blog.ecocn.org
The United States and Islam美国和伊斯兰教
Let nations speak peace让各国握手言和吧！
Jun 4th 2009
From The Economist print edition
After the chill of the Bush era, ties between America and Islam can only get better—but how much better?
美国与伊斯兰教的关系在经过布什时代的冰封之后只能是改善，但会改善到何种程度呢？
Isaiah Berlin
以赛亚•伯林
Centennial impressions
百年印象
Jun 4th 2009
From The Economist print edition
WHEN the late Isaiah Berlin was knighted, a friend joked that the honour was for his services to conversation. The distinguished theorist of liberalism was indeed a brilliant talker and feline gossip. Readers of Berlin’s letters will find that same bubbling flow of malice, wit and human insight on the written page.
已故的以赛亚•伯林当年受封为爵士时，一位朋友曾调侃道，这一荣誉是为了表彰他对聊天事业所作的贡献。这位自由主义的杰出理论家确实堪称一名才华横溢的健谈者和狡黠诡异的八卦客；而伯林信笺的读者将在纸上发现同样翻滚奔流的恶念、智趣与人性洞察力。
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the behavioural effects of video games
电动游戏的行为学影响
Good game?
游戏有益？
May 28th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Playing video games can make you a better person
电动游戏帮助玩家成为更好的人
VIDEO games get a bad press. Many are unquestionably violent and, as has been the way with new media from novels to comic books to television, they have been accused of corrupting the moral fabric of youth. Nor are such ccusations without merit. There is a body of research suggesting that violent games can lead to aggressive thoughts, if not to violence itself. But not all games are shoot-’em-ups, and what is less examined is whether those that reward more constructive behaviour also have lingering impacts. That, however, is starting to change. Two studies showing that video games have a bright side as well as a dark one have been carried out recently.
大众对电动游戏颇有微词。不可否认，非常多的电动游戏都充斥着暴力色彩，因而也就难以逃脱败坏青少年道德观的指责，重蹈了小说、漫画、电视等新媒体的覆辙。不过这些指责并非毫无根据。大量的研究结果表明，暴力游戏即使不会使玩家有暴力的行为，也会让他们产生暴力的想法。然而，并非所有的游戏都是打打杀杀，有些游戏褒奖积极的行为，他们是否对玩家也有潜移默化的影响？这个问题却乏人关注。最近有两项研究表明电动游戏瑕瑜互见，优缺点并存。
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Nicolas Sarkozy and France’s opposition
萨科奇和法国反对党
All the president’s enemies
萨科奇：四面楚歌
May 28th 2009 | PARIS
From The Economist print edition
Why French politics is turning nasty and personal
为什么法国政界越来越危险，充斥着人身攻击
WHEN President Nicolas Sarkozy introduced a tough law earlier this month to cut off internet access for those who illegally download music and films, it ought to have appealed to France’s arty left. It has long cherished the “French cultural exception”, the idea that culture has a special value and needs protection.
这月早些时候总统尼古拉•萨科奇提出了一项严格的法律，禁止进行网络非法下载音乐及电影，这应该会受到“爱好文化”的左翼人士欢迎。法国长期以来都遵循“法国文化例外”原则，即文化拥有特殊价值并应受到保护。
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The Hergé museum
埃尔热博物馆
Totally Tintin
丁丁的世界
May 28th 2009 | LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE
From The Economist print edition
Celebrating one man and his dog
纪念一个人和一条狗
Champagne opening
开香槟
A SPECTACULAR new museum dedicated to Hergé, the pen name of Georges Remi, who created the comic-book hero Tintin, opens in the Belgian town of Louvain-la-Neuve on June 2nd. The museum, a fine addition to a somewhat drab skyline, is best seen at nightfall or under grey skies, says its architect, Christian de Portzamparc. In murky conditions, the building’s structure of angled white planes glows from within, offering glimpses through huge windows of an “imagined landscape” inside.
纪念比利时漫画家埃尔热（乔治·雷米的笔名）的博物馆将于6月2日在比利时新鲁汶（Louvain-la-Neuve）对外开放。埃尔热塑造了一位漫画英雄——丁丁。博物馆的设计师克里斯蒂安·德·波特赞姆巴克（Christian de Portzamparc）介绍说，博物馆为有些单调的天际增添了一抹亮色，它在傍晚和阴天时尤为迷人。建筑由倾斜的白色平面构成，天色阴沉时会从内部发亮光，通过大玻璃窗可以看到里面“幻想世界”。
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| Nurturing Small Businesses 孵化小企业 Battery Farm A Heaven of Hopeful Endeavors THOUGH British carmakers may face further shrinkage as General Motors abandons its Vauxhall plants at Luton and Ellesmere Port to sale or closure, there is life in the undergrowth where industrial monsters have fallen. Take Eastleigh in Hampshire, whose railway works once sustained the town. Pirelli also closed a cable factory there in 2002, and Ford has just cut 500 jobs and suspended production of vans at nearby Swaythling. 通用汽车通过出售或者关闭的方式放弃了其在卢顿与埃尔斯米尔港的沃克斯豪尔工厂，导致英国的汽车制造厂商许将面对更进一步的萎缩，即便如此，行业巨无霸倒下之处，荆棘之中依然有生机。拿铁路工业一度是支柱产业的汉普郡伊斯特雷格来说，倍耐力在2002年关闭了在当地的一家电缆工厂，而福特刚刚裁减了500个工作岗位，推迟了在邻近斯威凌地区的小货车生产。 |
Cities and their deficits
城市及其赤字
Staring into the abyss
滑入深渊
May 28th 2009 | CHICAGO AND PITTSBURGH
From The Economist print edition
Lay off 4,000 workers, or let the mayor cut the grass?
