Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Browser daily newsletter [29 Dec 2012]

29 December 2012

Best of the Moment

America's Deceptive 2012 Fiscal Cliff

Michael Hudson | Michael Hudson | 28 December 2012

"We are experiencing the end of a myth about what free markets really are. They are not free if they are to pay rent-extractors rather than producers to cover the actual costs of production" Comments

Getting Home

Anuradha Roy | Main Point | 26 December 2012

Women in India's capital are routinely groped, harassed, leered at. The government is indifferent, uninterested. Victims are blamed. Written in light of the gang-rape of a female student in Delhi, who has now died Comments

In An Economy Not So Far, Far Away

Izabella Kaminska | FT | 27 December 2012

"It is not that technology is stagnating, but that monopoly interests are sabotaging progress and efficiency. Because not doing so could lead to the sort of abundance that might make it impossible to monetise anything" (Free reg/$) Comments

Look Out, He's Got A Phone!

Charles Mann | Vanity Fair | 19 December 2012

Murder by smartphone: Hack the victim's pacemaker. "You don’t have to know anything about medical devices’ software to attack them remotely. You simply call them repeatedly, waking them up so many times they exhaust their batteries" Comments

London’s 'White Flight' Deserves Attention

David Goodhart | FT | 26 December 2012

Interesting, if slightly stilted, probing into London's demographic shift. "White British" no longer a majority, due to immigration and "white flight". Does the latter have causes other than racism? Does it need a policy response? Comments

The Hundred Best Lists Of All Time

Gary Belsky | New Yorker | 27 December 2012

Number four: The Ten Commandments. Number three: Craigslist. Number two: The Bill Of Rights. Number one — no, check it out for yourself, and enjoy the rest. The New Yorker gets its McSweeney's on for the holiday season Comments

FiveBooks Interview

Edith Grossman on Translation

The award-winning literary translator discusses books on and of translation that inspired her, and considers the trade-off between fidelity and meaning that every translator faces

Featured Special Report

Conflict in Syria

The Syrian conflict is causing terrible destruction and loss of life. This report charts how protests against the Assad regime descended into a bitter war