John Mullin listened to the new Springsteen, then read what other people wrote about it and got angry. Not angry like early Springsteen, who was never really angry, but angry like later Springsteen, who was a little angry but still not that angry, really.
Remembrance Day, war, and death
posted by Thought Out Loud
It's been a week of reflection here at Thought Out Loud. As Remembrance Day draws near, the editors try to make sense of our military history and, generally, of remembering.
What would justice d...
posted by John Mullin
John Mullin goes all "philosophy" in an attempt to use political philosopher John Rawls to ask what justice would demand of us when setting up a society and to explore what that society might look like. Spoiler alert: it wouldn't end up looking like New Jersey.
Why aren’t North Americans more outraged?
posted by John Mullin
As protesters continue to occupy Wall Street in New York, John Mullin wonders why we haven't always been outraged. Especially, Mullin says, in light of books like Game Change, which lay bare the truths of our most trusted political leaders. And he makes a Simpsons reference.
Brands and travel
posted by Thought Out Loud
We've all been there. And by "we," we mean "the editors of Thought Out Loud." And by "there," we mean "living abroad," but also that hard-to-define moment when, while living abroad, something familiar has triggered an unpredictable onrushing of emotions: homesickness, absence, loss, longing. Often, these triggers are brands. Why do we connect ourselves to brands? We try to think it out.
Ten years later
posted by John Mullin
On the 10th anniversary of the 11 September, 2001 attacks in the United States, John Mullin finds time to reflect -- from his new home, 90 minutes from Baghdad -- on how his life and the world have changed.
Young Israel, part 2...
posted by John Mullin
John Mullin completes his series on "Young Israel" with an examination of the competing drives of Israeli politics: the conflicting desires of maintaining a Jewish state and opening up Israel as a multicultural democracy.
The end of Qaddafi a...
posted by John Mullin
The Arab Spring has brought with it a number of surprises and major political and social upheavals. John Mullin looks at a few of them and imagines what the future might have in store for the Middle East.
Young Israel, part 1
posted by John Mullin
I’ve heard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to, within the same conversation, as “a complete piece of shit” and “my hero.” By the same person.
The debt ceiling debate: some considerations
posted by John Mullin
In American politics, the tendency is to see every major national debate in fatalistic terms. I recall the debate surrounding the Afghanistan policy review about ten months ago as being cast in the most literally do-or-die terms imaginable by the media. This tendency, of course, produces in the public a large degree of cynicism and apathy – if every debate and decision is presented with end-of-the-world seriousness (seriousness which is almost always manufactured), then what happens when a crisis arises that is actually extremely serious?