Ruth Wisse Preempts Sandra vs. Ketan
The fundamental liberal/conservative split on whether or not to celebrate bin Laden's death.
Articles By: Jeffrey Kalmus 
Jeffrey Kalmus '12 is the Online Editor for the Harvard Political Review.
Reflections on Intervention and Air Power, Via Che
America's air commitments in Libya now and in Latin America decades before carry the symbolic thrust of its power.
Time to Get a New Homepage…
… if Firefox currently opens to the NY Times but you don’t want to pay the $15 per month that an online subscription will cost. If you choose to search for a replacement, think about what the mini-exodus from the popular news site will mean for journalistic diversity and an informed citizenry. If you choose to pony up the cash, [...]
Budget Battle Lines
David Gregory hosted White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley this morning on Meet the Press, and the two spoke at length about Daley’s efforts to avoid a government shutdown. Those efforts involve substantial negotiation with Speaker John Boehner (Surprisingly, Paul Ryan’s name didn’t come up in the clip). Gregory asked Daley a great question about Boehner’s power as a [...]
Peretz Losing Pull at TNR
The New York Post reports that Marty Peretz is stepping down from his role as editor-in-chief of The New Republic. Further, Peretz seems to be on the losing side of an internal struggle over his writing. In his New York Times profile of Peretz earlier this week, Steven Rodrick writes that Multiple New Republic staff members told me that The [...]
John Kyl Helps Obama Relive His College Days
From the New York Times: “Senate Leader Deals Blow to President on Arms Treaty.” It’s as if Charlie Wilson were minority whip. Photo Credit: Flickr (Chuckumentary)
Weighing In: 63% Believe Climate Change is Happening
Last week, Danny Wilson, our environment columnist, posted a very thorough analysis of a very thorough Yale report about climate change. He notes that Only 39% [of respondents] believe that “most scientists think global warming is happening.” This statistic is by far the most damning, and the most revealing. I agree that this is the most damning of the findings [...]
Wind Farms: Green
In an op-ed this morning, Crimson columnist and HPRgument blogger Eli Martin argues that “wind energy is not as perfect as it might appear; a closer inspection reveals that it does not meaningfully reduce our reliance on non-renewable energy sources.” The gist of Eli’s argument is that the “unpredictability of wind power” requires about 80 percent backup power, which “means [...]
Weighing in: China in the Lead
Earlier this week, Will Rafey argued convincingly that “China, moving rapidly into the void left by U.S. inaction, is poised to leap beyond the U.S. and seize control of the emerging clean energy economy.” What he didn’t argue convincingly is that this matters. It doesn’t. For our fall Business of America issue, Will himself wrote in his excellent article “Clean [...]
Swine Flu Still Exists
Thought we were through? Not quite, says an article in the New York Times. At least the round-the-clock oil spill coverage hasn’t made everyone hysterical like the swine flu coverage did.
“Public Employees who Make a Lot of Money” Journalism
I’m sure this genre has been around as long as some public employees have made large salaries, but I’ve noticed a couple of recent such articles which I’d like to discuss. One is a Politico article about Capitol Police officers who make up to $175,000, with forty-four of them earning more than the average House chief of staff. Another is [...]
Memorial Day Reading
This afternoon, I came across George Orwell’s “Revenge is Sour” in a collection of his essays. Originally published in the Tribune in November 1945, it speaks to the emptiness of revenge and — more topically for today — to the disconnect between civilians and soldiers in war. Below is the final paragraph: The Belgian averted his face as we went [...]
The Quants Revisited
I reviewed Scott Patterson’s book The Quants for our summer issue, and I’d like to expand upon my conclusion. I wrote: The professors are the new barons of Wall Street, and they appear poised to accrue even more power. They are like “civil engineers … after a bridge collapse,” Patterson writes: they’re to blame, but they’re also needed for the [...]
