Author Archives: Robert Asahina

The mind of a strategist

Announcing his plans to withdraw 10,000 troops from Afghanistan this year, President Obama declared, “We are starting this drawdown from a position of strength. Al Qaeda is under more pressure than at any time since 9/11.”

Posted in Politica, Rhetorica | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The mind of a strategist

Obama’s risible dance with corporate America

President Obama’s new pick for his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness — Steve Case — is even more ridiculous, and less qualified, than his previous selection, the hapless Jeffrey Immelt, the inadvertent downsizer of GE.

Posted in Politica | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Obama’s risible dance with corporate America

Saying the unsayable, again

The “Dirty Harry of the poetry beat” continues his “blood sport.”

Posted in Rhetorica | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Saying the unsayable, again

Refusing to play the sourcing charade

A New York Times story (February 9, 2011) on the internal debate at the Century Club over its ties to the all-male Garrick club in London shows how anonymous sources should be properly characterized:

Posted in Rhetorica | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Refusing to play the sourcing charade

A morally thrilling crime thriller

When violence erupts in Animal Kingdom, it literally explodes on screen. No stylish slow motion, no hipster grand guignol, just lethal brutality, swiftly administered with casual and sickening indifference.

Posted in de Poetica | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on A morally thrilling crime thriller

Who won World War II?

In a Wall Street Journal review (February 3, 2011) of Between War and Peace, a collection of historical essays on “How America Ends Its Wars,” Richard Hart Sinnreich argues against the view “that military victory solves nothing”:

Posted in Politica | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Who won World War II?

The sourcing charade (continued)

Some newspapers and media commentators belatedly addressed the shortcomings of anonymous sourcing several years ago. But the practice had been all too common for decades before then, and it continues today as if it had never been called into question.

Posted in Politica, Rhetorica | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘Blogs are not important now’

Technological triumphalists beware: After hearing about the transformative power of blogging for the past 15 years, of social media for the past five years, and of WikiLeaks for the past year, we now have evidence of how easily the disruptive … Continue reading

Posted in Politica, Rhetorica | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on ‘Blogs are not important now’

Immelt and Isiah

President Obama’s decision to appoint Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman and chief executive officer of GE, as chairman of the new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness will remind long-suffering Knicks fans of James Dolan’s choice, seven years ago, of Isiah Thomas … Continue reading

Posted in Politica | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The fate of philosophy: from Thales to texting

In Theaetetus (174A) Socrates tells the story of “the Thracian maidservant who exercised her wit at the expense of Thales, when he was looking up to study the stars and tumbled down a well. She scoffed at him for being … Continue reading

Posted in de Caelo | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The fate of philosophy: from Thales to texting