Battle of Algiers, again

Saw Battle of Algiers again today. Great stuff, and so resonant with US in Iraq. You've got your torture, and your generic willingness to forego legality at the altar of lethality and alleged effectiveness. You've got Mathieu telling the media to toe the line (though US MSM ca. 2007 would never dare to ask such tough questions, nor politicians to give such frank answers). You've got moral ambiguity all over the place. You've got your major power unleashing and eventually losing to forces that it seemed not at all to understand. Etc. Really strong film.

Tenure!

'nuff said.

Parlez-vous EU?

This here is some classic EU-speak. Still, it's amazing and imporant to see ridiculous, artificially-precise and seemingly legalized procedural arcania representing the presumptive response to disagreement -- as opposed to, oh, I dunno, war.

In addition, until 31 March 2017, if members of the Council representing at least 75% of the population or at least 75% of the number of Member States necessary to constitute a blocking minority as provided in Article [I-25(2)] indicate their opposition to the Council adopting an act by a qualified majority, the mechanism provided for in the draft Decision contained in Declaration nº 5 annexed to the Final Act of the 2004 IGC [shall apply]. As from 1 April 2017, the same mechanism will apply, the relevant percentages being, respectively, at least 55% of the population or at least 55% of the number of Member States necessary to constitute a blocking minority as provided in Article [I-25(2)].

From Council Conclusions to the recent summit, via James Wimberley at The Reality-Based Community.

Midnight Express

Saw Midnight Express for the first time a few nights ago. I guess it looked interesting based on the Blockbuster online description.

Feh. Didn't like it. Was not persuaded or in the least moved by the main character's descent into madness. Poorly acted, phony feeling, in particular in the rendering of the Turkish as monsters, but also in Billy Hays's initial indifference to being imprisoned. Didn't really get the point of the British-educated guy in section 13 (the nuthouse part) ... whole thing just felt lame and overdone to me.

One of imdb's commentators refers favorably to it as a "delicious, homoerotic S&M-tinged slice of the 70's", which I guess is about right. (Not the 'delicious' part, mind you, NTTAWWT.)

Wait, Oliver Stone was involved? Shocking that it would be lame.

Oh well. Two thumbs down.

Judgment at Nuremberg

Saw "Judgment at Nuremberg" for the first time last week. Loved it. I wish our current regime would take a look at this and see how those accused of even the most heinous acts should be treated. The way we treat our captives expresses who we are, not who they are.

I like the way the movie builds up our sympathies for Dr. Ernst Janning, played by Burt Lancaster, only, at the end, to remind us that he was, indeed, guilty. However bad the system in which we find ourselves, and however much we try to rationalize doing bad things because alternatives are even worse, we are still responsible for the bad things we do. Janning had choices and he chose to do some very bad things.

Anyway, good flick.

Generous Americans

We give lots more in charity than Europeans do. Not at all surprising to me.

On the Road

Just read this for the first time. Loved it. Have a few quotes that I'd like to single out but don't have the book in front of me. Anyway, a neat American adventure that's utterly without a purpose, which purposelessness, of course, makes it deeply suspect in today's America.

Of course have seen it said many times, but I was struck by how much this anticipated Kesey's trip. Also read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test a few months ago, and of course it sounds like Neal (Dean Moriarty) didn't change a lick in the 15+ intervening years. What a wild man.

FWIW, I see that Naropa University is doing a Kerouac Festival next week. Looks like fun!

Britain's Surveillance Society

"The World" had a fascinating and frightening report on surveillance in Britain.

Takedown!

David Rieff brilliantly takes down some of Anne-Marie Slaughter's romanticism about America and its role in the world. I love the ideals she lays out, but his empirical critique is spot-on, IMO.

ouch

FIU "one of the very worst universities in the country"? Ouch.

What's the hortatory subjunctive of "shut the fuck up"?

I was no fan of Slick Willy, and found his "depends on what the meaning of 'is' is" to be a real low in the annals of democratic (small 'd') accountability.

But this is probably just as bad.

Planet of the Apes

So was surfing this morning and caught the middle part of the first "Planet of the Apes" movie. I am sure that others have picked up on this (not that it's particularly subtle), but I love the idea that Chuck Heston is on the side of science, with the apes subjugating science to religion (with Dr. Zaeus both Minister of Science and "keeper of the scrolls"). It makes for pretty funny viewing in light of the christianist position against evolution and the general anti-science stance of a chunk of not just our population, but our "leadership".

