New Web Presents a Tangle of Risks

Supplemento al numero odierno de la Repubblica Sped. abb. postale art. 1 legge 46/04 del 27/02/2004 — Roma

Electronics In Junkyard

Yield Gold Samy Kamkar has created For Japan a software device to show how By HIROKO TABUCHI thoroughly KOSAKA, Japan — Two decades after global competition drove the mines computers here out of business, Kosaka is again could be abuzz with talk of new riches. infiltrated The treasures are not copper or coal. by the They are rare earth elements and oth- latest Web er minerals that are crucial to many technology. Japanese technologies and have so far come almost exclusively from China, the global leader in rare earth mining. Kosaka’s hopes for a mining come- back do not lie underground, but in what Japan refers to as urban mining — recycling the valuable metals and minerals from the country’s huge stockpiles of used electronics like cellphones and computers. JOCK FISTICK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES “We’ve literally discovered gold in cellphones,” said Tetsuzo Fuyushiba, a former land minister and now oppo- sition party member who recently sur- veyed Kosaka’s recycling plants. Recent problems with Chinese sup- New Web Presents a Tangle of Risks plies of rare earths have sent Japanese traders and companies in search of al- ternative sources, creating opportunities for Kosaka. In September, amid By TANZINA VEGA about computer users’ online activities. said James Cox, 27, a freelance consultant a diplomatic spat with Tokyo, China ORRIES OVER INTERNET pri- The new Web code, the fifth version of and software developer at Smokeclouds, a started to block exports of rare earths New York City start-up company. “It’s not to Japan. The cutoff has alarmed Japa- vacy have spurred lawsuits, con- Hypertext Markup Language used to create nese manufacturers, from giants like W Web pages, is already in limited use. It will just HTML 5. It’s the new Web.” spiracy theories and consumer Toyota to tiny electronics makers, be- anxiety as marketers and others invent new make it easier for users to view multimedia Others are more cautious. cause the raw materials are crucial to products as diverse as hybrid electric ways to track computer users on the Internet. content without downloading extra soft- Most Web users are familiar with so-called cars, wind turbines and computer dis- But the alarmists have not seen anything ware; check e-mail offline; or find a favorite cookies, which make it possible, for exam- play screens. yet. restaurant or shop on a smartphone. ple, to log on to Web sites without having Akihiro Ohata, Japan’s trade minister, said the government was con- In the next few years, a powerful new suite Most users will clearly welcome the addi- to retype user names and passwords, or to sidering starting a stockpile of rare of capabilities will become available to Web tional features. keep track of items placed in virtual shop- developers that could give marketers and “It’s going to change everything about Con tin ued on Page IV advertisers access to many more details the Internet and the way we use it today,” Con tin ued on Page IV

WORLD TRENDS LIVING: BOUNDARIES ARTS & STYLES An uneasy alliance Office restroom is Monet showcase with Pakistan. III the new corner office. VII reflects his shimmer. VIII

INTELLIGENCE: Considering China’s Communists for the Nobel, Page II. From the Ground Up

