Archive for: Perspectives

One of the last of The Boys of Summer is gone. Edwin Donald “Duke” Snider (1926-2011) passed away yesterday. The Duke was known for many things: he was a great center fielder with a bullet arm, and he was a power hitter. Along with Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, he was one of the trio of center fielders for New York’s three teams (the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees) who captivated New York sports fans — and inspired the song Willie, Mickey and the Duke.  

Snider was called up to the majors by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948, and became a star the next year, his first full season at the Dodgers old stadium in Flatbush, Brooklyn. But he slumped badly in 1951, the same season the Dodgers blew a 13-game lead to the Giants. Under a barrage of booing and media criticism, Snider demanded to be traded. But owner Walter O’Malley turned him down, and that turned out to be a smart move. The Duke proved his claims to baseball royalty, hitting 40 or more homers a year from 1953-1957.

But perhaps his biggest contribution to his team, to baseball and to society was his role as one of the leaders of the team that broke the color barrier. The Duke wasn’t on the team when Jackie Robinson became the first African-American players in the majors. But thoughout the 1950s, as more and more teams integrated, the Dodgers were known as the center of the movement, as described in Roger Kahn’s The Boys of Summer. Part of the reason baseball’s integration helped lead to America’s is because of the success of the Dodgers on the field, and their team spirit both on and off it.

Duke Snider was part of that history, which makes him a part – even if a small part — of American history.

Since 9/11, Australians have proven themselves once more to be “very satisfactory friends in peace, and the best of friends in war,” as President John Kennedy described them in 1962, attesting to “this happy relationship between two great people.” According to Prime Minister John Howard, “Australians have never asked others to do for us what we have been unwilling to do for ourselves.” But Australia’s participation in the coalition would not have been possible had Howard not won a political debate that consumed much of the 1990s about Australia’s place in the world and its national identity — and, having won power in 1996, had he not demonstrated in government that an instinctively conservative politician can govern successfully in accordance with his principles.

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As double acts go, the names of Marx and ­Engels don’t have quite the ring of Bonnie and Clyde or Laurel and Hardy, but ­celebrity wasn’t ever the point. Revolution was.

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A Thai man dying of kidney failure is visited by his late wife and lost son in ghostly form (Uncle Boonmee Who Can recall His Past Lives.) Two Italian men struggle with the challenges of single fatherhood in La Nostra Vita (Our Life.) A man and a woman are either complete strangers or husband and wife — or both — in Certified Copy. These were three of the big winners at this year’s Cannes Festival, where the jury seemed to be taken by films with some kind of family theme.

In a sense, family themes were also popular at last year’s festival.  The winner of the 2009 Regards Jeunes prize went to Quebecer Xavier Dolan for J’ai tue ma mere (I Killed My Mother.) It isn’t a spoiler to tell you the lead character didn’t literally kill his mother.

Oracle’s proposed merger with Sun Microsystems offers the latest example of how the European Commission sometimes has a different view of antitrust issues than the Department of Justice. The objection to the deal by Europe’s top antitrust regulator also offers an example of the increasing importance of good communication across the Atlantic. It’s a growing challenge — a double-barreled challenge: Companies have to understand official thinking in Brussels, and be able to get their own message across.

Does Goldman Sachs have a God problem? A God complex? An ungodly headache?

Goldman, once a venerable institution known for keeping close counsel, is now a lightning rod for populist criticism of the financial sector. And its latest public relations efforts don’t seem to be helping.

The bank’s very success – turning a profit in excess of $3 billion last quarter – is exacerbating the problem. Americans are in no mood to celebrate Wall Street success. With deepening bonus pools and bulked up compensation packages, Goldman isn’t winning any friends. Read