otrops elsewhere - posts tagged 'politics'

Johann Hari: A colder, crueller country – for no gain - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 10:11:26 GMT

"It can't be coincidental that this is being done to us by three men – Cameron, Osborne, and Nick Clegg – who have never worried about a bill in their lives."

It's as if Johann Hari has been eavesdropping on the conversations Joanne and I have been having in our living room.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-a-colder-crueller-country-ndash-for-no-gain-2112069.html

- Media (1 of 1) Did Schwarzenegger drop 4-letter bomb in

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 14:53:06 GMT

Possibly the best veto ever.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/10/28/MNBN1ABKB8.DTL&o=0&type=politics

PR firms make London world capital of reputation laundering | Media | The Guardian

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:46:52 GMT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/03/london-public-relations-reputation-laundering

Rummaging in the Governments attic: Governmentattic.org

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 09:51:24 GMT

http://www.governmentattic.org/

October 2009: Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele on the U.S. Treasury | vanityfair.com

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:35:14 GMT

But once the money left the building, the government lost all track of it. The Treasury Department knew where it had sent the money, but nothing about what was done with it. Did the money aid the recovery? Was it spent for the purposes Congress intended? Did it save banks from collapse? Paulson’s Treasury Department had no idea, and didn’t seem to care. It never required the banks to explain what they did with this unprecedented infusion of capital.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/10/bailout200910

Against Transparency | The New Republic

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:21:42 GMT

How could anyone be against transparency? Its virtues and its utilities seem so crushingly obvious. But I have increasingly come to worry that there is an error at the core of this unquestioned goodness. We are not thinking critically enough about where and when transparency works, and where and when it may lead to confusion, or to worse. And I fear that the inevitable success of this movement--if pursued alone, without any sensitivity to the full complexity of the idea of perfect openness--will inspire not reform, but disgust. The "naked transparency movement," as I will call it here, is not going to inspire change. It will simply push any faith in our political system over the cliff.

http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/against-transparency