Fruits, flowers and animal prints home lab for harvesting a fragrance, The Times. Umami, a restaurant that burst onto the runway at the spring and Ms. Aftel said she has “observed added a cocktail bar last year, infuses collections in Paris and Milan recent- an absolute explosion of interest.” its drinks with Far Eastern flavors ly. Monkeys scrambled up the sides This community of natural perfum- like green tea, cherry blossom liqueur of a Prada blouse and wild orchids ers explores the craft of making and shiso leaves. saturated dresses scents without the synthetic and Maybe a bit of nature in a high- LENS by Akris. In New heavy aromas in commercial per- ball glass does the trick. For others, York, the design- fumery. well-being comes in another vessel. ers at Rodarte Andrine Olson, who lives in Wash- Perhaps a sense of control and calm were inspired by ington, steeps plants in 190-proof can be had when a little bit of nature is the nature and alcohol and presses flowers into fats encased in terrariums, which have be- redwoods of Cali- like palm oil shortening to create per- gun gaining favor with creative types, fornia. If fashion fumes, soaps and deodorants. Anya The Times reported. These miniature imitates life which McCoy makes scents from the leaves gardens combine the interest in hand- imitates fashion, and fruit of a Kaffir lime tree, jas- made crafts with the do-it-yourself and then now seems the time to have a big mines and plumerias from her garden locavore movements. They have been garden party. and sells them online for $60 to $125. best-selling items in garden stores Despite ash clouds, earthquakes “Since 2007, I’d say my sales have and on Web sites, The Times reported. and floods, nature is there to, well, increased 25 percent every year,” she YouTube videos demonstrating how to nurture. And when feeling overly told The Times. make terrariums garner tens of thou- wired, a bit of the organic and primor- Some think a nice smell can be ROBERT WRIGHT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES sands of views. dial may be the perfect antidote. therapeutic. For a public art project In a world removed from nature, we crave the organic. A tiny terrarium. Paula Hayes, who has elevated ter- “People are so often in front of their inBrooklyn, Anne McClain installed rariums to art, told The Times that computer screens and detached from a “perfume fountain” that emits fra- they appeal to the human desire to the sensual world,” Mandy Aftel, a grance from a heart-shaped glass ves- Clain and other natural scent makers infused vodkas and creating fruit nurture living things. “It’s this beauti- natural perfumer who wrote “Es- sel. Based on the Mexican drink hor- offer classes on tincturing, distilla- mixers from scratch, often using lo- ful little world you can care for,” she sence and Alchemy,” told The Times. chata, the scent has milky notes and tion and perfuming, where partici- cal ingredients. In a beer-loving city said. It’s comfort, safety and beauty The home garden has become the a touch of cinnamon. “The idea was to pants create take-home scents. like Copenhagen, an influx of foreign in a bottle that has attained a state of create a perfume that was inspired by, In bars, mixologists are doing their bartenders, mainly from Britain, are equilibrium, an escape from every- For comments, write to and could evoke, a sense of compas- own distilling and infusing with fresh bringing back the shaker to concoct thing else in reality that hasn’t. [email protected]. sion,” she told The Times. Ms. Mc- herbs to create liquors like tarragon- more sophisticated cocktails, wrote ANITA PATIL

