World

Looks as though I’m going to have to get Joseph O’Neill’s new novel Netherland. The NYT explains: The idea of publishing a novel in the United States about cricket gave him commercial qualms but not artistic ones, Mr. O’Neill said in an e-mail message. “You want a novel to tap as directly as possible into your most unspeakable preoccupations,” he added. “And in America, in particular, cricket is pretty unspeakable.” New York cricket is “bush cricket,” one of the characters in the book complains, played on wickets of cocoa mat instead of grass and on weedy, substandard pitches, where to score a run you need to bat the ball in

Say what you like about this United States Senate resolution, but it probably did less damage than most bills that make their way through Washington. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES December 6, 2007 Mr. KOHL (for himself, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. CHAMBLISS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary March 11, 2008 RESOLUTION Designating March 11, 2008, as National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day. Whereas the death of a family member, friend, or loved one is a devastating emotional event; Whereas the memorialization and celebration of the decedent’s life is the fabric of today’s funeral

The question itching le tout Washington is simple: why won’t Hillary Clinton do the decent thing and quit? Well, my friend Mike Crowley has a grand piece in the latest edition of the New Republic that may explain why. The Clintons have been here before and, against the city’s expectations, prevailed. Mike suggests that we should view Hillary’s campaign in the light of her husband’s impeachment. It’s a persuasive thesis and, frankly, one that leaves you kicking yourself for not thinking of it before. The parallels cannot be exact, but they’re sufficiently compelling to be useful. As Mike lays out the scene: The Clintons find themselves victimized and under siege.

From the New York Times today: In a sign of what could be an extremely unusual fall campaign, the two sides said Saturday that they would be open to holding joint forums or unmoderated debates across the country in front of voters through the summer. Mr. Obama, campaigning in Oregon, said that the proposal, floated by Mr. McCain’s advisers, was “a great idea.”…The rivals are openly discussing staging forums across the country to speak directly to voters, an idea that is by any measure unconventional for a general election campaign. Asked about the idea on Saturday, Mr. Obama told reporters in Oregon, “If I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues

At TAPPED Paul Waldman hails this Arizona Republic piece questioning MCain’s “maverick” credentials and then asks: One thing I’ve noticed lately is that there are a bunch of Chicago reporters (like Lynn Sweet and Jim Warren, for instance) who have become regulars on cable TV, presumably because they know a lot about Barack Obama. But the reporters who have known John McCain the longest and know him the best — the ones from Arizona — are nowhere to be seen. Why do you think that is? Clearly, we’re supposed to impute some pro-McCain or pro-conservative bias here. But it’s much more likely that the truth is that while the BHO

What would Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion have said if, on the day that he declared the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, he had known that six decades thence Israel would be encircled by its enemies, hopelessly outnumbered and fighting for its existence? He would surely have said: so what’s new? Next week, on 8 May, Israel celebrates the 60th anniversary of that declaration. With every decade that it clocks up, people ask the same question: will Israel still be there for the next one? It is indeed astonishing that it has not only survived but is flourishing. Its situation as a permanently embattled nation is

Godwin’s Law turns 18. [Hat-tip: Mr Eugenides]

I’m indebted to Rod Dreher for the reminder that Willie Nelson celebrates his 75th birthday today. And there was me thinking he’d been around for longer than that. Here he is with that other great survivor Merle Haggard, singing the classic Pancho and Lefty: In 2003 Reason named Willie one of its 35 Heroes of Freedom.

Marty Peretz links to this Daily Mail account of an exhibition of photographs taken in wartime Paris which is, for obvious reasons, a matter of some debate in France. And yes, the photographs are shocking. Just not in the way in which either Peretz or the Mail seem to think they are. The Mail headline, subtle as ever, is “Oh what a lovely war! The dazzling photos of innocent Parisian fun that make the French so ashamed” while Marty titles his post, “What the Nazi Occupation of France was Really Like”. Here, for instance, is a photograph of three mademoiselles relaxing in the Luxembourg, circa 1942. How, the Mail wants

On the other hand, PJ O’Rourke isn’t the only one to have lost it. Consider, for instance, Maureen Dowd’s latest column: Is he [Obama]skittish around her [Clinton] because he knows that she detests him and he’s used to charming everyone? Or does he feel guilty that he cut in line ahead of her? As the husband of Michelle, does he know better than to defy the will of a strong woman? Or is he simply scared of Hillary because she’s scary? Good grief. Clearly the answers are: Sure, Absolutely, Indubitably and Of Course. Or maybe not. He is frantic to get away from her because he can’t keep carbo-loading to

Congratulations to Joe Bavier, a Reuters correspondent in the Congo. You could work years in this trade and never get to tap out an intro like this: KINSHASA (Reuters) – Police in Congo have arrested 13 suspected sorcerers accused of using black magic to steal or shrink men’s penises after a wave of panic and attempted lynchings triggered by the alleged witchcraft. [Via, Passport, Foreign Policy’s excellent blog.]

From James Joyner: News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch says that NATO is in a “crisis of confidence” because Western Europe is “losing its faith in the values and institutions that have kept us free.” He calls for a radical redefinition of the Alliance in order to save it, including extending membership to Australia, Japan, and Israel. Murdoch, who is receiving the Atlantic Council of the United States’ Distinguished Business Leader Award for 2008, says in his prepared remarks that, “We must face up to a painful truth: Europe no longer has either the political will or social culture to support military engagements in defense of itself and its allies. However