Henry Hudson bobblehead? Check. One-legged Peter Stuyvesant statuette? Yes. A mirror emblazoned with the logo of New Amsterdam beer? Absolutely. These are office knickknacks that only a true connoisseur of Dutch Americana could love. And there surely is no one who loves Dutch Americana more than Charles T. Gehring. How else to describe a man who has spent the past 35 years painstakingly translating 17th-century records that provide groundbreaking insight and renewed appreciation for New Netherland, the colony whose embrace of tolerance and passion for commerce sowed the seeds for New York's ascendance as one of the world's great cities.
One-legged Peter Stuyvesant statuette? Yes.
A mirror emblazoned with the logo of New Amsterdam beer? Absolutely.
These are office knickknacks that only a true connoisseur of Dutch Americana could love. And there surely is no one who loves Dutch Americana more than Charles T. Gehring.
How else to describe a man who has spent the past 35 years painstakingly translating 17th-century records that provide groundbreaking insight and renewed appreciation for New Netherland, the colony whose embrace of tolerance and passion for commerce sowed the seeds for New York's ascendance as one of the world's great cities.
Chinese archeologists have unearthed a large third-century tomb, which they say could be that of Cao Cao, the legendary politician and general famous throughout East Asia for his Machiavellian tactics. The tomb, discovered in Xigaoxue village near the ancient Chinese city of Anyang, Henan Province, has an epitaph and inscription that appear to refer to Cao Cao, Central China Television said on Sunday. A Chinese proverb, "speak of Cao Cao and he appears," is the equivalent of "speak of the devil" in English.
The tomb, discovered in Xigaoxue village near the ancient Chinese city of Anyang, Henan Province, has an epitaph and inscription that appear to refer to Cao Cao, Central China Television said on Sunday.
A Chinese proverb, "speak of Cao Cao and he appears," is the equivalent of "speak of the devil" in English.
A Turkish archaeologist has called on his government to demand that Italy return the bones of St Nicholas to their original resting place. The 3rd Century saint - on whom Santa Claus was modelled - was buried in the modern-day town of Demre in Turkey. But in the Middle Ages his bones were taken by Italian sailors and re-interred in the port of Bari. The Turkish government said it was considering making a request to Rome for the return of the saint's remains.
The 3rd Century saint - on whom Santa Claus was modelled - was buried in the modern-day town of Demre in Turkey.
But in the Middle Ages his bones were taken by Italian sailors and re-interred in the port of Bari.
The Turkish government said it was considering making a request to Rome for the return of the saint's remains.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that people don't have enough to do between Christmas and New Year, but need something to blog and Twitter about. Or it could be due to the slight rise in republicanism in the Netherlands of late. Whatever the cause, the Internet is crawling with criticism of Queen Beatrix's Christmas message. "The Queen doesn't know what she's talking about," and "she's just denying that society has changed," are just two of the many responses to the speech from Internet experts and media watchers. In her annual Christmas address, the Dutch monarch warned about the dangers of the Internet. According to the queen, even though social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter appear to bring people closer together, people remain "at a distance, safely ensconced behind their screens". Briefly summarised, people are spending more and more time with vague Internet friends and less time with their neighbours.
"The Queen doesn't know what she's talking about," and "she's just denying that society has changed," are just two of the many responses to the speech from Internet experts and media watchers. In her annual Christmas address, the Dutch monarch warned about the dangers of the Internet. According to the queen, even though social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter appear to bring people closer together, people remain "at a distance, safely ensconced behind their screens". Briefly summarised, people are spending more and more time with vague Internet friends and less time with their neighbours.
That, and porn.
Did HM wag a fingertip of democracy during the broadcast? Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
One of Scotland Yard's most senior minority officers has accepted a substantial payout and an apology from the News of the World for false allegations arising from an investigation by the "fake sheikh" Mazher Mahmood.The paper has backed down in the face of legal action from Commander Ali Dizaei after Mahmood, its star investigative reporter, claimed the officer "employed an illegal immigrant as his right-hand man and took him to the heart of the British establishment".The subject of the story, Ace Bakhtyari, of Iran, was subsequently jailed for having a fake passport and deported. Dizaei, one of the Met's most high-profile officers, complained that the story implied he knew that Bakhtyari was an illegal immigrant but nevertheless employed him.
One of Scotland Yard's most senior minority officers has accepted a substantial payout and an apology from the News of the World for false allegations arising from an investigation by the "fake sheikh" Mazher Mahmood.
The paper has backed down in the face of legal action from Commander Ali Dizaei after Mahmood, its star investigative reporter, claimed the officer "employed an illegal immigrant as his right-hand man and took him to the heart of the British establishment".
