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01 February 2012 00:19

The USA won’t be going gentle into that good night

People predicting American decline may be in for a surprise.

A popular pastime these days, both here in the USA and in chat rooms, newspapers, cafes, and living rooms worldwide, is discussing the inevitable decline and fall of the great American empire.

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26 January 2012 03:45

The political monster that ate the world

How politics destroyed us in 2011, and will hurt us in 2012.

Many people, especially those to the left of the political spectrum, worry a lot these days about the power of private corporations and wealthy individuals to influence our lives and the fate of the planet. This isn't irrational - the new laws on campaign finance in the US, for example, give corporations unprecedented power to pay for influence - but it is just a little misguided.

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19 January 2012 03:08

Where's Wiki?

Why Wikipedia, Google, & others went dark on the 18th.

As you wandered around the web yesterday, you may have noticed that some of the sites you visited - Wikipedia, Google, Reddit, and a whole bunch of blogs - were not operating exactly as promised. On the contrary, these and many other sites were offering something quite different from their usual line, as the pictures below, which show you what you could expect to see when you visited Wikipedia, Google, or Reddit yesterday, illustrate.

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11 January 2012 17:25

2012: What are the risks?

New study highlights the serious risks we face this year.

PHILADELPHIA - The World Economic Forum has released its Global Risks 2012 report, an assessment, based on interviews with hundreds of global leaders and experts, of the potential risks the world faces this year. Unsurprisingly, the picture it paints is profoundly gloomy.

Since the financial crisis of 2007/8 the world has been struggling to regain economic momentum, stability, and predictability as crisis after crisis has roiled through the system. Looking at the year ahead through the eyes of world leaders, it's clear that we are still some distance away from that light at the end of the tunnel.

The WEF report groups risks under five headings: 

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06 January 2012 02:25

Why you should care about the Republican race

There are good reasons for you to worry about who will win.

For most South Africans, the race for the Republican nomination seems like a pretty remote and uninteresting thing. From afar, it just looks like a bunch of random poll numbers and a series of weird speeches in which much is said, but little is meant.

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