Action for Kids says Lloyd Scott was given his notice due to losses incurred during latest marathon A charity director who spent 26 days crawling the London marathon dressed as a giant snail has been sacked from his job after failing to raise enough money. Lloyd Scott, a well-known fundraiser who worked as director of fundraising at Action for Kids , was given his notice 11 days after he completed the 26.2miles – when he “hadn’t physically recovered from the event”. The charity confirmed Scott had been dismissed “due to losses incurred in his latest marathon”. After the news was widely reported, however, a spokesman said on Tuesday that Action for Kids would now be “having discussions” with the fundraiser this week. Scott endured vomiting and cramps as he dragged his gastropod costume – he was specifically portraying Brian the Snail from the Magic Roundabout – around the course. He had hoped to raise at least £100,000, but managed only £20,000. The former footballer, who has raised over £5m for charity over the past 20 years, said the decision to sack him was “incredibly disappointing”. “We didn’t get enough funds whilst we were doing the event, however there was a number of opportunities that had arisen as a result of being on the course for that length of time … and other events we could have put on on the back of that,” Scott said. “It would have been really good to have had the opportunities to maximise on those openings for the benefit of the charity.” Scott said he had worked in “an orthodox role within the charity” as its director of fundraising. He said Action for Kids distancing themselves from his bid to crawl the London Marathon was particularly disappointing. Sally Bishop, the founder of Action for Kids, said in a statement that the board of trustees had asked Scott to leave. “He was given notice according to his contract with us, due to losses incurred in his latest marathon,” Bishop said. “Due to limited resources, like all charities, Action for Kids must make sure that we make the best possible use of our limited funds. “Our priority is always to our donors, and the children and families we support. So it is with regret we had to take this decision.” Scott said the event had been “approved and endorsed by the trustees of the charity” before he launched his bid. “It’s a bit amiss for them to say ‘It’s his event’,” he said. Scott, who played for Blackpool, Watford and Leyton Orient, began fundraising after he was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1987. He has previously completed the London marathon dressed as St George and dragging a dragon, and as Indiana Jones, dragging a large stone. Action for Kids informed Scott that he would be dismissed two weeks after he had completed the marathon, at the end of May. However a spokesman for the charity told the Guardian on Tuesday that the two parties would be “having discussions” this week – with Scott also confirming his attendance. “The thing I want more than anything else is to raise the money we said we were going to,” Scott said, adding that people can still donate to Action for Kids on his fundraising page . The snail sacking saga may well have generated more income for the charity. Since the news of Scott’s dismissal broke there have been a flurry of donations to his Magic Marathon fundraising page. One anonymous donor pledged £5, adding: “Can they really sack a snail?!”. Steve Harvey gave £10, : and wrote: “I hope the disappointing news story of the sacked snail generates some positive interest and further donations from the British public. “Respect for all your hard work and massive charity achievements. I’m sure with some ‘air time’ money would roll in!” Charities London Marathon Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Action for Kids says Lloyd Scott was given his notice due to losses incurred during latest marathon A charity director who spent 26 days crawling the London marathon dressed as a giant snail has been sacked from his job after failing to raise enough money. Lloyd Scott, a well-known fundraiser who worked as director of fundraising at Action for Kids , was given his notice 11 days after he completed the 26.2miles – when he “hadn’t physically recovered from the event”. The charity confirmed Scott had been dismissed “due to losses incurred in his latest marathon”. After the news was widely reported, however, a spokesman said on Tuesday that Action for Kids would now be “having discussions” with the fundraiser this week. Scott endured vomiting and cramps as he dragged his gastropod costume – he was specifically portraying Brian the Snail from the Magic Roundabout – around the course. He had hoped to raise at least £100,000, but managed only £20,000. The former footballer, who has raised over £5m for charity over the past 20 years, said the decision to sack him was “incredibly disappointing”. “We didn’t get enough funds whilst we were doing the event, however there was a number of opportunities that had arisen as a result of being on the course for that length of time … and other events we could have put on on the back of that,” Scott said. “It would have been really good to have had the opportunities to maximise on those openings for the benefit of the charity.” Scott said he had worked in “an orthodox role within the charity” as its director of fundraising. He said Action for Kids distancing themselves from his bid to crawl the London Marathon was particularly disappointing. Sally Bishop, the founder of Action for Kids, said in a statement that the board of trustees had asked Scott to leave. “He was given notice according to his contract with us, due to losses incurred in his latest marathon,” Bishop said. “Due to limited resources, like all charities, Action for Kids must make sure that we make the best possible use of our limited funds. “Our priority is always to our donors, and the children and families we support. So it is with regret we had to take this decision.” Scott said the event had been “approved and endorsed by the trustees of the charity” before he launched his bid. “It’s a bit amiss for them to say ‘It’s his event’,” he said. Scott, who played for Blackpool, Watford and Leyton Orient, began fundraising after he was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1987. He has previously completed the London marathon dressed as St George and dragging a dragon, and as Indiana Jones, dragging a large stone. Action for Kids informed Scott that he would be dismissed two weeks after he had completed the marathon, at the end of May. However a spokesman for the charity told the Guardian on Tuesday that the two parties would be “having discussions” this week – with Scott also confirming his attendance. “The thing I want more than anything else is to raise the money we said we were going to,” Scott said, adding that people can still donate to Action for Kids on his fundraising page . The snail sacking saga may well have generated more income for the charity. Since the news of Scott’s dismissal broke there have been a flurry of donations to his Magic Marathon fundraising page. One anonymous donor pledged £5, adding: “Can they really sack a snail?!”. Steve Harvey gave £10, : and wrote: “I hope the disappointing news story of the sacked snail generates some positive interest and further donations from the British public. “Respect for all your hard work and massive charity achievements. I’m sure with some ‘air time’ money would roll in!” Charities London Marathon Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Finnish phone-maker could pursue makers of Google Android phones after victory in long-running legal battle The Finnish phone-maker Nokia could receive a one-off payment of more than €800m (£700m) from Apple and receive further royalties of €8 per iPhone sold in future, after winning a long-running patents case. The company subsequently hinted that it may pursue makers of smartphones using Google’s Android mobile operating system, of which 36m were sold in the first quarter of 2011. The settlement signed on Tuesday related to patents for mobile technology that helped Apple to revolutionise the phone industry in 2007 when it launched the first iPhone. Although terms of the settlement were not disclosed, previous patent licensing deals in the phone industry have been worth up to 5% of the price of the device involved. At €8, or $11.50 (£7), they would represent about 4.5% of the estimated average $264 cost price of an iPhone, which Apple sells to retailers and phone