http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Fri, 22 Oct 2004 07:53:57 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/10/22/075357.php Tomas KohlJohn Kerry can'tshoot deer, so he went shooting geese. In what Dick Cheney calls the "October Disguise"of the great statesman-coalition builder, we can actually see quite aremarkable progress. John Kerry has finally realized he can't hunt the bigguys.While adeer is a relatively smart individual who can blend with his habitat, a gooseis just a stupid bird (no offense meant, and I hope that none was taken). Kerrycan spend the morning with the campaign's hairdresser, have his shotgun triple-checked(the last time he used it was before his 1st campaign for Congress),and do his shooting photo-op before lunch. It doesn't take determination orresolve to shoot and make a kill when your opponent is a flock of geese. EvenDemocrats can do that.These birdsare simply a nuisance, especially if you are a big-city liberal who feels mostcomfortable in a 5-star hotel. And treated they are as such. One shot, onekill, game over. Two rolls of film or a 64MB CompactFlash card are the trophythat the campaign is going to brag about for the next 10 days: look at the man,he is a ... man!No kidding.When John Kerry went to Vietnam, the Army didn't accept women for combatpositions. If there's anyone questioning Kerry's manliness, it's safe to assumethey are not interested in a macho gesture. No, the nagging thought thatbothers American voters is this: can this guy actually do something besidestalking and posing for a photo-op?We've gotour answer, albeit in an indirect form. When the terrorists are a bunch ofclueless punks without a leader, John Kerry will crush them with vengeance.Prior to that, he'll "crawlaround on his stomach" and hope they won't notice him. After all, there areso many targets around the world that have an appeal for Osama & Co, theprobability of a peaceful, nurturing Kerry presidency is greater than zero.If it ishigher than that of another Ground Zero remains to be seen. Politics21276@blogcritics.org Fri, 22 Oct 2004 07:53:57 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/10/20/132207.php Tomas KohlThe lame will walk when John Kerry isPresident, but for now, he is at least making sure they get their flu vaccine.Or was it ibuprofen? Unidentified campaign volunteers handed out unidentifiedpill boxes to unidentified seniors at a rally in Florida in a preview ofJohn Kerry's messianic presidency. Saving the needy one shot at a time.The one thing that could be identified wasthe Kerry/Edwards logo printed on the boxes. Both gentlemen are former legalprofessionals and do not have a license to practice medicine. The rally was acrime scene if the pills were anything but vitamins.I bet my monthly dose of V1A6RA they didn'twant to risk a last-minute revelation on Drudge and handed out placebo. Which,incidentally, is the one-word summary of Kerry's Plan For America: close youreyes, gulp, and pray that help is on the way. Just make sure you don't involveGod in your meditation.Whoever said that faith-based initiativesare a big no-no for liberals?Far from it. John Kerry deeply respectsyour beliefs. As a proud Catholic, he likely respects his own beliefs too,although he's not going to let them influence anything he is about to do. Infact, he has nearly avoidedexcommunication from the Catholic Church for his pro-abortion views, atleast for now. As one Vatican official explained, "No, Kerry is not a heretic."Adds another, "[y]ou can incurexcommunication 'lataesententiae' (automatically) only if you procure orperform an abortion." Nowadays it takes just deep respect, not repentance, toatone for your sins.Which is worse, to perform an abortion, orlegislate it and provide federal dollars for anyone wishing to procure it? U.S.Bishops are largelysilent. A layman would conclude that John Kerry is an unapologeticthink-criminal, but these things are decided by professionals.A long way to go since JanHus was burned for opposing salvation vouchers in 1415.Canon law interpretationsnotwithstanding, Christians and agnostics alike should proceed with cautionwhen they go to polls on November 2. John Kerry already knows that he is goingto declarevictory no matter what and sue anyone who challenges him. Unless, maybe,it's a 1984-style landslide for the Republican candidate."Six so-called'SWAT teams' of lawyers and political operatives will be situated around thecountry with fueled-up jets awaiting Kerry's orders to speed to a battlegroundstate. The teams have been told to be ready to fly on the evening of theelection to begin mounting legal and political fights. No team will be morethan an hour from a battleground."Hardly a surprise when there are twolawyers on the ticket, is it? Faith, it seems, is missing in the Kedwards camp.It's the voters who are supposed to trust a liberal to implement centristeconomic policies, an act of faith without factual basis. The candidate,however, is losing ground quickly, and can't even project the image ofself-confidence anymore. It's like Jesus saying, "Perhaps I am not a Son ofGod, but I'll kick enough asses to make sure I become one."Kerry wants Americans to embrace doublethink,a technique first described by George Orwell, and spread across Europe bysocial democratic regimes afterwards. Nobody can perform it better than him. Hesays, I can believe in God and fund abortions. I can support the troops anddeny them funding. I can push tort reform and accept checks from trial lawyers.Faith can do miracles for the meek, needy,and obedient. Still, there are limits. It has to be genuine and persistent.And, it must not make your head explode. I believe we've heard too much fromJohn Kerry to know that the first two conditions haven't been met. And if wehear much more, well, I am afraid there are going to be casualties. Politics21203@blogcritics.org Wed, 20 Oct 2004 13:22:07 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/10/16/180741.php Tomas KohlI am a great fan of legal dramas. After "The Practice" has ended this June, I've been awaiting its spin-off impatiently. "Boston Legal" aired two episodes, and it has everything I am looking for in television: tight, smart dialogues, compelling storyline, and characters with the charisma of a nuclear power plant.There is an ageing lawyer who says his name as if he were casting a spell. 