They Were Promised Broadband And High-Tech Jobs. They’re Still Waiting.
Kentucky’s plan to bring broadband to remote parts of the state has sputtered and its future looks increasingly bleak. State leaders told rural residents it would create better business opportunities. But instead, they keep getting left behind.
The Madness Of Airline Élite Status
When you fly a lot for work, as I do, you check your frequent-flier mile balance often, to provide data for competitive commiseration. Frequent fliers sometimes go to great lengths to keep their airline élite status, and those efforts are often completely out of proportion to the perks.
Trump’s Art Of The Steal
How Donald Trump rode to power by parroting other people’s fringe ideas, got himself impeached for it—and might prevail anyway. Trump mines Twitter, plucking what he wants, “very comfortable with half thoughts,” “always looking for tidbits of information that he can use to his advantage.”
The Unraveling Of America
If and when the Chinese are ascendant, with their concentration camps for the Uighurs, the ruthless reach of their military, their 200 million surveillance cameras watching every move and gesture of their people, we will surely long for the best years of the American century.
Why The Coming Foreclosure Crisis Will Look Nothing Like The Last One
A prominent housing analyst expects hundreds of thousands of defaults next year as mortgage forbearance periods end. At first glance, those projections look bad. On closer inspection, however, this round of foreclosures should be mild in comparison to the financial carnage of 2008 to 2010.
Dubai: Expectation vs Reality
Dubai – perhaps the best-known city of the United Arab Emirates, with a reputation for attracting the glamorous and the wealthy. Less than 5% of its GDP comes from oil, but it essentially has made its success through diversifying into property real estate, aviation, trade, banking and finance. But what’s going on beneath the surface?
Why China And The U.S. Are Vying For Dominance In Pakistan
In Pakistan, China and the U.S. are clashing over China’s One Belt, One Road initiative. To understand what’s at stake, it helps to take a look at why China is in Pakistan in the first place.
Nine Trillion Dollars: Global Trade Hi-Jacked By Criminals
Global Financial Integrity (GFI) analysts have identified a global trade ‘value gap’ of $8.8 trillion between what states declare as the value of trades with other countries – and what their trade partners declare for the same deals.
Old Dubai, The City That No One Sees
Chilean photographer Gonzalo Palavecino lived in Dubai for a while and, once his connection with photography was restored, he decided to show the “other side” of the apparent opulence of Dubai in a publication called ‘Old Dubai’.
The Economics Of Cruise Ships
For decades, cruise companies have gone to great lengths to bypass US employment laws, hiring foreign workers for less than $2/hour. They’ve sheltered themselves as foreign entities while simultaneously benefitting from US taxpayer-funded agencies and resources.
See How The World’s Most Polluted Air Compares With Your City’s
The New York Times visualized the damaging, tiny particles that wreak havoc on human health. From the Bay Area to New Delhi, see how the world’s worst pollution compares with your local air. The particles are too small for the eye to see but in high concentrations, they cast a haze in the sky.
The “Smart City” Makes Infrastructure And Surveillance Indistinguishable
The “smart city” is not an actually existing entity. It’s a misleading euphemism for a corporately controlled urban future. Urban command centers are built primarily for police, not planners, let alone the public.
What If Russia Invaded The Baltics?
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Baltic region has strengthened economic integration with the West and all three nations have become increasingly prosperous as a result. However, the Baltic success story also highlights NATO’s vulnerabilities in the region.
Why You Spend So Much Money At IKEA
IKEA’s “aesthetic per dollar” ratio is very high, says neuromarketer and author of “The Buying Brain” Dr. A. K. Pradeep. Ikea’s affordable style is its “category-busting-metric,” or what makes it stand out from all the other brands in that space, he says.
How Chicken Became The Rich World’s Most Popular Meat
Humans gobble so many chickens that the birds now count for 23bn of the 30bn land animals living on farms. Chicken is cheap and delicious. Fans of cheap chicken have selective breeding to thank. Farmers have also benefited from the healthy reputation of chicken.
Cryptoqueen: How This Woman Scammed The World, Then Vanished
Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen. She told people she had invented a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin, and persuaded them to invest billions. Then, two years ago, she disappeared. Jamie Bartlett spent months investigating how she did it and trying to figure out where she’s hiding.
The Day We Discovered Our Parents Were Russian Spies
For years Donald Heathfield, Tracey Foley and their two children lived the American dream. Then an FBI raid revealed the truth: they were agents of Putin’s Russia. Their real names were Andrei Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova. Their sons tell their story.
Who Owns South Africa?
The Glen Grey Act was the first piece of legislation to enshrine in law the residential separation of the races. It was also the basis for the notorious Natives Land Act of 1913, which in its final form allocated a mere thirteen percent of all arable land to the black majority.
Billboard Uses Tire Screeching Sounds To Photograph Terrified Jaywalkers
An unusual billboard was recently set up at a crosswalk in France to promote pedestrian safety. Whenever a pedestrian was detected crossing while the “red man” light was on, the billboard would emit a loud tire screeching sound. A camera built into the billboard would then capture the terrified face of the jaywalker.
The Movement To Stop Dollar Stores From Suffocating Black Communities
Some Black residents and elected officials argue the stores stifle economic growth and job creation, and exacerbate food insecurity. The stores are also disproportionately in areas that are low-income, rural, and Black, which experts say is racist.
The City Left Behind By China’s Nuclear Ambitions
Li Yang grew up in what he thought was a boring town. It was called 404, like the error code, and sat a couple hours from the nearest city, in the sun-beaten Gobi Desert of western China. It was once part of a massive nuclear weapons base in the People’s Republic of China.