networks for an average of $660. Apple has sold 108m iPhones since their launch. Nokia’s shares rose by 3% as it said that the one-off payment, whose size was not revealed, will have “a positive financial impact” on its upcoming quarterly results. At the end of May it forecast that its mobile phone division, which for years has been the biggest in the world, would see reduced revenues and might not make a profit for the first time in a decade. The one-off payment should push it back to its usual quarterly profit levels. Ongoing royalties from Apple of about 1% of the average sale price of a handset would be worth about $430m to Nokia this year, analysts estimated. Nokia may now also choose to sue makers of handsets running Google’s free Android mobile operating system if it decides that they have also infringed its patents. Nokia’s chief executive, Stephen Elop, said : “This settlement … enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.” A spokesman for Apple said: “Apple and Nokia have agreed to drop all of our current lawsuits and enter into a licence covering some of each other’s patents, but not the majority of the innovations that make the iPhone unique. We’re glad to put this behind us and get back to focusing on our respective businesses.” Florian Mueller, an independent specialist and blogger on patent battles, said that “the deal structure – a one-time payment as well as running royalties – suggests a fairly good outcome for Nokia”. He added: “Maybe Nokia could have continued to play hardball and got an even better deal if it didn’t face the challenges it undoubtedly has. But this looks like a fairly important victory.” He suggested that Apple would benefit if Nokia pursues Android handset-makers, because they have smaller margins and would be less easily able to afford royalties. Android dominates the smartphone market with a 36% share, ahead of Nokia’s Symbian with 27% and Apple’s 17%, according to the research company Gartner . Financial analysts had mixed views on the outcome. Mikael Rautanen, at Inderes in Helsinki, said: “This is the first positive news from Nokia for a long time. They can both focus on their businesses now, and the dispute was settled to Nokia’s advantage.” But others remained bearish on the group’s longer-term prospects. “This [the Apple deal] could cause the stock to have a bit of a relief rally, but does very little to address the stark reality that the company is facing,” Richard Windsor, analyst at Nomura, said. On Monday, Nomura forecast that Nokia will be passed by both Samsung and Apple in the smartphone market worldwide over the next four months, and that its phone business will shrink by about 20% over the next two years as it tries to shift from Symbian to Microsoft’s Windows Phone on smartphones . “We see no reason to remain anything other than negative on the stock,” said Windsor. Nokia’s shares are still down about 25% since 30 May, representing a €5.5bn fall in market capitalisation for one of Europe’s biggest technology companies. The case settled on Tuesday was filed in 2009 by Nokia, which said it had filed a patent 10 years ago that covered the use of touchscreen technology in phones. Ironically, announcing the iPhone in 2007, Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said of the multi-touch screen interface: “Boy, have we patented it!”, in a warning to would-be rivals. Elop said: “We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees. This settlement demonstrates Nokia’s industry-leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.” Nokia Apple Mobile phones Computing Telecoms Telecommunications industry Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Finnish phone-maker could pursue makers of Google Android phones after victory in long-running legal battle The Finnish phone-maker Nokia could receive a one-off payment of more than €800m (£700m) from Apple and receive further royalties of €8 per iPhone sold in future, after winning a long-running patents case. The company subsequently hinted that it may pursue makers of smartphones using Google’s Android mobile operating system, of which 36m were sold in the first quarter of 2011. The settlement signed on Tuesday related to patents for mobile technology that helped Apple to revolutionise the phone industry in 2007 when it launched the first iPhone. Although terms of the settlement were not disclosed, previous patent licensing deals in the phone industry have been worth up to 5% of the price of the device involved. At €8, or $11.50 (£7), they would represent about 4.5% of the estimated average $264 cost price of an iPhone, which Apple sells to retailers and phone networks for an average of $660. Apple has sold 108m iPhones since their launch. Nokia’s shares rose by 3% as it said that the one-off payment, whose size was not revealed, will have “a positive financial impact” on its upcoming quarterly results. At the end of May it forecast that its mobile phone division, which for years has been the biggest in the world, would see reduced revenues and might not make a profit for the first time in a decade. The one-off payment should push it back to its usual quarterly profit levels. Ongoing royalties from Apple of about 1% of the average sale price of a handset would be worth about $430m to Nokia this year, analysts estimated. Nokia may now also choose to sue makers of handsets running Google’s free Android mobile operating system if it decides that they have also infringed its patents. Nokia’s chief executive, Stephen Elop, said : “This settlement … enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.” A spokesman for Apple said: “Apple and Nokia have agreed to drop all of our current lawsuits and enter into a licence covering some of each other’s patents, but not the majority of the innovations that make the iPhone unique. We’re glad to put this behind us and get back to focusing on our respective businesses.” Florian Mueller, an independent specialist and blogger on patent battles, said that “the deal structure – a one-time payment as well as running royalties – suggests a fairly good outcome for Nokia”. He added: “Maybe Nokia could have continued to play hardball and got an even better deal if it didn’t face the challenges it undoubtedly has. But this looks like a fairly important victory.” He suggested that Apple would benefit if Nokia pursues Android handset-makers, because they have smaller margins and would be less easily able to afford royalties. Android dominates the smartphone market with a 36% share, ahead of Nokia’s Symbian with 27% and Apple’s 17%, according to the research company Gartner . Financial analysts had mixed views on the outcome. Mikael Rautanen, at Inderes in Helsinki, said: “This is the first positive news from Nokia for a long time. They can both focus on their businesses now, and the dispute was settled to Nokia’s advantage.” But others remained bearish on the group’s longer-term prospects. “This [the Apple deal] could cause the stock to have a bit of a relief rally, but does very little to address the stark reality that the company is facing,” Richard Windsor, analyst at Nomura, said. On Monday, Nomura forecast that Nokia will be passed by both Samsung and Apple in the smartphone market worldwide over the next four months, and that its phone business will shrink by about 20% over the next two years as it tries to shift from Symbian to Microsoft’s Windows Phone on smartphones . “We see no reason to remain anything other than negative on the stock,” said Windsor. Nokia’s shares are still down about 25% since 30 May, representing a €5.5bn fall in market capitalisation for one of Europe’s biggest technology companies. The case settled on Tuesday was filed in 2009 by Nokia, which said it had filed a patent 10 years ago that covered the use of touchscreen technology in phones. Ironically, announcing the iPhone in 2007, Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said of the multi-touch screen interface: “Boy, have we patented it!”, in a warning to would-be rivals. Elop said: “We are very pleased to have Apple join the growing number of Nokia licensees. This settlement demonstrates Nokia’s industry-leading patent portfolio and enables us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the mobile communications market.” Nokia Apple Mobile phones Computing Telecoms Telecommunications industry Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Arne Duncan: We’ll Waive Federal Law If You Embrace Our Schools Agenda. Say What?
