archive

Facts, fiction and forecasts

Irus Braverman (SUNY-Buffalo): Potty Training: Nonhuman Inspection in Public Washrooms. President Obama is expected to announce the formal end of the American war in Iraq in a speech; here are facts and figures about the war in Iraq. Mikhail Prokhorov, the third richest man in Russia and owner of the New Jersey Nets, vows to run against Vladimir Putin in 2012 — does Prokhorov stand a chance? From Arts and Opinion, Louis Rene Beres on the disappearance of the philosopher-kings: "Sustained by banality, empty chatter and half knowledge" and the making of the celebrity politician; a review of Why Catholics Are Right by Michael Coren; Wahajat Ali on Islamophobia in America: Who funds it and who writes the elegant hate literature; and does plastic surgery heal the mind? A plastic surgeon is a psychologist with a scalpel in his hand. That the nation-state should be formed around an ethnic group is the most dangerous dumb idea that will not die. Were the 1970s the most boring decade in history? Embattled intellectual historians make a stand. If you are wondering what a Tim Tebow is but don't have time to examine the voluminous coverage surrounding him of late, this should get you caught up. Myra Hindley was, for the British public, evil personified, and was the most hated woman in Britain from the time of her arrest in 1965 until the day she died in 2002 for murdering children with her boyfriend and burying them on the Moors. Shovel-ready clinics: A job creation idea so obviously good even Washington couldn't possibly say no — could it? Reviewage: G. Kim Blank on the culture of online opinions. What is the future of knowledge in the Internet Age? A conversation with David Weinberger about facts, fiction and forecasts. Why gold backs global currencies, and not an element like argon.