Ian Welsh

"Like his namesake saint, he believes in the transformative power of simplicity and compassion." (E. J.

OMG, Martin Ritt's film adaptation of John Le Carré's The Spy Who Came in from the Cold turns 50 this year. Can it really be that long since the days when British spy Alec Leamas (played in the film by Richard Burton) crossed into the German Democratic Republic to burrow his way into the dreaded Stasi?

Since John Edwards's 2008 campaign was disposed of, and then the candidate himself, his "Two Americas" campaign theme has disappeared with him."Edwards' trial was a politically motivated show trial.

"On the Ground"? Why, maybe it's because he's so darned tall, but it often seems as if the Man with the Brain of Cotton's feet don't reach to the ground.by KenWe already have a burgeoning tradition of right-wing "intellectuals" like Louisiana Gov. Booby Jindall and Wisconson Rep.

"I am fundraising to determine how much I’ll write this year.  If you value my writing, and want more of it, please consider donating."-- Ian Welsh, during his just-about-doneianwelsh.net fund-raising driveby KenIt's time (actually, almost past time) to show Ian Welsh how much we value his blog-writing.Apologies for my bad timing -- I should have gotten to this a couple of weeks ago, and in this ca

Maybe Putin doesn't think in the long term because he sees only a series of short terms that he absolutely has to control.by KenAs if the Middle East mess weren't messy enough, and as we still try to process the implications -- for both the locals and for us -- of the collapse of the long-tottering Yemeni government, and the hardly unexpected death of Saudia Arabia's King Abdullah (and the accession to the throne of yet another half-brother, King Salman, but with

Red line: S and P. Blue line: Fed Funds rate. "Tightening" means Fed raises the Funds rate. See why we'll never see the Fed raise rates? (Source) [Click to enlarge.]by Gaius PubliusNice catch by Ian Welsh. Start here, then think about it:

Showtime's Homeland has been one of the few mainstream media places where consideration has been allowed for the implications of murder by drone -- or even that there are implications.by KenI should have had occasion before now to direct attention to a string of posts Ian Welsh has written in the wake of the events in Paris, because Ian has been insisting on questions that hardly anybody else has even been hinting at, namely the wild disproportion between the furor over those event

by KenAt Daily Kos, Shaun King yesterday put up a fine little post called "Midtown NYPD commanding officer posts, then immediately deletes, outrageous tweet," which is pretty startling in its own right but also raises interesting questions. Here's what Shaun posted:

"I’d do it again in a minute."-- "Big Dick" Cheney ("The Biggest Dick of Them All"),Sunday on Meet the Pressby KenLet's table for a moment the question of what exactly the "it" in question is in this pithy quote.