Dictatorships do cut down on rape, and pillage, not to mention sexual harassment, by the simple expedient of sending people read more

Dictatorships do cut down on rape, and pillage, not to mention sexual harassment, by the simple expedient of sending people to labour camps for life or cutting off their hands without a trial.

Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent. Violence appears where power is in read more

Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent. Violence appears where power is in jeopardy, but left to its own course it ends in power's disappearance.

It's a pretty significant day for us. It is a day of abstinence when we fast, pray and smear ourselves read more

It's a pretty significant day for us. It is a day of abstinence when we fast, pray and smear ourselves with burnt ash to remind us of our sinfulness, forgiveness and mortality. It sets the tone for the penitential season leading up to Easter.

Branding New York City is too broad an image these days. It's no longer as powerful on the macro level. read more

Branding New York City is too broad an image these days. It's no longer as powerful on the macro level. The trick is to find the brands that are unique, but not so niche and so in-the-know that only 12 people who live in the neighborhood will get it.

He's getting better every week. He's kind of quiet, but that can be good sometimes. He just goes out there read more

He's getting better every week. He's kind of quiet, but that can be good sometimes. He just goes out there and does his job.

[Many drugs are prescribed outside their official recommendations, she says. Neurontin, for example, was initially approved only for epilepsy. But, read more

[Many drugs are prescribed outside their official recommendations, she says. Neurontin, for example, was initially approved only for epilepsy. But, after a slow start, it grew to become a $US2.3 billion ($3 billion today) blockbuster for its owner, Pfizer, in 2003.] About 80 per cent of the prescriptions were for unapproved uses - conditions like bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, restless legs syndrome, hot flashes, migraines and tension headaches, ... In fact, Neurontin has become a sort of all-purpose restorative for chronic discomfort of almost any type - yet there is almost no good published evidence that it works.

[In the ante room, under a tapestry of a gorgeous Imam Hussein Muzzaffar Salak (] people call me Ali ... read more

[In the ante room, under a tapestry of a gorgeous Imam Hussein Muzzaffar Salak (] people call me Ali ... Three of the prayer leaders were martyred during the Iran-Iraq war [of the 1980s].

The puck hadn't been going in lately. I had to stick with it and stay positive. I'm glad I finally read more

The puck hadn't been going in lately. I had to stick with it and stay positive. I'm glad I finally got one in.

But if it makes the Americans happy and willing to go on to discuss the real issues of the peace read more

But if it makes the Americans happy and willing to go on to discuss the real issues of the peace process, we happily grant them that achievement.