The announcement of major layoffs for Tesla China, the entrepreneur’s electric car company, prompts a deeper analysis of Musk as manager.
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A Cold Chinese Takedown Of Elon Musk
Month: March 2015
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Song Du Jour #23, Jimi Hendrix
Every now and then, a “new”, “unearthed” or “never heard before” Hendrix song is released. This time, it’s “Station Break”, an instrumental track recorded in 1965 by Curtis Knight & The Squires, to which Hendrix contributes with his already unmistakable style.
ISIS VIDEO SHOWS CHILD KILLING TEENA video posted online by ISIS shows a young boy fatally shooting 19-year-old Muhammad Musallam, an Israeli Arab whom the terrorist group accused of being a spy for Mossad, the Israeli intelligence services, Reuters IRAQI FORCES ENTER TIKRITThe Iraqi military, in alliance with private Shia militias, have entered parts of […]
The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2015 Like many American front pages Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal features a photo of Hillary Clinton at her Tuesday press conference where she discussed her use of private email while Secretary of State. During her first news conference since leaving her post as as secretary of state two […]
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Bridging History
The Stari Most (“Old Bridge”) was infamously destroyed in 1993 during the Croat–Bosnian War. Twenty years later, thanks to UNESCO funds, it was rebuilt with its notable arched Ottoman design. Motivated both by the architecture and recent historical events, I made sure to make my own crossing.
President Rousseff has abandoned big spending projects in favor of currency devaluation to fuel exports. Will it save her presidency? And more importantly, this BRICS nation’s floundering economy?
Despite death threats, three young Syrians are fighting the jihadists terrorizing their country with the only weapon they have: pure mockery.
NAIROBI — The sun feels even more scorching under the cap of pollution. Through her binoculars, Patricia Heather-Hayes, nicknamed “Trish,” is scrutinizing a lioness sleeping under an acacia in Kenya“s Nairobi National Park. The energetic 60-something, who works in a legal office when she’s not out here observing wildlife, knows the name of every feline. […]
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Song Du Jour #22, The Pop Group
With the release of their first album in 35 years last February, Bristol’s best ever post-punkers The Pop Group prove once again that the most pop thing about them is their name. Because Citizen Zombie, the quartet’s third album, seems to be a glorious mix of all the sounds that ever hit their ears and […]
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LAST QUARTER MOON – March 9-16
(March 21 to April 19) Last week Venus came into harmony with Uranus. Now, it’s Mars’ turn to embrace the planet of unpredictability. Masks fall, bogeymen crumble away. You’re free to love or even choose a new career path. You’re looking to the future and, in some cases, abroad. March 12 and 13 are positive […]
GOP, WHITE HOUSE CLASH ON IRANRepublican senators appear determined to derail a possible deal with Iran on the country’s nuclear program, and their decision to send a letter signed by 47 senators to Tehran has worsened tensions between the GOP and the White House, The Washington Post reports. In the letter, the senators tell Iranian […]
What was once a simple and relatively quick commute through Aleppo now takes up to 12 hours, as battered roads, endless checkpoints and ISIS violence take their toll. A bus driver’s view.
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Buddha Watching
In the heart of the Kathmandu valley lies one of the most sacred and oldest Buddhist pilgrimage sites. At the top of the Swayambhunath dome, or stupa, Buddha is looking in all four directions. At this particular moment, I was hoping it meant a special protective glance over these two Nepalese cleaners, standing dangerously close […]
With her laid-back attitude, angelic face and Jasmine revolution experience, Deena Abdelwahed carves a perfect image of a modern, forward-looking Tunisia. She will also make you dance. “I like to mix dance music that comes from the working classes. It is much more sincere. It appeals to everyone, not just the wealthy who can afford […]
-OpEd- BOGOTA — As unlikely as it may sound, many of the countries we closely associate with planning and foresight are turning their attention to Colombia for inspiration on how to address the parallel problems of industry pollution, energy production and food security. The South American country boasts enviable geographical and climatic conditions, exceptional biodiversity and above all, a varied and preponderant farming sector. Together these factors are sparking talk about what some call the “new economy” or “bioeconomy.” This new way of looking at economic growth may help rectify the serious environmental harm done by the excesses of the […]
ISIS CALIPHATE CRUMBLINGAs Iraqi armed forces close in on the ISIS-held Tikrit, The Washington Post reports that the terrorist group that holds vast parts of Iraq and Syria appears to be “starting to fray from within.” The newspaper cites dissent, defections, battlefield defeats and growing tensions between foreign and local fighters as signs that the […]
In China, a lawmaker has proposed making group sex for gays illegal. It already is for heterosexuals. Thoughts the government’s role in the bedroom (even if it’s crowded).
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Song Du Jour #21, Notorious B.I.G.
