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July 1, 2009
 So researchers in Arizona thought to poll Arizona High School students on questions from a U.S. citizenship test. Six out of ten is passing. But only 3.5% of the students got six or more right — how disturbing is that? To me, anybody over sixteen who couldn't get ten out of ten has something wrong with them. John Stuart Mill used to argue that people with college educations should get an extra vote, or two, or more, depending on the eminence of their education. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm inclined to agree with Robert A. Heinlein, as in Starship Troopers , who argued that not everybody should be allowed a vote. Why not have tests to qualify, just like a driver test? Minimum competency in political/general knowledge required.
June 29, 2009
 Coming up Friday my guest is James K. Galbraith, this time speaking to me from Switzerland. A shorter show than usual, just checking in on the economic headlines. The week following, Friday July 10th, my guest will be Niels Harrit, the lead author of a recent peer-reviewed scientific paper (.pdf) that analyzes trace nano-thermite residue in dust samples collected in lower Manhattan immediately after 9/11 — I'm very curious to see, and have not yet seen, how 9/11 "debunkers" will try to explain the presence of an exotic explosive compound found at the scene of the crime. On Friday, July 17th, my guest will be the absolutely brilliant French intellectual Dr. Jacques Sapir, director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, which so far as I know is the top research establishment in France for the social sciences. Jacques knows a thing or two that the American left might well learn from; without any hesitation I strongly commend this podcast to you. As a footnote, and I'm not quite sure how to interpret this, about 35% of the EP podcast audience is now from outside the U.S. Thanks, you all, old and new listeners alike!
June 28, 2009
 I just don't get it. I've never gotten it. The only thing I found mildly interesting about Michael Jackson was his moonwalk, but that moonwalk shouldn't, for example, merit any of the all-too-common comparisons between him and Fred Astaire. Whereas Fred Astaire could dance divinely and was sensible to an astonishing range of fine emotions, Michael Jackson was typically limited to spastic gestures and he had no couth. None. Whatever talent Jackson may have had when he was young long ago became overshadowed by his perverted, erratic behavior and his self-maiming by repeat plastic surgery. He'd become nothing but an American freak show. What I really don't get is why so many people still fawn over his memory and why so few people are willing to point out that being a mega-famous child molester does not make being a child molester OK. Surely better role models exist? I'm sadly disappointed by all of the bathos.
June 27, 2009
 If you think it's important to cut carbon emissions then you tax carbon. But blackboard "free market" ideologues have come up with an ingenious system of cap and trade that, if implemented, will create a multi-trillion dollar market for non-transparent carbonized financial products. To understand just how unworkable such a scheme is, it's only necessary to know that the Democrats rammed a 1,300 page bill through the U.S. House of Representatives (sic) in the dead of night, with little debate. Not one single member of Congress — I guarantee you — can explain how cap and trade will work in practice. But if you think credit default swaps are a good idea then you're going to love cap and trade.
Continue reading "Fake Environmentalism"...
June 26, 2009
 Over at CounterPunch today, Jeffrey St. Clair has an outstanding essay on Mr. Obama's anti-environmental helpers. Which raises the question: Is Mr. Obama basically a decent, intelligent, well-intended person who's inclined to make too many compromises with himself in the face of political pressure, or something else? A preponderance of prima facie evidence — not least from environmental policy — now strongly suggests the latter, that Mr. Obama acts from more malign motives, that he is a consummate double-crosser who's honed his public patter to a perfect pitch, and that he can be counted on to attempt to do the wrong thing. If there's a silver lining here it's that he's also repeatedly demonstrated weakness in the face of determined criticism. To put it bluntly: he's gutless. Progressives will have to take advantage of that whenever the opportunity arises.
June 24, 2009
 Let me make a flat, unambiguous prediction: If Mr. Obama does not produce a health care reform plan with a true public option, he's toast. He may well be toast in any case, on account of his escalations in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq, and an ever-lengthening list of "Bush-like" and "Bush-plus" policies. But health care is the deal-breaker. It seems to be obvious now to most Americans that the reason we don't have a sensible national health care system is because the monopolistic U.S. health care lobby doesn't want it; less obvious is what the large majority of Americans who favor a public option will do if betrayed by their elected representatives. We're being treated as if we're just plain stupid — maybe we are, but maybe we're not, not yet... the next step being for a lot of people to say that our government is illegitimate. My guess is that that's coming regardless, sooner rather than later if health care isn't fixed.
