Politics & Current Affairs — October 23, 2009

Our Money, Our Way

America’s new defence spending bill raises concerns about US interference in Pakistan’s domestic affairs.

“The US Senate has passed a big defence spending bill which aims to ensure that military aid to Pakistan is used solely to fight America’s ‘war on terror’. It sets tough new conditions which say that no resources given by the US to Pakistan may be used against India. The bill also stipulates that US military hardware sent to Pakistan must be tracked to see where it ends up. Recently, former President Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan used US aid to strengthen defences against India. The BBC’s Imtiaz Tyab in Washington says the bill is likely to fuel tensions over what Islamabad sees as US interference in its domestic affairs.”

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

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