A Magazine about the world, its people, its politics, its innovations
Understanding the Occupy Wall Street movement: A primer Occupy Wall Street, the amorphous series of demonstrations that are reshaping the political debate in many major American cities and in countries around the globe, entered its second month on Monday. Here is a primer to understanding the movement that has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people…
How the West became China’s willing servant Eurozone leaders have brought their begging bowl to China, looking for help in boosting their bailout fund. So what does this say about the shift in the global balance of power? In October 1911, China rose up in revolution. Four months later the last emperor had fallen and…
Rosé On The Rise As More French Wine Drinkers Prefer Pink While red and white continue to be the most common colors for wine, pink is starting to gain ground. In France, the world’s leading producer of rosé wine, sales are up thanks to increases in both consumption and price. The…
Frontier fables Future Science: Essays from the Cutting Edge. Edited by Max Brockman. Vintage; 272 pages; $15.95. To be published in Britain in October by Oxford University Press; £9.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk BACK when the scientific method was a radical new idea, and when science was the preserve of wealthy (or well-sponsored) gentleman amateurs,…
Social Security A monstrous truth September 15, 2011 NO PONZI scheme in the history of the world has ever lasted 75 years. Ponzi schemes depend on garnering an ever-increasing pool of new investors to pay out returns to prior investors. When the potential pool of new investors runs dry, they collapse. This will occur when…
Pascal Bruckner on America’s obsession with sex, and what it says about a nation with a Puritan past — and uncertain future. A few years ago, we were on a family beach vacation in Florida. After a swim, my two-year-old daughter took off her bathing suit. Suddenly, the summer visitors began looking…
PARIS — They are not patients, they are followers. Some call it a “miracle.” Others credit the drug for offering them “freedom” or for “saving” them. For these recovering alcoholics, Baclofen, is nothing short of a wonder drug – a long elusive “cure” for their addiction. Never mind that Baclofen was never…
Left behind in America: Who’s to blame for the wealth divide? Take a moment and think about how you feel wealth should, ideally, be spread among the American people. If you’re like the average respondent in a 2010 Harvard Business School/Duke University study, your response was this: The richest top 20…
All the world comes to Chungking (Cheung Fun) HONG KONG– Whoever has been to perennially pricey Hong Kong on a low budget has spent at least one night there: Chungking Mansions, “the world’s most globalized building,” offers rooms at unbeatable prices at 36-44 Nathan Road, right on the point of Tsim Sha Tsui,…
This week, Russian firm Orbital Technologies announced its plans for a hotel in orbit 217 miles outside of Earth, which will accomodate 7 guests in 4 cabins with massive windows for expansive, intergalactic views. Since this is a little bit outside of Google Earth’s navigation capabilities, we suggest two days aboard a Soyuz rocket. The Daily Mail…