A dish best served boiling hot: The great theme of cinema at the moment is vengeance, and our appetite for punishment seems to be getting more ferocious. In the world of business, it’s all about the numbers; in the world of ministry, it’s all about the numbers as well. There is nothing simple about the diaphanous idea of a fiscal constitution, that’s for sure. What is compulsory national service but a type of slavery? 1588 and all that: Felipe Fernandez-Armesto punctures a few national illusions. The End of the Amazon: Brazil can save its rain forest — the question is, does it want to? Can Brazil save the world from climate change? Hearts and minds: An article on the Peace Corps in the Age of Obama. Many cosmological theories not only see our universe as one of many but also claim that time does not exist; Lee Smolin argues against the timeless multiverse. To protect an ancient city, China moves to raze it. Why is the frat boy culture so sleazy and sex-crazed? A review of Sexual Solipsism: Philosophical Essays on Pornography and Objectification by Rae Langton (and more). Going down in the downturn: More women are turning to sex work in a bad economy — does it beat working at McDonald's? This just in: You’re a terrible mother — and you’re going to die. Frying Nemo: Do fish feel pain?
