Look at this diagram clipped by Brad DeLong if you want to understand what’s most wrong about president Bush’s “economic stimulus” proposals (and as many have pointed out, there is very little stimulus in the package).
I’m rather Nicholson Baker about digitising library records. But digitising archives like the American Museum of Natural History’s — that’s a wonderful idea, that will provide access to information for people world-wide.
“So far, the museum has just scratched the surface of digitization, as the process is called, but the hope is to one day create a searchable online catalog of the whole museum, with images and text.” Roll on the day.
If there are really concrete plans to end the Mugabe era in Zimbabwe that really cheers my day. Good news out of southern Africa has been in short supply lately, but getting Zimbabwe back on a properly democratic path would be a major step.
Incidentally, there is good news in southern Africa, but it doesn’t get much media play. I’ve been astounded over the last four or five years by the progress of Mozambique, which suffered one of the most brutal civil wars for 25 years. It’s still a desperately poor country, but many indicators are improving, despite floods and drought in recent years.
Karlin Lillington appropriately highlights a world-beating headline in today’s Guardian. If I ever wonder why I live in London, a strong reason is that it hosts a culture where a major newspaper can make a pun about Scylla and Charybdis and expect everyone to get it (or not worry if they don’t).
Incidentally, the G2 cover story that provoked Ian Mayes’s analysis was to my mind utterly reprehensible. I’ve been buying The Guardian daily for nearly 25 years and that cover made me think about switching papers.