Weekly newsletter 54


Hic sunt camelopardus: this historical edition of The Browser is presented for archaeological purposes; links and formatting may be broken.

[1]A selection of our best article links of the week, plus featured
  FiveBooks interviews, videos, quotations and more.
    Links:
      1. http://thebrowser.com

Weekly Newsletter

Best of the Week

[5]The Global Power Shift From West To East
    Links:
      5. http://b.rw/IFWC4a

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" [6]Comments
    Links:
      6. http://thebrowser.com/articles/global-power-shift-west-east

[7]In Defence Of Obscure Words
    Links:
      7. http://b.rw/IjH0Tg

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" [8]Comments
    Links:
      8. http://thebrowser.com/articles/defence-obscure-words

[9]The Ayatollah Under The Bed(sheets)
    Links:
      9. http://b.rw/J4Z9BL

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 [10]Comments
    Links:
      10. http://thebrowser.com/articles/ayatollah-under-bedsheets

[11]Photos Of New York From 100 Years Ago
    Links:
      11. http://b.rw/Js5V6Q

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 [12]Comments
    Links:
      12. http://thebrowser.com/articles/photos-new-york-100-years-ago

[13]Austerity, And A New Recession?
    Links:
      13. http://b.rw/I9negz

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" [14]Comments
    Links:
      14. http://thebrowser.com/articles/austerity-and-new-recession

[15]On The Origins Of The Arts
    Links:
      15. http://b.rw/I8JcAZ

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" [16]Comments
    Links:
      16. http://thebrowser.com/articles/origins-arts

[17]The Aid Bitchslap
    Links:
      17. http://b.rw/I2Viaz

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 [18]Comments
    Links:
      18. http://thebrowser.com/articles/aid-bitchslap

[19]Shift Happens
    Links:
      19. http://b.rw/Jkj1ms

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 [20]Comments
    Links:
      20. http://thebrowser.com/articles/shift-happens

FiveBooks Interview

[21]Barry Eichengreen
    Links:
      21. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/barry-eichengreen-on-euro

[22]Barry Eichengreen on the Euro
    Links:
      22. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/barry-eichengreen-on-euro

With hindsight, was the euro a good idea? Will it come through the
  present crisis intact or will any country decide to leave? And what
  happens if they do? All this and more answered by the economics
  professor [23]Read on
    Links:
      23. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/barry-eichengreen-on-euro

Featured Topic

[24]How To Die
    Links:
      24. http://thebrowser.com/reports/how-die

How to face the end? Peacefully? Still fighting? With all of medicine's
  help? Or naturally? [25]Read on
    Links:
      25. http://thebrowser.com/reports/how-die

Reader Recommendations

@[26]polit2k MT @[27]EpicureanDeal: This NY Times article on Wal-Mart
  is what investigative journalism is for and can be. [28]t.co/fFfcZjOT
  [29]#browsings [30]More like this
    Links:
      26. http://twitter.com/polit2k
      27. http://twitter.com/EpicureanDeal
      28. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/business/at-wal-mart-in-mexico-a-bribe-inquiry-silenced.html?_r=2
      29. https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings
      30. http://thebrowser.com/browsings

Book of the Week

[31]Book of the Day
    Links:
      31. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/travels-ibn-battutah-by-ibn-buttutah

[32]The Travels of Ibn Battutah by Ibn Battutah (edited by Tim
Mackintosh-Smith)
    Links:
      32. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/travels-ibn-battutah-by-ibn-buttutah

[33]Ziauddin Sardar says: In a sense he hasn’t been bettered since the
  14th century. The complete diversity of the Muslim world is there. He
  is the traveller of the Islamic world[34]FiveBooks Archive
    Links:
      33. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/travels-ibn-battutah-by-ibn-buttutah
      34. http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks

Video of the Week

[35]Martin Amis's Eulogy for Christopher Hitchens
    Links:
      35. http://thebrowser.com/videos/martin-amiss-eulogy-christopher-hitchens

"Not always rational, and by no means always prudent, but penetratingly
  sane. He knew who he was"
  [36]More videos
    Links:
      36. http://thebrowser.com/videos

Quote of the Week

[37]Andy Borowitz, on free speech
    Links:
      37. http://twitter.com/BorowitzReport/status/194573180189421568

"I may not agree with you, but I'll defend to the death my right to
    tell you to shut up"

[38]More quotes
    Links:
      38. http://thebrowser.com/quotations

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