Newsletter 886

24 Dec 2012 • 2 min read

Best of the Moment

Well-Chosen Words

Michael Skapinker | FT | 21 December 2012

On the history and plentiful peculiarities of English orthography. "Why is English spelling such a tangle? It started when Latin-speaking missionaries arrived in Britain in the 6th century without enough letters in their alphabet" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/well-chosen-words)

Dynasty

Isaac Stone Fish | Foreign Policy | 20 December 2012

Politics is a family business in almost every Asian country—even democratic ones. Why? Because family names are more trusted than party names as electoral "brands". Good PR to have an ancestor who fought for independence (Reg reqd) Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/dynasty)

Is The Cure For Cancer Inside You?

Daniel Engber | NYT | 21 December 2012

All cancers are different but traditional treatments tend to take a one-size-fits-all approach. Does the future lie in personalised therapies, developed after analysis of an individual's unique cancer cells? Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/cure-cancer-inside-you)

Amid Scars Of Past Conflict Spanish Far Right Grows

Paul Mason | BBC | 18 December 2012

"If you get down to Cabanyal, the tough working class area at what used to be Valencia's dockside, you can see the threat to the status quo." Young, working class men without work and calls for a revolution from the right Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/amid-scars-past-conflict-spanish-far-right-grows)

The End Of The Map

Simon Garfield | WSJ | 21 December 2012

Apple Maps stands at the end of a long line of cartographic error. Mountains of Kong featured on world maps and atlases for almost the entire 19th century, despite not existing. And those sea explorers loved inventing islands Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/end-map)

Think More About Sex!

Tracy Clark-Flory | Salon | 22 December 2012

Philosopher Alain de Botton's new book on sex fills the gap between Plato and Cosmo. "I’ve come up with this theory that it’s really all about loneliness — that overcoming of loneliness is sexy. You feel properly accepted" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/think-more-about-sex)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/anatole-kaletsky-on-new-capitalism)

Anatole Kaletsky on A New Capitalism

We need to build an entirely new market system, not just patch up the old one, says the economics commentator, who discusses the long-term fallout of the financial crisis and possible futures for the eurozone Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/anatole-kaletsky-on-new-capitalism)

Featured Special Report

(http://thebrowser.com/reports/syria-revolts)

Conflict in Syria

The Syrian conflict is causing terrible destruction and loss of life. This report charts how protests against the Assad regime descended into a bitter war Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/syria-revolts)

Reader Recommendations

@henrylf The Thought Experiment That Proved Light Has A Speed Limit: @io9 on the de Sitter Effect #browsings t.co/abEmGSpG #browsings (https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings) More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)