archive

Our seemingly dull lives

Deane-Peter Baker (USNA) and James Pattison (Manchester): The Principled Case for Employing Private Military and Security Companies in Humanitarian Interventions and Peacekeeping. The draft version of the American Psychiatric Association's DSM 5, the psychiatric "bible" that defines the revised criteria for diagnosing mental illness, has finally been published. All this consensus around the need for a better discussion is encouraging, but “Presidential Question Time” might prove to be just another way to get nothing done. A study suggests 28 to 40-year-olds don't plan for the future because they prefer to reminisce about past times, yet experts say nostalgia can give meaning to our seemingly dull lives. In the quest for bike-friendly cities, are snobby cyclists their own worst enemies? The Guardian celebrates Britain's niche magazines. It would be easy — too easy — to toss off Sloth as a sin that only afflicted the lazy. An interview with Ben Macintyre on books on spies. The Vancouver Winter Olympics has eroded Canadian law and democracy, and worsened relations with Canada’s indigenous peoples. Is it possible to pinpoint the world’s best cheese? Dante's Inferno proves it: Here are 10 literary classics that should be videogames. Alisa Leonard on how Facebook would like to send a friendly reminder that at the end of the day, they’ve still got your data by the proverbial balls. There are new clues why autistic people don't want hugs. This is the ammunition to fire at Satan: Like a teasing teenager, we can point at Lucifer and say, “Loser! You were hoist with your own petard!”