'Danny Crane,' he utters to silence his opponents. When a junior partner questions his sanity, we are made to believe he's about to self-destruct in the last, bombastic show of vanity.Wrong. When it comes to court performance, Danny Crane is unmatched.Later on in the second episode, he stops the junior partner who came to congratulate him, and says, 'I don't need your love. I want your respect. I am a senior partner. Respect comes with the job.'Hard as it may be for anyone with a post-9/11 mindset, there is a distinct possibility that starting January 20, 2005, a new legal series will hit TV sets around the globe. Featuring two former legal professionals, it would be a mix between reality TV and absurd drama. Ratings would have no impact on how long it would air. The first opportunity to cancel the show would come in 2008.'Danny Crane.' I leave it up to you to decide who bears more resemblance to the famed attorney. It may be John Kerry who would hold a summit and say, 'John Kerry' (and the Earth would shudder). Or it's John Edwards whose 'the lame will walk when John Kerry is president' has a similar quality.What neither has in common with him is easier to name. Danny Crane walks in, repeats his name a couple of times, and makes wonders happen. Although he is able to intimidate his adversaries just by projecting his aura, the cruel world of lawyering requires more of him. He is free to roam the office and demand respect since he is able to say more than just his name when the situation calls for it.We have heard much about Kedwards's plan for this and that. A lot less was said about the contents of such a plan. The central part of it is the candidate. He'll come to Paris and say, 'John Kerry.' Unfortunately, he is an American despite his French looks, and he will see his dream vanish as soon as he realizes that Europe hates him just a bit less than it has despised George W. Bush.And respect? For a president, it comes with the job. He doesn't need to go abroad to ask for it.The "more respected in the world" soundbite illustrates how profoundly mistaken the Kerry campaign is. America is very, very respected in the world today. She has both the resources and resolve no other power can compete with. However, that is not what John Kerry seeks. Love it is, and a handful of kind words cannot buy that. Guns can't either but at least they keep the respect at an all-time high.Polls taken overseas might have misled the campaign strategists to assume that just by installing the duo in the White House, Europeans will revive their ardor for America. The truth is, it had been buried too deep, and remained lost longer than Kerry cheerleaders in The Guardian would let you believe.Sometimes, doing what's right doesn't win you friends. The reasons why America cannot count on her old allies are plentiful - demographic trends, plain old populism, and sense of one's own irrelevance are shaping Europe's growing hostility to anything - anything - the U.S. might want to do. Except surrender. That would indeed be welcome even at many places where the boots of U.S marines secured freedom decades ago.Bill Clinton wasted his entire career seeking approval, and missed his chance to be a truly great statesman as a result. Yes, he could bring anyone to the table and claim their affection. The smiles at press conferences were genuine. The intentions - not so often. It's entirely possible that even Yasser Arafat is a card-carrying member of the Bill Clinton fan club. That hasn't stopped him from being a bad guy, has it?All parties who believe in the necessity of success in the War on Terror are already sitting at the table. Whoever is missing is unlikely to join at this stage. It is not a lawsuit, it's not a TV show with commercial breaks every 10 minutes, and only good cowboys can see it through. Video21058@blogcritics.org Sat, 16 Oct 2004 18:07:41 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/10/15/143234.php Tomas KohlSpinmeisters do great job in sweetening candidates' promises, and we may easily forget the election rule #1: read between the lines.Even without the spin and twist, what contenders proclaim as a top priority tends to evaporate as soon as they finish decorating their new office. Take compassionate conservativism, for example. In order to win the swing voters, George W. Bush made sure nobody could mistake him for a regular, run-off-the-mill conservative. When the terrorists hit the Twin Towers, the president could no longer afford being meek. He got an enemy to defeat.Four years later, another election night is approaching, and no matter what channel you tune in to, all you can get is fairy tales. It's the undecided who have to be won, and the campaign teams are eager to serve Big Government desserts. Rhetorical differences notwithstanding, the candidates aren't selling what globalized markets demand: small and flexible government that can quickly