Author Archives: Tony

Can Chelsea Be Beaten?

Well in, Stevie! Yes, of course they can. We (Liverpool FC) proved that in one of the most important games of the season for both teams — forgive the crass associations, but it looked rather a lot like New Labor … Continue reading

Posted in Glancing Headers | 9 Comments

Getting Used to a Nuclear Iran

President Bush may reassure himself that “the world is coalescing around the notion that the Iranians should not have the means and the wherewithal to be able to develop a nuclear weapon,” but the more pertinent question is whether the … Continue reading

Posted in Featured Analysis, Situation Report | 4 Comments

What McDonalds Can Learn from Ford and the Vatican

Why burn the stars and stripes these days when the more transcendent – and ubiquitous – symbols of all things American these days are the Nike swoosh or the golden arches of McDonalds? A dwindling coterie of Iranian firebrands may … Continue reading

Posted in Annals of Globalization | 13 Comments

Laxman Flays the Aussies

As the entire cricket-playing world watches with glee as the Australian juggernaut is humbled by, of all nations, England, I was reminded of a piece I wrote a few years ago for TIME.com on India’s famous come-from-behind victory over the … Continue reading

Posted in From Tony's Archive | 9 Comments

They Never Give Up, Do They?

There’s more than a whiff of rodent coming off the story carried in various U.S. outlets this week claiming that Iran is supposedly supplying sophisticated explosives to Iraq’s insurgency. The regime in Iran may hate the U.S., but not necessarily … Continue reading

Posted in 99c Blogging | 2 Comments

Hiroshima, Mon Amerique

Four Thoughts on the Hiroshima Anniversary 1. Don’t Look Back I’ll admit, I was genuinely taken aback — gobsmacked, as they say — when after having been here for two years, the furor erupted over the Smithsonian Institute’s plans to … Continue reading

Posted in Situation Report | 8 Comments

A Jew’s Place

This piece appeared in South Africa’s Sunday Times in December of 2003 Israel’s leaders don’t fear Palestinian suicide bombers nearly as much as they fear the Palestinian population explosion. Even Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is now warning that holding on … Continue reading

Posted in A Wondering Jew | 9 Comments

Why Iraq Is Not Vietnam

Bruce Willis visits the troops As it becomes more and more obvious by the day that the U.S. simply cannot win in Iraq, the Vietnam comparison is inevitably going to be getting a lot more play in the media. Hey, … Continue reading

Posted in Featured Analysis, Situation Report | 12 Comments

Bin Laden’s Fiendish Chemical Warfare

So is this what all those politicians mean when they tell you Al Qaeda is out to destroy America’s way of life? Or is it just a sign of just how gormless some news organizations can be? The New York … Continue reading

Posted in 99c Blogging | 2 Comments

Lost in Translation

When a U.S. spyplane collided with a Chinese fighter and was forced down in Hainan on April Fool’s Day in 2001, I wrote a commentary on TIME.com inviting American readers to imagine the incident through Chinese eyes, in order to … Continue reading

Posted in From Tony's Archive | 7 Comments