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151). The Costs of Coalition Building Foreign aid, foreign trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) have become weapons of mass persuasion, deployed in the building of both the pro-war, pro-American coalition of the willing and the French-led counter "coalition of the squealing". By now it is clear that the United States will have to bear the bulk of the direct costs of t... 152). The Impeachment of the President of the USA - Part III AC : “Dysfunctional partnerships should be dissolved. The President should have divorced prior to indulging his sexual appetite. Sexual exclusivity is 153). Vojvodina - The Hungarian Kosovo In October 2005, Parliamentary Assembly of Europe members tabled a draft resolution castigating the human rights situation in the province of Vojvodina. As EU accession looms larger for Serbia and Montenegro, such resolutions are bound to proliferate. Vojvodina is widely regarded as a test case and the touchstone of Serbia's post-Milosevic reforms.... 154). The Wages of Science In the United States, Congress approved, In February 2003, increases in the 2003 budgets of both the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. America is not alone in - vainly - trying to compensate for imploding capital markets and risk-averse financiers. In 1999, chancellor Gordon Brown inaugurated a $1.6 billion... 155). The Psychology of Torture - Part II Sometimes the victim comes to crave pain – very much as self-mutilators do – because it is a proof and a reminder of his individuated existence otherw 156). The New Politics Politics, in all its forms, is bankrupt. The notion that we can safely and successfully hand over the management of our daily lives and the setting of priorities to a political class or elite is thoroughly discredited. Politicians cannot be trusted, regardless of the system in which they operate. No set of constraints, checks, and balances, is prov... 157). The Myth of the Right to Life - Part II The Right to Have One's Life Maintained This leads to a more general quandary. To what extent can one use other people's bodies, their propert 158). Russia's Idled Spies On November 11, 2002, Sweden expelled two Russian diplomats for spying on radar and missile guidance technologies for the JAS 39 British-Swedish Gripen fighter jet developed by Telefon AB LM Ericsson, the telecommunications multinational. The Russians threatened to reciprocate. Five current and former employees of the corporate giant are being inve... 159). Abortion and the Right to Life - Part II III. Abortion and the Social Contract The issue of abortion is emotionally loaded and this often makes for poor, not thoroughly thought out a 160). Slush Funds According to David McClintick ("Swordfish: A True Story of Ambition, Savagery, and Betrayal"), in the late 1980's, the FBI and DEA set up dummy corporations to deal in drugs. They funneled into these corporate fronts money from drug-related asset seizures. The idea was to infiltrate global crime networks but a lot of the money in "Oper... 161). The Fundamentals of Psychological Theories All theories - scientific or not - start with a problem. They aim to solve it by proving that what appears to be "problematic" is not. They re-state the conundrum, or introduce new data, new variables, a new classification, or new organizing principles. They incorporate the problem in a larger body of knowledge, or in a conjecture ("solution"). The... 162). The Honorary Academic Mira Markovic is an "Honorary Academic" of the Russian Academy of Science. It cost a lot of money to obtain this title and the Serb multi-billionnaire Karic was only too glad to cough it up. Whatever else you say about Balkan cronies, they rarely bite the hand that feeds them (unless and until it is expedient to do so). And whatever else you say ab... 163). The Familiar Gone Awry In this nightmarish world of ours even the erstwhile comfortingly familiar has gone awry and menacing. Birds, those soaring symbols of liberty and beauty now carry death and devastation in the form of avian flu. Airplanes, the reification of overcoming gravity and attaining freedom, these harbingers of the global village,... 164). Does Free Content - Sell? The answer is: no one knows. Many self-styled "gurus" and "pundits" - authors of voluminous tomes they sell to the gullible - pretend to know. But their "expertise" is an admixture of guesswork, superstitions, anecdotal "evidence" and hearsay. The sad truth is that no methodical, long term, and systematic research has been attempted in the nascent ... 165). The Spouse, Mate, or Partner of the Narcissist Question: What kind of a spouse/mate/partner is likely to be attracted to a narcissist? Answer: The Victims On the face of it, there is no (emotional) partner or mate, who typically "binds" with a narcissist. They come in all shapes and sizes. The initial phases of attraction, infatuation and fall... 166). Add Me to the List, Mr. Blair The terrorists are winning. Gradually but perceptibly, the USA and the United Kingdom (UK) are shedding their liberal democratic veneer, axing their traditions, reinterpreting their constitution (USA) and case law (UK) and, thus, becoming police states. Both the US Patriot Act, recently extended by Congress and Tony Blair's newly acqui... 167). Abortion and the Right to Life - Part III No one disputes the now common view that the main crime committed in aborting a pregnancy – is a crime against potentialities. If so, what is the 168). The Cult of the Narcissist The narcissist is the guru at the centre of a cult. Like other gurus, he demands complete obedience from his flock: his spouse, his offspring, other family members, friends, and colleagues. He feels entitled to adulation and special treatment by his followers. He punishes the wayward and the straying lambs. He enforces discipline, adherence to his ... 