Repubblica NewYork II MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010

OPINION & COMMENTARY EDITORIALS OF THE TIMES Lamentable Speech

To the American Nazi Party, Hus- the founder and pastor of a Baptist wound is immense. They sought help tler Magazine, and other odious fig- church where most of his flock are in drawing lines that might be useful ures in United States Supreme Court his children, grandchildren and in- in different circumstances: What if history, add the Reverend Fred laws. the Snyders hadn’t advertised the Phelps Sr. and the members of the Their faith includes the belief funeral? Would the protest still have Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, that “God hates homosexuality and deserved protection? Kansas. Their antigay protests at hates and punishes America for its The justices were interested in the the funeral of a soldier slain in Iraq tolerance of homosexuality, particu- lawyers’ views about where his or were repugnant but protected by the larly in the United States military.” her argument got fuzzy and made First Amendment. Over the past two decades, they their questions more difficult by ask- All of the sympathy in the case of have sought opportunities to trum- ing the lawyers to grapple each oth- Snyder v. Phelps, which was argued pet these views in intrusive pro- er’s contentions. Hovering over the October 6 at the Supreme Court, tests, recently including funerals of arguments were briefs from friends goes to the family of Lance Corporal soldiers. of the court. Matthew Snyder, the fallen Marine. Seven of them went to the funeral Walter Dellinger, a former act- But as the appeals court in the case of Corporal Snyder, who was not gay. ing solicitor general, sided with the SCANPIX/REUTERS observed, using the words of Justice While following rules set by a local Snyders for Senator Harry Reid, the A portrait of Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissident, is at the Nobel Peace Felix Frankfurter, “It is a fair sum- ordinance and police about where majority leader, and Senator Mitch Centre in Oslo, but the Communist Party’s achievement in alleviating mary of history to say that the safe- they could protest, they carried signs McConnell, the minority leader, and poverty and ending the persecution of the Mao era are also worthy. guards of liberty have often been that said “God Hates the USA” and many others in the United States forged in controversies involving not “Fag troops” and “You’re going to Congress. They argue that Con- very nice people.” That happened hell.” After the funeral, the church’s gress and 46 states have passed INTELLIGENCE/ROGER COHEN when the court protected Hustler’s Web site said Corporal Snyder’s par- laws limiting protests at funerals right to mock the Reverend Jerry ents “raised him for the devil.” and, implicitly, that the support for Falwell and the right of American In a federal trial, Mr. Snyder’s fa- the family was a heartfelt exception Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois. ther was awarded $5 million for in- to the breakdown in Washington. Kudos During the oral arguments, there trusion upon seclusion, intentional Nadine Strossen, a former leader of were persistent questions from ev- infliction of emotional distress and the American Civil Liberties Union, ery justice but Clarence Thomas, civil conspiracy. The appeals court pointed out the chilling consequenc- seeking help in striking a balance overturned the verdict, saying that es for protest-filled university cam- To Communists between privacy and protest in it has long been settled that the First puses if the church’s position is not the Internet age, and often unhelp- Amendment protected the protest upheld. ful answers from the overmatched as opinion about subjects of public One friend of the court brief called LONDON global procurement of raw materials), lawyers for each side, including Mr. concern. the protesters’ message “uncom- There’s a case to be made that the responding energetically if belatedly Phelps’s daughter Margie. On October 6, the justices asked the monly contemptible.” True, but it Nobel Peace Prize should have gone to popular anger over the environ- In March 2006, a week after Cor- attorneys for guidance about how to is in the interest of the nation that not to a leading dissident, the jailed ment and labor conditions, the Chi- poral Snyder was killed in Iraq, his strike that balance, when it involves strong language about large issues writer and democracy advocate Liu nese Communist Party has probably funeral in Westminster, Maryland, expansive media, like television and be protected, even when it is hard to Xiaobo, but to the Chinese Communist applied authoritarian rule with great- became a target for Mr. Phelps, the Internet, where the power to do so. Party. The case is based in cynical re- er intelligence and flexibility than alpolitik but it’s not without founda- any other dictatorship in history. By