解雇4,000名工人，或者让市长除草？
Getty Images
CHICAGO’S skyline may be glorious (see above), but the city’s big shoulders are slumped. In November the city passed a budget to close a $469m shortfall. But in the first four months of 2009 a gap opened again, of $96m. By the end of the year, the city expects it to be about $300m.
芝加哥的外表依旧辉煌（见上图），但是这座城市的大梁却已坍塌。去年11月，芝加哥通过一项预算方案，旨在弥补4.69亿美元的预算缺口。但是截止09年前四个月，整个城市又面临9600万美元的差额，预计到今年年底总额将达到3亿美元。
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Government v market in America
美国政府vs.美国市场
The visible hand
看得见的手
May 28th 2009 | INDIANAPOLIS AND WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition
Americans have grown slightly more receptive to the idea of an activist government. Will they go along with Barack Obama’s aspirations?
美国人现在已些许倾向接受政府积极介入这一观点。那么他们愿不愿意同巴拉克.奥巴马一道呢？
THE demonstrators thronging the steps of the war memorial in central Indianapolis are a small but spirited bunch. Steps away from the head office of one of the country’s biggest health-insurance companies, they chant slogans calling for a single government-run health plan and wave signs with slogans like “One plan one nation” and “Patients not profits”. One cheekily advises: “Accept personal responsibility. Do your own colonoscopy”. After pursuing their cause for years, advocates of universal health care got a jolt of energy when Barack Obama took office. “Something happened in January that changed our cultural story for ever,” a folk singer tells the crowd before launching into a song, “If not now, tell me when.”
印第安纳波利斯市中心的战争纪念碑前，游行者人头攒动——他们不过是“一小撮”，却精神充沛。距美国最大的健康保险公司总部只有几步之遥，他们高唱口号，呼吁单一政府健康保险，手中挥舞着诸如“一个计划，一个国家”、“病人第一，盈利第二”的标语。有人厚颜无耻地建议：“认你的个人责任，做你的结肠检查。”普及健康保健的倡议者们在多年努力之后，终于在巴拉克.奥巴马上任时冒出来一股劲儿。“1月永远地改变了我们的文化史。”一位民谣歌手在开唱前这样告诉他面前的人群。“若非现在，更待何时？” 继续阅读“”
| Detroit’s new mayor 底特律新市长 Baptism by five-alarm fire An ex-basketball player tries to get to grips
WHEN Detroit’s new mayor took the stage at a recent breakfast forum, the audience left their eggs and bacon to give him a standing ovation. “You’ve got nowhere to go but down from here,” the forum’s moderator said dryly. Bing能否扭转乾坤？底特律新市长在最近的早餐会上露面，现场观众暂停进餐起立热烈欢迎市长。“没地方可去只好下来”，参会主持人冷淡的说。 |
China, America and the yuan
Time for a Beijing bargain
轮到中国说话了
May 28th 2009
From The Economist print edition
Sino-American economic policy needs a new start. Tim Geithner’s visit to China provides an opportunity
中美经济政策需新起点 盖特纳访华提供契机
HOW times change. When George Bush’s treasury secretaries first visited China, Wall Street was booming, America’s economy was growing and the president’s emissaries routinely lectured their Chinese hosts on the need for freer financial markets and a more flexible yuan. But as Tim Geithner, the current treasury secretary, prepares to make his maiden trip to Beijing on May 31st, Wall Street is synonymous with greed and failure, America’s economy is on its knees and it is the Chinese who have been doing the lecturing. With America’s budget deficit soaring and the Fed’s printing presses running at full speed, China is complaining loudly of the risks that inflation and depreciation pose to its huge stash of dollars, and arguing for an alternative to the greenback as the world’s reserve currency.
时过境迁。当年，前总统布什的财长们首次访华的时候，华尔街还是一派繁华景象，美国经济持续增长，作为总统的使节，财长们总是一如既往的对中国进行指导，要求中国提供更为自由的金融市场以及更为灵活的人民币汇率。如今，待到现任财长盖特纳准备于5月31日进行其首次访华时，华尔街却几乎等同于贪婪或失败的代名词，美国的经济陷入低谷，现在轮到中国给美国上课了。美国的预算赤字激增，美联储又全力印钞，这使得中国持有的大量美元资产面临通货膨胀或贬值的危险，中国对此大加指责并呼呼用一种新的替代货币取代美元作为世界存储货币。
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