I am too far away from Russia to have a sense whether Putin was clever or stupid to put a rock band behind bars for two years. Pussy Riots will become infinitely more famous after this judgement.
America’s Aversion to Taxes
Eduardo Porter in the NY Times gives a good overview of the relative taxation level in different countries. What he is leaving out is that the US at least twice as much on military expenditures than the other industrialized countries.
There is something to be said for universal health care systems.
When my son developed a 
[Read More]
[Read More] The Olympic Puzzle: Why does India only have 6 medals?
There is a correlation between population size and medals won. But India is the puzzle. Britain did well, which seems to suggest that having the games at homes leads to better performance.
Enter Mr. Ryan
No longer can anyone claim the two presidential tickets are not offering stark contrasts. Now a real debate about the future of government can take place. John Dickerson reports in Slate.
Someone Is Going To Be Very Disappointed By the Ryan VP Pick
Rejoice! It’s Ryan! Conservatives are thrilled by Romney’s VP pick. So are Democrats. 
[Read More]
[Read More] Roman Polanski—Wanted and Desired
This is an excellent documentary and it made me evaluate Polanski escape from the USA. After watching it one wonders why American authorities attempted once again in 2010 to get Switzerland to arrest an extradite Polanski. After putting him under house arrest for 6 months, the Swiss authorities did not hand over Polanski to the 
[Read More]
[Read More] On the Money
The economist lays out well what the issues facing the next president are. It will be interesting to see who they will endorse before the election.
The presidential campaign: Another fine mess
A useful debate has begun about America’s biggest domestic challenge, but it is comically shallow
AMID all the name-calling in America’s presidential campaign, a serious subject 
[Read More]
[Read More] Head-On (Gegen die Wand)
A few years ago I had nothing good to say about Faith Akin’s 2007 film On the other Side. But Head On, which is only secondarily about the challenges of being born in Germany into a Turkish immigrant family, is a deep film. Primarily it is about self-destruction and the strangeness of love. Sibel and 
[Read More]
[Read More] In Time
Western democracies with the exception of the USA are remarkable in that life and death are a rather democratic affair. Especially in countries where the government runs most of the health care system (e.g. Britain, Canada, Australia) a worker may get a heart-transplant before a CEO get one. We don’t cut up workers and give 
[Read More]
[Read More] Inception
The dream world is a miraculous space. The mind apparently needs to dream to keep things together. Sometimes watching dogs sleep I get the impression that they too dream. One of the most amazing dreams is when you within a dream you dream that you are falling asleep and starting to dream. Then you wake 
[Read More]
[Read More]