The Country is Ale-ing
I was working on a two-part postmortem on the now-canceled NBC show Kings and how television serves as a stopgap for social stimulation, but I’m going to shelve that for now, because of the BREAKING NEWS that happened today.
Who Owns the Paracel Islands?
In the South China Sea there are a group of tiny, uninhabited islands known to the western world as the Paracel Islands (Quan Dao Hoang Sa in Vietnamese and Xisha Qundao in Chinese). The archipelago lies roughly 200 miles from the nearest mainland shore, equidistant from Vietnamese and Chinese coastlines, and is delineated into two groups: the Amphitrite group in the northeast and the Crescent group in the southwest. In total the geographic region consists of over thirty islets, sandbanks, and reefs.
The Mystery of the Smuggled U.S. “Bearer” Bonds
There are few news reports these days that inspire confidence in the U.S. economy. Unemployment levels rose to a 26-year high of 9.5% in June and word of a second stimulus package (vehemently opposed by Obama) has investors balking at earnings projections and questioning whether we are in fact on the road to recovery. Amidst the worst recession since the Great Depression, a mind-boggling news story has emerged which poses questions pulled right from the pages of a Tom Clancy novel.
Dream a Little Dream
Happy 4th of July, everyone! It’s time for everyone on my side of The Hypermodern to celebrate Independence Day and all things American. And there’s nothing more American than the American Dream: the belief that the freedoms and opportunities in the United States allow anyone who works hard enough to forge for themselves a “better, richer, happier life.” But there are caveats—there are always caveats—and as always the chorus of television is here to tell us about them.
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