Well, the more appropriate question is “Do Killer Whales enjoy the same legal rights in the US judicial system as humans?” I suppose it could be granulated even further. However one phrases it, we may get the answer before too long. A federal court in California is going to decide the question in the context of a lawsuit brought by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.) It has to be said that taking the legal route is one of PETA’s milder strategies. The lawsuit is attempting to prove that Sea World’s holding of five killer whales in captivity (at two different parks) constitutes slavery. My, what of rats’ nest of interesting questions immediately pops up.

To take the most curmudgeonly one first, if Killer Whales have legal rights comparable to those of humans (or at least natural born US citizens), do they have legal responsibilities as well—and can Tilikum thus be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter for the death of Sea World trainer Dawn Brancheau? Or will his plea be self-defense? Full story »

Gillian Tett, normally a font of level-headedness and good judgment over at The Financial Times, had a very odd column this past weekend. She was at Davos (of course!) and was vaguely unhappy about Unilever’s presentation about all the good works it was undertaking in the name of Social Responsibility.

I know, I know, who is going to believe Unilever, one of the largest food and consumer products companies in the world, is Socially Responsible? What does that even mean, anyway? Well, leaving that aside for the moment, I’ve been following this area for a while, and in fact Unilever does spend a fair amount of time and money (relatively speaking) in this area. Why? Because there are an increasing number of investors that are demanding it. Full story »

It’s easy to blame China for lots of stuff. Its absurd veto (along with Russia, someone else we can blame stuff on) of the recent Security Council Resolution over Syria. Its persistent devaluation of the renminbi to keep it cheap to the US dollar. The fact that it owns an extraordinary amount of US debt, and keeps buying more, giving it increased influence in US economic decision-making. Its constant and never-ending theft of other countries’ intellectual property. Its refusal to stop building coal power plants. Its somewhat slavish adoption of all things American except democracy. Its reluctance to bail out Saab. Its complete lack of anything like a good rock and roll band.

If you’re one of those people for whom any or all of the above casts a cloud over your ability to make it through the day, help is at hand. Your worst nightmares may soon be over. And all we had to do was sit back and let the Chinese embrace yet another Western cultural institution—the Business School. Full story »

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the official beginning of the reign of Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, otherwise known as Queen Elizabeth II—the day she ascended to the throne of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It was exactly 60 years ago that her father, King George VI, died. The Princess (as she was at the time) was in Kenya with her husband, Prince Philip, on their way to Australia. She’s been at this for 60 years, nearly as long as I’ve been alive. This is not quite as long as Queen Victoria’s reign, which was 63 years and seven month—but at this rate, Elizabeth looks likely to pass her. Her mother lived to be 101, after all. I have this vague childhood memory of her coronation, which actually took place in 1953—the first time a coronation was televised. Actually the last time, too, since she’s been here ever since.
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When you come down to it, we’re surrounded by morons and fools, many of whom are our leaders–political, cultural, media, whatever. Opening a newspaper or turning on the television in modern America often is like diving into an oil spill. So it’s time once again to remind ourselves of their transgressions, which we have the Buffalo Beast to do for us, so we don’t have to waste time trying to keep track ourselves. Once again, here is their annual list of the 50 Most Loathsome Americans in 2011. It’s got Megyn Kelly (pictured, number 45) on it, and all the Repubican presidential candidates, and Rupert Murdoch is way up there at number 2, bless his heart. And The Donald, of course.

There has been much discussion of this very question this past week, since suddenly it looks as if there will be a referendum on the issue of Scottish independence in Scotland in 2014. Actually, there’s a whole lot going on surrounding this referendum, including whether there might be a similar one elsewhere in the UK on whether the rest of the UK actually wants Scotland to leave—according to a recent poll in The Telegraph, a higher percentage of English respondents want Scotland to leave than do Scots. Alex Salmond, who heads up the Scottish Nationalist Party that currently runs the Scottish Parliament, had better be careful about getting what you wish for.

