Dubai: a city built on sand
Nov 30, 2009 1st Paragraph, English 1st Paragraph
Was anywhere heading for a fall so obviously as Dubai? Yet why did no one ever scream? Why did everyone just marvel?
When I first visited the place three years ago, it was already the most dangerous speculative bubble on earth. Breakneck building – using reputedly a quarter of the world’s cranes – was sustained on hysterical public relations and $80bn of debt…
Minaret ban marks start of tough Swiss debate on Islam
Nov 30, 2009 1st Paragraph, English 1st Paragraph
In Switzerland the soul-searching has begun following Sunday’s nationwide referendum in which voters surprisingly backed a plan to ban the construction of minarets. No-one can quite understand how a proposal widely regarded even by its supporters as destined for failure at the ballot box actually came to be passed…
Tags: Islam, Minaret, Politics, religion, Switzerland
An Open Letter To President Obama On Afghanistan
Nov 30, 2009 1st Paragraph, English 1st Paragraph
Dear President Obama,
Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do — destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they’ve always heard is true — that all politicians are alike. I simply can’t believe you’re about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn’t so…
Click here to read Michael Moore’s letter to President Obama on The Huffington Post.
Tags: Afghanistan, Michael Moore, Obama, Politics, war
Au carnaval d'Ensor
Nov 28, 2009 French 1st Paragraph
Mardi gras au musée d’Orsay ! Rétrospective d’un peintre fantasque et sarcastique.
L’oeil rivé sur le plat pays, James Ensor (1860-1949) n’éprouva pas le besoin d’ouvrir l’espace de ses tableaux. Entre "couleurs crues et empâtements", l’artiste belge les peupla plutôt de masques, de crânes et de squelettes sardoniques. La rétrospective du musée d’Orsay réussit, de façon jubilatoire, à faire le tour d’un artiste capricieux et fantasque qui passe de la foule à l’autoportrait avec la même ironie dévastatrice.
Lisez cet article sur le Point.fr
Tags: art, Belgique, carnaval d'Ensor, Mardi gras, musée d'Orsay, Peinture
French hand-wringing over dubious win
Nov 22, 2009 1st Paragraph, English 1st Paragraph
For a nation not particularly known for its moral qualms – it once hailed a head-butting footballer as a hero – the French feel surprisingly chastened about their questionable qualification for next year’s World Cup. Reactions to Thierry Henry’s handball, which led to the goal that sent the national team to the South African finals at the expense of the hapless Irish, have ranged from embarrassment to outrage…
Face à l'obésité, il est urgent de passer aux actes
Nov 19, 2009 French 1st Paragraph
Le constat est unanime : l’obésité ne cesse de croître dans les pays industrialisés, alors même que, paradoxe, la barre du milliard de personnes souffrant de sous-alimentation a été franchie en 2009.
En France, elle est passée de 8,5 % à 14,5 % de la population adulte en douze ans, soit 6,5 millions de personnes, selon l’enquête Obépi-Roche, rendue publique le 10 novembre. (Le Monde du 11 novembre). La fréquence des obésités sévères a bondi de 1,5 % en 1997 à 3,9 % en 2009. Et la prévalence du surpoids reste élevée, à 31,9 %, contre 29,8 % en 1997.
Lisez cet article dans Le Monde.fr
Tags: Obésité, Pays industrialisés, santé
Plastic chemicals 'feminise boys'
Nov 17, 2009 1st Paragraph, English 1st Paragraph
Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys, making them "more feminine", say US researchers. Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys’ toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found. The University of Rochester team’s latest work adds to concerns about the safety of phthalates, found in vinyl flooring and PVC shower curtains…
Tags: feminise, phthalates, plastic, safety
How to Eat a Chicken Wing
Nov 13, 2009 1st Paragraph, English 1st Paragraph
Tags: chicken wing, Cooking, How to
"Histoire du mariage" : quid de la monogamie ?
Nov 13, 2009 French 1st Paragraph
Un pavé de 1.200 pages sur l’histoire du mariage, ça laisse le temps de peser le pour et le contre. Le mariage est-il vraiment en crise ? Depuis quand "l’amour" est-il un devoir conjugal ? Pénalisation financière des célibataires, durée moyenne du mariage, foyers recomposés, l’ouvrage répond à toutes les questions.
Pour un mur de tombé, combien d'érigés?
Nov 13, 2009 French 1st Paragraph
Par Karima Delli – Nous fêtons les 20 ans de la chute du mur de Berlin. Mais pour ce mur de Berlin détruit donc, combien d’autres murs ont été construits depuis? Et sur notre vieux continent tout d’abord, combien de murs de la honte?
Josh Harris: The Warhol of the web
Nov 10, 2009 English 1st Paragraph
I couldn’t have been more surprised to find Josh Harris in Ethiopia. In Manhattan in the mid-1990s, he had been "the Warhol of the Web" – one of the first internet multimillionaires, who took the $80m fortune he’d made and started to explore the possibilities and implications of this new technology, to the point of self-destruction. In the process, he became the focal point of the downtown New York scene that, for heady extravagance, rivalled anything from the 1960s or 1970s…
Read this article on the Guardian.
Tags: future, Internet, Joah Harris, technology
