Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
With the soccer World Cup approaching, much of the world is focused on athletic prowess. But wouldn’t it be nice if intellectual achievements were followed with as much passion? What if, instead of showing men chasing a ball, the television cameras showed a contest of mental skill? Exactly that happened last week, when American sports channel ESPN and the ABC … >>
The year was 2004. The chance of America finding an easy way out of Afghanistan and Iraq was fading as fast as George W. Bush‘s popularity. The Democrats thought they could easily kick him out of office. So why didn’t they? Well, for one thing, the Democratic candidate, John Kerry, wasn’t as inspiring as he could have been. There were … >>
Some of my e-mail correspondents in the US forward me nutty chain letters from time to time. Beneath several layers of e-mail addresses is an anonymous rant that someone either made up or copied from a website somewhere without attribution. Topics range from Barack Obama’s secret Muslim origins and plans to ruin America, to how all government is unproductive and … >>
Who’s the person you’d most like to have dinner with, if you had the chance? There are lots of world leaders, famous actresses and authors who’d be on the list, I’m sure. But I’d choose Yakov Smirnoff, because he’d be the most entertaining. I did finally meet the Russian-American comedian last weekend. Well, not really; it was his double. (You … >>
It’s been said that the American media don’t often cover politics in other countries. That’s not much of an exaggeration. Medium-sized newspapers often have only one page of international stories, on page 4 or page 6 at best. TV news focuses on those countries with an immediate and obvious relation to the US — NATO partners, China, Afghanistan, and so … >>
Barack Obama calls it “a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster”. The explosion on a BP drilling platform on April 20 has led to an outpouring of oil from the sea floor which threatens not only wildlife, but also the important fishing and tourism industries, in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Visiting Louisiana on Sunday, Obama said that “the federal … >>
You have to hand it to Americans — we know a thing or two about marketing. Would people really eat fast food and chug soft drinks if they weren’t told to do so all the time? Would consumers really rush out and buy iPads if they saw the price first and the features later? And would buyers put so much … >>
Yesterday, April 21, was the 100th anniversary of the death of Samuel Langhorne Clemens. The author from Missouri was better known by his pseudonym, Mark Twain. How do you describe such a well-traveled and versatile individual? The sum total of his life was much greater than the individual things he did. He was a steamboat pilot, a businessman, a newspaper … >>
It was the darkest time in our nation’s history: four years of brother fighting brother. The Civil War started and ended in the month of April — in 1861 and 1865. So it’s only natural to remember this during April, right? That’s what Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said last week when he declared each April to be Confederate History Month. … >>
There are times when I just can’t read the news. It’s too depressing. There is some value in knowing, I suppose, that California is better equipped to handle earthquakes than northern Mexico, or that the price of energy in China and West Virginia may sometimes include human lives, or that a major church might be full of pedophiles. But often … >>