FT.com / Comment / Analysis - Man in the News: Dan Brown
On its first day on sale this week, The Lost Symbol, Mr Brown’s long-awaited follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, sold more than 1m copies in English. Within 36 hours the book had achieved the highest lifetime sales of any adult hardback novel published in the UK.
The novel marks a departure for a writer whose plots have previously played out in European capitals. In The Lost Symbol, protagonist Robert Langdon returns home to Washington in search of Masonic secrets in the corridors of power – though such is the publicity surrounding the book, it is likely that few readers will be entirely innocent of the surprises that await.
Sep 27, 2009
Why would Iran need so many centrifuges to make a nuclear warhead? - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine
Why would Iran need so many centrifuges to make a nuclear warhead? - By Daniel Engber - Slate Magazine
Because each one is so small.
By Daniel EngberPosted Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, at 7:12 PM ET
Iranian officials confirmed on Friday that a new uranium-enrichment facility has been constructed near the ancient city of Qom. Intelligence reports claim it can house up to 3,000 centrifuges—enough to make a nuclear warhead, but not enough to fuel a power station. In 2006, Daniel Engber explained why Iran needs so many centrifuges to enrich uranium.
Because each one is so small.
By Daniel EngberPosted Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, at 7:12 PM ET
Iranian officials confirmed on Friday that a new uranium-enrichment facility has been constructed near the ancient city of Qom. Intelligence reports claim it can house up to 3,000 centrifuges—enough to make a nuclear warhead, but not enough to fuel a power station. In 2006, Daniel Engber explained why Iran needs so many centrifuges to enrich uranium.
Bardot slams planned pig cull in Egypt
CAIRO - French animal rights activist and former actress Brigitte Bardot has written to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, slamming the decision to slaughter the country's pig population in the wake of swine flu.
"Taking advantage of the global hysteria over the propagation of 'Mexican' flu, which has nothing to do with animals, in order to launch a campaign to exterminate pigs raised by a destitute section of the population is extremely cowardly," Bardot wrote in the letter, a copy of which was also sent to Agence France-Presse.
Sep 26, 2009
FT.com / Comment / Analysis - The dragon stirs
FT.com / Comment / Analysis - The dragon stirs
Yet the bigger question raised by these celebrations is: what does Beijing really think of the US? Or, more specifically, does it now believe America – embroiled in two wars and with its economy wilting after last year’s financial crisis – is facing inevitable decline? If the answer is yes, it will have big implications for some of the most important global issues in President Barack Obama’s in-tray, from the future role of the dollar to Iran.
Yet the bigger question raised by these celebrations is: what does Beijing really think of the US? Or, more specifically, does it now believe America – embroiled in two wars and with its economy wilting after last year’s financial crisis – is facing inevitable decline? If the answer is yes, it will have big implications for some of the most important global issues in President Barack Obama’s in-tray, from the future role of the dollar to Iran.
Sep 24, 2009
Qantara.de - How Creativity Blossoms in a Rigid Regime
In Syria, the secret police is as omnipresent as traffic wardens are in the West. Every movement and every word are registered. Yet some writers see this as a creative challenge rather than a nuisance. They use their wit, humour and imagination to offer the world an insight into a society that at first glance seems closed off. Susanne Schanda reports
FT.com / UK - Unesco choice reveals north and south rift
The election of the new head of Unesco, the United Nations culture and learning arm, has exposed a deep rift between developed and developing countries after the Arab frontrunner surprisingly lost after coming under attack for alleged racism.
Late on Tuesday a rank outsider - Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's ambassador to France - was chosen as the first woman and the first eastern European to lead the agency. Ms Bokova, 57, emerged to beat Farouk Hosny, Egypt's long-serving culture minister, in the fifth round of a secret ballot after two countries on Unesco's executive board switched sides at the last minute and backed her.
"Nobody really took her candidacy seriously," said an EU diplomat in Paris.
The election of the new head of Unesco, the United Nations culture and learning arm, has exposed a deep rift between developed and developing countries after the Arab frontrunner surprisingly lost after coming under attack for alleged racism.
Late on Tuesday a rank outsider - Irina Bokova, Bulgaria's ambassador to France - was chosen as the first woman and the first eastern European to lead the agency. Ms Bokova, 57, emerged to beat Farouk Hosny, Egypt's long-serving culture minister, in the fifth round of a secret ballot after two countries on Unesco's executive board switched sides at the last minute and backed her.
"Nobody really took her candidacy seriously," said an EU diplomat in Paris.
Sep 22, 2009
Belatedly, Egypt Spots Flaws in Wiping Out Pigs - NYTimes.com
CAIRO — It is unlikely anyone has ever come to this city and commented on how clean the streets are. But this litter-strewn metropolis is now wrestling with a garbage problem so severe it has managed to incite its weary residents and command the attention of the president.
Sep 20, 2009
الأخبار - تقارير وحوارات - إيرفينغ كريستول عراب المحافظين الجدد
منهم من يسميه اليد الخفية لحركة المحافظين الجدد ومنهم من يصفه بمنظر هذه الحركة, لكن الذي لا يختلف عليه اثنان هو أن إيرفينغ كريستول ابن العائلة اليهودية التي استقرت في نيويورك بعد هجرتها من أوكرانيا الأب الروحي لحركة المحافظين الجدد التي تغلغلت في أوساط صناعة القرار السياسي لهذا البلد, مغيرة مجرى السياسة الأميركية الحديثة برمته.