tion. The Communist Party has, in the so doing, it has afforded its people un- course of a little over three decades, imagined benefits. That, in turn, has ushered almost 20 percent of human- advanced peace in the world. WILLIAM D. COHAN ity from penury and persecution to a So, yes, I’d say there’s a case of sorts prosperity that, while extremely un- for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to even, would have been unimaginable the Party. These are pivotal achieve- Make Wall Street Risk It All when Deng Xiaoping changed course ments. in 1978, rejecting a proletarian revolu- But of course there is another side to tion that left people starving. the story, and it’s not just the brutality Two years after the near collapse ating conflicts of interest, although this? None. Over this period, China has en- of the crushing of the pro-democracy of capitalism, we certainly have how the law is going to do that is un- And how would Dodd-Frank shrined stability — its own and that protests at Tiananmen Square in our fill of financial reforms. The clear. change this? It would give share- of the globe — as an inalienable value. 1989. Nothing — not environmental 2,200-page Dodd-Frank Act cre- But Dodd-Frank will do nothing to holders a nonbinding “say on pay” Instability (read war) is incompatible devastation, personal property rights ates an Orwellian alphabet soup of change the rules on Wall Street. regarding the compensation of ex- with the Party’s goal of guiding China or growing inequality — has been al- new agencies, oversight boards and Nor, frankly, will the expected ecutives of public corporations. And to developed status by mid-century. lowed to stand in the way of galloping offices intended to protect us from coming into force, in a couple of even if a majority of shareholders ex- So China has shown restraint over economic progress. Workers around ourselves. years, of the new Basel III capital pressed displeasure, the companies Taiwan and over the large United the world have paid heavily as China The problem is that since the in- rules, which will likely require banks could ignore them. Yawn. States military garrisons in Asia. has absorbed their jobs. centives on Wall Street have not been to have common equity equal to 7 We already have proof that Wall Indeed, it has quietly welcomed that Single-party rule depends on ruth- changed one iota by the new laws, percent of the value of their assets. Street’s compensation practices lead American presence in the knowledge lessly maintained “red lines.” The we’re no better protected from bank- Bankers and traders still have the to excessive risk-taking: witness the that it reassures China’s Asian neigh- first of these bars any direct chal- ers’ reckless behavior than we were same irresponsible, accountability- way Wall Street’s armies kept selling bors and offsets the tumultuous im- lenge to the Party’s authority. Liu’s before the latest round of reforms. free incentives to generate as much mortgage-backed securities filled pact of China’s rise. courageous call for political liberal- Granted, the law will ensure that revenue as they possibly can each with defaulting home mortgages The Communist Party has steered ization in Charter 08 and his resonant some derivatives will have to be year, regardless of the consequenc- long after the securities made any China from isolation to its pivotal role appeal — “We should end the practice traded on exchanges and that some es. The change occurred when Wall sense as an investment. Wall Street in the global economy. Its relentless of viewing words as crimes” — led of the banks’ proprietary trading Street firms stopped being partner- did the same thing in the 1980s with focus on growth has spurred demand directly to his harsh 11-year prison will be curbed and that some, but not ships, in which every partner put junk bonds, and the same thing in the essential to development and proved sentence. The government accused all, of their private-equity and hedge his full wealth on the line every day, 1990s with Internet initial public of- critical in pulling the world out of the him of “openly slandering and incit- funds will be shuttered or spun off. and became corporations, which put ferings 2008 financial meltdown. Only Chi- ing others to overthrow our country’s Dodd-Frank is also supposed to cur- the risks on their shareholders and This sort of thing will happen again na’s lending has made United States state power.” tail Wall Street’s penchant for cre- creditors. soon enough unless Wall Street’s se- deficits sustainable and only “Made In truth all Liu had done was to pro- Dodd-Frank and Basel III both nior executives have the clear eco- in China” has afforded American con- claim the universality of certain val- missed plum opportunities to change nomic incentive to closely monitor sumers the Wal-Mart dividend. ues by saying that “no force can block Wall Street’s incentive structure. the risks their