I thought I had seen all there was to be seen about Shirley Sherrod, until I can across an article titled Sherrod Story False in American Spectator by Jeffrey Lord, […]
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Suomi-Neito is a distant, but weirdly parallel echo of ‘Paula’, the personification of Brazil’s Sao Paulo state (discussed in #471). Female like most other anthropomorphic representations of geographic entities (1), […]
We physicists used to laugh whenever we talked about some of the topics that I mention in my book, “Physics of the Impossible”—some of these include such ideas as invisibility […]
Libyan strongman Muammar Gadaffi has it in for peace-loving Switzerland. He says he’d destroy the country if he had atomic weapons. But since he doesn’t have them, he advocates wiping […]
Playing fugues by Johann Sebastian Bach on the piano is not unlike playing “Mario Cart” on the Nintendo 64, says Hilda Huang, who at 14 years old is Big Think’s […]
The recent assessment of European banks’ stability was a public relations exercise, says Al Jazeera. Banks look unprepared for the long term, but few are being moved to act.
“Google is not making us stupid, PowerPoint is not destroying literature, and the Internet is not really changing our brains.” The L.A. Times tells its readers not to sweat new technologies.
Paul, the World-Cup-predicting octopus, has brought attention to recent research suggesting the octopus is a relatively intelligent animal despite its exclusion from the mammal club.
Those who oppose allowing a mosque to be built near the World Trade Centers have lost sight of America’s tradition of religious tolerance and the simple facts of the mosque’s construction.
Ross Douthat at The Times admits that the GOP is responsible for cap-and-trade’s failure in the Senate, but he thinks his party is demonstrating “the wisdom of inaction” vis-a-vis climate change.
The U.S. needs “a long-term plan that recognizes the interrelated nature of obesity and global food sourcing.” The Atlantic says our culture of cheap is forcing us to eat unhealthy diets.
The Washington Post’s report on the bloated and secretive American intelligence community is more a story of today’s information overload than villains with cloaks and daggers.
“Let’s not have a conversation about race.” Tina Brown at The Daily Beast says that Shirley Sherrod’s firing isn’t a teachable moment, but rather a “dangerous distraction.”
Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and Judge Richard Posner oppose the extension of unemployment benefits. Six months compensation is not enough, says Becker, but two years is too long.
The Guardian condenses the more than 90,000 intelligence documents leaked out of the Pentagon concerning the war in Afghanistan; Wikileaks published the documents online.
Inception is a film that entertains, but also one that may pride itself on making viewers think. It’s your choice. This art of coupling entertainment with (the possibility of) puzzles, […]
“As the 21st century unfolds, perhaps religions will undergo a radical shift: to become more hybrid in nature and flexible in narrative.” A professor of genetics on the malleability of myths.
“Like children with their hands in the cookie jar, dogs steal food quietly to make sure they don’t get caught. The finding adds to evidence that dogs can work out what others are thinking.”
Runaway executive bonuses on Wall-Street are here to stay, says John Cassidy at The New Yorker. The financial writer laments Washington’s failure to curtail abusive payouts.
“The obstacles to energy access are not technical. What is missing is a global commitment to move energy access up the political and development agendas.”
“Members of the Cuban arts community say more musicians, artists, actors and writers are traveling between the two countries.” The Times reports on a burgeoning arts exchange.
“The upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United States the envy of the world.”
“No other rich country is nearly as punitive as the Land of the Free. The rate of incarceration is a fifth of America’s level in Britain, a ninth in Germany and a twelfth in Japan.”
“It’s time to put beautifully-written nonfiction books into our English classrooms.” Ta-Nehisi Coates says reading well-written factual accounts adds nuance to an education.
Should the governments take action to reduce national debt or spend money to create jobs? Mark Weisbrot says the U.S. should fund the stimulus until unemployment is lower.
“Today’s technology may be determining not just how we spend our time: It actually may be ‘rewiring’ the way we think, how we experience the world around us.”
“Brion Gysin was a true subversive,” writes Laura Hoptman in Brion Gysin: Dream Machine, the text accompanying New York City’s New Museum’s exhibition of the same name. “Gay, stateless, polyglot, […]
U.S. human rights diplomacy is usually code for economic policy, says The Economist’s Babbage blog. So why can’t the State Department openly talk about development as a worthwhile goal?
Timothy Noah at Slate on, “What your enjoyment of sleep-away camp, or lack of same, says about your character.” How much did these hideaways determine our adult psychology?
Spiegel says that despite Israel’s declared freeze on building West Bank settlements, construction continues with the support of Jewish-American aid foundations.