The subject of the story, Ace Bakhtyari, of Iran, was subsequently jailed for having a fake passport and deported. Dizaei, one of the Met's most high-profile officers, complained that the story implied he knew that Bakhtyari was an illegal immigrant but nevertheless employed him.
Crises are moments of paradox and possibilities. So what will happen this time around? If we are to get back to three-percent growth, then this means finding new and profitable global investment opportunities for $1.6 trillion in 2010 rising to closer to $3 trillion by 2030. This contrasts with the $0.15 trillion new investment needed in 1950 and the $0.42 trillion needed in 1973 (the dollar figures are inflation adjusted). Real problems of finding adequate outlets for surplus capital began to emerge after 1980, even with the opening up of China and the collapse of the Soviet Bloc. The difficulties were in part resolved by creation of fictitious markets where speculation in asset values could take off unhindered. Where will all this investment go now? Leaving aside the undisputable constraints in the relation to nature (with global warming of paramount importance), the other potential barriers of effective demand in the market place, of technologies, and of geographical/geopolitical distributions are likely to be profound, even supposing, which is unlikely, that no serious active oppositions to continuous capital accumulation and further consolidation of class power materialize. What spaces are left in the global economy for new spatial fixes for capital surplus absorption? China and the ex-Soviet bloc have already been integrated. South and Southeast Asia is filling up fast. Africa is not yet fully integrated but there is nowhere else with the capacity to absorb all this surplus capital. What new lines of production can be opened up to absorb growth? There may be no effective long-run capitalist solutions (apart from reversion to fictitious capital manipulations) to this crisis of capitalism. At some point quantitative changes lead to qualitative shifts and we need to take seriously the idea that we may be at exactly such an inflexion point in the history of capitalism. Questioning the future of capitalism itself as an adequate social system ought, therefore, to be in the forefront of current debate.
Crises are moments of paradox and possibilities.
So what will happen this time around? If we are to get back to three-percent growth, then this means finding new and profitable global investment opportunities for $1.6 trillion in 2010 rising to closer to $3 trillion by 2030. This contrasts with the $0.15 trillion new investment needed in 1950 and the $0.42 trillion needed in 1973 (the dollar figures are inflation adjusted). Real problems of finding adequate outlets for surplus capital began to emerge after 1980, even with the opening up of China and the collapse of the Soviet Bloc. The difficulties were in part resolved by creation of fictitious markets where speculation in asset values could take off unhindered. Where will all this investment go now?
Leaving aside the undisputable constraints in the relation to nature (with global warming of paramount importance), the other potential barriers of effective demand in the market place, of technologies, and of geographical/geopolitical distributions are likely to be profound, even supposing, which is unlikely, that no serious active oppositions to continuous capital accumulation and further consolidation of class power materialize. What spaces are left in the global economy for new spatial fixes for capital surplus absorption? China and the ex-Soviet bloc have already been integrated. South and Southeast Asia is filling up fast. Africa is not yet fully integrated but there is nowhere else with the capacity to absorb all this surplus capital. What new lines of production can be opened up to absorb growth? There may be no effective long-run capitalist solutions (apart from reversion to fictitious capital manipulations) to this crisis of capitalism. At some point quantitative changes lead to qualitative shifts and we need to take seriously the idea that we may be at exactly such an inflexion point in the history of capitalism. Questioning the future of capitalism itself as an adequate social system ought, therefore, to be in the forefront of current debate.
No one seems to be worrying about the recession as, once again, the country grinds to a halt for two weeks. GP surgeries have been besieged with punters who "wouldn't normally have bothered you, but as it's Christmas . . ." "Quite, madam. And I wouldn't normally have treated your runny nose with an enema, but as it's Christmas . . ." Hospitals, meanwhile, are geared up for the "granny dumping" season. During the brief annual flying visit, the "caring" family, having dispensed the small glass of cooking sherry, for the first time notices that auntie is demented. "Something must be done, doctor, she wasn't like this last Christmas" - and so it's off to the local A&E department with her
Twitter appears to have learned from its security scare earlier this year and seems to be taking password security more seriously than most Internet services. TechCrunch and a few other people noticed this list of 370 passwords that Twitter bans its members from using when they sign up for new accounts. They range from the obvious -- "password," "twitter," etc. -- to the obscene and bizarre.
Twitter appears to have learned from its security scare earlier this year and seems to be taking password security more seriously than most Internet services.
TechCrunch and a few other people noticed this list of 370 passwords that Twitter bans its members from using when they sign up for new accounts. They range from the obvious -- "password," "twitter," etc. -- to the obscene and bizarre.
