Wednesday-Night

World Hunger and WTO News on Wednesday-night.com
WASHINGTON: NO BREAKTHROUGH EXPECTED IN TRADE TALKS
(RCI) A Canadian trade official says a breakthrough in world trade talks is unlikely to happen before US President Bush leaves office in January. But Don Stephenson, a Canadian assistant deputy trade minister, says a meeting of world leaders next month in […]

See Part I of this topic/saga ; The evolving bailout plan ; The world after the (bailout) vote
Reversal of Fortune
How ideology, special-interest pressure, populist politics, and sheer incompetence have left the U.S. economy on life support, Joseph E. Stiglitz puts forth a clear, commonsense plan to reverse the Bush-era follies and regain America’s […]

 
Note from Bill Copp: 79 years today since the crash of ‘29. Just a mean thought, not a serious one, to help start your day
Julius Grey promises to be with us this week and having said that, we can all look forward to intriguing and challenging conversation – just for starters a […]

The Triumph of Ignorance
Why morons succeed in U.S. politics
(The Guardian) How was it allowed to happen? How did politics in the US come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind’s closest living relative to spend two terms as president? How did Sarah […]

 
Wednesday-night.com on Russia
Georgia-Russia conflict (BBC)
Russia & Georgia another viewpoint
The Crisis in Georgia, Strategic Datalink, Canadian International Council (with thanks to Frank Kruzich)
Complicated Task for Critics of Georgian Leader
TBILISI, Georgia — With less than two weeks remaining before Nov. 7, the first anniversary of a government crackdown on demonstrators, Georgian opposition figures remain split […]

There was a time – until quite recently – when we aspired each week to fulfilling our mission “to entertain, inform and occasionally comment on a wide range of subjects of interest to us and to the many participants in and contributors to the Wednesday Night Salon”. However, the entertain part is becoming increasingly difficult […]

The Anatomy of the Financial Crisis and Why We Must Get It Right
Everyone is haunted by the fear our financial crisis might unwind into something like the Great Depression. The world of finance is undergoing a hundred-year storm. It has inflicted the greatest destruction of wealth in our history. It swept away giant blue-chip financial […]

 Despite environmental concerns, China plans dams
Arguing that hydroelectric power provides the easiest route to energy for people living in Tibet, officials in Lhasa say that China has begun scouting sites for potential dams. Although China has sought to reassure people that the dams would not harm biodiversity, critics argue that China […]

The Shadow President
By JACOB HEILBRUNN
(NYT Book review) As governor of Texas, Bush hewed to a centrist course, working, as he often boasted, with the Democratic­-led State Legislature. As a candidate for the presidency, he promised more of the same. But as president, he struck out on a more radical and polarizing course, one that Barton […]

The Food issue
Farmer in Chief
(NYT Magazine) … with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself confronting the fact — so easy to […]