I'm not sure about whether I'm going to stick with this item...it seemed sort of nice when there was not much going on, but with all the major events in the world this winter and spring, it just doesn't quite feel necessary, and I notice that it hasn't drawn a lot of comments lately, presumably because there's nothing much to say.
But at any rate its here this week. Let's see...Libya again, the rest of the Middle East again. Why don't people talk about Ivory Coast in the context of Egypt, Libya, and the others? Honest question: I'm no expert on that part of the world, and I do realize that Ivory Coast isn't quite in the same neighborhood, so perhaps it really isn't connected in any way, but I do wonder about it.
Of course, the events in Japan are important.
And then we have Wisconsin. I think I've said a couple of times that I think its importance is a bit overhyped, but that's not to say that it doesn't matter at all.
All that, and none of it in Washington. I'll leave the rest to comments: what do you think mattered this week?
Saturday, March 12, 2011
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Once you add in Michigan (and their new ability to declare financial martial law on municipal gov'ts), Ohio, Indiana... I think it becomes a very big story.
ReplyDeleteGWB was very good at the "I absolutely need these powers without oversight, though I'll never ever abuse them" game, but Walker et al aren't exactly subtle, and they're fighting teachers, not al Qaeda.
I was really annoyed at the media coverage surrounding the Peter King hearings. The "counterpoint" to King in all the news stories always revolved around his past support for the IRA. Yes, that is bad, but no one ever seemed to challenge the hearings on the basis that they're just flat out wrong. Reporters just allowed him to pull out his "85% of all mosques are radicalized" statistic without challenging it. These hearings need to be criticized for the bigoted and pointless endeavors they are, not just for the background of the guy running them.
ReplyDeleteI for one enjoy the "what mattered this week" feature even when it's making obvious points. I wish you'd give them a specific tag, though, as it'd be fun to look back over them all at once.
ReplyDeleteThe quake in Japan -- specifically the problems with nuclear reactors. I think it will change the picture of future energy conversations, raising challenges to the notion that nuclear energy is safe.
ReplyDeleteI agree wholeheartedly with Anon that these are worthwhile; at the very least, they make a superb historical record, and are well worth doing longterm. If you are tired of doing them, you could always farm them out to the readers or a blogging colleague.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments, and I'll keep the feature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with zic -- I'd be shocked if commercial nuclear power in the US survives this.
Glad you're retaining the feature. You have other wonderful regular features, like the weekly questions for libs and conservatives.
ReplyDeleteWhile we're at it, I'd be delighted to see Monday Movies Post return as a regular feature -- though I understand that it's a lot harder to come up with material for those. But you could post asking for suggestions, maybe. And then the only challenges would be getting a hold of them, making time to watch them, and writing a blog post's worth of material in response!
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether you'd ever write about foreign movies? "The Conformist" and that sort of thing? Or even, I think the collective decision-making process and factionalization in "Pom Poko" is pretty interesting, but you might not be interested in a Japanese children's cartoon about magic raccoons, so the parable about fascism seemed a safer suggestion.
Classicist,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the vote of support. I love doing Monday Movies Posts, but I just haven't had the time to watch stuff. I'm currently in the middle of about four or five shows with one kid and three or four shows with the other, and it's tough to find time to watch a movie. Plus, I'm finally watching The Wire (almost done with Season 1), and I suspect I'll write something about that eventually, but I obviously have a long way to go.
I do have several things on the DVR, so there's stuff in the pipeline...just haven't had the chance to get to it. But if anyone does have suggestions, I'll be glad to put 'em on my list...
Thanks for responding. And: pipeline information is exciting! Maybe that'll give me the impetus to finally watch "The Wire" too at last.
ReplyDelete