Thursday, April 23, 2020

What Does “Liberal” Mean? You Can’t Always Get What You Want


Books are like Aladdin’s lamp,” Wasserman enthuses. “You don’t rub the lamp, the geni doesn’t come out. And a book that lies on the shelf is in something of a coma.

Writers need readers to complete the work 




As part of the One World: Together at Home fundraiser organized by the WHO, Global Citizen, and Lady Gaga that raised $127.9 million for Covid-19 relief efforts, the members of the Rolling Stones, each in their own home, got together via video to perform You Can’t Always Get What You Want. It’s a lovely messy & spare performance and the choice of song is timely — plenty of people around the world are definitely not getting what they want right now, but hopefully we will eventually end up getting what we need.
Coronavirus: Generous taxi driver takes passenger on 1500km free ride from Spain to Italy New,Com Australia



JACK WATERFORD supports Pearls and Irritations



There are any number of websites by which one can keep up with the news. Some also have interesting commentary. But johnmenadue.com is the place of choice for serious attention by experts into important public policy issues  — whether in defence and international affairs, in education, immigration, health, housing, the environment and climate change, and on social issues. Facts, context and informed opinion — just what one would expect from a forum curated by an outstanding public servant, diplomat, manager and public citizen

What Does “Liberal” Mean?


There’s of course the simple dictionary definition, but as a label for a political ideology its meaning is fuzzy. –Dissent



Court Rules That Video Game ‘Call Of Duty’ Is A Work Of Art


The manufacturer of Humvees, AM General, sued the game developer, alleging that the appearance of the trucks in Call of Duty “deceived [players] into believing that AM General licenses the games.” A New York State District Judge rejected the suit, writing that “if realism is an artistic goal, then the presence in modern warfare games of vehicles employed by actual militaries undoubtedly furthers that goal” and that the developer is thus protected under the First Amendment. –The Art Newspaper