- China Miéville’s new book is coming out on May 26, 2009. If you’re a fan of heady and monstrously grotesque fiction (I mean that in the nicest way possible), I recommend pre-ordering it and the seeing him when he hits his book tour. He’s a hoot in person and his fans are always equally entertaining and engaging. (BTW, if anybody here’s of a Seattle-area Miéville reading, make sure I know about it).
[thanks to MauMau for the tip!]
- Penn Jillette asks the right question while not positing the answer (which is probably as it should be since he doesn’t pretend to know): Is Obama skidding (in a good way) or crashing (in a bad way)?
Obama tells us that we can spend our way out of debt. He tells us that even though the government had control over the banks and did nothing to stop the bad that’s going on, if we give them more control over more other bank-like things, then they can make sure bad stuff doesn’t happen ever again. He says we can get out of all those big wars President Bush caused by sending more troops into Afghanistan. And I don’t know. I really don’t know.
[from the Freakonomics Blog]
- William Galston, in The New Republic, says that Barack Obama needs to focus on the economic issues before spreading the country thin on other important – but less pressing – issues.
It is time for President Obama to focus his considerable leadership and communication skills on the financial crisis–to speak candidly with the people about the magnitude of the problem, to embrace a solution commensurate with the problem, and to do whatever it takes to persuade Congress and the people to accept it.
Things I thought you should be aware of
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