March 2012
1 post
February 2012
1 post
The mathematical equation that caused the banks to... →
The Black-Scholes and other financial mathematics equations are the snake oil of the 21st century. The logic is very simple. If everybody “knows how to make money”, how can they all make money? Truth is, as Mr Stewart says here, “despite its supposed expertise, the financial sector performs no better than random guesswork”.
January 2012
1 post
November 2011
2 posts
Are technocrats good or bad? →
October 2011
3 posts
The Nazi Doctors: Medical killing and the... →
A full book, and essential reading.
An Auschwitz Alphabet →
September 2011
3 posts
“At least it’s a plan.”
– The Economist condemns Obama’s American Jobs Act. There are signs, it says, that “he is at present more interested in the optics than the substance of his proposals”.
Some of Sarah Palin's Ideas Cross the Political... →
If Sarah Palin’s recent speech at an Iowa Tea Party event is any indication, she intends to stake her presdiential campaign by shifting significantly to the centre - having already been responsible for the shift in domestic politics towards the right in the first place. This, if true, will constitute something of a masterstroke for Palin, whose ability and intelligence is often ridiculed.
August 2011
2 posts
“She was a chanteuse for uncertain times, gutsy and raw.”
– The Economist’s books editor on Amy Winehouse.
July 2011
2 posts
“The blame falls clearly on the Republicans.”
– The Economist, a socially liberal and economically conservative newspaper, points the blame of America’s debt ceiling problem squarely at the Republicans.
“Economically illiterate and disgracefully cynical.”
– The Economist damns the Republicans’ tax cut policies. The path to debt reduction, it says, is a combination of tax raises and spending cuts.
June 2011
2 posts
May 2011
7 posts
“Netanyahu will be remembered only as a person before the person who made peace,...”
– Fareed Zakaria tears into Binyamin Netanyahu’s cringeworthy pandering to Congress
“He’s no one’s perfect candidate, but he’s no one’s...”
– The Economist’s Democracy In America discusses Tim Pawlenty’s chances of securing the Republican nomination for the 2012 US presidential race.
Charanjit Singh on how he invented acid house...... →
“Their bullets could only exalt him.”
– The Economist’s obituary of Osama bin Laden
The legacy of Low Thia Khiang's victory in... →
“A war fought against men who hide in shadows, wear no uniforms and murder...”
– An editorial by the Beacon Times on Osama’s legacy
April 2011
8 posts
Chinese editors, and a Web site, detail censors’... →
Bit by bit, Chinese journalists are defying censorship instructions issued by the Communist Party. The blog China Digital Times has forced the censorship issue to the fore by publishing almost daily instructions from the Propaganda Department. These instructions are usually available only to chief editors, and relayed by mouth to rank and file journalists.
“What if I take my problem to the United Nations?”
– PJ Harvey’s critically acclaimed Let England Shake
WatchThe 20 000 tonne steel shield designed to prevent any further radiation from Chernobyl has received $785m in funding from governments around the world
The fascinating story of a Chinese-style tour in... →
March 2011
7 posts
“There are many of us Serbs who sing, but there is nobody to listen to us.”
– Nikola Tesla
The curiosity of the log-periodic power law →
Why can't we have better econophysics? →
25 New Free High-Quality Fonts - Smashing Magazine →
Portugal's i: the world's most beautiful newspaper →
February 2011
6 posts
Fang Binxing, the father of China's much hated... →
Mr Fang says he uses VPNs ‘to test which side wins’ in the battle between the Great Firewall and VPNs. An article on China’s state-owned English daily Global Times notes that Mr Fang subsequently received thousands of abusive messages and was forced to shut down his Sina microblogging account. To nobody’s surprise, the article in question didn’t last very long online,...
“Listening to it, you’re reminded that Radiohead are the only band of their...”
– Alexis Petridis gives Radiohead’s The King of Limbs four out of five stars
“No one’s died, they’ve just finished, and it was a great career that...”
– Ewen Spencer, the White Stripes’ sometime photographer, describes the peaceful breakup of the White Stripes.
January 2011
6 posts
中国数字时代: 真理部指令 →
Leaked directives from China’s Central Propaganda Department (in English here) have included bans on reporting about: Egypt, railroad ticket refund machines, Liu Xiaobo and his works, Nobel prize presentation, the national sports gold medal strategy, Wikileaks, the Li Gang incident, Hu Jintao’s son, the diary of the mistress of a top Guangzhou official, Foxconn, and others.
