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Theatre: 5 February 2010
San Diego, California
Whisper House:
Murmurs of Something Great
All the ingredients are there,
but before Whisper House can find success, some serious tinkering
with the recipe is needed.
Tech: 29 January 2010
Washington, DC
How To Create Green
Jobs in America?
Bring Back the Bidet
Once reserved for
Europeans, bidets are now popular all over the world — except in North
America.
Comment: 28 January 2010
Montreal
The Frye-ku
Folio: 9, 10, 11
Humorist and illustrator Arcangelo Frye offers up
pages from his folio of Haiku for the age of Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and
Facebook.
News Analysis: 24 January 2010
San Francisco
Environmental
Concerns After Haiti's Earthquake
The lack of trees because of
deforestation in Haiti causes huge soil erosion problems, threatening both
food and clean water sources in this country of 9.7 million people that is
the poorest in the Western hemisphere.
Film Reivew: 12 January 2010
London
Avatar
In
director James Cameron’s mega-marketed Hollywood hoop-de-doo, we ar e
presented with a wild blue yonder that is depressingly constrained by
Earth-bound conventions.
Comment: 11 January 2010
Montreal
The Frye-ku
Folio: 5, 6, 7
Humorist and illustrator Arcangelo Frye
offers up pages from his folio of Haiku for the age of Flickr, YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.
Comment: 6 January 2010
Montreal
Frye-ku Folio:
2, 3,
4
Tech: 25 December 2009
New York
One
Laptop Per Child Drives Breakthrough in New XO Design for Children’s
Laptop.
OLPC chairman Nicholas Negroponte and MIT Media Lab
announce new designs for children's laptop.
Books: 15 December 2009
Los Angeles
A Book by its Cover
2: Tap-Tap Island
In the latest of his "Imagined
Dénouement" humor series, O. Tyrone Shulaise proposes what the final page
of a book might be, based solely on the appearance of its
cover.
News Analysis: 12 December 2009
San Francisco
What Does COP15 Hope to
Achieve?
International organizers, delegates and others attending
the upcoming COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark are hoping
for the establishment of an ambitious, legally binding global emissions
reduction agreement to take effect beginning in 2012. That is when initial
commitments made under the Kyoto Protocol, an earlier international
climate treaty that the U.S. refused to join, expire.
Books: 3 November 2009
Los Angeles
A Book by its
Cover
In the first of a series of humor essays, O. Tyrone Shulaise
imagines what the final page of a particularly torrid (and actual!) 1960s
pulp novel might be, based solely on the appearance of its cover.
Style: 31 October 2009
New York
Real Men Don't Shop
(at least not for fashion)
The average man’s attention span and
patience for clothes shopping is notoriously brief. Are retailers to
blame?
News: 6 October 2009
Paris
Life
Quality Quantified: The Brutality of Happenstance
In one moment,
two babies – one born in Norway and the other in Niger – largely have
their fates sealed, as demonstrated by the 2009 Human Development
Index.
Cinema / Style: 25 September 2009
New York
The
September Issue, or Grace Under Pressure
As seen in R.J.
Cutler’s new documentary, if Anna Wintour reigns as the seated monarch at
Vogue, it is Grace Coddington, the magazine’s Creative Director,
who might just be considered its éminence grise.
News Editorial: 19 Septembre
2009
Paris
Les
101 Gestes du Président Américain
No. 24: L'Appel Direct au Peuple:
Exercice Périlleux
Comment: 8 September 2009
New York
Time for a
"Fourth Estate" Tax?
Are the titans of "real" journalism — the
type that is expensive, exhaustive, essential to a functioning Democracy
and not terribly Internet friendly — a doomed group? Would Americans pay a
tax to keep them from dying out? Alan Behr offers his perspective.
Comment: 19 August 2009
New York
Is "Clean Coal"
Really Clean?
Coal wreaks environmental havoc, from the coal mining
that pollutes rivers and streams, to the premature deaths of coal miners
from accidents and lung diseases, to the release of greenhouse gases,
mercury and other toxins at power plants.
Book Review: 21 July 2009
New York
The Inner World of
Farm Animals
In her fascinating, good-for-all-ages book, Amy
Hatkoff not only re-introduces us to familiar farm animals, but makes
their lives and characters sweetly compelling.
Comment: 7 July 2009
New York
Hippocratic
or Hypocritical? When Medical Information is Flawed, Who is
Responsible?
In the wake of the Dalkon Shield and Vioxx,
is it any wonder that patients, in an effort to educate themselves, are
seduced by the slick marketing efforts of everyone from Big Pharma to late
night snake oil salesmen?
Book Review: 30 June 2009
New York
Hiding in Plain
Sight: The Secret World of Raymond Burr
That the film and
television actor was in a long-term, same-sex relationship is scarcely
enough to sustain the salaciously titled new biography by Michael Seth
Starr.
News Editorial: 5 June 2009
Paris
Tiananmen,
Twenty Years Hence: What France has Forgotten
For a brief moment in
history, it seemed that Paris might emerge as the capital of a Free China.
How did France’s courageous initial reactions to the Tiananmen massacre
wither and fade into amnesia and apathy?