June 14, 2011 No CommentNow, watch the video and then read this . Because it’s important to understand the filter here: The administration really, really wants privatized schools and Arne Duncan, the education secretary, is the head cheerleader — even though everything he claims about their success is a lie. It makes you wonder exactly what the real agenda is, doesn’t it? Duncan just announced that he’s getting ready to waive No Child Left Behind requirements for states if they agree, as the New York Times put it, “to embrace President Obama’s education priorities, a formula the administration used last year in its signature education initiative, the Race to the Top grant competition.” Frederick Hess writes about it in Education Week: So, let me get this straight. After barely convincing Congress to keep Race to the Top on life support, [Arne] Duncan is intent on unilaterally pushing his same pet priorities through the back door? He’s planning to offer regulatory relief only if states adopt reforms that are utterly absent in the relevant legislation? Facing backlash on the right and left over concerns that the administration coerced states to embrace test-driven teacher evaluation and the Common Core through Race to the Top, Duncan’s strategy is to double down? Well, no matter, I’m sure the Republican majority in the House will cheer Duncan’s enthusiastic willingness to lead. Or not… The National Journal’s Fawn Johnson wrote, “President Obama has called for lawmakers to rewrite No Child Left Behind by the start of the new school year. Now he’s giving them the second warning before sending them to the principal’s office: Do your job or we’ll do it for you.” Now, I know the President is a Nobel Prize winner and all but, back when I was earning my Ph.D. in political science, I don’t remember anything that empowered the President to issue Congress legislative deadlines or usurp Congressional prerogatives if the administration’s timetable isn’t met. Sandy Kress, former Bush administration education adviser, observed, “I don’t get all the drama. It almost has the feel of a threat to Congress.” At a time when Obama partisans are seeking to dismiss Tea Party critiques of administration moves on health care, auto bailouts, financial regulation, and the stimulus as conspiracy-minded lunacy, do they really not see that this is precisely the mindset that raises such hackles among critics? I’m curious whether any of the lawyers at ED tried to explain to Duncan that he’s not permitted to remake federal law on the fly , just because he and the President think it’s a good idea, or whether they’re cheerfully along for the ride. After having turned the Common Core into a hot button issue by tying it to the Obama administration’s federal agenda–drawing fire from GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney in the process–you’d think Duncan would’ve been more attentive to the signals he’s sending. You’d have been wrong. Is ED abashed about any of this, or even aware that this kind of brazen overreach is precisely what has driven Hill Republicans to distraction? Nope. Indeed, an ED press official sent around an e-mail advisory on Sunday that proudly linked to the stories on Duncan’s “I’m in charge” chest-thumping. Living in a nation of laws means that it matters not only what public officials do, but how they do it. Yet, as with “Edujobs,” TARP, RTT, federal funding for the Common Core, gainful employment regulation, and much else, Duncan has shown little interest in such highfaluting concerns. Rather, in the classic Chicago style, the attitude seems to be that if the administration wants to do it, that’s good enough–whatever the statutory or Constitutional complexities , and regardless of whether this is all likely to turn out as intended.
Continue reading …Arne Duncan: We’ll Waive Federal Law If You Embrace Our Schools Agenda. Say What?