All this started when Cameron called Salmond’s bluff by suggesting that the referendum be held sooner rather than later, and that perhaps it wasn’t entirely up to the Scottish Parliament on the timing of this in the first place—it actually required the approval of the British Parliament. Full story »

I’ve always found it somewhat ironic, if that’s the word, that two of the best novels I’ve ever read about America—Dvorak in Love and The Bride of Texas—were written by a Czech expatriate author who lived in Toronto. In fact, they’re two of the best novels I’ve ever read, period. Skvorecky, who died this past week at 87, had what one might call an interesting life—he grew up in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia (experiences which formed a substantial focus for much of his fiction), got into constant trouble in Communist Czechoslovakia for his writings, and was banned repeatedly. He and his wife emigrated to Canada in 1968, and he spent the rest of his life writing excellent novels and short stories, teaching literature, and publishing other Czech expatriates through his publishing house. Lots more details can be found in the NY Times obituary, or in the Telegraph obituary. A fuller literary appreciation will undoubtedly show up in the NY Review of Books soon.
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The Winter Solstice actually occurs on the 22nd of December this year, which means that the shortest day is tomorrow. Still, as evening falls here in Boston in the late afternoon, it seems like a good time for that wonderful poem by Susan Cooper: Full story »

OK, you blew it. You were supposed to load up with whatever this year’s superduper toy was weeks ago, while it was still in stock. But you got distracted, as usually happens this time of year, and now you’re stuck. And your marriage, and your children’s permanent affections, are now at risk.

Fortunately, Wired comes to the rescue. Specifically, good old GeekDad, who reviews toys and all sorts of other stuff for Wired. And he’s got a list of the five best toys of all time. You might have a quibble here and there, but you can’t deny he’s on to something. Your only problem now is gussying them up as Christmas presents for kids who expect something either (a) glowing, (b) electronic, or (C) alive. But that’s what wrapping paper is for, isn’t it?

George Whitman probably is an unfamiliar name to most Americans, but practically any American who has spent any at all time in Paris has at least wandered through the Shakespeare & Company bookshop, of which Whitman was the owner and proprietor. He was 98, and knew everyone. He had been a bit less mobile the past few years, but you could usually see him sitting around upstairs somewhere, puttering, or just sitting and talking. What an amazing set of memories, which are now no longer with us. Full story »

Here’s a bit of a surprise–moldy applesauce going into baby food and school lunches. MSNBC fills us in:

A Washington state fruit processor that supplies the nation’s schools and a baby food maker is under scrutiny by federal health regulators for repackaging applesauce contaminated with several kinds of potentially dangerous, multi-colored molds, msnbc.com has learned.

Repackaging? What the hell is that?

Food and Drug Administration officials this week posted a warning letter to Snokist Growers of Yakima, Wash., saying the company cannot ensure the safety of moldy applesauce and fruit puree that has been reconditioned for human consumption.

Wait–I thought it was just repackaged. What is this? Full story »

Well, whoever it is who gave us this as our logo, and these guys as our mascots, is still around, because the new batch of official London 2012 Olympics posters was released a little while ago, and they’re pretty dreadful. Uninspired is probably a better word, since they’re among the most boring posters you will ever see. It clearly follows from the fact that whatever committee this was decided to go for name artists, rather than run some sort of competition. So we’ve got the gaggle of usual suspects. Here’s probably the best of the bunch, from Adrian Hamilton:

And here’s the lot. Full story »

The Occupy movement seems as if it has the potential to do great things. While it professes no leadership, it has galvanized the left—and a growing part of the middle, possibly—in ways that no other issue has over the past decade—since the invasion of Iraq, actually. And galvanize it has—it’s a worldwide phenomenon now, here in London at St Paul’s Cathedral, and elsewhere. It has provided a focus for the anger—outright rage, in many cases—at the lack of accountability of the financial and political elite for the crisis of a couple of years ago, and the state of the economy now, at a time when it is god-awful difficult for many families in America and many other industrial economies to make ends meet, or just to stay in place. People are going backwards, and they know it. One can only admire the determination and focus of the people involved. One can only feel outrage at the indifference, so far, their protest has engendered in the corporate media and the policy elites. The tragedy in Oakland is symptomatic of a deep sickness in American culture, one that the financial and political elite seem perfectly comfortable perpetuating at the expense of both people and planet.

And yet, and yet…. Full story »

Seriously.

It depends on what you mean by “save.”

Recently The Financial Times ran a story (“Shale gas boosts US manufacturing“) discussing the fact that a number of companies, both American and non-American, were either re-opening chemical or fertilizer plants in the United States, or were building new plants. This trend has emerged as the result in the significant fall in the price of natural gas in the US as compared with other regions. As the FT noted,

Dow Chemical plans to open new US ethylene and propylene plants later this decade, and restart a Louisiana ethylene cracker closed in 2009. Royal Dutch Shell announced a chemical plant in the gas-rich Appalachian mountain region to make ethylene and petrochemicals. Sasol of South Africa last week unveiled a plan to convert gas into diesel fuel in Louisiana.

