Archive for August, 2010

How Democratic is Iran?

Posted By Zócalo On August 12, 2010

Where's my vote? Iran

Stephen Kinzer has reported from over 50 countries on five continents, including those with some of the most vexing relationships with the U.S. In his latest book, Reset: Iran, Turkey, and America’s Future, Kinzer argues that the U.S. should look to some unexpected partners for a smarter Middle East strategy — Iran and Turkey, the only Muslim countries with deep democratic roots. He also argues for a reconsideration of our tight ties with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Kinzer stopped by Zócalo’s offices to chat about the history of democracy in the Middle East and what Americans miss in all the media hype about Iran.

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What’s the Price of Luxury?

Posted By Zócalo On August 12, 2010

Einstein's Watch

Einstein’s Watch: Being an Unofficial Record of a Year’s Most Ownable Things
by Jolyon Fenwick & Marcus Husselby

Despite a still reeling economy, a Trump penthouse can still fetch $33.18 million, Bentley is launching its new $349,000 Mulsanne supercar and Chanel is raising prices of its posh pochettes by as much as 30 percent.

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Singles in Your Area

Posted By Zócalo On August 12, 2010

checkout girl

by Luke Reid

Loneliness, in its supreme design,
scours living down to a nerve. How
keenly you quiver at the faintest Hello,
the chance to say I’m fine.

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How to Jumpstart the Economy

Posted By Zócalo On August 10, 2010

The Great Reset, by Richard Florida

The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity
by Richard Florida

While the business cycle has ordinary ups and downs, structural economic crises like the one we’re in are, Richard Florida would say, characterized by the demise of a particular economy. And with the right mix of policy and strategic investment, such crises can spur new eras of prolonged prosperity.

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Are We Stuck in a Permanent War?

Posted By Zócalo On August 9, 2010

U.S. Army Soldiers of 101 Airborne Division 1st Battalion, Bush Masters (TF No Slack), assisted by Afghan National Army troops move into an over watch position during operation Strong Eagle 2, July 19.

Presidents may come and go, but national security stays the same, according to Andrew Bacevich, a former U.S. Army colonel and professor of history and international relations at Boston University. “I have become increasingly skeptical,” Bacevich said, “about the tendency toward overmilitarization.” Continuing the study he began in his previous two books, The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War and The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism, Bacevich argues in Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War that the U.S. is always at war, and we can no longer afford it. Below, he chats about why U.S. policy needs to change, and why Barack Obama missed his chance to do it.

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Articles

Feuilleton
Friday, December 3, 2010
How One Family Created Chinese America
Zócalo

The Lucky Ones, by Mae Ngai The Lucky Ones: One Family and the Extraordinary Invention of Chinese America by Mae Ngai Hyphenated cultures seem to be a natural part of California’s landscape today, but it wasn’t always so. The Lucky Ones by Mae Ngai offers a fresh look at California history by reconstructing the lives of immigrant and second generation pioneers who lived between cultures when it was not such a common phenomenon. Ngai’s narrative brings Chinese Americans into a richer tradition of historical storytelling by humanizing an ambivalent, middle-class immigrant family, situating their lives within the more well-known histories of Chinese laborers and those who suffered from the 1882 Exclusion Act.

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