June 14, 2011 No CommentNow, watch the video and then read this . Because it’s important to understand the filter here: The administration really, really wants privatized schools and Arne Duncan, the education secretary, is the head cheerleader — even though everything he claims about their success is a lie. It makes you wonder exactly what the real agenda is, doesn’t it? Duncan just announced that he’s getting ready to waive No Child Left Behind requirements for states if they agree, as the New York Times put it, “to embrace President Obama’s education priorities, a formula the administration used last year in its signature education initiative, the Race to the Top grant competition.” Frederick Hess writes about it in Education Week: So, let me get this straight. After barely convincing Congress to keep Race to the Top on life support, [Arne] Duncan is intent on unilaterally pushing his same pet priorities through the back door? He’s planning to offer regulatory relief only if states adopt reforms that are utterly absent in the relevant legislation? Facing backlash on the right and left over concerns that the administration coerced states to embrace test-driven teacher evaluation and the Common Core through Race to the Top, Duncan’s strategy is to double down? Well, no matter, I’m sure the Republican majority in the House will cheer Duncan’s enthusiastic willingness to lead. Or not… The National Journal’s Fawn Johnson wrote, “President Obama has called for lawmakers to rewrite No Child Left Behind by the start of the new school year. Now he’s giving them the second warning before sending them to the principal’s office: Do your job or we’ll do it for you.” Now, I know the President is a Nobel Prize winner and all but, back when I was earning my Ph.D. in political science, I don’t remember anything that empowered the President to issue Congress legislative deadlines or usurp Congressional prerogatives if the administration’s timetable isn’t met. Sandy Kress, former Bush administration education adviser, observed, “I don’t get all the drama. It almost has the feel of a threat to Congress.” At a time when Obama partisans are seeking to dismiss Tea Party critiques of administration moves on health care, auto bailouts, financial regulation, and the stimulus as conspiracy-minded lunacy, do they really not see that this is precisely the mindset that raises such hackles among critics? I’m curious whether any of the lawyers at ED tried to explain to Duncan that he’s not permitted to remake federal law on the fly , just because he and the President think it’s a good idea, or whether they’re cheerfully along for the ride. After having turned the Common Core into a hot button issue by tying it to the Obama administration’s federal agenda–drawing fire from GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney in the process–you’d think Duncan would’ve been more attentive to the signals he’s sending. You’d have been wrong. Is ED abashed about any of this, or even aware that this kind of brazen overreach is precisely what has driven Hill Republicans to distraction? Nope. Indeed, an ED press official sent around an e-mail advisory on Sunday that proudly linked to the stories on Duncan’s “I’m in charge” chest-thumping. Living in a nation of laws means that it matters not only what public officials do, but how they do it. Yet, as with “Edujobs,” TARP, RTT, federal funding for the Common Core, gainful employment regulation, and much else, Duncan has shown little interest in such highfaluting concerns. Rather, in the classic Chicago style, the attitude seems to be that if the administration wants to do it, that’s good enough–whatever the statutory or Constitutional complexities , and regardless of whether this is all likely to turn out as intended.
Continue reading …
After keen debate at the Guardian’s books desk, this is our list of the very best factual writing, organised by category, and then by date. See how closely it matches yours and tell us what we’ve missed Art The Shock of the New by Robert Hughes (1980) Hughes charts the story of modern art, from cubism to the avant garde The Story of Art by Ernst Gombrich (1950) The most popular art book in history. Gombrich examines the technical and aesthetic problems confronted by artists since the dawn of time Ways of Seeing by John Berger (1972) A study of the ways in which we look at art, which changed the terms of a generation’s engagement with visual culture Biography Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects by Giorgio Vasari (1550) Biography mixes with anecdote in this Florentine-inflected portrait of the painters and sculptors who shaped the Renaissance The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell (1791) Boswell draws on his journals to create an affectionate portrait of the great lexicographer The Diaries of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys (1825) “Blessed be God, at the end of the last year I was in very good health,” begins this extraordinarily vivid diary of the Restoration period Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey (1918) Strachey set the template for modern biography, with this witty and irreverent account of four Victorian heroes Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves (1929) Graves’ autobiography tells the story of his childhood and the early years of his marriage, but the core of the book is his account of the brutalities and banalities of the first world war The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein (1933) Stein’s groundbreaking biography, written in the guise of an autobiography, of her lover Culture Notes on Camp by Susan Sontag (1964) Sontag’s proposition that the modern sensibility has been shaped by Jewish ethics and homosexual aesthetics Mythologies by Roland Barthes (1972) Barthes gets under the surface of the meanings of the things which surround us in these witty studies of contemporary myth-making Orientalism by Edward Said (1978) Said argues that romanticised western representations of Arab culture are political and condescending Environment Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962) This account of the effects of pesticides on the environment launched the environmental movement in the US The Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock (1979) Lovelock’s argument that once life is established on a planet, it engineers conditions for its continued survival, revolutionised our perception of our place in the scheme of things History The Histories by Herodotus (c400 BC) History begins with Herodotus’s account of the Greco-Persian war The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1776) The first modern historian of the Roman Empire went back to ancient sources to argue that moral decay made downfall inevitable The History of England by Thomas Babington Macaulay (1848) A landmark study from the pre-eminent Whig historian Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt (1963) Arendt’s reports on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, and explores the psychological and sociological mechanisms of the Holocaust The Making of the English Working Class by EP Thompson (1963) Thompson turned history on its head by focusing on the political agency of the people, whom most historians had treated as anonymous masses Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown (1970) A moving account of the treatment of Native Americans by the US government Hard Times: an Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel (1970) Terkel weaves oral accounts of the Great Depression into a powerful tapestry Shah of Shahs by Ryszard Kapuściński (1982) The great Polish reporter tells the story of the last Shah of Iran The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 by Eric Hobsbawm (1994) Hobsbawm charts the failure of capitalists and communists alike in this account of the 20th century We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Familes by Philip Gourevitch (1999) Gourevitch captures the terror of the Rwandan massacre, and the failures of the international community Postwar by Tony Judt (2005) A magisterial account of the grand sweep of European history since 1945 Journalism The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm (1990) An examination of the moral dilemmas at the heart of the journalist’s trade The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (1968) The man in the white suit follows Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters as they drive across the US in a haze of LSD Dispatches by Michael Herr (1977) A vivid account of Herr’s experiences of the Vietnam war Literature The Lives of the Poets by Samuel Johnson (1781) Biographical and critical studies of 18th-century poets, which cast a sceptical eye on their lives and works An Image of Africa by Chinua Achebe (1975) Achebe challenges western cultural