Newsletter 53
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[2]Wars Don't Make Heroes
William Astore | TomDispatch | 22 July 2010
Serving in combat doesn't make you a hero, nor do many troops want to be
seen as such. Treating soldiers as heroes plays down brutalising aspects of
war, lays ground for myth-making, maybe even prolongs conflict
[3]Kabul Wine Report
KW | Wine Economist | July
Constantly disappointed bar manager runs gauntlet of Afghan bootleggers,
police in search of drinkable wine. Lovely piece mixing social commentary,
humour and dash of wine snobbery
[4]Hezbollah In A Corner
Paul Salem | Project Syndicate | 23 July 2010
Analysis of the challenges facing Lebanon's powerful Shia movement. Clear
and concise on source of the dangers; possibly underestimates Hezbollah's
ability to withstand them
[5]Israel: Asset Or Liability?
Chas Freeman | Nixon Center | 20 July 2010
Blunt public talk, coming down firmly on the "liability" side of the balance
sheet. Israel is rich, US subsidises it heavily, "Yet it’s pretty much taboo
to ask what’s in it for Americans"
[6]The Top Idea In Your Mind
Paul Graham | July 2010
Nice, gentle, short essay on the difficulties of concentrating on more than
one thing at the same time. The thing you're thinking about in the shower is
the thing you'll do best today
[7]Canned Laughter
Mike Sacks | Paris Review | 20 July 2010
Interview with television historian Ben Glenn, about history of "canned
laughter" in comedy, and the "Laff Box", an automated device which dominated
laughter market for 30 years
[8]Thought Leader
Scott McConnell | American Conservative | August 2010
Highly readable short history of "Commentary" magazine. Captures breadth and
quality of early writing, ideological arc under Norman Podhoretz, gruff
editorial genius of Neal Kozodoy
[9]Real Editors Ship
Paul Ford | Ftrain | 20 July 2010
Fine essay on editing as craft. Editors are people who are good at process.
They impose order, meet schedules, get things right, and ship product every
time without getting sued
[10]After The Kosovo Ruling
Charles Crawford | Blogoir | 22 July 2010
International Court of Justice was asked to rule on the wrong question,
perhaps intentionally. Kosovo remains in the all-too-difficult box, at
centre of jurisprudential, political, moral earthquake zone
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[11]ON OUR SISTER SITE, FIVEBOOKS.COM: This week's theme—Israel/Palestine
Links:
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About [12]The Browser: _Editor_, [13]Robert Cottrell; _Managing
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