firms are taking and The symbiosis between the United the human desire for freedom.” He Which is a shame, since it would not make it their business to ensure that States and China, a mutual reliance posited that a manacled press, a cen- have been difficult. the risks are prudent. that appears too complex to unravel, sored Internet, a cowed judiciary, ar- What’s made all this possible is I propose that each large Wall is probably the single greatest factor bitrary imprisonment and the corrup- Direttore responsabile: Ezio Mauro the vast amounts of capital that Street firm create a new security in global peace today. No such co-de- tion endemic to any form of one-party Vicedirettori: Gregorio Botta, Wall Street firms have amassed. that represents — and is secured by pendence existed in the bi-polar cold rule could not forever be accepted by Dario Cresto-Dina, Massimo Giannini, Angelo Rinaldi Fifty years ago, Goldman Sachs — the entire net worth of its 100 top war world of America and the Soviet a Chinese population of growing afflu- Caporedattore centrale: Fabio Bogo had around $10 million of capital, executives. This security would be Union. ence and sophistication. Caporedattore vicario: which came from its partners; today subordinated to all other creditors; Never previously has the world’s Over the long term I suspect he’s Massimo Vincenzi Goldman has upward of $74 billion if a firm goes bankrupt, this security dominant power relied so extensively right and that the Communist Party Gruppo Editoriale l’Espresso S.p.A. • of capital, derived mostly from its is the first to be wiped out. on its likely successor in that role. This knows this. But it does not like to be Presidente: Carlo De Benedetti shareholders and the creditors who Pretty harsh, right? Maybe, but thread that binds the world’s most jostled in its smart, agile, stability- Amministratore delegato: bought Goldman’s public and private Wall Street deserves no sympathy. important relationship suggests 21st obsessed program for Chinese devel- Monica Mondardini securities. Had this security, or something like century power shifts may be less vio- opment. Divisione la Repubblica via Cristoforo Colombo 90 - 00147 Roma These days on Wall Street, around it, been in place at every Wall Street lent than those of the 20th century. A In time more freedom will come to Direttore generale: Carlo Ottino 50 percent of every dollar of revenue firm five years ago, there would have glance at the role war played in Amer- China but not, I predict, multi-party Responsabile trattamento dati generated is paid out to its employ- been no mortgage bubble, no finan- ica’s rapid rise suggests how unusual democracy. This Nobel Prize is an im- (d. lgs. 30/6/2003 n. 196): Ezio Mauro ees in the form of compensation. cial crisis, and no need for Dodd- China’s peaceful rise has been. portant marker on that journey. World Reg. Trib. di Roma n. 16064 del 13/10/1975 What other business on earth does Frank or Basel III. Favoring non-intervention, pursu- peace needs the Chinese Communist Tipografia: Rotocolor, Why? Because human beings do ing its economic interests with a sys- Party but equally needs brave men v. C. Colombo 90 RM William D. Cohan, a columnist for ny- what they are rewarded to do, and tematic intensity (particularly in the like Liu to prod China’s rulers toward Stampa: Rotocolor, v. C. Cavallari times.com, is the author of “House of if they are rewarded for taking pru- ever greater openness. He should be 186/192 Roma; Rotocolor, v. N. Sauro 15 - Paderno Dugnano MI ; Finegil Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretch- dent and sensible risks, that’s exact- Send comments to released at once for his only “crime” Editoriale c/o Citem Soc. Coop. arl, ed Excess on Wall Street.’’ ly what they will do. [email protected] has been to look over the horizon. v. G.F. Lucchini - Mantova Pubblicità: A. Manzoni & C., via Nervesa 21 - Milano - 02.57494801 THE NEW YORK TIMES IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE FOLLOWING NEWSPAPERS: CLARÍN, ARGENTINA ✂ DER STANDARD, AUSTRIA ✂ LA RAZÓN, BOLIVIA ✂ DNEVNI AVAZ, BOSNIA ✂ FOLHA, BRAZIL • LA SEGUNDA, CHILE ✂ EL ESPECTADOR, COLOMBIA ✂ POSLOVNI, CROATIA ✂ LISTIN DIARIO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC ✂ LA PRENSA GRAFICA, EL SALVADOR ✂ LE FIGARO, FRANCE ✂ 24 SAATI, GEORGIA Supplemento a cura di: Alix Van Buren, SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, GERMANY ✂ ELEFTHEROTYPIA, GREECE ✂ PRENSA LIBRE, GUATEMALA ✂ THE ASIAN AGE, INDIA ✂ LA REPUBBLICA, ITALY ✂ ASAHI SHIMBUN, JAPAN ✂ EL NORTE, MURAL AND Francesco Malgaroli REFORMA, MEXICO ✂ LA PRENSA, PANAMA ✂ MANILA BULLETIN, PHILIPPINES ✂ ROMANIA LIBERA, ROMANIA ✂ NOVAYA GAZETA, RUSSIA ✂ TODAY, SINGAPORE ✂ DELO, SLOVENIA ✂ EL PAÍS, SPAIN UNITED DAILY NEWS, TAIWAN ✂ SABAH, TURKEY ✂ THE OBSERVER, UNITED KINGDOM ✂ THE KOREA TIMES, UNITED STATES ✂ NOVOYE RUSSKOYE SLOVO, UNITED STATES ✂ EL OBSERVADOR, URUGUAY