imperialism in his argument that Heart of Darkness is a racist novel, which deprives its African characters of humanity The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim (1976) Bettelheim argues that the darkness of fairy tales offers a means for children to grapple with their fears Mathematics Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter (1979) A whimsical meditation on music, mind and mathematics that explores formal complexity and self-reference Memoir Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1782) Rousseau establishes the template for modern autobiography with this intimate account of his own life Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass (1845) This vivid first person account was one of the first times the voice of the slave was heard in mainstream society De Profundis by Oscar Wilde (1905) Imprisoned in Reading Gaol, Wilde tells the story of his affair with Alfred Douglas and his spiritual development The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence (1922) A dashing account of Lawrence’s exploits during the revolt against the Ottoman empire The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi (1927) A classic of the confessional genre, Gandhi recounts early struggles and his passionate quest for self-knowledge Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell (1938) Orwell’s clear-eyed account of his experiences in Spain offers a portrait of confusion and betrayal during the civil war The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947) Published by her father after the war, this account of the family’s hidden life helped to shape the post-war narrative of the Holocaust Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (1951) Nabokov reflects on his life before moving to the US in 1940 The Man Died by Wole Soyinka (1971) A powerful autobiographical account of Soyinka’s experiences in prison during the Nigerian civil war The Periodic Table by Primo Levi (1975) A vision of the author’s life, including his life in the concentration camps, as seen through the kaleidoscope of chemistry Bad Blood by Lorna Sage (2000) Sage demolishes the fantasy of family as she tells how her relatives passed rage, grief and frustrated desire down the generations Mind The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud (1899) Freud’s argument that our experiences while dreaming hold the key to our psychological lives launched the discipline of psychoanalysis and transformed western culture Music The Romantic Generation by Charles Rosen (1998) Rosen examines how 19th-century composers extended the boundaries of music, and their engagement with literature, landscape and the divine Philosophy The Symposium by Plato (c380 BC) A lively dinner-party debate on the nature of love Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (c180) A series of personal reflections, advocating the preservation of calm in the face of conflict, and the cultivation of a cosmic perspective Essays by Michel de Montaigne (1580) Montaigne’s wise, amusing examination of himself, and of human nature, launched the essay as a literary form The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton (1621) Burton examines all human culture through the lens of melancholy Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes (1641) Doubting everything but his own existence, Descartes tries to construct God and the universe Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume (1779) Hume puts his faith to the test with a conversation examining arguments for the existence of God Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant (1781) If western philosophy is merely a footnote to Plato, then Kant’s attempt to unite reason with experience provides many of the subject headings Phenomenology of Mind by GWF Hegel (1807) Hegel takes the reader through the evolution of consciousness Walden by HD Thoreau (1854) An account of two years spent living in a log cabin, which examines ideas of independence and society On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (1859) Mill argues that “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others” Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche (1883) The invalid Nietzsche proclaims the death of God and the triumph of the Ubermensch The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn (1962) A revolutionary theory about the nature of scientific progress Politics The Art of War by Sun Tzu (c500 BC) A study of warfare that stresses the importance of positioning and the ability to react to changing circumstances The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (1532) Machiavelli injects realism into the study of power, arguing that rulers should be prepared to abandon virtue to defend stability Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651) Hobbes makes the case for absolute power, to prevent life from being “nasty, brutish and short” The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine (1791) A hugely influential defence of the French revolution, which points out the illegitimacy of governments that do not defend the rights of citizens A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) Wollstonecraft argues that women should be afforded an education in order that they might contribute to society The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848) An analysis of society and politics in terms of class struggle, which launched a movement with the ringing declaration that “proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains” The Souls of Black Folk by WEB DuBois (1903) A series of essays makes the case for equality in the American south The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (1949) De Beauvoir examines what it means to be a woman, and how female identity has been defined with reference to men throughout history The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon (1961) An exploration of the psychological impact of colonialisation The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan (1967) This bestselling graphic popularisation of McLuhan’s ideas about technology and culture was cocreated with Quentin Fiore The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer (1970) Greer argues that male society represses the sexuality of women Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman (1988) Chomsky argues that corporate media present a distorted picture of the world, so as to maximise their profits Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky (2008) A vibrant first history of the ongoing social media revolution Religion The Golden Bough by James George Frazer (1890) An attempt to identify the shared elements of the world’s religions, which suggests that they originate from fertility cults The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James (1902) James argues that the value of religions should not be measured in terms of their origin or empirical accuracy Science On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (1859) Darwin’s account of the evolution of species by natural selection transformed biology and our place in the universe The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynmann (1965) An elegant exploration of physical theories from one of the 20th century’s greatest theoreticians The Double Helix by James Watson (1968) James Watson’s personal account of how he and Francis Crick cracked the structure of DNA The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (1976) Dawkins launches a revolution in biology with the suggestion that evolution is best seen from the perspective of the gene, rather than the organism A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988) A book owned by 10 million people, if understood by fewer, Hawking’s account of the origins of the universe became a publishing sensation Society The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pisan (1405) A defence of womankind in the form of an ideal city, populated by famous women from throughout history Praise of Folly by Erasmus (1511) This satirical encomium to the foolishness of man helped spark the Reformation with its skewering of abuses and corruption in the Catholic church Letters Concerning the English Nation by Voltaire (1734) Voltaire turns his keen eye on English society, comparing it affectionately with life on the other side of the English channel Suicide by Émile Durkheim (1897) An investigation into protestant and catholic culture, which argues that the less vigilant social control within catholic societies lowers the rate of suicide Economy and Society by Max Weber (1922) A thorough analysis of political, economic and religious mechanisms in modern society, which established the template for modern sociology A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (1929) Woolf’s extended essay argues for both a literal and metaphorical space