June 16, 2009
 According to the CIA factbook, the median age in Iran is 27, which is relatively young (in the U.S. the median is 36.7, in the UK 40.2, Russia 38.4, China 34.1, and France 39.4). Young, and evidently willing to die in order for their votes to be counted. That's quite a stark contrast with the U.S., where in 2000 the presidential election was clearly stolen and, notwithstanding a few scattered murmurs of disapproval, nobody actually did anything about it.
Continue reading "Iran's Gen X"...
 Stem Rust has always been a problem for domesticated wheat crops. Over time, by and large, it had been brought under control. Until now. Ug99, named for Uganda 1999 — where and when this particular strain of Rust was discovered — has the potential to devastate world wide wheat production: perhaps by as much as an 80% reduction. Ug99's natural diffusion already puts Africa and Asia at imminent risk. And sooner or later the rest of the world's wheat crops will become exposed. (One might even suppose that a bio-terrorist could try to bring a container full of Ug99 into the U.S.) So there's a race against time to develop new, resistant varieties of wheat. Hopefully, Washington will spend enough on research to avert a catastrophe.
June 7, 2009
 Back in late January I bought a new 2009 Jeep Wrangler. It has problems. From the get-go the roof — a three piece hard-top with two removable panels that's supposed to emulate a convertible — leaked. I didn't get around to taking it back for repairs until mid-May (somehow, every year from Christmas to Easter I always have way too much to do), and by then I'd discovered a second problem. When warm weather appeared and I first turned on the air conditioning I just got hot air. Thus the saga of my experience with the underbelly of the U.S. automobile industry began...
Continue reading ""Chrysler Makes Them, We Just Sell Them""...
June 3, 2009
 In the mid-sixties my Dad worked at the U.S. mission to the common market, in Brussels. So the family did lots of traveling around Europe, including a fair number of trips to England. There, I discovered kippers. In later years, however, whenever I would buy a can of kippers, or order kippers in a restaurant, I got something other than the delicacy of memory. Something usually kind of tough, overly salted, maybe even with too many bones. In short, Yuck!
Continue reading "Kippers"...
 It pains me more than I can say to agree with David Brooks. Nor is it a question of the stopped clock being right twice a day. No, this time he's got a genuine, giant nugget of insight: In his Monday column he argues that the GM bailout won't work because it doesn't change — indeed it reinforces — GM's bureaucratic culture of failure.
Continue reading "The Coming GM Debacle"...
June 2, 2009
 OK, no more "benefit of the doubt." Wall Street bailouts get complicated, perhaps it's not reasonable to expect people to understand them. Give health insurers escape hatches from a national program, who'll even notice? Mountaintop removal for coal mining, that's a different story. The world tends to automatically classify people into two groups: those who wish to follow a lofty purpose in life, however imperfectly, and those who grub around in the dirt for advantage. At this point I really don't care what Mr. Obama's speeches sound like: his actions speak louder than his words.
Continue reading "Mr. Coal"...
May 30, 2009
 With his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court at least one thing has become clear: Mr. Obama is not now by any stretch of the imagination a liberal, but someone of the conservative leaning center-right. That's better than having an ultra-rightwing ideologue as President, but by how much? It's also worth noting that of the Catholics now on the Court, four — Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito — are ultra-rightwingers, and the fifth, Kennedy (who, let's not forget, was Reagan's back-up for Bork), as a sometimes swing vote obviously disappoints his original constituency. Setting aside the, to me, tremendously interesting question why in theory Catholic jurists would tend to be conservatives, in practice the Catholic Supremes have repeatedly demonstrated that they are mainly interested in two things: "how do we figure out what the rule is?" and "how do we get around the rule?" They have little to no interest in using notions about justice to determine what the rule of law should be.
Continue reading "The Wages of Falsity"...
