“But anyone who cares to read Smith’s Wealth of Nations for themselves will find an economics discussed and justified in explicitly moral terms, in which markets, and the division of labour they allow, are shown to both depend upon and produce not only prosperity but also justice and freedom, particularly for the poor.”
Tag: 01.06.12
Rare Piece Of Ancient African Clay Sculpture Discovered
“If they exist at all, most unglazed clay objects from ancient times are now rubble, mere fragments of their former glory. This terracotta head, at around 2000 years old, is a rare exception. Excavated from a village in Nigeria, this is one of the best-preserved examples of its kind ever discovered.”
For These Guys, File-Sharing Is A Religion (Seriously)
A Q&A with Isak Gerson, spiritual leader of the Church of Kopimism, a faith dedicated to electronic file-sharing which has been formally recognised as a religion by the Swedish government.
Ruckus In Rome Over Restoration Of Colosseum
“The current $33 million (25 million euro) restoration plans … are being sponsored by Diego della Valle, of luxury Italian brand Tod’s, in exchange for advertising rights.” The Restorers Association of Italy says the project “run[s] the risk of causing irreparable damage to the monument” by using general contractors rather than specialists.
Next On Bosnia’s Endangered List: National Library
“Staff and visitors at the National and University Library began putting on extra layers on Friday, as the heating was switched off after the library failed to pay its bills. The library, in central Sarajevo, is facing the same fate as Bosnia’s History Museum and Art Gallery, recently closed because they could not pay for basic operating costs.”
Digital Projectors Take Over Movie Theatres (Soon Celluloid Will Be Over)
“By 2015, IHS estimates that North American and major European cities will hit the 80 per cent mark for digital projectors, at which point it will be uneconomical for studios to continue to produce celluloid. Studios are already releasing fewer film prints every year, so it’s only a matter of time before celluloid is phased out.”
Better Parking Lots, And Lives, Through Design
“Beyond greener designs and the occasional celebrity-architect garage, we need to think more about these lots as public spaces, as part of the infrastructure of our streets and sidewalks, places for various activities that may change and evolve, because not all good architecture is permanent.”
A New CEO, A Freaked-Out Board – That’s Entertainment! (Or At Least The Academy)
The new CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences promised to make changes – and so she has. But not everyone is applauding.
Too Much Information! And What We Can Do About That
“Even before the invention of the printing press – when the distribution of information depended upon teams of scribes working with pen and ink in monastery libraries – the fear of too much to know, too much material too widely and swiftly disseminated, was already threatening to overwhelm our orderly sense of understanding.”
Will Austerity Measures Strangle Europe, Or Lead To A Europe Spring?
“This is disaster. It will lead to very slow growth for a long time. Instead, they must use temporary deficits to restart growth. Rarely has policymaking been this poor. Sooner than later, the citizens of these nations will say, No more!, and political instability will result.”