Repubblica NewYork MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010 III

WORLD TRENDS

NEWS ANALYSIS Suspicions of duplicity by Pakistan increased after a border crossing’s closing left NATO In Afghanistan, supply lines prey to attacks.

Haqqani is suspected of running much No Common Enemy of the insurgency around Kabul. It is allied with Al Qaeda and with leaders of the Afghan Taliban branch that an- By HELENE COOPER South Asia as revolving around the swers to Mullah Muhammad Omar. WASHINGTON — Can the United need to prevent the region from be- Western officials have blamed States ever succeed in the Afghani- coming a launching pad for terrorist the Haqqani network for the 2008 stan war if one of its two principal attacks on the United States and bombing of the Indian Embassy in allies mistrust each other? Indeed, American allies. Kabul, the kidnappings of the British can the war succeed if one of those That’s why, Mr. Obama says, journalist Sean Langan and the New two principal allies is in cahoots with American troops are in Afghanistan, York Times reporter David Rohde, the enemy? and that’s why the United States is and hundreds of attacks on American The enemy, of course, is the Tali- pushing the Pakistani government forces in Afghanistan. ban. And the allies are the Pakistani to act on its soil against militants like “The aims of the U.S. and Pakistan and Afghan governments. Troops the Afghan Taliban, Al Qaeda and the in Afghanistan,” says Shuja Nawaz, from both countries, as well as Haqqani network. That’s also why director of the South Asia Center at American forces, have been fight- American troops were engaged in the Atlantic Council, “are not congru- ing elements of the Taliban on their cross-border strikes. ent.” respective soils. That explains recent But Pakistan, for its part, defines Given all this, it might seem logical suspicions of such double-dealing, its national security interests as re- to focus on the Pakistan-India prob- spurred by the multiple attacks on volving around India. lem. NATO convoys that many blame on Every step that the Pakistani gov- But not so fast. the Pakistani government. ernment takes is seen through that “It’s unfixable,” said C. Christine In retaliation for American helicop- prism. If it is restraining itself against Fair, assistant professor at the Ed- ter strikes that killed three Pakistani the Taliban, that is because it fears mund A. Walsh School of Foreign border soldiers on September 30, the the day when a strong Afghanistan A. MAJEED/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES Service at Georgetown University in Pakistani government shut down a might align with India. It would be Washington, D.C. “That’s why we’ll border crossing used to supply the convenient for Pakistan if the Taliban And if the United States leaves, the Moeed W. Yusuf, a South Asia ad- be working on this for the next 50 Afghan war effort. That offered Tali- remained a force to prevent that. Pakistanis believe, it is only a matter viser at the United States Institute of years.” ban and Qaeda insurgents a golden What Pakistan wants most in Af- of time before the Afghan Taliban Peace, said: “Pakistan sees that any Professor Fair argues that because opportunity to blow up the NATO con- ghanistan is an assurance that India return to power. When they do, Islam- political settlement in Afghanistan India is on the ascent, the Indian gov- voys, and within a week, three major cannot use it to threaten Pakistan. abad wants to make sure that it has that does not include groups that are ernment has no reason to negotiate attacks destroyed dozens of trucks. For that, a radical Islamic movement kept in the Taliban’s good graces. friendly to Pakistan, like the Haqqani seriously with Pakistan over the host The incident has laid bare the fun- like the Taliban, with strong ties to Finally — again because of India network, will mean that Pakistan of issues that bedevil the two adver- damental challenge of the American- kin in Pakistan, is just what it needs. — the Pakistani government wants will have gotten the rough end of the saries now, when it will have more Pakistan alliance: When it comes to What’s more, the Pakistanis don’t to make sure that its historic allies, deal. It will not be able to ensure an power to wield later. Afghanistan, America and Pakistan believe that the United States will including the Afghan Taliban and the Afghanistan which does not allow “If there was an easy way out of have very different national security stay in Afghanistan, and Mr. Obama’s Haqqani network, will be deeply en- inroads to India.” this, someone would have figured it interests. announcement that he will begin a trenched in any efforts to reach a po- From its base in the frontier region out,” Professor Fair said. “But I don’t President Obama defines Ameri- pullout starting in July 2011 has exac- litical settlement that would involve near the Afghanistan-Pakistan bor- think it’s possible to untie this Gord- can national security interests in erbated that belief. power-sharing in Afghanistan. der, the network led by Sirajuddin ian knot.”