May 29, 2009
 I'm just back from the Sibley Hospital emergency room. Seems I've got pneumonia. I knew something wasn't right. In fact, yesterday I had a couple serious scares that I was about to suffocate when I couldn't draw a breath. After X-rays and blood work (the latter was fine, the former showed fluid in my right lung) Sibley wanted to admit me but I promised to take it easy and rest so they just gave me some prescriptions and sent me home. Haven't had pneumonia before. Most unpleasant.
May 25, 2009
 A couple weeks ago Barack Obama and Joe Biden dropped in at Ray's Hell Burger in Arlington to get lunch. Which automatically made the place super famous. In the current issue of Washingtonian magazine, cover story top cheap eats in the area, Ray's shows up again, though the magazine says explicitly it's not because of the presidential visit. I figured I should give Ray's a try. I went Saturday, with Sharon, and it's damn good. The owner has put all the money into the food and the staff. There's not even a sign outside, the tables are cheap, covered by even cheaper plastic film, and it's definitely not a place to loiter with company. It's a place to eat. The ten ounce burgers, from hand-trimmed aged prime beef, are simply outstanding. As are the toppings. (You would not believe the toppings.) Figure $10-20 per person, a real deal. You can spend more if you want to splurge. The only better burger I know of in the area is from Palena's, at about $15 (though you'd be lucky to get out of Palena, for two, under a hundred bucks, including salad, french fries, drinks and dessert). If you're in or around DC, and like burgers, go to Ray's. You can thank me later.
 A slight modification from last week's podcast announcement. This Friday, May 29th, my guest will be Rolf Mowatt-Larsson, talking about nuclear terrorism (recorded Monday). It's timely, given North Korea's second nuclear bomb test. Following Rolf, on June 5th my guest will be Roger Morris in a return visit to EP, and on June 12th, Graham E. Fuller, a former senior CIA analyst and former Chief of Station Kabul, talking about various things.
 Sometimes I visit the Vietnam Memorial over Memorial Day — it's fun to watch the Rolling Thunder cavalcade — but I'm always bothered by the fact that there's no mention of either the Vietnamese we killed, or those that died fighting on our side. Once I pointed this out to a Park Ranger and for a moment I thought he might arrest me. Ah well... To help get past the saccharine spirit of the holiday, I commend to you a classic war movie: A Bridge Too Far (1977). Directed by the brilliant Richard Attenborough, not to be confused with his brother Sir David, the film has one of the all-time all-star casts in cinematic history. For a variety of reasons, including its questionable historical accuracy (it's only moderately critical of Montgomery and the implementation of his plan, where it should have been savage), it's not a great film. It is, nevertheless, a great effort at capturing the meaninglessness of war.
May 23, 2009
 The writer Henning Mankell has sold a lot of books. Some of them are actually very, very good. Some of them aren't. Mankell is erratic in a way that, for example, Dashiell Hammett never is — even Hammett's lesser works are well worth reading whereas Mankell's can easily be abandoned half-way through — and even at his best Mankell tends to plod where Hammett soars. Mankell is no genius. It's good news for him, then, that the BBC picked the Irish actor Kenneth Branagh, who is a genius, to play Wallander in a three part series. Parts one and two have already aired, part three airs the 31st, on PBS. Also forthcoming soon on DVD. Branagh's performance as the imperfect detective who copes the best he can is magnificent, stunning. Supporting cast is marvelous. The plot lines are a bit odd, but that's how Mankell wrote them. Well worth watching.
May 22, 2009
 It's difficult not to notice Dick Cheney defending torture. Just last night, for example, Keith Olbermann asked his guest, Larry Wilkerson, why Cheney is on the warpath. Lots of people are asking. And it's interesting to speculate. My take is that Cheney has figured out that Mr. Obama isn't capable of fighting back, so he's pushing him around simply because he can. Part of it, of course, is logical self-protection: Cheney sees that Mr. Obama caves before any and every establishment interest, and while Cheney knows that the U.S. establishment isn't going anywhere soon on the torture question (indeed, Mr. Obama seems quite happy to retain most Bush administration policies regarding detainees and to conveniently forget about the laws that have been broken), Cheney also knows that an international consensus is brewing to the effect that some kind of punishment for past misdeeds may well be appropriate and that this is exactly the sort of process with which Mr. Obama is likely to compromise. To fend off the bad news it makes sense to go on the offense. But more than that, clearly Cheney enjoys jabbing at an inert — and quite possibly empty — suit.
