The Incredible Shrinking Democrats, Time

“This election is too big to be small,” claimed Bill Clinton before the Pennsylvania primary, but the six weeks leading up to it, proved to be ‘an exercise in dimunition’ for both Democratic contenders. Joe Klein argues that Obama emerged scraped and chastened after ‘Bittergate’, which revealed his disconnect with working class whites. He says that Obama’s high-minded appeal eschews the ‘low-information signaling’ that wins elections in America, he is half-hearted about things like how to roll a bowling ball or wear a flag pin. Clinton, by contrast, embraces the ‘shameless rituals of politics’ with feistiness and can give and take punches. Klein concludes that Obama will have to display a familiarity with the trivial things that average Americans care about, in order to take the high road...ie., he must ‘maneuver his way through the gutter’.

Welcome to Paradise, Newsweek

A piece on how the deserts are blooming with oil wealth, and how these Xanadus with their man-made rivers and artificial snow lure labour and talent from all over the world. The difference in the last two decades is that oil capitals like Dubai and Abu Dhabi are now also major vacation destinations, with their flashy architecture and their investments in education and art, they are becoming a more durable paradise.

Our New Energy Crisis, Mother Jones

A special issue confronts the enormity of the current energy mess, and building a new economy ‘on the fumes of the old’. Big Oil’s subterfuges are only secondary — the fact is every technological advancement of the last 150 years has depended on more fossil fuel, and turning away will require a socio-economic transition of the same magnitude as the Industrial Revolution. The magazine busts the myths of ‘energy independence’ and ‘clean energy’, also suggesting some brilliant green ideas.

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