169). Life of Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, cartographer, engineer, scientist and inventor in the 15th century. Yet, despite his genius, he referred to himself as "senza lettere" (the illiterate, the man without letters). For good reason: until late in life, he was unable to read, or write, Latin, the language used by virtually all other ... 170). Microsoft Student 2006 The previous versions of Encarta included a host of homework tools. These have now been made into a separate product called Microsoft Student. Homework assignments are the bane of most students I know (not to mention their hard-pressed and nescient parents). This is mainly because of the tedious and mind-numbing chores of data mining ... 171). America's Second Civil War Reprinted with permission from: "The Second Civil War in the USA and its Aftermath" by Sam Vaknin (second, revised impression, 2029) Summary of Chapter 83 "The polities of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries swung between extremes of nationalism and polyethnic multiculturalism. Following the Great War (1914... 172). The Shattered Identity I. Exposition In the movie "Shattered" (1991), Dan Merrick survives an accident and develops total amnesia regarding his past. His battered face is reconstructed by plastic surgeons and, with the help of his loving wife, he gradually recovers his will to live. But he never develops a proper sense of identity. It is as though he is cons... 173). Abortion and the Right to Life - Part I I. The Right to Life It is a fundamental principle of most moral theories that all human beings have a right to life. The existence of a right 174). The Eastern League The Champions League is a rich man's club, complain football teams from nine south and east European countries. They are bent on setting up an alternative dubbed the "Eastern League". The revolt is led by Dinamo Bucharest and Greece's Olympiakos Pireu and has been joined by 14 other clubs: Steaua and Rapid from Romania, The Turkish Galatasaray Ista... 175). Nation Branding and Place Marketing - V. Promotion, Sales, Public Relations, Marketing, and Advertising V. Promotion, Sales, Public Relations, Marketing, and Advertising Advantages have to be communicated to potential customers if they are not to remain unrealized potentials. Moreover, communication alone - the exchange of information - is not enough. Clients have to be influenced and motivated to visit a country, invest in it, or trade ... 176). The Habit of Identity In a famous experiment, students were asked to take a lemon home and to get used to it. Three days later, they were able to single out "their" lemon from a pile of rather similar ones. They seemed to have bonded. Is this the true meaning of love, bonding, coupling? Do we simply get used to other human beings, pets, or objects? Habit fo... 177). The Revolution of Symbols Five thousand years ago, people were still roaming the earth as nomads. They carried along their few precious possessions in their hands and on their backs. They hunted and gathered food at random. Then came the Agricultural Revolution: people settled down and got attached - physically, emotionally and legally - to specific plots of la... 178). IMF - Kill or Cure This was the title of the cover page of the prestigious magazine, "The Economist" in its issue of 10/1/98. The more involved the IMF gets in the world economy - the more controversy surrounds it. Economies in transition, emerging economies, developing countries and, lately, even Asian Tigers all feel the brunt of the IMF recipes. All are not too ha... 179). The Impeachment of the President of the USA - Part I In the hallways of the Smithsonian, two moralists are debating the impeachment of the President of the United States of America, Mr. William Jefferson 180). Eating Disorders and Personality Disorders Question: Do narcissists also suffer from eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa? Answer: Patients suffering from eating disorders either binge on food or refrain from eating and sometimes are both anorectic and bulimic. This is an impulsive behaviour as defined by the DSM and is sometime... 181). The Myth of the Right to Life - Part I I. The Right to Life Generations of malleable Israeli children are brought up on the story of the misnamed Jewish settlement Tel-Hai ("Mount o 182). Reconditioning the Narcissist Question: You seem to be very sceptical that someone with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder can be treated successfully. Answer: The Narcissistic Personality Disorder has been recognised as a distinct mental health diagnosis a little more than two decades ago. There are few who can honestly claim expertise ... 