Comment: 25 May 2009
Kuala Lampur,
Malaysia
Missing
Link: (Too) Much Ado About Ida
Despite all the media hyperbole
about "missing links," it may turn out that all the scientific claims and
ejaculations are a bit, in a word, premature. Dr. Anton Espira offers his
perspective.
Comment: 24 April 2009
San Francisco
Tortures Taint:
Waterboarding Sean Hannity for Charity
Yes, imagining that this
scenario could take place is a guilty pleasure. But only with emphasis on
the word "guilty.
Seen: 16 April 2009
Zermatt, Switzerland
Out of the Frying Pan and
Into the Hotel: A Design Fiasco’s Lasting Legacy
Form may
follow Function, but if they both are being led by Folly, the result is
usually disaster. Unable to live with his Swiss hotel’s failure, Heinz
Julen sees to it that its controversy lives on.
Book Review: 23 March 2009
New
York
Barney
Kilgore: The Man Who Made The Wall Street Journal
At America's
economic nadir, a cub reporter joined a foundering business publication
and – over the course of a remarkable career – molded The Wall Street
Journal into the model of modern journalism. A new biography
chronicles his remarkable legacy.
Film Review: 16 March 2009
New York
Auf der Strecke (On
the Line)
Alan Behr on the short film from Germany and
Switzerland, nominated for Best Short Film at The Academy Awards 2009.
Comment: 9 March 2009
New York
Taking Government Out
of the "Marriage" Business: (Another) Reconciliation on Gay
Marriage
Wherein Sam Singer offers a response to the recent,
middle-ground-seeking New York Times editorial co-authored by
Jonathan Rausch and David Blankenhorn.
Film Review: 2 March 2009
Paris
To Sir: But Without
the Love
Laurent Cantet’s "Entre les Murs" may have garnered the
2008 Palme d’Or, but it owes a debt of gratitude (and perhaps an apology)
to its predecessor films in the "troubled school kids" oeuvre.
News: 2 March 2009
San Francisco
Endangered Species: The Plight of
the Cheetah
The cheetah, which can reach speeds of 70 miles per
hour, is considered one of the world’s most endangered species.
Style: 23 February 2009
New York
Dress Up: Choosing the Perfectly
Appropriate Party Dress
The Party Dress, Alexandra Black's
voluminous and jumbled retrospective of fine fashion, illustrates the
pitfalls of dressing of an age vs. dressing for the ages. Commentary by
Alan and Julie Behr.
Tips for Evening
Dress
"Many American women have one idea what evening clothes are:
it’s based loosely on what they wore to the prom," writes New York style
consultant Julie Hackett Behr.
Film Review: 20 February 2009
New York
Vicky
Cristina Barcelona
"Taken out of his native Manhattan, Woody Allen
seems incapable of finding an alternative voice," writes Andrew Jack on a
trans-atlantic flight from London to Washington, DC.
Comment: 13 February 2009
Kuala Lampur,
Malaysia
The Evolution
of Charles Darwin's Reputation
Not since Copernicus were
such fiery passions stirred by scientific theory as by those of Charles
Darwin. On the 200th anniversary of his birth, world wide commemorations
of the man and his works reveal the intelligent design behind his efforts
to shape his own legacy.
Tech: 12 February 2009
New York
ROFLcon: The Love Song of Amber Lee
Ettinger
It's only at a confab of geekdom that Sockington the Cat,
Chuck Norris and the lovely Obama girl could synthesize so effortlessly.
(It's a nerd thing – you wouldn't understand.)
Calendar: 7 February 2009
San
Francissco
Barack Obama: Year of the
Ox
Yoked with a burden not of his making, President Obama will need
an Ox's methodical, steadfast and imperturbable strength to acheive the
great goals he has set out for his administration and his country.
Books: 19 January 2009
New
York
From King to
President in Just a Few Decades
Editors pick best books about the
civil rights movement in the United States.
Books: 16 January 2009
San
Francisco
Methods and Motives of
a Muckraker: A Biography of Jacob Riis
With a first-generation
American ascending to the Presidency of a nation of immigrants, Tom
Buk-Swienty’s new biography shines a fresh light on an unsavory aspect of
"the American Dream."
Sports
New York
Designer Steroids:
Speeding Evolution
(And Filling Stadium Seats)
American research
chemist Jason S. Thomas explains cutting edge steroids and why the Olympic
Committee hasn't got a chance in its ongoing battle against
performance-enhancing drugs
Seen
Palo Alto, California
Hyperion Nuclear
Batteries: Clean Power from Underground
Otis Peterson is no Tony
Stark, but his innovative, idiot-proof nuclear battery will surely beat
Iron Man's arc reactor to market and bring (relatively) green power to
remote locations.
News
Paris
Obituary: Yves
Saint Laurent
The undisputed king of fashion during the
1960s and 70s, Saint Laurent introduced le smoking, bare breasts and
masculine glamour to the storied world of haute couture.
Style :
London
Karl Lagerfeld:
"Confidential" or Just Plain Confusing?
Shine Anthony-Dharan weighs
in on the up-close documentary and haute gossip about the life and times
of fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld.