In the fertiliser industry, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan is investing $158m to restart a Louisiana anhydrous ammonia plant shut in 2003, when gas prices were climbing. Aluminium company Ormet is dusting off a nearby plant shuttered in 2006.

This is a turnaround from activity a decade ago, as the FT notes, when companies were closing plants and moving operations elsewhere. Full story »

God, did Mrs W and I hate the 1980s. This was the most horrible decade of our lives. Not personally, actually–our kids were growing up, and that certainly kept us busy and delighted. I accidentally became an elected public official of the State of New Jersey, which was a hoot for a while until we moved to Massachusetts. I changed careers as I was approaching 40, leaving academics to go into finance, and it pretty much worked out personally. But the decade was just a complete loser. No, worse—it actually set us back as a country and a society. Milton Friedman, Ronald “evolution is just a theory” Reagan, the gutting of anti-trust enforcement, the endless fascination with the wealthy, the Tisch-Steinberg wedding, the rise of Donald Trump, Oscar de la Renta and his “Living well is the best revenge” motto, Nancy Reagan, the trashing of the unions, Madonna, the rollback of sensible environmental enforcement, Barbara Bush, the elimination of all the measures that would have probably made us energy self-sufficient by now, James Watt, Studio 54, the cocaine epidemic on Wall Street, “cocaine chic” brought to us by Calvin Klein advertising, the fact that there was barely any music to listen to…the list goes on.

And then there was the art.
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Bert Jansch, guitarist extraordinaire, died two days ago, the same day as Steve Jobs. While both changed my life in positive ways, I’d have to say that Jansch’s influence was better. And I say that even as I sit here tappping away on my MacBook, charging up my iPod. Jobs gave me more interesting tools to live my life. Jansch gave it a bit more meaning than it would otherwise have had.

Jansch was in the forefront of the great British folk revival of the 1960s. This has been admirably described in Colin Harper’s excellent biography of Jansch, Dazzling Stranger. Full story »

The wonderful little Estorick Collection, which was established to display modern Italian art, and normally does just that, has a wonderful show designed to present the poster art of Edward McKnight Kauffer. Kauffer revolutionized poster design in Britain after WWI, and was one of Britain’s most important artists during the 1920s and 1930s, before his forced departure back to America following the entry of Britain into the European War in 1939. Kauffer was an American who went to Paris to study art (funded by a philanthropist named McKnight, whose name Kauffer adopted in acknowledgement), and, as an American, could find no work in Britain after the war began, and had to return to the US, which he bitterly regretted doing. This would have been before dual citizenship was possible, of course, and Kauffer had not undertaken UK citizenship.

Anyway, the art. Why should we care? And why now? Well, there has been something of a Kauffer revival going on over the past decade, and visiting the Estorick exhibit tells us why. Full story »

We noted back in 2009 an historic event. An oil tanker made its way from South Korea to Rotterdam—by way of traveling across the Northeast Passage, that region from the Bering Straight to the northern tip of Norway. This is major. For hundreds of years, nations have been searching for a Northwest Passage across North America, and this stimulated the imagination of generations of Englishmen and others as few other enterprises have done. And for hundreds of years, Russia has had two obsessions—the role of the north in the Russian character, and, as a far more practical matter, access to a year round warm weather port. I can’t speak to the first, but the second appears on its way to becoming reality.

The north, that vague unknowable land, that vague concept, that place of mystery, silence, purity, solitude and the Northern Lights. Oh, and the dumping ground for the world’s nuclear waste, air pollutants and chemical contaminants. That magnet myth, for exploration, for voyages of discovery back in the days when nations believed in voyages of discovery as expressions of national pride. Whatever it is, it is going to be trashed in pretty short order. The place is dying a slow death. Well, being murdered is more like it. Full story »

Sounds like a dream ticket, actually. The Kew Bridge Steam Museum, one of London’s little treasures, has been having an exhibition of Steampunk art, which ended this weekend. After this, the bulk of it will be heading up to Lincoln for the big annual Steampunk festival there in September. Actually, much of it looked familiar, and indeed, quite a bit of it was also at the Steampunk exhibit up in Oxford last year we wrote about.
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