Miscellaneous
The meaning of money
A more sustainable financial system must involve consumers, too. Here are five things you can do right now to make a difference. Janet Paskin | December 2008 issue It’s not just investment bankers who’ve been hit hard by the financial crisis. Millions of regular people have seen huge holes Read More...
Our lady and the juggler
Invisible gifts produce visible results. Paulo Coelho | December 2008 issue A medieval legend tells us that in the country we know today as Austria, the Burkhard family, a man, a woman and a child used to amuse people at Christmas parties by reciting poetry, singing ancient troubadour ballads and Read More...
Arab-Muslim culture rocks!
How the Arab and Muslim worlds have influenced America for the better. Jonathan Curiel | December 2008 issue Photo: iStockphoto.com He wasn’t on the cover. That honor went to B.B. King, Jimmy Page, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Eddie Van Halen, but Dick Dale was still a prominent part of Rolling Read More...
“Age and youth have the same appetites but not the same teeth”
An aphorism by James Geary, author of The World in a Phrase and Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists. James Geary | December 2008 issue Teeth are the feet of the mouth. Overlooked and unloved, they crunch through rough vegetal underbrush and wade knee-deep through vast morasses of meat. Read More...
Doctors reduce error with electronic prescriptions
The CEO of Allscripts, a Chicago-based health-care technology company, explains we can improve the healthcare system and save more lives by moving away from traditional handwritten prescriptions. What’s the problem with handwritten doctors’ prescriptions? “Every year, 1.5 million Americans Read More...
Central Asia Books
Carol Greenhouse | December 2008 issue If you’ve fantasized about opening a bookshop, you’re not alone. But with the death of the independent bookstore in the U.S., the idea has shed some of its age-old appeal. Or maybe it’s time to look farther afield. That’s what David Korowicz did in Read More...
A different kind of home security
Community financial institutions can help take the edge off the credit crisis. Amy Domini | November 2008 issue While its influence has touched the world, the financial crisis created by subprime mortgage lending has its roots firmly planted in the U.S. Because the crisis serves as a warning to Read More...
Offsets and upsets
Is carbon offsetting a help or hindrance in tackling climate change? Duncan Clark | November 2008 issue Steve and Lisa met while on holiday in Spain, and quickly fell head over heels for each other. That Christmas, at a party, Steve got drunk and unavoidably repeatedly cheated on Lisa with Cheri, Read More...
Africa by air
For 20 years, George Steinmetz, has taken aerial pictures from a motorized paraglider flying above some of the most stunning landscapes in Africa. George Steinmetz | November 2008 issue Photographer George Steinmetz has seen it all, in ways most people could never imagine. For some 20 years, the Read More...
It’s all in their heads
Our brains don't mature until our 20s. Knowing that could change how you talk to young people. David Servan-Schreiber | November 2008 issue Ben, 18, borrows his father’s car to go on a trip with friends. At 2 a.m., he’s driving more than 100 mph (160 km/h) on a country lane, the music blaring, Read More...