The Browser weekly newsletter [17 Aug 2012]

Weekly Newsletter       17 August 2012 Thank you to all those of you who've joined our new membership scheme. For those who haven't, please consider supporting us by becoming a member. Click here to find out about the extra benefits available to members.  Best of the Week Extreme Weather Peter Miller | National Geographic | 15 August 2012 Torrential rain, blistering heatwaves, violent tornadoes – our world is being shaken by the most severe weather in modern history. What's going on? Have we damaged our climate irreparably? Are natural weather cycles to blame? Both? Comments And So Once Gaddafi Left, One Spanish Town Got A Little Smurfier Eric Ellis | Global Mail | 17 August 2012 When Sony painted Juzcar blue as a publicity stunt for its Smurfs film, the tourists started descending on the struggling Andalucian town. So what should it do when Sony left? Return to whitewashed walls, or stay Smurf blue? Comments The Veil Of Opulence Benjamin Hale | NYT | 12 August 2012 On Rawls, fairness, Romney and Obama. "Where the veil of ignorance offers a test for fairness from an impersonal, universal point of view, the veil of opulence offers a test for fairness from the first-person, partial point of view" Comments Keystone John Richardson | Esquire | 10 August 2012 Report from Fort McMurray, Alberta, "little Canadian town that might just destroy the world". Huge reserves of tar-sand oil waiting to be piped to Texas refineries. But should US be feeding or fighting addiction to foreign oil? Comments Does Copyright Matter? Tim Parks | NYRB | 14 August 2012 "Do I, as an author, have the right to prevent people copying my books for free? Should I have it? Does it matter?" Parks suggests the answer lies not in theories of ownership but in how we see the social function of copyright Comments Giant Size Tom Breihan | Classical | 13 August 2012 If you're over seven feet tall, between 20 and 40 years old, and in the US, you're one of only 70. Breihan investigates what it's like to be a giant. He should have some idea. He measures up at six foot eleven. And three quarters Comments Chicken Of The Trees Mike Sula | Chicago Reader | 16 August 2012 Country squirrels, fattened on nuts, make fine stew. What about their urban cousins, fattened on dumpster-diving? Turns out, they taste pretty good too. Even the brains: "Slightly creamy, almost like a soft, roasted chestnut" Comments Last Morning In Al Hamra Hilary Mantel | Spectator | 14 August 2012 "When you come across an alien culture you must not automatically respect it. You must sometimes pay it the complement of hating it." Essay on the home life of women in Saudi Arabia. Written in 1987, now published online Comments  FiveBooks Interview Robert Shiller on Human Traits Essential to Capitalism The Yale economist says rising inequality was a major cause of America's economic problems, and that little is being done to reduce the disparities. He gives us a reading list to understand how we got to here  Featured Topic Paul Ryan He's the man with the (budget) plan. What will the selection of the Wisconsin congressman as vice presidential candidate do for the Romney campaign? Reader Recommendations @nuzav “@ProSyn: @Nouriel on the Euro zone: "if a breakup is unavoidable, delaying it implies much higher costs." t.co/TM29m4LO” #browsings  Book of the Week The Quiet American by Graham Greene Charles Glass says: “This was written before the American war in Vietnam. Graham Greene saw it coming. And it was the idealism of liberals in America that led to the invasion of Vietnam by the armed forces. They should have read the book first and realised what they were doing.”  Video of the Week People of the Lake Al Jazeera documentary about the Aral Sea  Quote of the Week David Lewis, on philosophers "It is the profession of philosophers to question platitudes that others accept without thinking twice. A dangerous profession, since philosophers are more easily discredited than platitudes" | Homepage | Mobile Apps | RSS Feeds | Twitter | Facebook | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Having trouble reading this email? View it in your browser. You are receiving this email because you signed up for the Best of the Week newsletter on thebrowser.com. Click here to unsubscribe The Browser Ltd, 106 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 6PF