H has grabbed the country by the throat, with the low-budget likes of Paranormal Activity and The Purge regularly breaking into the box-office Top 10, while cable’s highest-rated drama, The Walking Dead, leads a crowded TV lineup of witches, vampires, and other ghoulish fare Down to the Morgan Library I bat-flew one afternoon to pay homage to Edgar Allan…
The value of the arts to the economy has always been an elusive figure – until now. For the first time, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the Commerce Department, has quantified art’s impact, finding in a study released Thursday that 3.2 percent – or $504 billion – of the…
Gore Vidal, Iconic American Author, Had Way More Sex Than You Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, Jack Kerouac, and even Jacqueline Kennedy show up in a new “sexual biography” of writer Gore Vidal.Author Tim Teeman examines why discussing the iconic writer’s sex life expands our understanding of him rather than contracts it.posted on November 2013 Tim TeemanBuzzFeed Contributor Gore Vidal…
Revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden in June about the U.S. government’s secret surveillance activities grabbed headlines across the globe. But while the world’s attention has been focused on the United States, prompting important discussions about the legitimacy and legality of such measures, disconcerting efforts to both monitor and censor…
TEL AVIV — It’s the joke of the evening and they tell it again and again, happy with themselves, a lukewarm glass of Coke in their hands: “Are you ready to hear a lie? Because if I tell you the truth, we’ll have to kill you.” They probably wouldn’t, but then again the…
Angela Merkel’s triumph in the German elections has a paradoxical flipside, as her unprecedented political strength may wind up undermining even her own interests. The Chancellor is reminiscent of an introverted child prodigy who is streets ahead of all her classmates but stands alone in the playground because the others know they…
Uruguay sets price of legalised cannabis at $1 a gram Country likely to become first to have state-controlled marijuana industry, and hopes low price will push traffickers out of market A Uruguayan man smokes cannabis during a demonstration in Montevideo in May. A senate vote to legalise the drug is expected in…
OCTOBER 24, 2013 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ONLINE COMMENTS POSTED BY MARIA KONNIKOV Several weeks ago, on September 24th, Popular Science announced that it would banish comments from its Web site. The editors argued that Internet comments, particularly anonymous ones, undermine the integrity of science and lead to a culture of aggression and mockery that hinders substantive discourse. “Even a…
USS George Washington, an aircraft carrier in a ‘super-class’ of its own By KJ Kwon, CNN October 14, 2013 — Updated 0600 GMT (1400 HKT) USS George Washington, a U.S. nuclear-powered carrier, can carry as many as 80 aircraft and accommodate more than 6,000 crew. STORY HIGHLIGHTS Rare visit to USS George Washington, one of world’s…
STORY HIGHLIGHTS Scientists surer than ever humans play major role in climate change, report says Global warming already affecting extreme weather, and it could get worse, report says U.N.’s IPCC convenes every six years to put together report; it’s considered benchmark on topic Even if emissions ended today, effects of climate change…