The talk of the web
ISSUE #8 - Friday, 3rd October 2008
- Justin Webb, The Times
"The day America was born again"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4735147.ece
DJR's gist: There are some controversial topics discussed in this article that I have no desire to state an opinion on, but at its core is a very interesting analysis of how the driving force of US politics and the American national psyche has fundamentally shifted over the last few years. As such, this election is likely to merely represent a front of more fundamental pscho-structural changes in the USA.
- Edmund S. Phelps, Wall Street Journal
"We Need to Recapitalise the Banks"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122282719885793047.html
DJR's gist: Phelps won the 2006 Nobel Prize for Economics, and argues with one of the fundamental ideals of capitalism - Adam Smith's "invisible hand". Financial markets, he argues, are distorted by the bounded rationality of bankers, fund managers, investors and the rest of them - none of whom has the availability of perfect information that underpins the market model. Information is the key, as he suggests that "what has occurred is not just an old-fashioned banking crisis but also a banking scandal". Crucially, the markets are so crippled that any thought of them rescuing themselves is decidedly unlikely. Government-led remidial surgery is required to provide the institutions necessary to allow some sort of rebirth.
- Daniel Finkelstein, Comment Central blog, The Times
"By not winning, Sarah Palin lost"
http://timesonline.typepad.com/comment/2008/10/the-conventiona.html
DJR's gist: Short and sweet, Fink goes against general consensus that Sarah Palin didn't lose last night's debate, by arguing that in the present electoral environment, anything short of an outright victory equates to failure and loss. Barack Obama's lead now appears to be decisive - much like it became in the primaries against Hilary Clinton - and it will take something spectacular from McCain to bring it back. It would seem that the only opportunities left for this to happen would be the two remaining Presidential debates... let's just hope it goes down like his credit crisis stunt.
- BBC News
"BBC nuclear bomb script released"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7648042.stm
DJR's gist: New documents released by the National Archives include the transcript of a pre-recorded message from the 1970s that the BBC were to broadcast across the UK in the event that a nuclear bomb knocked it off the air. Reading the transcript that is linked in the report not only represents a chilling reminded of how close the world was to nuclear annihilation, but how limited any potential response could have been. Chilling stuff.
- Anne Ashworth, The Times
"Locals happy to bid farewell to bollards of Fort Grosvenor"
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article4870815.ece
DJR's gist: The announcement that after the best part of 200 years in one of the most exclusive locations in London - surrounded by some of the most expensive real estate in the world - the US Embassy will be moving to an area of London famed for its hardcore gay scene will no doubt bring delight to residents of the surrounding Mayfair streets. The Embassy is presently a fortress, with ugly concrete bollards all over the place and cars banned from roads. New tennants will almost certainly see an end to this, and probably going to be much more likely to pay the Congestion Charge.
- London 2012
"New Olympic Park cameras give public front-row seats"
http://www.london2012.com/news/archive/2008-10/new-olympic-park-cameras-give-public-front-row-seats.php
DJR's gist: An awesome new addition to the London 2012 website, you can now see auto-refreshed images of all the major construction sites in the Olympic Park. Hopefully they'll add an archive of photos over a period of time so that you can see the progression of development, but judging by what is currently on show it is clear that things are still running very much ahead of schedule. Let's hope it stays that way for the next 3 years...
No comments:
Post a Comment