Republicans and critical thinking

Perhaps someone could explain to me why republicans are so anti-intellectual. Is no one embarrassed that there are zero intellectual underpinings for their positions? I'm thinking now of their positions on some of Obama's judicial nominees. I realize it's red meat for their base, but their behavoir and statements are cringe inducing. They don't even seem to make a pretence of articulating their objections.

House Apporves Tax on AIG Bonuses

Far be it from me to defend the testosterone overloaded alleged fincancial genuises on Wall St, but a 90% tax on bonuses is ridiculous. This seems once again to demonstrate the exceedingly shallow and petty nature of the House.

A Lost World

Captivating photos from East Germany.

China Stands Up to Big Business

It seems Coca Cola's attempt to buy a large Chinese beverage producer failed. The commerce ministry is quoted as saying China was worried that the merger would “set up some exclusive terms to restrict competition in the juice market.”

Unofficial reports have the government also saying, "But we're going to to go ahead with the whole authoritarian police state thing." He added, "Weren't the Olympics great?!"

The Syrian Bride

My movie watching fell short of my hopes. Nothing unusual there. I remain, despite the beliefs of others, an optimist.

I did, tough, see The Syrian Bride. A wonderful movie that above all made me think that contrary to the lunatic fringe here in the States, Palestinians and Jews actually have to live together. And this involves both sides overlooking and accommodating themselves to the other. There's a fascinating ontological puzzle towards the end. In order for the bride-to-be in the Golan to marry a Syrian man, she must relinquish her Israeli passport (although I suppose it's not technically speaking a passport) and receive a Syrian passport. However, the Syrian border control officer will not accept the old passport, which had been stamped by his counterpart in Israel. Why? Obviously because the Golan is not part of Israel. It is part of Syria despite the de jure, from the the Israeli perspective, and de facto from the Syrian reality on the ground. Thus, an Israeli stamp implies the acceptance of what is but cannot be acknowledged. It must require considerable intellectual hurdles to continually view what might be, or once was, versus what is.

The movie also presented an engaging family drama involving multiple siblings and in-laws. It was quite affecting and indeed, brought tears to Joanna's eyes. Hardly a typical event for her when watching a movie.

And finally, the fabulous Hiam Abbass is, as always, beautiful and, well, fabulous.

Another Reduction

It seems the Post is eliminating their daily business section. I still struggle to put my finger on exactly why this worries me. I persist in believing (hoping?) there's demand for this information. The problem is, I can't figure out who is going to cover it. It seems to me, you do indeed, need a staff and institutional support to put out the long, expository stories that help us contextualize the current financial situation.

A related issue regarding the Post. The Washington Post Co. owns the paper, Newsweek, Slate and all its spin-offs, as well as TV and radio stations. Perhaps I don't understand the accounting behind these sorts of corporate entities. But with all these ventures, how can the Post be so desperate to cut entire sections from the paper?

Madoff

Nice to know I'm not the only one to feel this way.