1848+: Last and First Men

http://www.avnery-news.co.il/english/index.html
Spot the Difference
12/12/09
A SHORT historical quiz: Which state:
(1) Arose after a holocaust in which a third of its people were destroyed?
(2) Drew from that holocaust the conclusion that only superior military forces could ensure its survival?
(3) Accorded the army a central role in its life, making it “an army that had a state, rather [...]

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Volume 56, Number 20 · December 17, 2009
What Is Living and What Is Dead in Social Democracy?
By Tony Judt
The following is adapted from a lecture given at New York University on October 19, 2009.
Americans would like things to be better. According to public opinion surveys in recent years, everyone would like their child to have [...]

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Mad about English: The age-old language struggle
The Lexicographer’s Dilemma
Jack Lynch
Friday, December 4, 2009
THE LEXICOGRAPHER’S DILEMMA
The Evolution of “Proper” English from Shakespeare to “South Park”

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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/12/10-7
Published on Thursday, December 10, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Making an American ‘Impenetrable Underground Wall’ the Laughing Stock of
the World
by Ann Wright

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The potentate of potions
The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy
By Adrienne Mayor
Princeton Univ. 448 pp. $29.95
“The Poison King” is, as its subtitle makes clear, the story of the life of Mithradates, leader of the ancient Black Sea kingdom of Pontus, who, in the 1st century B.C., did everything he could to overthrow the [...]

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What Would Jane Do?
How a 19th-century spinster serves as a moral compass in today’s world

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