183). Organ Trafficking in Eastern Europe A kidney fetches $2700 in Turkey. According to last month's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, this is a high price. An Indian 184). Is Psychology a Science? All theories - scientific or not - start with a problem. They aim to solve it by proving that what appears to be "problematic" is not. They re-state the conundrum, or introduce new data, new variables, a new classification, or new organizing principles. They incorporate the problem in a larger body of knowledge, or in a conjecture ("solution"). The... 185). America, the Dictatorship Incrementally, but noticeably, the United States is shedding its democracy. Hard-won civil liberties are willingly sacrificed for the sake of illusory added security. Institutions are stacked with political, partisan appointees who do their puppetmaster's bidding. Laws are openly broken and the Constitution flaunted with breathtaking callousness an... 186). The Life Cycle of Science "There was a time when the newspapers said that only twelve men understood the theory of relativity. I do not believe that there ever was such a time... On the other hand, I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics... Do not keep saying to yourself, if you can possibly avoid it, 'But how can it be like that?', because you w... 187). How Victims are Affected by Abuse Repeated abuse has long lasting pernicious and traumatic effects such as panic attacks, hypervigilance, sleep disturbances, flashbacks (intrusive memories), suicidal ideation, and psychosomatic symptoms. The victims experience shame, depression, anxiety, embarrassment, guilt, humiliation, abandonment, and an enhanced sense of vulnerability. ... 188). A Dialog about Anti-Semitism and the Fate of the State of Israel Rabid anti-Semitism, coupled with inane and outlandish conspiracy theories of world dominion, is easy to counter and dispel. It is the more "reasoned", subtle, and stealthy variety that it pernicious. "No smoke without fire," - say people - "there must be something to it!". In this dialog I try to deconstruct a "mild" anti-Semitic text... 189). The Process of Due Diligence A business which wants to attract foreign investments must present a business plan. But a business plan is the equivalent of a visit card. The introduction is very important - but, once the foreign investor has expressed interest, a second, more serious, more onerous and more tedious process commences: Due Diligence. "Due Diligence" is... 190). The Space Industry in Russia The recent (December 2005) spate of news about Russia's space program was decidedly mixed. According to Space News, the 17-country European Space Agency (ESA) declined to participate in Russia's $60 million, two-year Clipper manned and winged space vehicle program, a touted alternative to NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle. With an anual ... 191). Titanic, or A Moral Deliberation The film "Titanic" is riddled with moral dilemmas. In one of the scenes, the owner of Star Line, the shipping company that owned the now-sinking Unsinkable, leaps into a lowered life-boat. The tortured expression on his face demonstrates that even he experiences more than unease at his own conduct: prior to the disaster, he instructed the captain t... 192). Invasion of the Amazons The last few months have witnessed a bloodbath in tech stocks coupled with a frantic re-definition of the web and of every player in it (as far as 193). Ian Fleming - James Bond's Creator Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-1964), the author of the James Bond 007 novels, was the grandson of a Scottish banker and the son of a Conservative MP (Member of Parliament). His father died in the first world war. In his will, he bequeathed his property to his widow on condition she never remarries. Ian's youth was inauspicious. He was e... 194). The Narcissist and His Family Question:Is there a "typical" relationship between the narcissist and his family?Answer:We are all members of a few families i 195). The Savings and Loans Associations Bailout Asset bubbles - in the stock exchange, in the real estate or the commodity markets - invariably burst and often lead to banking crises. One such calamity struck the USA in 1986-1989. It is instructive to study the decisive reaction of the administration and Congress alike. They tackled both the ensuing liquidity crunch and the structural flaws expo... 196). The European Bank for the Retardation of Development In typical bureaucratese, the pensive EBRD analyst ventures with the appearance of compunction: "A number of projects have fallen short of acceptable standards (notice the passive, exculpating voice - SV) and have put the reputation of the bank at risk". If so, very little was risked. The outlandish lavishness of its City headquarters, the apotheos... 197). Public Procurement and Very Private Benefits In every national budget, there is a part called "Public Procurement". This is the portion of the budget allocated to purchasing services and goods for the various ministries, authorities and other arms of the executive branch. It was the famous management consultant, Parkinson, who once wrote that government officials are likely to approve a multi... 198). Euthanasia and the Right to Die I. Definitions of Types of Euthanasia Euthanasia, whether in a medical setting (hospital, clinic, hospice) or not (at home) is often erroneously described as "mercy killing". Most forms of euthanasia are, indeed, motivated by (some say: misplaced) mercy. Not so others. In Greek, "eu" means both "well" and "easy" and "Thanatos" is death... 199). How to Write a Business Plan There are many types of symbols. Money from investors, banks or financial organisations is one such kind of symbols. A successful Business Plan (=a successful manipulation of symbols) is one which brings in its wake the receipt of credits (money, another kind of symbol). What are the rules of manipulating symbols? In our example, what ... 200). The Columnist in the Mousetrap I am a voracious reader of the most convoluted and lexiphanic texts - yet, there is one author I prefer to most. She gives me the greatest pleasure and leaves me tranquil and craving for more when I am through devouring one of her countless tomes. A philosopher of the mundane, a scholar of death, an exquisite chronicler of decay and decadence - she... Browse Pages: [1] [2] [3] 4 [5] [6]