react to change. A spectator from across the Great Pond has trouble telling who is less statist.With one exception: jobs.Liberals have slammed Bush for telling the unemployed what they desperately need to hear - get an education, stupid. Democrats adore education; they display their Yale degrees with the same pride hunters reserve for their trophies. One has to wonder why the President's advice doesn't sound right to them.Europe is giving its vast masses generous welfare perks, and few hope that leftist leaders who congregate in Hungary this week will finally notice the connection between supply and demand. As Mark W. Smith put it in his Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy handbook, if you reward it, you get more of it. European workers know they can have fun in the social safety net, and when you add troubled public schools to the equation, you'll realize they have neither a compelling motive nor the means to get back on their feet.John Kerry has a plan for everybody. He says to the unemployed that he'll bring their jobs back from India. Tax credits for new jobs are supposed to offset the benefits of manufacturing overseas for one-tenth of the cost. A high-school kid with a calculator can debunk this fantasy in a minute. Unless Kerry assumes the voters won't do the math, he must be hoping they want to postpone the reality check that was due in the 90s. They may. And if they do, America has a distinct chance of narrowing the EU's lead in the unemployment rate.Bush's simple answer is ultimately the only right answer to the laid-off worker's question, "What am I supposed to do now?" Go to school, learn a new trade, and make sure your choice is in tune with market trends. The government can help a little but the responsibility is yours.Why is that undesirable for liberals? Look behind the wall of promises. Kerry's plan includes a broader access to the unemployment benefits. That would create the most loyal constituency; dependent on the caring hand of the government, unmotivated, irresponsible. Do you want to see the ends? Book a flight to Frankfurt or Marseilles. When governments run out of money, they can't rollback the New Deal they've been so proud of. Masses won't let them, and conservatives have to take over to clean up the mess.George Bush is no Goldwater of the 21st century but he's proved he can grow in office. The biggest challenge to his capacities as president was September 11. A second term could be both quieter and more demanding. He should work on his Ownership Society theme a little more, then use it as a marketing brand for the project of removing obstacles that are blocking the American economy from going at full speed. Embrace outsourcing, welcome qualified workers from overseas, push for international trade agreements that actually promote free trade and work both ways.It's unclear whether Americans are ready for "more of the same" or "4 more years," depending on who's holding the microphone. Both statements are wrong in a way. It cannot be the same since 2004 is most definitely not 2000, and it shouldn't be just 4 years of neoconservative revolution but a beginning of a long run towards more liberty, economical freedom and - when everyone's ready - small government.Who's got more guts to spearhead a truly progressive agenda? For many years, Democrats have marketed themselves as elements of change that is, by definition, progressive. If a patient woke up in October 2004 after having spent thirty years in a coma, he wouldn't know what to think. A conservative who liberated two nations in his first term, and a liberal who would trade their freedom for being more respected in Europe. History has a sense of humor. Politics21028@blogcritics.org Fri, 15 Oct 2004 14:32:34 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/09/20/104153.php Tomas Kohl"How's your ex," a friend asked me a couple of days ago. I did notimmediately realize what he meant. Six years of marriage have cleansedmy dating history, and I tried to come up with a name that had oncemeant passion and romance. As it turned out, he was interested in my ex-president, not a former girlfriend. I must have gotten lost in the ruins of my memory right after the hyphen.Well, he should have asked about the girls. Most of them are doingjust fine without me. To be honest with you, I am silently thanking Godhe had liberated them from what I would call a sort-of-life with aninsufferable nerd. But that's just me.My ex-president is doing what he's always been doing. Talking. Hewas a playwright, a dissident jailed for his opinion, a hero of theVelvet Revolution. He was better at writing than talking and moretolerable talking than governing. The Constitution prevented him fromactually exerting influence; he was a symbol of the past, and worked asthe prime PR representative of Czechia. His presidency ended honorably,albeit ironically, since he was replaced by his most fierce opponent, Vaclav Klaus. The two could not be more different: a nuanced intellectual versus an economist-action hero.Vaclav Havel, having once attracted the attention of the wholeWestern world as a moral leader for change, is now leading whicheverirrelevant cause appeals to his sense of justice. I can't disagree withhim on the rhetorical level. He is a good man and he is activisingother good men who have also lost office lately. This week, it's beenan International Conference For Democracy In Cuba. Or, as one couldsay, The Powerless Against Real Change.Representatives of the Czech Republic, Slovakia,Bulgaria and Estonia said that new EU member states should pool thereefforts in their policies towards Cuba. [...]"Cuba