Speaking of Charisma

Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:18 AM EDT

According to Wikipedia, "Charismatic authority is 'power legitimized on the basis of a leader's exceptional personal qualities or the demonstration of extraordinary insight and accomplishment, which inspire loyalty and obedience from followers'."

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politics, obama, leadership

Can we drink our way to prosperity?

Wed Oct 1, 2008 10:44 PM EDT

Andreas Ramos, writing on lit-ideas, observes, If you purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you have $0.00 today. If you bought $1,000 of beer a year ago, drank the beer, and sold the aluminum cans for recycling, you get $214.00.

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odd-news, beer, lehman, 401-k

Cruisin' Cruisin'; ABC/WaPo Poll Puts Obama Up 52%-43%

Seeded on Wed Sep 24, 2008 1:17 AM EDT (Daily Kos)

Could this be the moment we've been waiting for? With the debates still to come. I'm feeling good, really good about this.

politics, mccain, obama, polls

No Bailout Without Regulation and Cap on Financial Industry Salaries

Seeded on Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:36 PM EDT ()

Senator James Webb of Virginia has sent this powerfully worded statement of principle to Chris Dodd. Act now. Hammer your Senators and Representatives to get on board with Webb's two conditions.

financial, crisis, politics, bailout, webb

She used to like John McCain

Seeded on Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:05 AM EDT (Politico)

Elizabeth Drew wrote a book praising John McCain, back when she still thought of him as a straight-shooter, willing to buck his party. Now, she says, he's turned out to be just another Panderer

mccain, drew, us-news, elizabeth

The Essential Difference

Seeded on Tue Sep 2, 2008 4:04 AM EDT (FiveThirtyEight.com)

Poll analyzer extraordinaire Nate Silver observes that while as a nation we may be able to accept inexperienced presidents because they take office when the ship of state is sailing smoothly, a vice-president becomes the president only at a time of national crisis, when experienc …

politics, president, vice-president, experience

John McCain is a racist

Seeded on Fri Aug 1, 2008 2:05 PM EDT (capitolhillblue.com)

Capitol Hill Blue's Doug Thompson pulls no punches. He doesn't just call John McCain a racist. He demonstrates the truth of the claim using McCain's own words.

politics

How Hillary Got It Wrong

Seeded on Sun May 18, 2008 9:38 AM EDT (AlterNet.org)

Barbara Ehrenreich says that Hillary has demonstrated that a woman can be every bit as low down and dirty as the male of the species.

politics

The Religious Right Isn't What It Used to Be

Seeded on Sun Oct 28, 2007 5:37 AM EDT (The New York Times)

The New York Times article to which this link points is long but well worth reading. To me--I grew up in a pious family then became an anthropologist--it rings true, both to what I learned to feel as a child and to what I learned to think in graduate school.

religion, evangelicals

Republicans have trashed their brand

Seeded on Mon Oct 1, 2007 10:11 PM EDT (Wall Street Journal)

According to the Wall Street Journal, Republicans have trashed their brand.

politics, party, republican, brand

General Abizaid says U.S. Can Live with Nuclear iran

Seeded on Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:05 PM EDT (t r u t h o u t)

Another former commander of Central Command speaks up in terms that the White House won't want to hear. Agrees that everything possible should be done to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons--except for starting another war. That would be a real disaster.

middle-east, iran, politics, central-command, nuclear-weapons

The Art of Innovation

Seeded on Tue Aug 7, 2007 3:51 AM EDT (EW.com)

LukeW shares his notes from a talk by Tom Kelley, general manager of IDEO and author of The Art of Innovation, spoke at Yahoo! Design Week about the importance of anthropology in business innovation. Taking a second look around us is where innovative ideas come from.

business, innovation, anthropology

We Talk, They Hurt

Seeded on Sat Jul 14, 2007 3:04 AM EDT ()

Did you know that US soldiers wounded in Iraq don't even get a criminal's one free phone call when they arrive at Landstuhl Hospital in Germany? Even one US phone card usable on the one pay phone they have access to would be a real example of supporting our troops.

What did you learn from your father?

Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:37 AM EDT

My father taught me what it was to be a man To break open peelers and bait the hooks, clean the fish, swear at a balky outboard motor, a backlash, a miscast hook sticking in a hand, "Hells Bells!" he roared when my net missed the crab skittering across the creek bottom.

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history, father, man, tradition

The Daytona 500 and the Culture War

Seeded on Sun Feb 18, 2007 6:40 PM EST (bestoftheblogs.com)

Great reflection on Nascar, the culture wars, the spread of southern culture outside the south, the "a candidate has to be from the south" to be electable meme.

nascar, politics, the-south, culture-wars

David Brooks for Hillary?

Seeded on Thu Feb 15, 2007 5:48 AM EST (bestoftheblogs.com)

Who'd ever expect to see conservative columnist David Brooks defending Hillary Clinton's stands on the Iraq war—and making a pretty good case?

politics, hillary-clinton

This morning in Japan, Tuesday, January 30, 2006

Seeded on Tue Jan 30, 2007 6:31 AM EST (bestoftheblogs.com)

Imagine a U.S. Court of Appeals sustaining the verdict that NPR was wrong to alter a documentary film made by an NGO in response to political pressure. A similar story was front-page news in Japan.

journalism, law, freedom-of-the-press

A More Perfect Union

Thu Nov 9, 2006 3:59 AM EST

One of the funniest but also most profound speeches I heard during this campaign season was the one that Bill Clinton gave at the last rally for Jim Webb before Election Day.

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clinton, politics, humility, webb, imperfection

The Secret Letter From Iraq

Seeded on Sun Oct 8, 2006 2:59 AM EDT (TIME)

What is life like for a U.S. soldier in Iraq? The author of this letter calls it Dante's Inferno.

iraq, politics, military, marines, soldiers, u-s

October Surprise?

Thu Oct 5, 2006 4:23 AM EDT

Have you seen or heard about the story in The Nation(http://www.thenation.com/doc/ 20061009/lindorff)? It appears to be true that the Eisenhower Strike Group has left Norfolk early en route to what looks very much like war with Iran.

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iran, politics, war, october, surprise, eisenhower

Virginia Swings! Webb 50.4%, Allen 42.9%!

Seeded on Mon Sep 11, 2006 12:43 AM EDT (raisingkaine.com)

Faux cowboy George Allen meets real Marine Jim Webb. The headline says it all, Zogby Poll Released: Webb 50.4%, Allen 42.9%!!! I wonder if Allen knows how to whistle "The Word Turned Upside Down."

senate, virginia, us-news, jim-webb

Capitol Hill Blue - Enemies of the State Archives

Seeded on Wed Sep 6, 2006 5:20 AM EDT (capitolhillblue.com)

Criminal negligence or looming insanity? What's your take on the mental state of George W. Bush?

bush, taliban, crazy, unreal

U.S. Citizen Abroad? You're the Decider!

Thu Jun 15, 2006 8:18 AM EDT

Estimates put the number of U.S. citizens living and working abroad at between four and seven million, a population bigger than all but 11 of the 50 states.

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politics, november-elections, absentee-voting, absentee-ballot, vote-from-abroad