Ha ha!

Economist on economics of immigration reform

Neat little piece in the June 2nd "economics focus" feature, entitled "Guests v gatecrashers". Bottom line:

illegal immigration might cost native-born residents some 0.07% of GDP.

But that net cost, if it exists at all, is clearly less than the price of keeping illegal workers out. Since 2001 Congress has more than doubled the amount of money spent on securing the borders and enforcing immigration laws. Mr Bush's 2008 budget proposes spending $13 billion, or 0.1% of GDP. The senators' plans would be even more expensive. A needlessly cumbersome guest-worker plan and a costly war on gatecrashers are bad ideas—even if you don't give a fig for the welfare of would-be migrants.

Yes, I think our concern about illegal immigration is largely misplaced and racist.

prewar intel proved prescient

Too bad they ignored it.

the downside of globalization

OK, I know that globalization has some very real negative consequences on some people who can ill-afford to suffer them. But let me just point out another downside of globalization: all that damn flopping in the NBA. Anyone who watched last year's World Cup soccer match will recognize Manu Ginobili's technique, for example -- BAM, as if taking a close-range shotgun blast. All that's lacking are the stretchers.

Worse, blue-blooded American boys have recognized the incentive to play along and are doing the same thing, with no apparent pride whatsoever.

Give us back our game.

Beneath the Underdog

Finished it a week or so ago. Feh. Didn't really get what people see in it. That it's nonlinear and therefore somehow jazzy? I thought it was self-indulgent crap. I need to look up some info (maybe read a real biography of Mingus) to find out when it was written. It wouldn't surprise if it was ca. 1970, when what CM was playing doesn't move me much, either. But what do I know.

I just wish there were some actual discussion of, ummm, music.

Also read Theodore Roszek's The Making of a Counterculture, which I enjoyed a lot. A little heavy-handed at places, and the author seems to be trying too hard to sound profound, but his analysis, that the counterculture represented an attempted to rediscover magic and rescue life from the technocracy, made good sense to me.

Brrr ......

More chill in East-West relations (funny sounding term, huh?) as Putin says that Russia will put a moratorium on implementing the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty.

The Economist says it won't quite use the term "new Cold War", but notes the CFE withdrawal and a slip of the tongue by Condi Rice, in which she allegedly refers to "Soviet" rather than Russia.

I am glad to hear that Putin reasserted that he'll step down as Russian President, though I do wonder who will be next, and he will be like.

Ségo v. Sarko

Not terribly surprising. It was definitely the safest bet, though of course "safe" is not a word one generally uses in connection with predicting French election outcomes.

The FT characterizes this as a return to the classic Left-Right confrontation, which is hard to disagree with. But my sense is that things are more concentrated around the Center, with Le Pen's poor showing and a paltry 1.9% for the PCF candidate.

CNN.com's lead story is, perhaps predictably, a little weird. In particular, there is a strongly gendered dichotomy on offer here. First, this:

The choice is now between two starkly different visions for France -- the pro-American hardline ex-interior minister promising swift change or the first woman with an honest chance at becoming the country's leader, a candidate who is promising a gentler approach to reform.

So, the man is "hard" (or some derivation thereof) and the woman is "gentle"? Hm. Then, this:

Royal, a lawmaker and feminist who says she makes political decisions based on what she would do for her children

Feminism of a sort, I guess.

Anyway, should be an interesting two weeks. If I had to go out on a limb I'd guess Sarkozy takes it on May 6th, but I don't feel particularly confident about it.

Right On, Francis

The EU's attempt to transcend sovereignty and traditional power politics by establishing a transnational rule of law is much more in line with a "post-historical" world than the Americans' continuing belief in God, national sovereignty, and their military.

So saith Francis Fukuyama.

HT: Sully.

Europe: Successes and Limitations

Moravcsik has a piece in Newsweek International which I have only skimmed but which, on that basis, I largely agree with. The Europe of 2007 reflects a truly remarkable set of achievements which my Tata Madeleine (nee 1909) would never have considered possible. Let's not let its pathologies, complexities, etc. obscure this from view.

Drezner is less sanguine.

I also largely agree with what Martin Rhodes has recently written about the future of Europe.