New StatesmanBritain's award-winning current affairs magazineLucky man- August 7, 2008 Clint Eastwood is acclaimed for his work as both an actor and a director, but the Hollywood star owes everything to the genius of his mentor Sergio LeoneWhen Sergio Leone went looking for an American actor, Clint Eastwood was last on his list. It was 1964, and Leone was about to embark on an unofficial remake of Akira Kurosawa's samurai picture Yojimbo. The ironic ronin Sanjuro Kuwabatake was now an ironic Western gunfighter named Joe. Leone's film was provisionally titled The Magnificent...http://www.newstatesman.com/film/2008/08/leone-eastwood-actor-director Capitalism's woes- August 7, 2008 The neoliberal world economy is in crisis: inflation rising, banks collapsing, the financial system in turmoil. What was the cause And is there a cureThe Trillion-Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers and the Great Credit Crash, Charles Morris, PublicAffairs, 224pp, 13.99 Supercapitalism: the Battle for Democracy in an Age of Big Business, Robert Reich, Icon Books, 288pp, 12.99 The Crunch: the Scandal of Northern Rock and the Escalating Credit Crisis, Alex Brummer, Random House Business,...http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2008/08/financial-reich-world A very public act of charity- August 7, 2008 There's something suspect about this reality show that promotes givingThe Secret Millionaire Channel 4After I finished watching episode one of the third series of The Secret Millionaire (5 August, 9pm), I didn't set to writing about it straight away. I waited. I had a feeling that it had pulled a fast one on me; that the tears (only a few, honest) that I had shed were the result of nothing but cheap sentimentality. And so it proved: 48 hours later, I'm much calmer. ...http://www.newstatesman.com/television/2008/08/secret-millionaire-benamor Labour has little to lose and much to gain by being bold- August 7, 2008 If there was anything memorable about the recent "leaked Blair email" (self-evidently not written by Tony Blair, but presumably the work of a disciple), it was the anachronistic character of its argument. "The choice," it declared, in the geeky shorthand of the policy wonk, "is and was always between GB running as the change candidate or as continuity NL new Labour." The idea that simply carrying on with new Labour ...http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2008/08/labour-wealth-continuity Hash house of horrors- August 7, 2008 Kabul is a tough place for foreign workers, but Sorrel Neuss is troubled by the way some choose to unwindGetting into Afghanistan's expat scene involves winning admission to a secret club. Even though a fresh batch of westerners working in construction, security and aid descends on Kabul every week, the expats' guard is up from the offset and initiation into their insular world is tough. As a journalist on a short visit on my way home from Kyrgyzstan, I had little hope of gaining entry. The...http://www.newstatesman.com/travel/2008/08/hash-house-kabul-stinky-cut Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A difficult hero- August 7, 2008 The life of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died on 3 August aged 89, was one of contradictions. Once a fervent revolutionary, he has been buried at the Donskoy Orthodox monastery; embraced as an anti-Soviet icon by the west, he sternly criticised its "decline of civil courage"; despite his suffering at the hands of the Soviets, he remained an ardent, even reactionary, nationalist. Sentenced to hard labour and exile in 1945 for ...http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2008/08/alexander-solzhenitsyn-hero It could have been me- August 7, 2008 The Olympic Games are upon us, but one Beijing activist has found there's nowhere to run if you dare question the human rights record of the Chinese governmentCampaigners who highlight China's appalling human rights record are sometimes accused of trying to force "western values" on to an unwilling Chinese public. Such criticism implies that only those born in a particular hemisphere should be entitled to liberty or free speech, and also ignores China's many brave human rights activists. The...http://www.newstatesman.com/human-rights/2008/08/china-jia-chinese-activist Tactical Briefing- August 7, 2008 From: The UnitTo: GBSubject: Take Off Your JacketSo, pretty good week. Obviously the calls for your immediate removal are growing stronger each day. But we all feel this is a normal part of the political cycle we are in. As we see it, this is a cycle that began with you as a popular chancellor. The government became more and more unpopular under TB until he left. At that point you rightly enjoyed a profoundly ...http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/08/jacket-happen-cycle-point-feel Many happy returns, credit crunch- August 7, 2008 Only about half of the 250bn of toxic debt at the heart of the crunch has been fully recognised. That means many more months of miseryUntil a year ago the word "crunch" was something associated with a chocolate bar or a competitive sports event. No one outside the esoteric world of the interbank market - where financial institutions swap loans - would have applied it to an economic condition. Twelve months on from 9 August 2007, the day the markets froze over, it has become a headline writers'..http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2008/08/credit-crunch-markets-bank The fight for a living wage- August 7, 2008 Campaigns for fair pay are fast gaining strength, attracting the kind of supporters Labour should be wooingNew Labour desperately needs to adopt ideas which not only embody its commitment to social justice but also unleash fresh political enthusiasm and grass-roots activity in communities across the UK. Championing the Living Wage movement would fulfil both these critical needs. The minimum wage is often cited by ministers and party members as one of Labour's great achievements. Introducing it..http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/08/living-wage-london-cleaners |