is one bigprison. The idea behind this conference should not be the violentbreakdown of the wall that is around this prison, but to ring the bellson all the doors," Havel said today."Another main theme is thepreparation for the transformation of the country," Tomas Pojar, amember of the humanitarian group People in Need, which organised theconference, said.The participants agreed for the need to list the names of thosewho take part in the imprisonment, torture and other persecution of theCuban opposition. "These people should not receive visas to travelabroad," Pojar said.BesidesHavel, Hrusovsky, Laar and Dimitrov, former Spanish PM Jose MariaAznar, former Canadian PM Kim Campbell, former Costa Rican presidentLuis Alberto Monge, former Chilean president Exquiel Silva and formerUraguayan president Luis Albert Lacalle signed the memorandum as didmany intellectuals and NGO members.Dimitrov said that Vaclav Havel's reputation can help advance the situation in Cuba.The ICDC was formed on Havel's initiative last year. The wivesand daughters of 75 dissidents currently imprisoned for their politicalviews in Cuba sent a letter of thanks to the committee on Thursday.To offset my criticism, I have to admit that nobody does anythingfor Cuba, not even my neocon heroes. However, talking just doesn't cutit. Signing declarations doesn't either. And punishing the evil regimeby not issuing tourist visas to its representatives is as laughable asUNSC declarations. Imagine: Castro's goons are quite happy living onthe island and enjoying power they would never be able to practice abroad.Imagine.Again:"The idea behind this conference should not be the violentbreakdown of the wall that is around this prison, but to ring the bellson all the doors," Havel saidIn other words, Havel is perfectly happy expressing concerns, but toactually do something about Castro's murderous reign, that would beunacceptable! Why, one must ask. If Castro was removed, there would beno more conferences. And that is something powerless intellectualswould never allow to happen. Politics20030@blogcritics.org Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:41:53 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/12/08/041843.php Tomas KohlHaruki Murakami might be the best-known Japanese writer in the Western hemispere. And rightfully so. While writing about things distinctly Japanese, he manages to move readers from different cultures. His books are widely read in America and Europe alike; when browsing the English-language in the biggest Prague bookstore Luxor, I could not pass through missing the large collection of his novels arranged in a special section. I will be always grateful to the store owners for making this chance encounter possible.Immediately captured by the appealing UK edition, featuring mysterious Japanese women looking straight into my eyes, I ended up reading three Murakami novels in a row. And it was an experience like no other.From these three, the Norwegian wood (1987) is the one everyone in Japan has read. Its success literally pushed Murakami out of his home country, such was the reader response that he could not take it anymore. Talk about shy writers.My favorite is South of the Border, West of the Sun (1992) - an incredibly powerful love story, topping my Best reads list and scheduled for re-reading pretty soon. The book is also central to Murakami's consistent view on a relationship between men and women, all the difficulties, pains, bad decisions and momentary joys.Sputnik Sweetheart (1999) confirms Murakami's superior position among world's living novelists, bringing us his familiar poetry-in-prose style, a lesbian love story and one sad writer who's a witness to it, and a surprising happy-end.Murakami's writing has this meditative, poetic quality few novelist can dream of achieving. He likes to dwell on details, play with symbols, metaphors, without being boring. The storyline moves along, not rushing too much, and his message gets through indirectly and convincingly at the same time.Love is the central theme of all three novels. It is difficult indeed to bring anything new into this genre, and Murakami doesn't try to be original at all costs. We may have read all this already, but it doesn't matter. No one is going to solve mysterious proceedings of love for good, it is only possible to tell tales, showcase people doing their best to love and not get destroyed by it. Murakami's heroes manage this with varying degree of success.South of the Border offer the most concentrated, crystalic Murakami to date. A story of Hajime and his childhood love, Shimamoto, whom he encounters some 20 years later when he's already married and has kids. Powerful, undeniable love that burns everything standing its way including the actors. The novel does not try to hide the love story behind any kind of dramatic development, on the contrary, everything serves the purpose of moving the characters from one stage of love into another.Most powerful metaphors appear here. One could perhaps conclude with this paragraph, where Hajime's friend talks about Disney's movie The Living Desert:"Rain falls and the flowers bloom. No rain, they wither up. Bugs are eaten by lizards, lizards are eaten by birds. But in the end every one of them dies. They die and dry up. One generation dies, and the next one takes over. That's how it goes. Lots of different ways to live. And lots of different ways to die. But in the end that does not make a bit of difference. All that remains is a desert."Whether you agree with it or not, you should read Murakami to find out. Books10751@blogcritics.org Mon, 8 Dec 2003 04:18:43 EST