May 16, 2009
 All the top lawyers representing defendants in Agent Orange litigation are still busy fighting off crippled Vietnam veterans, it seems, so Mr. Obama nominated instead a top lawyer who represents the largest superfund toxic polluter to head the Department of Justice's environment division. Before being sworn in as President it was the (so-called) little things that gave concern: nominee after nominee from the center or center-right for key positions. As President, the troubling decisions have turned from a trickle, into a stream, and then a flood. It's perfectly fair at this point to say that Mr. Obama owns the Great Recession; he owns the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan; he owns Guantanamo and the entire, continuing cover-up of past criminal activity, including torture; he owns the burgeoning apparatus of illegal state surveillance; he owns the health care crisis; and now he owns the give-aways to environmental predators. The list goes on. It's true that the left gets a few crumbs, certainly more than under the previous criminal regime, but it would be a critical error to be grateful. I'm not.
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July 3, 2009
 The U.S. economy doesn't appear (anymore) to be falling off a cliff. On the other hand, bottoming out doesn't equal a recovery and we're still losing an awful lot of jobs. Jolly times with record bonuses for the bankers, but not so good for most people. For an economic update I turned again to James K. Galbraith, who's much more sensible than most economists. So sensible that he's less concerned with theory than with what works. It's always great to talk with James and I always manage to learn something new. Total runtime thirty nine minutes. Be pragmatical!
June 26, 2009
 Not many newsrooms anymore have staff reporters who had covered Vietnam. George Wilson did, in 1968 and 1972, and he also covered the Second Gulf War in 2003. After over fifty years as a print reporter George is still working, now with the National Journal's CongressDaily... having that much experience, when George makes comparisons between Vietnam and Afghanistan we should pay attention. This conversation starts with Afghanistan and moves on to include a wide range of military topics. It was extremely kind of George to take time to talk with me, for which I'm very grateful. Total runtime an hour and five minutes.
June 19, 2009
 "We're fighting in Afghanistan so that the Taliban don't attack New York." Well, no, I don't believe that. In fact, I have yet to hear a succinct explanation for why the U.S. is in Afghanistan. If staying in Afghanistan were to help stabilize Pakistan that might make some sense, but things don't seem to be working that way. Instead, we're seeing pretty much the opposite effect. So, why? To try to sift through some of the issues and to get a sense of the larger picture I turned to Graham E. Fuller, a former CIA Chief of Station in Kabul and, later in his career, a very senior analyst. It was extremely kind of Graham to take the time and I very much appreciate having had the opportunity to talk with him. It's always a pleasure to hear from a real professional. Total runtime an hour and thirteen minutes (transcript here). Stop the War. Now.
June 12, 2009
 One might not suspect that the sociology of knowledge has much to do with foreign policy, or how government works, but it does. Except that it takes somebody quite brilliant, learned, experienced, and reasonably idealistic to understand the connections. For an intense tutorial in policy failures (and hints for success), I turned again to Roger Morris. It was very kind of Roger to take the time and I always enjoy his company. Total runtime an hour and twenty one minutes. Live for the future!
June 5, 2009
 The North Koreans don't want a war. It's not entirely clear whether Washington feels the same way. Following Pyongyang's second test of a nuclear device, and new missiles, rhetoric from both sides is reaching dangerous levels. To get some perspective on what's happening I turned once again to Dr. Bruce Cumings, perhaps the top U.S. expert on Korea, certainly one of the most sensible. It's always great to talk with Bruce and to get a reassuring dose of sanity. Total runtime one hour. Don't be fooled again!
