Showing 91 - 100 of 102
'Happy Birthday' to all, except for some lawyers
News, Noah Feldman, Published on 30/09/2015
» Happy Birthday has been freed from its copyright shackles: rejoice! But don't rejoice too much. The federal district court in California that invalidated Warner/Chappell Music's claim to own the lyrics didn't rely on the logic you might imagine, namely that the words are as much a part of the public domain as, well, the phrase Happy Birthday.
Gang economics in Hollywood movies reeks of fraudulence
News, Stephen Carter, Published on 29/09/2015
» In politics, it's the silly season: sound bites and scandals, gotchas and gaffes. Policy is hardly discussed at any level more complex than name-calling. No better time, then, to take oneself off to the multiplex and seek distraction. I saw both of last weekend's top-grossing films, Black Mass and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. The two turn out to have a commonality not entirely unrelated to our political moment: Both leave unclear the economics behind the worlds they're seeking to create for us.
Hong Kong can't escape the turmoil and rot next door
News, William Pesek, Published on 25/08/2015
» Twelve months ago, it seemed Beijing's retrograde politics would eventually sink Hong Kong's exalted international reputation. Now China's ailing economy seems likely to finish off the job sooner than anyone expected.
'Happiness' is here to stay
Life, Kanokporn Chanasongkram, Published on 31/07/2015
» Earlier this week, I watched a morning TV news programme showing a video clip of Thai soldiers effortlessly dancing to a catchy luk thung number, after performing slower and more precise movements to Khuen Kwam Suk Hai Prathet Thai (Return Happiness To Thailand) — the theme song of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
10 likely consequences of 'No' vote
News, Mohamed A El-Erian, Published on 08/07/2015
» By heeding their government's advice and voting "No" in the referendum on Sunday, Greek citizens sent an unambiguous message.
Pope Francis puts the 'Dirty War' rumours to rest
News, Published on 06/05/2015
» Pope Francis continues to surprise. He recently slammed wage inequality between men and women as "a pure scandal", called climate change man's "slap in the face of nature" and beckoned the homeless to tour the Sistine Chapel.
'War of civilisations' rhetoric is outdated, dangerous
News, Published on 22/01/2015
» On Jan 7, the day jihadists attacked the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket in France, I was in a small village in Anatolia, Turkey. I had barely registered the horrifying news when a friend forwarded me a tweet from New York Times columnist Roger Cohen. "The entire free world," it read, "should respond, ruthlessly."
'Hunger Games' problems an echo of our own reality
News, Published on 01/12/2014
» I headed out in the snow on the night before Thanksgiving to watch The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1. I enjoyed the film, although perhaps in a the-third-Star-Wars-movie-was-fun-but-not-as-good-as-the-second-and-I-don't-believe-the-Ewoks-could-have-beaten-the-Imperial-stormtroopers sort of way.
The era of unified nation-states nears its end
News, Published on 16/09/2014
» This week's referendum in Scotland could result in the UK losing almost one-third of its landmass, and 8% of its population, and, very likely, its present prime minister. In a summer rich with shocks, the breakup of a United Nations Security Council member suddenly seems more likely than the long-predicted fracturing of Iraq.
Netanyahu is the only clear loser of the Gaza war
News, Published on 29/08/2014
» Back in 2009, Israel was festooned with election campaign banners that read, "A Strong Leader for a Strong Nation." They were Benjamin Netanyahu's banners, which, even if he had them in stock today, he would not dare use.