"This is the Voice of Moderation. I wouldn't go so far as to say we've actually SEIZED the radio station . . . "
by liberal japonicus I have to admit this was my first thought after seeing the opening of this Guardian piece “What the fuck are you doing?” the US president shouted at the Israeli prime minister during the phone call on Monday, according to Axios, a US website that has frequently published reports on high-level conversations … Read more
by liberal japonicus I’ve mentioned before that I’m taken with Adam Tooze, and I want to share this speech he made at Simon Fraser University about a month ago. It takes place at a particular moment in time, he mentions that he was flying into Vancouver as Trump was declaring that “A whole civilization will … Read more
Something totally non-political (I think, though I’m sure someone will prove me wrong), but I thought this piece, an essay from someone I’ve never read, was insightful. Here is the final graf. Despite impossible schedules and emotional fatigue, some friends continue returning. They send memes during meetings. They remember your important dates. They call you … Read more
by liberal japonicus I’d start off by noting that depending on the way you read the title, you can fit any perspective. The jumping off point for this is Ezra Klein’s podcast with Helena Rosenblatt, the author of The Lost History of Liberalism. (transcript here)The book is quite interesting and is a general audience book … Read more
by liberal japonicus If you are singing along at home, it should be ‘Britannia rues the knaves!’ Suggestions for the second line gratefully accepted. Anyway, a post to discuss the shitshow in the UK. I’m taking the liberty of lifting up some comments because I can’t bear to write something that would require me to … Read more
I’m of the opinion that we should always have an Open Thread in the list of 10 Recent Posts….
by liberal japonicus A phrase prompted by Adam Tooze’s discussion of Incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh. Woo, boy, we are screwed is my primary takeaway. A couple of points. Warsh is rich. Scrooge McDuck rich. He’s going to be the richest Fed chair and as this Forbes article points out, he’s married to a billionaire … Read more
by liberal japonicus On his most recent turn at PBS, David Brooks gives us a tour d’horizon of periods in history where there were ‘rising climates of violence’. OMG, Davey, do tell! He lists, in order Capehart looks like he is going to snap his pen in half and then comes back with: Excuse me, … Read more
by liberal japonicus I’m subjecting y’all to a McDreamy quote, rather than point you to the latest David Brooks outrage (tentatively titled It’s funny what gets left out), or the Adam Tooze discussion of Fed Chair replacement candidate (tentative title Sauve qui peut!), here’s something a little less dire: This Hard Fork interview about AI … Read more
by liberal japonicus 9-11 happened for us in Japan in the evening and I remember thinking that we depended on things being relatively frictionless: travelling to other countries, trade, almost everything that was not solely local required things to smoothly roll along and because of that, we were screwed because a handful of people could … Read more