Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Browser daily newsletter [03 Nov 2012]

3 November 2012

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Best of the Moment

Stockton, California: 'This Economy Is Garbage'

Aditya Chakrabortty | Guardian | 2 November 2012

What a slump looks like. "The local council's cash used to come from property and sales taxes; when those dried up, it rammed through cuts. Finally, this summer, officials ran out of services to shut, and declared the city bust" Comments

In Soviet Russia, Storm Weathers You

Julia Ioffe | New Republic | 31 October 2012

Returnee from Moscow sees Superstorm Sandy bringing out best in American government: working to inform, help, protect public. In Russia crises bring out worst in bureaucracy which is lazy, selfish, corrupt at the best of times Comments

Resurrection

Patrick Doyle | Boston | 30 October 2012

Portrait of Roman Catholic church in Boston from perspective of young man joining priesthood. Child-abuse scandal almost destroyed the church. Now the worst is over. The seminaries are filling up again. Respect is returning Comments

Why We Can't Solve Big Problems

Jason Pontin | MIT Technology Review | 24 October 2012

The public has lost its appetite for high-risk, big-ticket projects. Governments have lost their nerve. Silicon Valley has "ceased to be the funder of the future, and instead become a funder of features, widgets, irrelevances". Comments

Catastrophism

Steven Shapin | London Review Of Books | 30 October 2012

How Immanuel Velikovsky won millions of followers in the 1950s for his nutty theories mixing comets, religion and ancient history. He perfected "pseudoscience": All of the language and rituals of real science, none of the content Comments

Bradley Wiggins: 'Kids From Kilburn Aren't Supposed To Win The Tour'

Simon Hattenstone | Guardian | 2 November 2012

Interview with Tour de France winner. Typically down to earth, occasionally profane, thoroughly admirable. And a nice line in why he'd rather stay in Wigan than move to somewhere like Monaco. Arise, Sir Wiggo! Surely Comments

FiveBooks Interview

Ilan Kelman on Disaster Diplomacy

The perception that disasters are isolated events beyond our control is simply not true; we – governments and others – have a greater role in creating them than we wish to acknowledge, says the disaster research expert

Featured Special Report

Paying for the US Election

How much is Romney vs Obama 2012 going to cost? Who's paying? And what do they expect in return?

Reader Recommendations

@polit2k Scoop Dupes t.co/gAYOjL3m | Paul Krugman | NYT via @delong #browsings #election2012 #polls #scoops

Book of the Day

Sacred and Secular by Pippa Norris, Ronald Inglehart

Anthony Gottlieb says: “In America, you need God, because nobody else is going to help you.”

Video of the Day

MIT Chomsky Style

The rest you can take or leave. But at 3'20" you get Chomsky

Quote of the Day

Karl Lagerfeld, on himself

"I'm very down to earth, just not this earth"

Daily Bulletin | 03.11.2012, 19:30 UTC

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News

Syria

Syrian rebels attack key military air base


	Rebels have started a major assault on an important military air base in Syria's northwest. The fighting comes as Washington pushes for an overhaul of Syria's opposition.

US Election

Obama focuses final weekly address on storm victims


	US President Barack Obama has used his last weekly address before the election to talk about Hurricane Sandy. The speech comes shortly before he and rival Mitt Romney enter the final stretch of their campaigns.

	US jobs up as poll nears
	International perspectives on the US election

Terrorism

Local anti-Taliban head killed in Pakistan attack


	Pakistani police say at least six people have been killed after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a vehicle carrying the head of a local peace committee. Several more have been injured.

Africa

Two suicide bombers attack restaurant in Somalia


	Two suicide bombers have attacked a restaurant in Somalia's capital, killing one victim. The attack comes one day after Ugandan officials threatened to withdraw their peacekeepers from Somalia.

Syria

Israel complains over Syrian tanks in Golan Heights


	Three Syrian tanks have entered the disputed Golan Heights, Israel claims. Tel Aviv says the presence of such vehicles in the demilitarized zone violates a long-standing ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

Constant threats loom on Israel's borders


Sports

Formula One

Brake-hampered Vettel loses out on front-row start


	Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel will start out in third place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Britain's Lewis Hamilton begins in pole position after Vettel ran into problems with his brakes.


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