Measuring the movie critics
If you want to get a sense of the zeitgeist but can only read one review, you might prefer Rene Rodriguez, whose low standard deviation from the mean review score makes him very nearly a living critical average. If you are interested in an alternative perspective, Mick LaSalle's high standard deviation places him further from the critical pack than any of these peers. Reviews from both Michael Wilmington and Marc Savlov are so regularly and respectively positive and negative that they should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. The source article, which contains much more information, is

China claim of the day
If China remains culturally closed, the Chinese Century will never come to pass. Instead, the United States--a country that has struggled with race and racism for centuries, and in the process has become more culturally open and resilient--will dominate this century as it did the last. That's from Reihan Salaam, who discusses how far the problem of Asian racism is from being solved.

Berlin memories
I first visited Berlin in 1985, while traveling with Randall Kroszner.  We drove to West Berlin by car and we were terrified for the few hours we were underway in East Germany.  Randy did not drive over the speed limit once.  I was hardly a communist sympathizer but still I was unprepared for the day trip to East Berlin.  I saw soldiers goose-stepping down one of the main streets.  In the stores old ladies yelled and swung their brooms at me.  Many buildings still had bullet marks or bomb damage from World War II.  In a restaurant we ate a rubber Wiener Schnitzel and shared a table with an Eas

Assorted links
1. Photos from inside a Colombian prison. 2. How to increase altruism in toddlers? 3. Soviet mathematics as pure status competition. 4. How people count money, across culture (video). 5. Real vs. placebo coffee: it doesn't matter i

High-speed rail fact of the day
American Intercity rail service is slower today than it was in the 1940s. Here is the full article, by train expert Mark Reutter.  It is a good look at some of the obstacles facing a successful high-speed rail program.