I went to hear Gary Hart, former US senator and (also former) Democratic presidential candidate, speak in Milan at the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale. His lecture was brief and intelligent, ostensibly about “American Foreign Policy after the election,” but in many ways a plug for his good friend John Kerry. He raised… Continue reading Corruption
Category: opinion
Globalization is Spelled with Three Rs
The boom years of Silicon Valley will not be returning. Thriving new companies will be founded there, but they won’t create many jobs, because so many white-collar jobs are now being outsourced to India. In future, these jobs may also go to China, Russia, or other countries that have technically-educated workers willing (so far) to… Continue reading Globalization is Spelled with Three Rs
The Perils of Being “Thirteen”
Ross and I went to see the film “Thirteen” last week, and found it deeply disturbing, as I expected. At intermission (there is always an intermission in Italian cinemas), Ross said “It seems exaggerated,” and many of the critics agree with her. “Well, thank god I don’t have to worry about most of that stuff in small-town… Continue reading The Perils of Being “Thirteen”
Gay Marriage
“Polls suggest that acceptance of gays in the United States, the most religious industrialized society in the world, extends only up to the chapel steps.” “I know a lot of people who want to give all the rights and privileges to gay couples that married people have, but they don’t want to change the traditional… Continue reading Gay Marriage
Reading Science Fiction
Amazon is great, but to discover something new, it helps to have a real (independent!) bookstore with a discerning owner. Thanks to one such, in an airport of all places (La Guardia, I think it was), I discovered Ted Chiang. In a ten-year career (so far), he has only written a few short stories, winning a… Continue reading Reading Science Fiction