Robert Altman, 1925-2006

The Associated Press reports the death of film director Robert Altman.

Generation Y(uppie)

"Had he seen me at that show, the younger version of myself—the one who saw the Clash at the Hollywood Palladium and once backpacked through Morocco and slept in an olive grove—would have uttered three words that were popular in the late eighties: Die, yuppie scum. And right he’d be. Twenty years after the heyday of that mockworthy monster of American affluence, I have become the enemy."

Jeff Gordinier in Details magazine spots the return of the Young Urban Professional.

Pulped

"And get a gander at some of the writers Gold Medal put into print: Elmore Leonard, Peter Rabe, Kurt Vonnegut, Day Keene, Jim Thompson, William Goldman, John D. MacDonald, Louis L'Amour, David Goodis, Richard Matheson, Charles Williams, and John Faulkner (William's brother).
"Depending on how you read the history, the glory years of Gold Medal-style book publishing were over by the mid-1960s. But the influence of the era lives on. It's in the very air around us."

Blogger Michael Blowhard looks back to 1950 and Gold Medal Books, the first publisher of original paperback fiction.

And Adam Dunn at CNN.com profiles neo-pulp publishers Hard Case Crime.

"Fighting for the Middle Class"

Christopher Hayes in The Nation explains how Ohio Senator-Elect Sherrod Brown's campaign slogan could translate into continued Democratic Party success.


"A troubling arrogance is in the air among the nation's most fortunate. Some shrug off large-scale economic and social dislocations as the inevitable byproducts of the 'rough road of capitalism.' Others claim that it's the fault of the worker or the public education system, that the average American is simply not up to the international challenge, that our education system fails us, or that our workers have become spoiled by old notions of corporate paternalism. "

And in The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal, Virginia Senator-Elect Jim Webb counsels against the reemergence of a class-stratified America.

Shaken, Not Stirred

"Whether on the page or screen, the Bond we have come to know over the last five decades is neither particularly sensitive nor open to psychological probing. As M tells 007 in the new film, 'I would ask you if you could remain emotionally detached, but that's not your problem, is it, Bond?'"

Bryan Curtis in Slate takes a second look at Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel, Casino Royale.

And Justin Shubow, also in Slate, explains Bond's license to kill.

All Gone Away

"'At the Harvard University I knew as a graduate student in the late 1960s, Milton Friedman was treated as a right-wing Midwestern crank,' said Robert J. Barro, a noted economist, during a 1998 tribute to Friedman at Stanford University. 'It is notable that Milton Friedman's transition from pariah to priest was achieved mainly through the force of ideas.'
"Not all of the ideas found lasting acceptance. The U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and other central banks abandoned much of his monetary prescription, after brief and unhappy experiments."

The Los Angeles Times reports the death of economist Milton Friedman.

And in December, it runs an obit for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who turned his country over to Friedman's "Chicago Boys" after overthrowing Salvador Allende.

Palomino!

Saturday Night Live welcomes House Speaker-Elect Nancy Pelosi and her "San Francisco values."

Happy Birthday, Louie

"He has many claims to fame: champion of the New Deal, first Jewish Supreme Court justice, creator of the legal doctrine of privacy. But it is Brandeis’s insistence on injecting facts and real-world analysis into the law that is his most lasting achievement, and one that resounds especially strongly today, when 'reality-based' logic is so embattled."

In The New York Times, Adam Cohen salutes Louis Brandeis, whose birthday was November 13, 1856.

The March of Time

From Jurassic Park in 65,000,000 BC to Star Trek: Generations in 2293, The Movie Timeline tells the history of the world through film.

Rise of the Hoodies

"Hoodies are usually in their early to late teens. They cruise dark streets and shopping malls looking to create mayhem; last May, England's largest shopping center banned the wearing of hooded sweatshirts. Hoodies accrue 'ASBOS'—slang for 'anti-social behavior orders'—which they flaunt as badges of their indecency. The hoodie has become symbolic of England's juvenile delinquency: Earlier this month, the BBC published the results of a survey that said that 15-year-old English boys ate dinner with their families less often than their European peers. Any guess what these boys are wearing?"

Bryan Curtis in Slate discusses Britain's latest moral panic.

And in The New York Times, Denis Wilson traces the evolution of the garment in the United States.

1966/2006

"Today’s Republicans would do well to note how long it took Democrats to assimilate the lessons of their 1966 defeats. For the most part, they didn’t attempt to tack back to the center. With some notable exceptions—such as acquiescing in a draconian crime bill in 1968—they kept promoting an expansive vision of government that included controversial planks such as busing, affirmative action, greater welfare benefits, and a focus on the root causes of crime instead of harsh punishment. In 1969, Kevin Phillips described an 'emerging Republican majority.' But instead of stanching the tide of defections to the GOP, Democrats allowed them to continue into the 1970s and 1980s."

In Washington Monthly, David Greenberg compares two midterm elections.

Enough, Already

"Pity the poor voter who has to wade through a list of sometimes contradictory, sometimes misleading proposals, doing work that should be the responsibility of elected officials."

The New York Times criticizes the overreliance on voter initiatives.

Who's to Blame?

"As the endgame in Iraq approaches, the score-settling promises to get downright ugly. Those who observe this spectacle will need a strong stomach.
"Still, whatever their political inclinations, Americans should welcome this debate. At a bare minimum, the eruption of blame and backstabbing will offer considerable entertainment value."

When discussing who lost Iraq, Andrew J. Bacevich in the Los Angeles Times provides three categories.

The Rights of Reason

"As the 19th century progressed, Paine's inspiration resurfaced, and his influence was felt in the movement for reform of parliament in England, and in the agitation against slavery in America. John Brown, ostensibly a Calvinist, had Paine's books in his camp. Abraham Lincoln was a close reader of his work, and used to deploy arguments from The Age of Reason in his disputes with religious sectarians, as well as more general Paineite themes in his campaign to turn a bloody civil war into what he called 'a second American revolution'. The rise of the labour movement and the agitation for women's suffrage saw Paine's example being revived and quoted. When Franklin Roosevelt made his great speech to rally the American people against fascism after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he quoted an entire paragraph from Paine's The Crisis beginning: 'These are the times that try men's souls ...'"

Christopher Hitchens in The Guardian assesses the world's greatest Englishman.