Brooklyn lost its hip hop king 18 years ago today. On March 9, 1997, Notorious B.I.G was shot to death over on the west coast, after attending a party in Los Angeles. He was promoting his second album, Life After Death, which would be released on March 25 and soon reach No. 1 in the […]
Vanguard, March 09, 2015 Niger and Chad launched major joint ground and air strikes against Boko Haram in Nigeria Sunday, one day after the militants formally pledged allegiance to ISIS and killed at least 50 in Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria. The joint military operation represents a new regional push to […]
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Big Fish In Basque Country
Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the Basque country of southwestern France is mostly known now as a popular tourist destination for both French and Spanish summer vacationers. But back when I visited it was still primarily a busy fishing port. This sunny summer day was a mix of both, as we stumbled upon an international Amateur Tuna Fishing […]
This 53-year-old German encryption coder helped the U.S. whistleblower stay one step ahead of the NSA. Now, he’s getting financial support from some big players to expand his work.
MOSCOW — I’m going to share my own observations about myself, yes, but also about my neighbors in the countryside. I spent last summer in a 100-year-old house outside of Moscow. In between writing articles, I maintained two beehives and pruned old apple, cherry and currant trees. I harvested. I made jam and extracted honey. […]
There are countless precedents for acts of cultural vandalism like ISIS perpetrated against the Mosul museum. A society’s art and cultural history may be its very embodiement of power.
Governments are taking Twitter to task for inadvertently helping jihadists “recruit, incite and horrify.” But they’re forgetting what a valuable law enforcement resource the platform is too.
In a middle-class home in southern France live a survivor of World War II, her daughter and granddaughters. All three generations are Jewish, but both past and recent history dictate a certain reticence of their identity.
MUNICH — Dirk Rateike values ecologically friendly living and runs an organic hotel in the north of Hesse. But he’s facing anonymous threats from his own neighbors in the village of Gilserberg, between Marburg and Kassel in central Germany. The intimidation has included warnings that he shouldn’t go out at night lest he should face […]
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Supervised and armed by Iran, young Shia volunteers have launched a major battle against ISIS in Tikrit. But taking revenge on local Sunnis is not likely to pacify the region. And what about Uncle Sam?
SENIOR NUSRA COMMANDER KILLEDAbu Hammam al-Shami, a senior commander of al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda branch operating in Syria, was killed by a Syrian government airstrike in the Idlib province, both the terrorist organization and state media have confirmed. Shami, who held the title of general military commander, was apparently meeting with other commanders when he […]
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Extra! ‘They Killed Nisman’
Clarín, March 6, 2015 “They killed Nisman.” Although once would probably have been enough to earn top billing in Clarín’s Friday edition, Argentine Judge Arroyo Salgado repeated the statement three times during a dramatic press conference Thursday. She was describing the death of state prosecutor Alberto Nisman, her ex-husband and the father of her two […]
Animals have many of the characteristics of the brilliantly useful machines scientists would like to create: flexibility, adaptability, instinctive intelligence …
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Rajasthan Road Rage
Following British colonial influence, India drives on the left-hand side of the road. That is, in principle. Drivers in a rush tend to occupy the middle of the narrow ribbon of asphalt they call a road in some parts of Rajasthan — only swerving at the very last moment to avoid oncoming traffic. Every 10 […]
Just as companies are graded by social rating agencies on their environmental record, they’re now being judged on whether they have ties with Israel. It’s the latest weapon in the ongoing “BDS” Boycott movement to protest Israel’s
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Song Du Jour #20, Steve’n’Seagulls
The Finnish band Steve’n’Seagulls did a rather amazing cover of ACDC’s “Thunderstruck”.
Far from the murders and intrigue swirling at the Kremlin, or the war rumbling in Ukraine, most of Russia lives in a strange post-Soviet state of denial like one finds in the city of Yelets.
NORTH KOREA SAYS U.S. AMBASSADOR “DESERVED” ATTACKNorth Korea’s official state media KCNA has described Thursday’s knife attack on the U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert by a Korean nationalist as “deserved punishment for the warmongering United States.” It also called it “the knife of justice,” adding that it reflected the anger of South Koreans […]
You may know torch songs from Rihanna, but what about Enheduanna? In ancient Mesopotamia, she wrote the very first love songs, holding back very little. Watch her burn …
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Bahia Before Bertrand
In the early 1990s, Salvador began to clean up and restore its historical center Pelourinho. My grandson and partner-in-crime for this series was there last year on his honeymoon, and found it a bit too touristy. But back when I was there as the restoration began, it was nothing more and nothing less than one […]
The Boston Globe, March 5, 2015 “IT WAS HIM” writes The Boston Globe on the front page of its Thursday edition, alongside a courtroom sketch depicting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev entering the courtroom on the first day of testimony in the Boston Marathon bombing trial. The Boston daily attributes the quote to a lawyer for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: […]
SALVADOR — There’s nothing quite like a barbecue with friends and beer, lots of it, to go down cool and easy with the sizzling steaks — and of course the photos to brag about the good time. The scene would be nothing remarkable if it wasn’t for its location: Lemos Brito Penitentiary, in Salvador, one […]