 | Susan Rice could have said no Nov 24th 2012, 23:37 Edwin M. Yoder Jr. [letters, Nov. 20] criticized Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) for holding U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice accountable for her remarks immediately after the attack in Libya. He claimed that their "insinuation that the ambassador was merely flacking for the White House is too insulting to be countenanced." Read full article >>   | | Public complicity in oil spills Nov 24th 2012, 23:35 It is a relief to see BP finally agreeing to plead guilty to its crimes [front page, Nov. 16], but we mustn't forget the millions of people who should also be held accountable. In the United States, the consumer receives what the consumer desires, and BP and other major drilling companies will continue their search for oil as long as the public demands the product. Read full article >>   | | The war vets fight at home Nov 24th 2012, 23:33 E.J. Dionne Jr.'s homage to the mid-level and noncommissioned officers who are the backbone of the our military ["What the captains can teach us," op-ed, Nov. 22] was appreciated and rightly reminded Americans that it is these people, not the generals, who have borne the heaviest burdens of the past 11 years of unremitting deployments and the unique challenges of counterinsurgency warfare. Read full article >>   | | Editorial Board: Fiscal fundamentalists Nov 24th 2012, 23:29 ON NOV. 16, PRESIDENT Obama and congressional leaders of both parties emerged from their first post-election sit-down pledging to find a compromise on the budget. The tone of reason has made purists on both sides of the aisle nervous. Grover Norquist, leader of the never-raise-taxes brigade, is insisting that Republicans give no ground. Three big unions have launched an ad campaign warning moderate Democratic senators not to countenance any cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security or education. "Voters are going to be watching," an official with the Service Employees International Union warned during a conference call with reporters Tuesday. Read full article >>   | | Editorial Board: Beyond the law in China Nov 24th 2012, 23:23 THE LEADERS of China talk about corruption as if it were merely a failure of party discipline. The new general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, became the latest to suggest this in a speech delivered just after his rise to the top post on Nov. 17. "We must be vigilant," Mr. Xi declared, warning that corruption threatens to corrode both the party and state. Read full article >>   | | Editorial Board: What is keeping Mayor Gray quiet? Nov 24th 2012, 23:20 A FORMER CAMPAIGN worker who says that he alerted D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) to suspicious activity during his 2010 primary campaign is "curious to hear" the mayor's response to those claims. So, too, are many other people who are troubled by Mr. Gray's continued silence. As the former aide said, the silence casts "a cloud over the mayor, and this city loses some of its credibility." Read full article >>   | | "Instant: The Story of Polaroid" by Christopher Bonanos Nov 24th 2012, 19:12 INSTANT The Story of Polaroid By Christopher Bonanos Princeton Architectural Press. 192 pp. $24.95 Before young entrepreneurs wanted to be like Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs wanted to be like Edwin Land. Like Jobs, the Polaroid founder overflowed with brilliance, built a tech company with cult-like followers, held eloquent reveals of new products, and even dropped out of college. Christopher Bonanos's "Instant" tells the story of the forgotten genius who turned Polaroid into a cultural phenomenon. Read full article >>   | | "A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, andthe 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico" by Amy S. Greenberg Nov 24th 2012, 19:12 In May 1846, Ulysses S. Grant, a 24-year-old lieutenant in the U.S. Army's Fourth Infantry only three years out of West Point, saw his first action in Palo Alto, Mexico, in the opening engagement of the Mexican War. "I do not know that I felt any particular sensation," he told a friend. "War seems much less horrible to persons engaged in it than to those who read of the battles." The war, in which he served until its conclusion a year later, was a valuable school in which he observed at close hand, and learned much from, two great generals, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott, and solidified his friendships with other young officers, some of whom he fought with — and against — a decade and a half later in the Civil War. Read full article >>   | | "Makers: The New Industrial Revolution" by Chris Anderson Nov 24th 2012, 19:12 These days, when our slow recovery from recession seems like a full-employment program for pessimistic pundits, it's great to have a new book from Chris Anderson, an indefatigable cheerleader for the unlimited potential of the digital economy. Anderson, the departing editor in chief of Wired magazine, has already written two important books exploring the impact of the Web on commerce. In "The Long Tail," he argued that companies like Amazon that faced distribution challenges arising from having large quantities of the same kind of product would thrive by "selling less of more." Corporations didn't have to chase blockbusters if they had a mass of small sales. In "Free: The Future of a Radical Price," he argued that giving stuff away to attract a multitude of users might be the best way eventually to make money from loyal customers. Anderson has also helped found a Web site, Geekdad, and an aerial robotics company. From his vantage point, in the future more and more people can get involved in making things they really enjoy and can connect with others who share their passions and their products. These connections, he claims, are creating a new Industrial Revolution. Read full article >>   | |
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