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Friday, April 27, 2012

The Browser weekly newsletter [27 Apr 2012]

27 April 2012

 Best of the Week

The Global Power Shift From West To East

Christopher Layne | National Interest | 25 April 2012

"The transition in progress represents more than just the end of the post-1945 era of American global dominance. It also represents the end of the era of Western dominance over world events that began roughly five hundred years ago" Comments

In Defence Of Obscure Words

Will Self | BBC | 20 April 2012

Learning requires effort. And that is how it should be. So it's dismal to see "the traditional set texts chopped up into boneless nuggets of McKnowledge, and students encouraged to do their research – such as it is – on the web" Comments

The Ayatollah Under The Bed(sheets)

Karim Sadjadpour | Foreign Policy | 23 April 2012

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, sex is not confined to the bedroom, it's deeply political. And the country's fundamentalist clerics aren't above considering juridical aspects of the most bizarre sexual imaginings Comments

Photos Of New York From 100 Years Ago

Various | Daily Mail | 24 April 2012

Remarkable collection of never-before-seen photographs of New York City from early 20th century. The city's Department of Records has released 850,000 images. Here are some of the most memorable Comments

Austerity, And A New Recession?

Martin Eiermann | European | 23 April 2012

Interview with economist Joseph Stiglitz. And he's on top form from the word go. "Academic economists played a big role in causing the crisis. Their models were overly simplified, distorted, and left out the most important aspects" Comments

On The Origins Of The Arts

EO Wilson | Harvard | 20 April 2012

Harvard biologist tackles evolution of culture in a monumental essay. Captivating throughout. "Rich and seemingly boundless as the creative arts seem to be, each is filtered through the narrow biological channels of human cognition" Comments

The Aid Bitchslap

Quinn Zimmerman | Shotgun Shack | 25 April 2012

American aid worker approaches end of two-year stint in Haiti, wonders: What good did I do? All the imported equipment is broken. Society continues as it did before. Nobody says thank you. On the contrary, they hate us Comments

Shift Happens

David Weinberger | Chronicle Review | 22 April 2012

Thomas Kuhn's "Structure Of Scientific Revolutions" rewrote the history of science, by introducing the concept of "paradigm shift". Science advances not by single ideas, but by systems of ideas, which displace one another Comments

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