Outis

HIGH WATER: How Presidents and citizens react to disaster. The New Yorker

Acabo de visitar la página de Reporteros sin Fronteras. Ahí, al lado de un articulo sobre el acoso de periodistas en Cuba, aparece lo siguiente:

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The UC Berkeley economist and former White House staffer Brad DeLong nails one of the most critical threats facing U.S. and similar liberal democracies: sneering, lazy journalists.

Not unlike my recent posts on the movie “El Método” as well as the critical lack of specificity in many liberal critiques of what ails us, DeLong accuses elite journalists of being “Feckless. Corrupt (in the sense of well-rotted). Decadent.”

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I’ve just come across three consecutive articles on the 800lb. gorilla (er, panda) in the room.

First, from the BBC, we learn that because “China carried out at least 3,400 executions last year, according to rights group Amnesty International,” “China’s top court is to regain its power to review death sentences, as the authorities move to stem criticism that the death penalty is too widely used.”

Once again, from the BBC, “China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) has held a parliamentary session open to the public for the first time.” I guess this means they finished building that underground parliament where the real meetings will be taking place from now on.

Finally, the San Francico Chronicle offers a thorough account of China’s ongoing censorship of the Internet which adds that “U.S. companies aren’t likely to willingly forgo doing business in China, a market of huge promise.” This topic is now being discussed with the usual verve at CrookedTimber.

So, what do these three stories have in common besides the obvious? (Yes, in addition to Kevin Federline.)

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Why do bad movies like “El Método” get liberals hot and bothered? Because few movies — or popular authors — have taken up the specific problems that threaten the likelihood that capitalism will continue to raise standards of living around the world.

I have a feeling far more people will watch “El Método” and infer, perhaps correctly, that the director believes the IMF is evil and should be destroyed than will read the following news release: Former IMF Official Blames Fund in Argentina’s Economic Collapse. (Oh, did I mention the film’s director is Argentinian?)

I am reminded that one of the preferred forms of torture in Gitmo was/is to play “Rage Against the Machine” extremely loud. To me, this confirms two opinions I already held as fact:

1) Rage Against the Machine made bad music.

2) It was bad music because it was all bark and no bite.

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