for women writers within a male-dominated literary tradition Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans (1941) Evans’s images and Agee’s words paint a stark picture of life among sharecroppers in the US South The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963) An exploration of the unhappiness felt by many housewives in the 1950s and 1960s, despite material comfort and stable family lives In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966) A novelistic account of a brutal murder in Kansas city, which propelled Capote to fame and fortune Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (1968) Didion evokes life in 1960s California in a series of sparkling essays The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1973) This analysis of incarceration in the Soviet Union, including the author’s own experiences as a zek, called into question the moral foundations of the USSR Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault (1975) Foucault examines the development of modern society’s systems of incarceration News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García Márquez (1996) Colombia’s greatest 20th-century writer tells the story of kidnappings carried out by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel Travel The Travels of Ibn Battuta by Ibn Battuta (1355) The Arab world’s greatest medieval traveller sets down his memories of journeys throughout the known world and beyond Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (1869) Twain’s tongue-in-cheek account of his European adventures was an immediate bestseller Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West (1941) A six-week trip to Yugoslavia provides the backbone for this monumental study of Balkan history Venice by Jan Morris (1960) An eccentric but learned guide to the great city’s art, history, culture and people A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1977) The first volume of Leigh Fermor’s journey on foot through Europe – a glowing evocation of youth, memory and history Danube by Claudio Magris (1986) Magris mixes travel, history, anecdote and literature as he tracks the Danube from its source to the sea China Along the Yellow River by Cao Jinqing (1995) A pioneering work of Chinese sociology, exploring modern China with a modern face The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald (1995) A walking tour in East Anglia becomes a melancholy meditation on transience and decay Passage to Juneau by Jonathan Raban (2000) Raban sets off in a 35ft ketch on a voyage from Seattle to Alaska, exploring Native American art, the Romantic imagination and his own disintegrating relationship along the way Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa (2002) Vargas Llosa distils a lifetime of reading and writing into a manual of the writer’s craft What have we missed? Help fill in the gaps and join the debate on the blog Best books History Philosophy Biography Science and nature guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …After keen debate at the Guardian’s books desk, this is our list of the very best factual writing, organised by category, and then by date. See how closely it matches yours and tell us what we’ve missed Art The Shock of the New by Robert Hughes (1980) Hughes charts the story of modern art, from cubism to the avant garde The Story of Art by Ernst Gombrich (1950) The most popular art book in history. Gombrich examines the technical and aesthetic problems confronted by artists since the dawn of time Ways of Seeing by John Berger (1972) A study of the ways in which we look at art, which changed the terms of a generation’s engagement with visual culture Biography Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects by Giorgio Vasari (1550) Biography mixes with anecdote in this Florentine-inflected portrait of the painters and sculptors who shaped the Renaissance The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell (1791) Boswell draws on his journals to create an affectionate portrait of the great lexicographer The Diaries of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys (1825) “Blessed be God, at the end of the last year I was in very good health,” begins this extraordinarily vivid diary of the Restoration period Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey (1918) Strachey set the template for modern biography, with this witty and irreverent account of four Victorian heroes Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves (1929) Graves’ autobiography tells the story of his childhood and the early years of his marriage, but the core of the book is his account of the brutalities and banalities of the first world war The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas by Gertrude Stein (1933) Stein’s groundbreaking biography, written in the guise of an autobiography, of her lover Culture Notes on Camp by Susan Sontag (1964) Sontag’s proposition that the modern sensibility has been shaped by Jewish ethics and homosexual aesthetics Mythologies by Roland Barthes (1972) Barthes gets under the surface of the meanings of the things which surround us in these witty studies of contemporary myth-making Orientalism by Edward Said (1978) Said argues that romanticised western representations of Arab culture are political and condescending Environment Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962) This account of the effects of pesticides on the environment launched the environmental movement in the US The Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock (1979) Lovelock’s argument that once life is established on a planet, it engineers conditions for its continued survival, revolutionised our perception of our place in the scheme of things History The Histories by Herodotus (c400 BC) History begins with Herodotus’s account of the Greco-Persian war The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1776) The first modern historian of the Roman Empire went back to ancient sources to argue that moral decay made downfall inevitable The History of England by Thomas Babington Macaulay (1848) A landmark study from the pre-eminent Whig historian Eichmann in Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt (1963) Arendt’s reports on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, and explores the psychological and sociological mechanisms of the Holocaust The Making of the English Working Class by EP Thompson (1963) Thompson turned history on its head by focusing on the political agency of the people, whom most historians had treated as anonymous masses Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown (1970) A moving account of the treatment of Native Americans by the US government Hard Times: an Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel (1970) Terkel weaves oral accounts of the Great Depression into a powerful tapestry Shah of Shahs by Ryszard Kapuściński (1982) The great Polish reporter tells the story of the last Shah of Iran The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991 by Eric Hobsbawm (1994) Hobsbawm charts the failure of capitalists and communists alike in this account of the 20th century We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Familes by Philip Gourevitch (1999) Gourevitch captures the terror of the Rwandan massacre, and the failures of the international community Postwar by Tony Judt (2005) A magisterial account of the grand sweep of European history since 1945 Journalism The Journalist and the Murderer by Janet Malcolm (1990) An examination of the moral dilemmas at the heart of the journalist’s trade The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe (1968) The man in the white suit follows Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters as they drive across the US in a haze of LSD Dispatches by Michael Herr (1977) A vivid account of Herr’s experiences of the Vietnam war Literature The Lives of the Poets by Samuel Johnson (1781) Biographical and critical studies of 18th-century poets, which cast a sceptical eye on their lives and works An Image of Africa by Chinua Achebe (1975) Achebe challenges western cultural imperialism in his argument that Heart of Darkness is a racist novel, which deprives its African characters of humanity The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim (1976) Bettelheim argues that the darkness of fairy tales offers a means for children to grapple with their fears Mathematics Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter (1979) A whimsical meditation on music, mind and mathematics that explores formal complexity and self-reference Memoir Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1782) Rousseau establishes the template for modern autobiography with this intimate account of his own life Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass (1845) This vivid first person account was one of the first