Category Archives: USA

That speech

Posted on August 29, 2008 by acb

I swear I heard Obama say that the essence of America was “Hoping for a better future round the bend”.

Posted in Blather, USA | Comments Off on That speech

Why should anyone else feel good?

Posted on August 27, 2008 by acb

Something about the events of the last week have convinced me that Obama will lose horribly this autumn, and that the Clintonites were right in their assumption that America will not elect a black, metropolitan liberal president. I can’t quite … Continue reading →

Posted in USA, War | 7 Comments

An infinitely gloomy picture

Posted on August 26, 2008 by acb

Comes via John Naughton: it shows the bloggers’ room at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, and half the comments seem to be people saying “Look! We’re just like real journalists!”. The accredited bloggers are penned with their laptops in … Continue reading →

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What we learn from polls

Posted on April 2, 2008 by acb

via Crooked Timber, the purest possible illustration of the thesis that to many Americans “Muslim” means “dark and dangerous“, nothing more: There is little evidence that the recent news about Obama’s affiliation with the United Church of Christ has dispelled … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Nineteen percent

Posted on February 20, 2008 by acb

Did Nixon get down to fourteen? Well, there are ten months left for Bush to beat that. But this approval rating is still rather gratifying. Of course, once the air goes out of the American economy, the rest of us … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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The final failure of Thatcherism

Posted on January 18, 2008 by acb

A really excellent piece by Andrew Leonard in his Salon blog. Key quote: The root of Wall Street’s woes leads back directly to their own strategic missteps, greed, speculation-run-amok, and lack of appropriate supervision. The brightest minds in finance had … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in USA | 1 Comment

An Evil thought

Posted on January 10, 2008 by acb

Why is everyone so convinced that it was Hillary’s tears which swung the vote in New Hampshire? It seems to me at least possible that there is a certain reluctance to vote for black peopple. This is understood to be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in USA | 7 Comments

Sell all your bank shares

Posted on December 7, 2007 by acb

A terrifying glimpse into the US mortgage market, via Rafe Coburn, from which it emerges that until about six months ago, you could borrow enough to buy a house valued at a million dollars on a household income of less … Continue reading →

Posted in British politics, USA | 4 Comments

Philip Kitcher on Darwin

Posted on July 14, 2007 by acb

I think I put up a post saying, briefly, that Philip Kitcher’s Living with Darwin was a very good short book. Here is an extract answering a question that has often puzzled me – and, incidentally, suggesting why Dennett’s book … Continue reading →

Posted in God, Science without worms, USA | 2 Comments