لقد استطاع هذا الكاتب الصحفي من خلال مقالاته وأعمدته في دوريات ومجلات بعضها من إنشائه أن يؤثر في تفكير الساسة الأميركيين.
لقد استطاع هذا الكاتب الصحفي من خلال مقالاته وأعمدته في دوريات ومجلات بعضها من إنشائه أن يؤثر في تفكير الساسة الأميركيين.
Sep 19, 2009
For American Consumers, a Responsibility Revolution
We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals," FDR said in 1937, in the midst of the Great Depression. "We know now that it is bad economics." We learned this all over again after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the shame of subprime mortgages and the brazen Ponzi scheme of Bernie Madoff. But even amid the Great Recession of 2009, people have been trading in their SUVs for Priuses, buying record amounts of fair-trade coffee and investing in socially responsible funds at higher rates than ever before. What we are discovering now, in the most uncertain economy since FDR's time, is that enlightened self-interest — call it a shared sense of responsibility — is good economics.
الطريق السوري إلى الوحدة-جمال الاتاسي
الطريق السوري إلى الوحدة
في 22 فبراير (شباط) لعام 1958 تحقق أول انتصار وحدوي حقيقي لحركة القومية العربية، بعد نضال طال نصف قرن من الزمن، وقامت وحدة القطرين مصر وسورية، في إطار "جمهورية عربية متحدة". قامت دولة للأمة، لكل الأمة العربية وقضايا الأمة، ولتكون قاعدة انطلاق والجسر الذي تعبر عليه شعوب الأمة نحو الوحدة العربية الشاملة.هذه الوحدة، وهذه الدولة القومية الموحدة للأمة العربية لم تعمر إلا ثلاث سنوات وسبعة أشهر، فقد انفصم عقد تلك الوحدة، بل جرى اغتيالها في 28 سبتمبر (ايلول) عام 61 بالتآمر والغدر وبتواطؤ من كل القوى المعادية للأمة، لوجود هذه الأمة أو لنهوضها وتقدمها، من داخلها وخارجها.الوحدة والطريق إلى الوحدة في الحقبة الناصريةأياً ما كانت التقييمات المختلفة التي جاءت لتلك الحقبة من حياة أمتنا العربية والتي عاشتها تحت أعلام الثورة الناصرية، فإنها تبقى حقبة النهوض البارزة في هذا العصر لأمتنا، ويبقى عنوانها الكبير النضال في سبيل تحررها وتقدمها ووحدتها . وتلك تبقى شهادة التاريخ ، كما قال جمال عبد الناصر في آخر كلماته إلى الأمة، شهادة " مبرأة من العقد ومن الأهواء ومن التحزب ومن النسيان . "ونحن نسميها حقبة ناصرية، بالنسبة للأمة وشعوب الأمة وحركة القومية العربية عامة، تلك الحقبة من تاريخ نضالنا العربي، التي كان المدخل إليها قيام حركة الضباط الأحرار بثورتهم الوطنية في 23 يوليو عام 52...
جمال الأتاسي
Sep 11, 2009
اطلالة على التجربة الثورية لجمال عبد الناصروعلى فكره الاستراتيجي والتاريخي
- مع الثورة في مسارها التاريخي العام- الثورة المستمرة وحضور عبد الناصرقال عبد الناصر عام 1953 في " فلسفة الثورة " : " إنني كنت بنفسي داخل الدوامة العنيفة للثورة. والذين يعيشون في أعماق الدوامة قد تخفى عليهم بعض التفاصيل البعيدة عنها... وكذلك كنت بإيماني وعقلي وراء كل ما حدث وبنفس الطريقة التي حدث بها، وإذن فهل أستطيع أن أتجرد من نفسي حين أتكلم عنه، وحين أتكلم عن المعاني المستترة وراءه؟أنا من المؤمنين بأن لا شيء يمكن أن يعيش في فراغ . حتى الحقيقة لا يمكن أن تعيش في فراغ... والحقيقة الكامنة في أعماقنا هي : ما نتصوره أنه الحقيقة، أو بمعنى أصح : هو الحقيقة مضافاً إليها نفوسنا... نفوسنا هي الوعاء الذي يعيش فيه كل ما فينا . وعلى شكل هذا الوعاء سوف يتشكل كل ما يدخل فيه ، حتى الحقائق . وأنا أحاول - بقدر ما تستطيع طاقتي البشرية - أن أمنع نفسي من أن تغيّر كثيراً من شكل الحقيقة . ولكن إلى أي حد سوف يلازمني التوفيق ؟ .هذا سؤال ... وبعده أريد أن أكون منصفاً لنفسي ، ومنصفاً لفلسفة الثورة ، فأتركها للتاريخ يجمع شكلها في نفسي، وشكلها في نفوس غيري ، وشكلها في الحوادث جميعاً ، ويخرج من هذا كله بالحقيقة كاملة... " .
Sep 10, 2009
Poll: Muslim Americans Still Struggling for Acceptance - TIME
Eight years after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Muslim Americans — particularly Muslim-American women — continue to face battles in their struggle for acceptance and the right to wear religious garb in public settings. A new poll from the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life finds that Americans see Muslims as encountering more discrimination than any other religious group. But while Americans are more likely to be familiar with Islam or personally know a Muslim than they were at the time of the attacks, levels of tolerance are lower today than they were in the months immediately following Sept. 11.
Sep 9, 2009
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