times the voice of the slave was heard in mainstream society De Profundis by Oscar Wilde (1905) Imprisoned in Reading Gaol, Wilde tells the story of his affair with Alfred Douglas and his spiritual development The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by TE Lawrence (1922) A dashing account of Lawrence’s exploits during the revolt against the Ottoman empire The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi (1927) A classic of the confessional genre, Gandhi recounts early struggles and his passionate quest for self-knowledge Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell (1938) Orwell’s clear-eyed account of his experiences in Spain offers a portrait of confusion and betrayal during the civil war The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947) Published by her father after the war, this account of the family’s hidden life helped to shape the post-war narrative of the Holocaust Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (1951) Nabokov reflects on his life before moving to the US in 1940 The Man Died by Wole Soyinka (1971) A powerful autobiographical account of Soyinka’s experiences in prison during the Nigerian civil war The Periodic Table by Primo Levi (1975) A vision of the author’s life, including his life in the concentration camps, as seen through the kaleidoscope of chemistry Bad Blood by Lorna Sage (2000) Sage demolishes the fantasy of family as she tells how her relatives passed rage, grief and frustrated desire down the generations Mind The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud (1899) Freud’s argument that our experiences while dreaming hold the key to our psychological lives launched the discipline of psychoanalysis and transformed western culture Music The Romantic Generation by Charles Rosen (1998) Rosen examines how 19th-century composers extended the boundaries of music, and their engagement with literature, landscape and the divine Philosophy The Symposium by Plato (c380 BC) A lively dinner-party debate on the nature of love Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (c180) A series of personal reflections, advocating the preservation of calm in the face of conflict, and the cultivation of a cosmic perspective Essays by Michel de Montaigne (1580) Montaigne’s wise, amusing examination of himself, and of human nature, launched the essay as a literary form The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton (1621) Burton examines all human culture through the lens of melancholy Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes (1641) Doubting everything but his own existence, Descartes tries to construct God and the universe Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume (1779) Hume puts his faith to the test with a conversation examining arguments for the existence of God Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant (1781) If western philosophy is merely a footnote to Plato, then Kant’s attempt to unite reason with experience provides many of the subject headings Phenomenology of Mind by GWF Hegel (1807) Hegel takes the reader through the evolution of consciousness Walden by HD Thoreau (1854) An account of two years spent living in a log cabin, which examines ideas of independence and society On Liberty by John Stuart Mill (1859) Mill argues that “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others” Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche (1883) The invalid Nietzsche proclaims the death of God and the triumph of the Ubermensch The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn (1962) A revolutionary theory about the nature of scientific progress Politics The Art of War by Sun Tzu (c500 BC) A study of warfare that stresses the importance of positioning and the ability to react to changing circumstances The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli (1532) Machiavelli injects realism into the study of power, arguing that rulers should be prepared to abandon virtue to defend stability Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes (1651) Hobbes makes the case for absolute power, to prevent life from being “nasty, brutish and short” The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine (1791) A hugely influential defence of the French revolution, which points out the illegitimacy of governments that do not defend the rights of citizens A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) Wollstonecraft argues that women should be afforded an education in order that they might contribute to society The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1848) An analysis of society and politics in terms of class struggle, which launched a movement with the ringing declaration that “proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains” The Souls of Black Folk by WEB DuBois (1903) A series of essays makes the case for equality in the American south The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (1949) De Beauvoir examines what it means to be a woman, and how female identity has been defined with reference to men throughout history The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon (1961) An exploration of the psychological impact of colonialisation The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan (1967) This bestselling graphic popularisation of McLuhan’s ideas about technology and culture was cocreated with Quentin Fiore The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer (1970) Greer argues that male society represses the sexuality of women Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman (1988) Chomsky argues that corporate media present a distorted picture of the world, so as to maximise their profits Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky (2008) A vibrant first history of the ongoing social media revolution Religion The Golden Bough by James George Frazer (1890) An attempt to identify the shared elements of the world’s religions, which suggests that they originate from fertility cults The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James (1902) James argues that the value of religions should not be measured in terms of their origin or empirical accuracy Science On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (1859) Darwin’s account of the evolution of species by natural selection transformed biology and our place in the universe The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynmann (1965) An elegant exploration of physical theories from one of the 20th century’s greatest theoreticians The Double Helix by James Watson (1968) James Watson’s personal account of how he and Francis Crick cracked the structure of DNA The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (1976) Dawkins launches a revolution in biology with the suggestion that evolution is best seen from the perspective of the gene, rather than the organism A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking (1988) A book owned by 10 million people, if understood by fewer, Hawking’s account of the origins of the universe became a publishing sensation Society The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pisan (1405) A defence of womankind in the form of an ideal city, populated by famous women from throughout history Praise of Folly by Erasmus (1511) This satirical encomium to the foolishness of man helped spark the Reformation with its skewering of abuses and corruption in the Catholic church Letters Concerning the English Nation by Voltaire (1734) Voltaire turns his keen eye on English society, comparing it affectionately with life on the other side of the English channel Suicide by Émile Durkheim (1897) An investigation into protestant and catholic culture, which argues that the less vigilant social control within catholic societies lowers the rate of suicide Economy and Society by Max Weber (1922) A thorough analysis of political, economic and religious mechanisms in modern society, which established the template for modern sociology A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (1929) Woolf’s extended essay argues for both a literal and metaphorical space for women writers within a male-dominated literary tradition Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans (1941) Evans’s images and Agee’s words paint a stark picture of life among sharecroppers in the US South The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963) An exploration of the unhappiness felt by many housewives in the 1950s and 1960s, despite material comfort and stable family lives In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966) A novelistic account of a brutal murder in Kansas city, which propelled Capote to fame and fortune Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (1968) Didion evokes life in 1960s California in a series of sparkling essays The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1973) This