May 29, 2009
 If, heuristically, we ask what the world would be like if an additional one or two dozen state actors possessed nuclear weapons, the answer is obvious: terrorists would have exponentially greater opportunities to steal a nuclear device or the materials with which to make one. Conversely, if the current crowd of nuclear weapons states were to make significant cuts in inventories, with the goal of zero, and pursue with greatly increased urgency international controls over explosive nuclear material, everyone on the planet would be much safer. Obviously, again, the latter course is to be preferred. To get at these critical problems I turned to Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, until this January the U.S. government's top anti-nuclear terrorism official. Rolf, a veteran CIA operator, has a solid — and subtle — understanding of what's happening and what needs to be done. It was very kind of him to talk with me, though somehow I feel less reassured that things are under control. Total runtime an hour and four minutes. Make nuclear disarmament a top priority!
May 22, 2009
 Israel could not do what's it's doing to the Palestinians if it were not for unconditional American support. So when the Israelis practice Apartheid, when they commit war crimes in Gaza, when they oppress the Palestinians at every turn... America is directly responsible. Most Americans (if and when they think about it) think that the Palestinian struggle is far away and not their problem. But that's wrong. The ideas and the behavior that we underwrite are profoundly malignant and they boomerang, insidiously, to distort American politics. We must not make fatal compromises on basic principles. To get at some of these questions I turned to George Bisharat, a real champion of the rule of law, and advocate of a non-violent path toward a single state solution for Israel, with equal rights and equal justice for all its citizens. A most worthy goal. Total runtime an hour and eleven minutes. Think long-term.
May 15, 2009
 One might suppose that with all that's been written about JFK there's little new to add. One would be wrong. Not exactly the cold warrior of conventional history, Jack Kennedy was turning, in a radical way, toward peace. It was too much for certain secret American power-brokers, who killed him. James W. Douglass does us a tremendous service with his revisionist history, JFK and the Unspeakable, which offers the most dramatic reminder that we can choose — indeed, that we must choose — not to have a militarized, warlike society. It was very kind of Jim to talk with me and I learned a great deal. I cannot recommend his book highly enough. Total runtime an hour and ten minutes. Dulce bellum inexpertis. ☮
May 8, 2009
 It takes a great deal of courage to admit a mistake on a controversial decision, even years after the fact. Virtually nobody gives you credit. You may even feel stupid. But history appreciates candor and that should afford some solace. Norm Stamper is probably most remembered, at the moment, for his being Chief of Police in Seattle during the 1999 WTO "Battle in Seattle." OK, he didn't handle it too well. Case closed. On many issues, nevertheless, Norm is a veritable beacon of enlightenment, to whom we should pay close attention. Legalize all drugs, he says. End the death penalty, he says. Don't imprison as many people, he says. Control police at a local level, he says. So much sense no wonder The Nation press published his book, Breaking Rank. It was a great pleasure to talk with Norm and he's pretty much convinced me that he's right on the issue of drug legalization. Total runtime an hour and sixteen minutes. Listen twice!
May 1, 2009
 The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is the Rosetta Stone of American politics. Was it a conspiracy and if so who, or what, was behind it? From a completely new direction Russ Baker has taken a thoughtful, massively researched look at the Bush family's involvement, as part of his larger study of Bush family political intrigue. As Russ puts it, an alternative title might be "Everything You Think You Know About American Politics Is Wrong." More suggestive than conclusive, Family of Secrets proves, nevertheless, that the gatekeepers aren't giving us the straight story. It was kind of Russ to talk with me and I hope we can do it again. Total runtime an hour and ten minutes. Think deeply.
April 24, 2009
 It takes courage to oppose our national obsession with war, particularly when one makes their opposition a vocation. And it's doubly rare to find such determination combined with a subtle intelligence and the experience to keep cultural differences in perspective. Susan Galleymore, born in South Africa and a naturalized American, has much to teach us about following our conscience. And please don't miss her outstanding program, Raising Sand Radio. Total runtime an hour and fourteen minutes. Happy Mother's Day a couple weeks early!
April 17, 2009
 Unusual for a denizen of Washington D.C., Sam Smith was born here. Now that he's pulling up stakes for small town life in Maine it'll be interesting to see whether, and how, his perspective on national issues changes. At any rate, thank goodness, he'll keep on producing his marvelous and unique Progressive Review. It's a national treasure, as is he. This one is a bit of a ramble — for which I take full responsibility. Total runtime an hour and twelve minutes. Enjoy!
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