Style
Paris
Fashion
Collections: Fall 2008
"As talk of recession, global warming and
terrorism buzzed around the front rows, the fashion pack were expecting
more than usual from the designers this season", writes Shine
Anthony-Dharan from Paris and London. |
François-Dominique
Toussaint L'Ouverture (1743 - 1803)
Égalité For All: Toussaint
L'Ouverture
and the Haitian Revolution
Photo courtesy of PBS
Television
Time for a
"Fourth Estate" Tax?
Tips for Evening
Dress
From King to
President in Just a Few Decades
Interview: 3 August 2009
Tokyo
Hammer (and Sickle) Time
for Japan?
Periods of global financial turmoil provide fertile
ground for Communist movements, even in the least likely places. C.B.
Liddel profiles the head of the Japan Communist Party, Kazuo Shii.
Film Review: 27 July 2009
London
Afghan Star
Can an
"American Idol"-type contest succeed where the Russians, the Taliban and
the United States have failed? Havana Marking’s new film sheds light on
that unlikeliest of likely possibilities.
Books, DVD
New York
Dying Darfur: Sudan Genocide Subject
of New DVD, Book
Sudan coverage may be missing from
American news these days, but Janjaweed ethnic cleansing, financed by
Chinese oil money, goes on every day. A new film on DVD and a book of
photographs call us to remember those dying in Darfur.
Comment
San Francisco
Barack
Obama: The New Caesar Africanus? Or, What the hell is Chris Matthews
Talking About?
Barack Obama blows away his audience at the
Democratic National Convention. But Chris Matthews is a little too carried
away by his enthusiasm. Also, Keith Olbermann takes on the AP's Charles
Babington.
Comment
San
Francisco
Sarah Palin:
A Six-Point Plan for Her Debate with Joseph Biden
Build
your own igloo! That's Sarah Palin's modest proposal to clean up the mess
the Democrat congress created over the last eight years! The plan will
help ordinary Americans, veterans, gun lovers, the obese and foreclosure
victims! And it will even stop the Russians!
Comment
Cambridge,
Massachusetts
The
Commercialization of Race: Science, Technology and Medicine
Do
medical and commercial products targeted by race re-energize the idea of
race as a biological category just when scientists thought they had laid
it to rest? MIT research scientist and physician Dr. David S. Jones weighs
in on the controversy before an upcoming conference on race, medicine and
the social sciences.
Comment
San Francisco
Obama Super Bowl Ad and
"Yes We Can Song" Show Campaign's Media 2.0 Savvy
C.
Antonio Romero on the political implications of the viral Internet &
YouTube phenomenon with over 12 million views in 72 hours.
Comment
San Francisco
Mitt Romney: Faith, Freedom,
and Mormonism Unseen
Willard M. Romney pulls the Constitution,
religious freedom, and tolerance (rather than the Book of Mormon) out of
his hat, and may have distracted his audience long enough to "disappear"
the more bizarre and controversial doctrines of his religion.
Sports
Tokyo
Soccer: High Price of
Being a Fan
Pricey new book weighs in on history of England’s most
storied football club.
Commen t
La Paz, Bolivia
Race and Images
in Bolivia
"If popular media offer ideal social images, the
Bolivian model is assimilation (and exclusion for those who refuse
it)," writes Alexander Provan from La Paz.
News
London
The Perfect Storm: Iran
Sits in Eye of Political Hurricane
Swirling in wake of
hostage crises, White House pressure and Russian influence, Iran sits in
eye of political hurricane. An editorial by Andrew Jack.
Commen t:
San Francisco
Iraq: Would It Be So Wrong to Get
Out?
Adolescent right-wing ideology,
miscalculations, incompetence and pathological lying from the Bush
administration have left America pursuing unachievable goals and Iraq
drifting toward civil war. Is there still time to get it right in Iraq?
And if not, would it be so wrong to get out?
News Feature
Paris
Days of Glory: Valor, Racism and
the Ingratitude of the French Republic
Cannes Film
Festival sensation Days of Glory is set during World War II, and
is the compelling tale of four brave North African soldiers and forgotten
heroes who assist in liberating France from Hitler’s Nazi
oppression.
Comment: 19 Mai 2008
Paris
Nicolas Sarkozy
est-il le John McCain francais?
John McCain et Nicolas Sarkozy se
ressemblent étrangement : ils s’en prennent à l’immigration, ils ont un
parti démoralisé et intellectuellement exsangue, et ils sont esclaves des
sondages. En cette fin de première année de pouvoir, Sarkozy peut
constater que les stratégies électorales ne servent pas à gouverner.
Néanmoins, ce président pseudo-gaulliste et ce candidat républicain se
livrent à une certaine émulation stratégique réciproque. Harold Hyman, à
Paris, nous livre ce commentaire.
News Archives
Paris
Pardon My French
Bloggers Debate France's
Presidential Candidates
"Political videos are much in demand, a
phenomenon that is indicative of what is happening on French blogs," says
Marion Lagardère. 
Comment
New York
The Plague: Racism and the
Swiss Elections
Point de vue
New-York
La Peste : Le Racisme et
Les Elections Suisses
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