great Britain, fewer students are doing humanities degrees; one minister says it's no bad thing. So this brief primer should suffice. And the Department of Government at Essex will host a Graduate Conference in Political Theory on 12-13 of May with the theme "The Many and the One: Hospitality and the Limits of Pluralism"

[Weekend 2e] John Bromme (Oxford): Ought pdf. Stephen Brown (Briar Cliff): Really Naturalizing Virtue pdf. From the Graduate Journal of Social Science, a special issue on unity in social science, including an editorial, Dominic Holland (Sheffield): Unifying Social Science: A Critical Realist Approach; Jerouen Van Bouwel (Ghent): Division of Labour in the Social Science Versus the Politics of Metaphysics; Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther (UNAM): An Obstacle in Unification in Biological Science; Marcel Scheele (Leiden): Social Facts from an Analytical Perspective: The Example of Institutions as a Unifying Notion in the Social Sciences; André van Dokkum (FTRA): Interdisciplinarity in the Social Sciences: Bateson’s Problem, Analytical Philosophy and Anthropology; and Peter Caws (GWU): First and Second Order Unification in the Social and Human Sciences pdf. From Axess, a special issue on The Two Cultures, including Mats Benner (Lund): Humanising Biology; Arne Jarrick (Stockholm): Cultural Beings vs. Natural Beings; Janken Myrdal (SUAS): Interdisciplinary crafts; and an essay on why the humanities must respond to the challenge, to create a unified theory of culture and science. Mathematical proof used to mean absolute certainty. But today's proofs often are so long and complex that it's practically impossible for anyone to read one, let alone verify it, so while the definition of a proof hasn't changed, what has changed is the basis for determining a claimed proof is correct. More on Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell. Science can’t speak to the existence of the soul, says Richard Swinburne, a defiant dualist. On philosophy and doctrinal tensions: What happens when scripture and philosophy contradict? At Notre Dame and other religious universities, there are increasing disputes over faith and academic freedom. And an essay on the social production of american identity: Standardized testing reform in the US

[Weekend] From Ctheory, Alexander R. Galloway (NYU): Warcraft and Utopia; Thierry Bardini (Montréal): Hypervirus: A Clinical Report; and Avi Rosen (Tel Aviv): Art at the Event Horizon. The first chapter from Nietzsche, Biology and Metaphor. A review of Near and Far: On the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas. A review of Sartre, Foucault and Historical Reason, Volume 2: A Poststructuralist Mapping of History. More on Kwame Anthony Appiah's Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers. A review of The Great Wall: China Against the World, 1000 BC-2000 AD. A review of Globalizing Roman Culture: Unity, Diversity and Empire. A review of Why This New Race: Ethnic Reasoning in Early Christianity. More on Voltaire Almighty: A Life in Pursuit of Freedom. A review of The Road to Seneca Falls: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the First Woman's Rights Convention, Untidy Origins: A Story of Woman's Rights in Antebellum New York, and A Very Dangerous Woman: Martha Wright and Women's Rights. A review of The Lights That Failed. European International History, 1919–1933, a review of Russia’s First World War: A Social and Economic History, and a review of Forgotten Lunatics of the Great War . From Business Week, Tony Marx has a radical plan to get more poor kids into top colleges, starting with Amherst (and more). Pop quiz: Is the cost of a college education worth it? (No.) Is there an alternative? (Yes.) Yale considers controversial figure Juan Cole for new faculty position. From Science, contrary to conventional wisdom, it is not always advantageous to engage in thorough conscious deliberation before choosing, as scientists have some remarkable new advice for anyone who is struggling to make a difficult decision: Stop thinking about it. A review of Infinite Ascent: A Short History of Mathematics. A review of Language, Culture and Mind. A review of A History of Old Age. Sir Peter Strawson, died this week, full of years and honour. He was a fine man. Even so, his career had no meaning. Being bored is not only an important part of the German philosophical tradition. It can actually be a lot of fun. And it keeps the German police forces busy

[Feb 17] From Philosophy Now, a special issue on Russia, including an introduction; a review of Motherland: a Philosophical History of Russia (and an interview with author Lesley Chamberlain); a report from the 4th Russian Congress of Philosophy, where Victor Sadovnichiy spoke of sagacity and sophiology; and Socrates continues to carry out his divinely-inspired dialogic mission. A review of The Future of Hegel. A review of Teleological Realism: Mind, Agency, and Explanation. The first chapter from The Greek Tradition in Republican Thought, the first chapter from The Cambridge Companion to Kant and Modern Philosophy, and the first chapter from Kant's Cosmopolitan Theory of Law and Peace. Here are the latest reviews from the Law and Politics Book Review. Thy Kingdom Come: Here are excerpts from America’s Providential History. Damn those Communists! They're trying to win the Cold War in retrospect. The sad fact of political science is that politics trumps economics—and always will, unfortunately. Gathering to discuss bills to promote competitiveness, House members end up talking about dating and culture. From Princeton, a forum on the ends and means of pedagogy in the university. Positive Psychology is the most popular course at Harvard. Is happy the new sad? Not only are physically unattractive teenagers likely to be stay-at-homes on prom night, they're also more likely to grow up to be criminals. Even white boys got to shout "Baby got math". Joel Marks discusses a moral moment: Real epistemology, or on being your own scientist. From Austria, Anton Zeilinger talks about teleportation, the information stored in a human being and freedom in physics. How life on Earth got going is still mysterious, but not for want of ideas. Michael Gazzaniga on why all clones are not the same. Some day the sun will go out and the world will end (but don't tell anyone). And a review of Suicide: Theory, Practice and Investigation

[Feb 16] From the latest issue of the Journal of Memetics, Marion Blute (Toronto): Memetics and evolutionary social science; an essay on Using Memetics to Grow Memetics; Bruce Edmonds (MMU): The revealed poverty of the gene-meme analogy: why memetics per se has failed to produce substantive results; and an esay on Finding a Niche for Memetics in the 21st Century. From The New Atlantis, Misha Angrist and Robert Cook-Deegan (Duke): Who Owns the Genome?; Charles Rubin (Duquesne): The Rhetoric of Extinction; a look at the trouble with the Turing Test; an essay on the age of neuroelectronics; a review of Michael Gazzaniga's The Ethical Brain; an excerpt from Glenn Reynolds's An Army of Davids; and are we worthy of our kitchens? A review of Philosophical and Theological Writings of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. A review of Donald Davidson: Meaning, Truth, Language, and Reality. Obituary: Peter Strawson (and more and more). The first chapter from Knowledge and Inquiry, on the pragmatism of Isaac Levi. The first chapter from Modernizing England's Past: English Historiography in the Age of Modernism, 1870–1970. From TLS, a review of Framing the Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400–800 and Europe After Rome: A new cultural history 500–1000, Christopher Hitchens reviews Robert Conquest's The Dragons of Expectation: Reality and delusion in the course of history, and a review of Consuming Silences: How we read authors who don’t publish. From The Scientist, on the hidden costs of fundamentalism: a connection exists between disease outbreaks and extreme religious practice. God, Grades, and the Gospel: An article on the rise of Christian schools. From Salon, worried about the steadily declining number of male students, some universities appear to be practicing affirmative action for men. Research suggests women benefit more than men from having same-gender examples of success. Scott McLemee takes a look at Harry Frankfurt’s The Reasons of Love. Two former law students take a stab at codifying the laws of dating, courtship and relationships. And literary snobs have always been rude about romantic fiction, but the genre is one of the oldest and most distinguished in literature and the writing has never been more interesting

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