Archive for the ‘News’ Category

New Way to Get the News

Recently I came across a new way to get news online. The site newsmap.jp offers a collage of the latest news stories weighted by various variables. Each news item comes in a different size, symbolizing its news value and prominence in the public perception.

The topic of stories is indicated by a color coding scheme and their age is indicated by their shading. You can view the news from different countries or combine them to create you own compilation. With this tool it is finally possible to get a comprehensive overview of world events at a glance – at least according to mainstream media…


newsmap.jp

Is War Becomming Obsolete?

Interesting article from AlterNet on the changing relevance of war and its utility to determine geopolitical outcomes…

Nearly 20 years ago, a querulous Madeleine Albright demanded to know: “What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?” Today, an altogether different question deserves our attention: What’s the point of constantly using our superb military if doing so doesn’t actually work?

Megalomania in Dubai?

This German language article from SPIEGEL ONLINE on the recent crisis in Dubai is quite interesting. More interesting still, are the comments… It seems most participants have nothing better to do than gloat at the sight of the events in Dubai. Then again most of them have never been there and judging for yourself is so old fashioned and overrated, no?!

Northern Cali Bud

Another interesting article on California from the LA Times – this time on the medical marijuana growing opps in Northern Cali. You can check it out here:

Fall harvest season brings strangers with dreadlocks and cash boxes. Some farmers guard their crops with electric fences, razor wire and snarling dogs. Hikers have been threatened at gunpoint for wandering too close to where they aren’t wanted.

Californication

I came across this great article on TIME.com about the exceptionalism of California as an American state and as a place in general. Well worth a look!

California, you may have heard, is an apocalyptic mess of raging wildfires, soaring unemployment, mass foreclosures and political paralysis. It’s dysfunctional. It’s ungovernable. Its bond rating is barely above junk. It’s so broke, it had to hand out IOUs while its leaders debated how many prisoners to release and parks to close. Nevada aired ads mocking California’s business climate to lure its entrepreneurs. The media portray California as a noir fantasyland of overcrowded schools, perpetual droughts, celebrity breakdowns, illegal immigration, hellish congestion and general malaise, captured in headlines like “Meltdown on the Ocean” and “California’s Wipeout Economy” and “Will California Become America’s First Failed State?”