analysis of incarceration in the Soviet Union, including the author’s own experiences as a zek, called into question the moral foundations of the USSR Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault (1975) Foucault examines the development of modern society’s systems of incarceration News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel García Márquez (1996) Colombia’s greatest 20th-century writer tells the story of kidnappings carried out by Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel Travel The Travels of Ibn Battuta by Ibn Battuta (1355) The Arab world’s greatest medieval traveller sets down his memories of journeys throughout the known world and beyond Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain (1869) Twain’s tongue-in-cheek account of his European adventures was an immediate bestseller Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West (1941) A six-week trip to Yugoslavia provides the backbone for this monumental study of Balkan history Venice by Jan Morris (1960) An eccentric but learned guide to the great city’s art, history, culture and people A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor (1977) The first volume of Leigh Fermor’s journey on foot through Europe – a glowing evocation of youth, memory and history Danube by Claudio Magris (1986) Magris mixes travel, history, anecdote and literature as he tracks the Danube from its source to the sea China Along the Yellow River by Cao Jinqing (1995) A pioneering work of Chinese sociology, exploring modern China with a modern face The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald (1995) A walking tour in East Anglia becomes a melancholy meditation on transience and decay Passage to Juneau by Jonathan Raban (2000) Raban sets off in a 35ft ketch on a voyage from Seattle to Alaska, exploring Native American art, the Romantic imagination and his own disintegrating relationship along the way Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa (2002) Vargas Llosa distils a lifetime of reading and writing into a manual of the writer’s craft What have we missed? Help fill in the gaps and join the debate on the blog Best books History Philosophy Biography Science and nature guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The new Romney ad is very slickly produced. Ads like these can work up to a point, even if the ad is dishonest, as Matt Finkelstein explains that it indeed is. The ad features audio of the president saying, “There are always going to be bumps in the road to recovery.” However, while Obama did make those remarks on the day the employment report came out, he was actually referring to “disruptions” that have added to economic uncertainty, such as the disaster in Japan and the Arab Spring, {} As USA Today reported , “The president did not…specifically address the bad jobs report in his remarks.” Americans are concerned with high unemployment because it means they are not working and the “throw the bums out ” mentality steps in and that’s not an ideologically driven sentiment. Sure, we can make the case and demonstrate that Mittens also used the same terminology in 2006: Before Romney’s consultants decided the phrase would be a potentent polical weapon, he used it himself in the same way as Obama. From the AP, May 1, 2006: Romney Warns of Potential ‘Bumps in the Road’ for Health Care Law Massachusetts faces potential “bumps in the road” as it tries to turn the promises of its new health care law into a reality, Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday even as he announced another crucial step in the state’s experiment with near universal coverage. One of the most daunting tasks is the creation of an entirely new state bureaucracy, known “Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector” the bureaucratic infrastructure on which much of the new law’s innovative reforms rest. And in reality Romney had a terrible job-creation record in his home state. Throughout his 15-year career at Bain Capital, which bought, sold, and merged dozens of companies, Romney had other chances to fight to save jobs, but didn’t. His ultimate responsibility was to make money for Bain’s investors, former partners said. Much as he did when running for Massachusetts governor, Romney is now touting his business credentials as he campaigns for president, asserting that he helped create thousands of jobs as CEO of Bain. But a review of Bain’s investments during Romney’s tenure indicates that job growth was not a particular priority. Bloggers likes us have been saying ever since Obama was elected that job creation was always going to be his biggest challenge because of the destruction of the global financial markets caused by the Bush years. It’s so easily exploitable that I often wrote that Obama should have been giving fireside-like chats explaining to America the difficulties ahead for the nation’s economy. Republicans knew this too. But the President also put his trust more in Tim Geithner than anyone else from his economics team and so we’re here now with over 9% unemployment. Creating the Cat Food Commission over, let’s say, a Jobs Commission didn’t make much sense to me. The Obama administration needs to get busy and promote job creation, if it’s not too late already instead of focusing on deficits. Even Bernanke is making the case not to cut spending too soon: Don’t cut spending too fast or you’ll kill the economy. So Mittens gets to produce an ad attacking him on jobs and the Beltway Village will swoon over it, but in the end results do matter, not ads.
Continue reading …The new Romney ad is very slickly produced. Ads like these can work up to a point, even if the ad is dishonest, as Matt Finkelstein explains that it indeed is. The ad features audio of the president saying, “There are always going to be bumps in the road to recovery.” However, while Obama did make those remarks on the day the employment report came out, he was actually referring to “disruptions” that have added to economic uncertainty, such as the disaster in Japan and the Arab Spring, {} As USA Today reported , “The president did not…specifically address the bad jobs report in his remarks.” Americans are concerned with high unemployment because it means they are not working and the “throw the bums out ” mentality steps in and that’s not an ideologically driven sentiment. Sure, we can make the case and demonstrate that Mittens also used the same terminology in 2006: Before Romney’s consultants decided the phrase would be a potentent polical weapon, he used it himself in the same way as Obama. From the AP, May 1, 2006: Romney Warns of Potential ‘Bumps in the Road’ for Health Care Law Massachusetts faces potential “bumps in the road” as it tries to turn the promises of its new health care law into a reality, Gov. Mitt Romney said Monday even as he announced another crucial step in the state’s experiment with near universal coverage. One of the most daunting tasks is the creation of an entirely new state bureaucracy, known “Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector” the bureaucratic infrastructure on which much of the new law’s innovative reforms rest. And in reality Romney had a terrible job-creation record in his home state. Throughout his 15-year career at Bain Capital, which bought, sold, and merged dozens of companies, Romney had other chances to fight to save jobs, but didn’t. His ultimate responsibility was to make money for Bain’s investors, former partners said. Much as he did when running for Massachusetts governor, Romney is now touting his business credentials as he campaigns for president, asserting that he helped create thousands of jobs as CEO of Bain. But a review of Bain’s investments during Romney’s tenure indicates that job growth was not a particular priority. Bloggers likes us have been saying ever since Obama was elected that job creation was always going to be his biggest challenge because of the destruction of the global financial markets caused by the Bush years. It’s so easily exploitable that I often wrote that Obama should have been giving fireside-like chats explaining to America the difficulties ahead for the nation’s economy. Republicans knew this too. But the President also put his trust more in Tim Geithner than anyone else from his economics team and so we’re here now with over 9% unemployment. Creating the Cat Food Commission over, let’s say, a Jobs Commission didn’t make much sense to me. The Obama administration needs to get busy and promote job creation, if it’s not too late already instead of focusing on deficits. Even Bernanke is making the case not to cut spending too soon: Don’t cut spending too fast or you’ll kill the economy. So Mittens gets to produce an ad attacking him on jobs and the Beltway Village will swoon over it, but in the end results do matter, not ads.
Continue reading …