Letters: What Is Art For?. Daniel B. Smith’s wonderful profile of Lewis Hyde (Nov. 16) refers to “the so-called Copy Left” when describing people who wish to limit the scope and terms of copyright protection. I don’t know anyone in the free-culture community who refers to their movement by that term, possibly because the movement is not ideologically left-wing; its supporters represent a wide spectrum of political and apolitical perspectives.
Letters: Questions for Karl Rove. In an interview with Deborah Solomon (“Party Loyalist,” Nov. 16), Karl Rove minimizes Barack Obama’s victory by noting that “our new president-elect won one and a half points more than [Bush] won in 2004.”.
Letters: Welcome to My World, Barack. The interview with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (Helene Cooper and Scott L. Malcomson, Nov. 16) underscores the shortsightedness (if not downright blindness) of the foreign policy of the Bush administration. Regarding the changes of government in Lebanon, Ukraine and Georgia, Rice thinks that the only problem with those “revolutions” is that people expect too much too soon. But the more fundamental problem is that a successful democracy requires strong institutions to survive and deliver a better life for its citizens. None of those countries have such institutions. As a result, beginning the democratization process by holding elections before such institutions are built is likely to lead to chaos and poverty, widening the gulf between rich and poor. What has actually transpired in these countries over the last few years demonstrates this point.
Lives: The Homesick Restaurant. At a Pakistani meal in London, the unmistakable flavor of the past.
Consumed: Delayed Gratification. A new installment for an old form of payment.
The Medium: The Thrill of Cognition. Videos of people solving Rubik’s Cubes suggest a distinctively online genre of entertainment.
On Language: Generation What?. All is not “Lost.”
The Ethicist: Ticket Switcheroo. Fare share; found sounds.
Questions for Kelly Reichardt: Social Realist. The filmmaker talks about why a dog (even her own) can’t always save us, what crime-scene photos taught her about filmmaking and why she hates B&B’s.
The Way We Live Now: Fighting the Last War?. A surge might not work in Afghanistan. Here’s what could.
Food: The Way We Eat: Grain Exchange. Are farro and spelt really interchangeable? A home cook seeks the whole truth.
Style: The Big Picture. Carsten Holler’s new club in North London recalls the electricity and music of Kinshasa.
Google’s Gatekeepers. Nicole Wong and her colleagues decide what the world can see on YouTube. Are they also determining the limits of free speech?
His Fists Are Up and His Guard Is Down. Mickey Rourke gets his career off the mat with “The Wrestler.” But there is plenty that he’s still battling.
Her Body, My Baby. Cathy was good at being pregnant. I wasn’t. My adventures in gestational surrogacy.
Refresh.