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"Shouldn't we expect a scramble to put forward plans for promoting growth and restoring jobs? Apparently not." Paul Krugman is critical of backward-looking economic theorizing.
"Free exercise of religion? No, thanks. The taming and domestication of religious faith is one of the unceasing chores of civilization." Christopher Hitchens on the freedom to practice faith.
"What does it take to trade in a commodity that cannot be seen or touched—and isn't even a commodity in the United States?" Scientific American reports on traders in the global carbon market.
"The magic income: $75,000 a year. As people earn more money, their day-to-day happiness rises. Until you hit $75,000. After that, it is just more stuff, with no gain in happiness."
"The pastor who plans to burn Korans is despicable. But the rush to condemn this maniac clouds legitimate free-speech debate." Tunku Varadarajan on when rights should be abridged.
"Are leaders born or made? Evolution may be throwing us a curve ball when it comes to picking them in the modern world" The New Scientist says leaders must first convince the rest of us.
Few people have felt the muzzle of an automatic machine gun in their gut, let alone survived a kidnapping on their birthday. In January 1998, then-federal prosecutor Stanley Alpert was […]
"With car use increasing all the time, in a few years we could be facing global gridlock. Can the calculations of mathematicians and engineers keep us moving?" The Independent reports.
"A genetically engineered strain of Atlantic salmon that's designed to grow twice as fast as its unaltered cousins may soon be eligible for dinner." The FDA may soon approve the food.
"There are nine states in the union where the government maintains a direct monopoly on the sale of hard liquor." The Economist reports on these 'lonely outposts of American socialism'.
"Is the future of TV in social networking?" A Forbes Magazine blog looks at the future of the television, which is online and allows shared viewing and conversations over Facebook and Twitter.
"How dizzyjam.com, muzu.tv and The Vynyl Factory are staging a musical revolution." The Telegraph reports on three Internet startups that are working to change the music industry.
"Disenchantment is a result of our having over-intellectualized our relations to the world (including nature)." Philosophy professor Akeel Bilgrami advocates a wider view of nature.
Rising jazz pianist Vijay Iyer, whose doctoral thesis was a study of musical cognition and the movement of the body, draws inspiration from past jazz masters as well as the field of physics.
"Happy F*ckin' Labor Day! Before there were unions, there was no middle class." Michael Moore tells White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel he ought to defend the UAW.
Politics and economics used to divide Europe into parts East and West, but now North and South better define the continent's different approaches when it comes to managing money.
Traditionally used for military purposes, falling costs in robotics are pushing the technology into hospitals, offices and the home. The technology redefines what it means to 'be' in a place.
"It is immoral to use private property in order to alleviate the horrible evils that result from the institution of private property." Žižek quotes Oscar Wilde to criticize modern ideas of charity.
The New Scientist reports on an old idea, that once out of favor is gaining traction again: the language you speak, while not determining your perceptions, influences your worldview.
"Whenever a prominent scientist [disputes the existence of God], all hell is sure to break loose." The Economist measures the fallout from physicist Stephen Hawking's new book.