In the depths of winter—when it was dark by 3:45 p.m., and had drizzled for three months straight—a few friends assured me that the weather in English spring would be fantastic. I was skeptical, since typically here “fantastic” weather usually means “you can sort of see the sun through the clouds and it’s not raining… Continue reading Grey Britain
My twelve-hour standing train ride to Den Chai afforded me the chance to read Martin Meredith’s most excellent “The State of Africa,” which provides an eminently readable and engaging account of the last fifty years in Africa. Aside from the overwhelming tragedy of it all, Martin’s account strikes me for the way it pins Africa’s… Continue reading No Heroes
Great Britain’s National Health Service is (choose one): A shining example of the power of government to provide health care for everyone. A bloated and sclerotic bureaucracy which demonstrates the impossibility of effective socialized medicine. Both As the debate over health care reaches new heights of absurdity—with the label “socialized medicine” continuing to be the… Continue reading A wholly unsatisfying (for the reader, that is) treatise on the NHS
I’m sure many felt this way in ’68 when riots were tearing the country apart, or in ’29 when the stock market crashed, or in (18)’61 when the country was ripped in half. But sometimes, when I come back from class and pull up the “morning” news from the U.S., I can’t help but think… Continue reading Front Page
Yesterday’s election wasn’t a particularly big deal for me. I’ll admit that my heart sunk when I saw that Maine voters rejected equality for gay couples, but beyond that, I wasn’t too invested in any of the races. It doesn’t particularly bother me that the multi-millionaire investment banker claiming to be a man of the… Continue reading The Great Disappointment, Plus Five-Hundred Fifty-One Wednesdays of Drinking
As a general rule, political developments in other countries that don’t directly involve the U.S.. have to be a pretty big deal to get coverage. The recent elections in Germany, or the passage of the new Lisbon Treaty in the E.U., passed by as a blip. The flip side is that, when stuff does get… Continue reading Why Lefties Can’t Even Make Holocaust Deniers Look Bad
Last April was probably the period where I was the most politically radical—and optimistic—I’ll ever be. By the time I handed in my thesis, it was pretty evident that I had drank the proverbial freegan kool-aid. I genuinely believed the freegans, by working to create sustainable, egalitarian, local anarchist communities, were on to something that… Continue reading The (Near) Death of an Activist
With all the talk in the last few days about British neo-Nazis it was—in a weird sense—fulfilling to actually meet one. Mid-way through today’s anti-war rally in Trafalgar Square, someone in the back of the crowd began shouting “rubbish” in response to a speaker assailing the War in Afghanistan as an imperialist and racist ploy.… Continue reading The Feel-Good Witch Hunt
For those of you who haven’t heard – and really, there’s no reason those of us who get Western media would have – Kampala, Uganda has erupted in rioting and violence. You can catch up with the action by reading the slightly-befuddled coverage of the New York Times here or the way-too-nuanced-for-us-Mzungu-to-understand Ugandan coverage here. … Continue reading Know Nothing
I didn’t watch Obama’s speech last night, partially because I was passed out sick (those parasites take a long time to die), partially because I’m already convinced that whatever Obama pushes is the best feasible option for health care reform, and partially because I’m sickened by the prospect of what that “best feasible option” likely… Continue reading A Brief Rant – Read a Book, Joe Wilon
Alex V. Barnard - Sociology 