Wednesday, March 8, 2017

The Politics Page, T+47 -- March 8, 2017

Jobs go boom:



Sugar high: I did not read the story; I saw the headline. Then a reader sent me the link to the story that Mexico was going to embargo sugar exports to the US. I had to laugh. The US is the number one producer -- by a long shot -- of sugar in the world. At least I thought I read that. After a quick google, it appears that every sugar-producing country in the world subsidizes their sugar industry in some fashion (that's not surprising, considering, it seems, all agricultural products in this country are subsidized). So, all things being equal, if Mexico embargoes its sugar destined for the US, the Montana-North Dakota sugar beet farmers should be popping open some champagne this weekend.

Sales go boom: Ivanka clothing line reports record sales.

Provocateur-in-chief: NY Magazine on Camille Paglia.

Furious: Mr Obama said to be "furious" that he is being accused of wire-tapping. I'm shocked, shocked.

Spies: I'm a huge, huge supporter of former NSA director, Michael Hayden. But his comments aren't matching the leaks.

Calendar change? Maybe it's not "climate change," but rather "calendar change": eastern US, midwesterrn snowstorm threat increase in mid-March; biting cold that set records in Arctic poised to invade. -- The Washington Post.

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The New York Review of Books

It's getting harder and harder to justify renewing my subscription to The New York Review of Books. This is the contents of the most recent issue, which I received today, from front to back:
  • first article, UC Berkeley professor writes long essay on Trump; no book review; what little I read, same old, same old
  • second article, review of two books on Megyn Kelly. Really
  • third article, an anti-gun essay and, again, no book review
  • fourth article, a review of a Netflix television series, not a book review; there seems to be a trend developing
  • fifth article, finally a review of a non-political book, on an artist by the name of David Salle, about as obscure as they come but at least it's finally fitting for this magazine
  • sixth article, a review of a documentary film, "I Am Not Your Negro," another box-office hit; no book review
  • seventh article, a short essay by a Polish poet, again, no book review
  • eighth article, finally a real book review; unfortunately not interested
  • ninth article, good, a real book review, by a staff writer for The New Yorker
  • tenth article, by director of the ACLU on free speech, from the pictures, another anti-Trump essay
  • eleventh article, good, a real book review
  • twelfth article, outstanding, I may renew my subscription simply because of this essay; a real review of several books on Mary Astor's purple diary
  • thirteen article, outstanding; I will renew my subscription; a real review on Pushkin
  • fourteenth article, outstanding; a book review of the "brotherhood of rock"
  • fifteenth article, wow! another book review and this time the book by an author that always intrigues me, Joyce Carol Oates
  • sixteenth article, yup, I will definitely renew -- this may be article I enjoy most; a book review and essay on "the marches": the borderland country between England and Scotland
  • seventeenth article, an essay/book review on the Tamil; when I'm in the mood
  • eighteenth article, another essay/book review; when I'm in the mood
  • nineteenth article, another essay/book review on the end of the Cold War, Reagan and Gorbachev
  • 20th: yup, another great book review and essay
  • 21st: perhaps passable; a review/essay on "the headquarters of neo-Marxism; review appears to be a liberal professor from University of Pennsylvania

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