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More or less anybody who has ever done anything newsworthy can cite, as Henry Rollins can, some turning point at which they made a risky decision that paid off, and a lifelong sense of mission not easily derailed by minor failures.
While writing this post, my mood will vary. I’ll enjoy the beginning – riffing on a new idea is always exciting – but I’ll inevitably hit difficult patches. A few […]
What's the Latest Development? It has become all too common to walk down a busy city street and see the majority of pedestrians glued to their phones and inattentive to […]
Three interesting pieces on Yemen have hit the internet in the past couple of days, which people who follow Waq al-waq should definitely read. The first, and most important, is […]
When we think of those opposed to homosexuality – which still sounds weird to me, like opposing left-handed people* – or stem-cell research or euthanasia, we tend conclude they’re justifying […]
One of the most interesting of the (ridiculously) long list of documents my daughter had to provide in order to work here in France was a letter stating that she […]
A group of Spanish activists have quickly raised over €15,000 by appealing to public demands that banking executives be brought to justice. The fund will be used to conduct legal research.
I’d like to get the Freakonomics guys to explain this paradox of K-12 education: The more money you spend for your children’s education, the fewer days they’ll actually be educated. […]
Using social media to facilitate communication within corporate structures has become an essential tool for innovation, say 2,700 business executives in a new survey of Europe.
Whether the future is a dystopian global class struggle over technology or a Pax Technologica of transparency, access and equity will depend on spreading technology quotient (TQ) above all else.
Humor fosters community and builds character, two virtues that educational reformers neglect.
Amid the tiny din of two-hundred micturating rodents, Ralph X. Bumblefutz goggled in disbelief at a discovery that would forever lay waste to the West's most cherished ideas about incontinence. […]
Ask a gaggle of economists which country has the world’s fastest growing economy and they’ll most likely say China. At the very least, most Americans see China as the world’s […]
On July 1, Australia will implement its carbon tax. Will other countries follow Australia's lead? Should they?
SSA Week is ongoing, as atheist bloggers come together to raise money for the Secular Student Alliance. At the time this post was published, they've collectively raised $59,680 out of […]
What's the Big Idea? While over 70 percent of women in the United States work outside of the home, compared with 36 percent in Brazil, and while US women marry, […]
What is the Big Idea? The energy crisis is one of the greatest economic and social problems of our time. How can greenhouse gas emissions be reduced at a time […]
The challenge for democracies is to become just as farsighted as the state capitalist systems that have drawn the world's envy. But while we try to bring about this small revolution in our thinking, the state capitalists may be dealing with a much bigger revolution of their own.
Mayor Bloomberg's latest anti-obesity proposal—ban sales of giant flagons of sugary drinks by next spring—has been criticized as bad politics in support of good policy. In fact, it is the […]
The neuroscience behind decision-making.