Strengthened Hezbollah Ready for Battles Ahead

By THANASSIS CAMBANIS There are other reasons that Hez- AITA AL SHAAB, Lebanon — It bollah officials say they are feeling David was from this shrub-ringed border emboldened. Hezbollah’s patrons in town that Hezbollah instigated its Iran appear to have regained control Thompson war with Israel in 2006, and support- after a year of internal challenges has rankled ers of the militant Shiite movement since the disputed June 2009 re- Thais with sound almost disappointed that they election of President Mahmoud Ah- his Bangkok have not fought since. madinejad. Hezbollah also proved eatery, “I was expecting the war this sum- it could quickly rebuild from the Nahm, in mer,” said Faris Jamil, a municipal last war, completing a lavish recon- which he official and business owner. “It’s struction project with hundreds of late.” He has yet to finish rebuilding millions in financing from Iran and claims to his house, destroyed by an Israeli donors in the Persian Gulf. champion bomb that year. Hezbollah rejoined Lebanon’s co- authentic In 2006, Hezbollah guerrillas alition government in 2008 as a full Thai crossed the border near the town cen- partner with veto power, a position cooking. ter, ambushed an Israeli patrol and of responsibility that many analysts CEDRIC ARNOLD FOR THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE retreated through Aita al Shaab with say should discourage any thoughts the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. of provoking a second destructive Hezbollah officials and support- war with Israel. Yet, because of the Thais Bristle as Australian Reinvents Their Cuisine ers said they were now sending a party’s ties to Iran and its powerful militia, Hezbollah officials say they are ready to fight even if a war would By THOMAS FULLER ceptionally tempestuous, too. The tastes are too pronounced — and it’s do widespread damage. BANGKOK — When an Australian Thai psyche has been battered by four drowning in spice.” On Israel’s border, a United Nations peacekeepers and chef had the audacity to declare that years of political factions dueling for Dinner at Nahm, which is in Bang- the Lebanese Army now patrol the he was on a mission to revive Thai cui- power, a political polarization settled kok’s Metropolitan hotel, starts with mix of fatalism and hilly, wooded border with Israel, sine, it was perceived by some here as with snipers and grenade attacks. tapas-like appetizers like a betel leaf and under the terms of the United a provocation. Mr. Thompson’s lack of modesty filled with the grapefruit-like pomelo, bravado prevails. Nations resolution that ended the David Thompson, who earned a Mi- comes across to some as yet another grilled prawns, toasted coconut and war, Hezbollah was supposed to chelin star for his cooking at Nahm, a indignity in Thailand’s annus hor- peanuts, all dressed with palm sugar demilitarize the area between the Thai restaurant in London, opened a ribilis. It wounds the pride of some and tamarind. Israeli border and the Litani River, a branch of the acclaimed restaurant in Thais that Nahm in London was the Salad selections include one made pointed message to Israel through distance of about 29 kilometers. But Bangkok last month, declaring that from grilled chicken, mint, leaves from their efforts to rebuild, repopulate several independent Lebanese mili- Thai cooking is “decaying.” the mango-related hog plum, lemon- and rearm the south. tary analysts say that Hezbollah has “I’m striving for authenticity, that’s grass, red chilis and sweet chili paste. “We are not sleeping,” said Ali expanded its forces substantially my primary goal,” he said. In an already bad After an assortment of curries, Fayyad, a Hezbollah official and Par- enough to pose a major challenge to Foreigners cannot possibly mas- soups and stir-fried dishes there is liament member. “We are working.” an invading Israeli force. ter the complex and subtle balance of year, Thai cooks are durian, the odoriferous but treasured He receives visitors every weekend Along the border, a mixture of fa- ingredients required for the perfect Southeast Asian fruit, mixed with in a family home in Taibe, the site of talism and bravado prevails. Just curry or chili paste, Thais believe. upstaged by outsiders. sticky rice and coconut milk. a deadly tank battle in 2006. up the hill from the Israeli ham- “When someone comes along and Mr. Thompson, 50, has been coming Four years later, Hezbollah seems lets of Avivim and Yir’on, an Ira- presents himself as the spokesman of to Thailand on and off since 1986. He to be calculating either that an ag- nian flag flutters on the ledge of the Thai cuisine it’s like Osama bin Laden speaks and reads Thai and his part- gressive military posture might newly opened Iran Park in Marun going to the Vatican and saying he is first Thai restaurant to win a Michelin ner, Tanongsak Yordwai, 51, who also deter another war or that a conflict, al Ras, the Lebanese village where the high authority on Catholicism,” star. The second Thai restaurant with cooks in the restaurant, is Thai. should it come, would on balance for- Israel fought one of its first battles said Bob Halliday, a Bangkok-based that honor, Kiin Kiin, is in Copenhagen The highest compliment he has re- tify its domestic political standing. in 2006. food writer. and also opened a Bangkok branch in ceived came from the wife of a Thai According to Hassan Nasrallah, “This will be the first place the Is- “Politics is peace and love compared September. government official who dined at the group’s leader, Hezbollah has in- raelis destroy during the next war,” to what happens in the Thai cooking Nutchanand Osathanond, a food en- Nahm in London. After finishing her creased its missile stocks to 40,000, said Jihan Muselmani, 35, who was world,” Mr. Halliday added. thusiast who divides her time between meal she was leaving the restaurant compared with 13,000 during the 2006 preparing a picnic with her family. Politics, of course, have been ex- Paris and Bangkok, recently tried a with a dour expression. war; Israeli defense officials do not Rabab Haidar, 28, said, “Even if dozen dishes at Nahm in Bangkok. “I came here to complain,” she said, dispute the estimate. (In 2006, Hez- they destroy it, we will build it up Poypiti Amatatham contributed “I can’t tell you why it’s not authen- according to Mr. Thompson. “But I bollah fired about 4,000 missiles.) again.” reporting. tic, but it’s not,” she said. “Some of the can’t.”

Repubblica NewYork IV MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010

WORLD TRENDS China’s Brisk Ascent Imperiled by Fraud

By ANDREW JACOBS BEIJING — China devotes significant resources to building a world- class education system and to pioneer- ing research in competitive industries and sciences. But dishonesty among researchers and academics is hinder- ing the nation’s potential and harming collaboration between Chinese scholars and their international counter- parts, scholars in China and abroad say. Two recent revelations have been bracing. After a plane crash in August killed 42 people in northeast China, officials discovered that 100 pilots who worked for the airline’s parent company had falsified their flying histo- ries. Then there was the exaggerated résumé of Tang Jun, the millionaire former head of Microsoft China and something of a national hero, who HIROKO TABUCHI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES falsely claimed to have received a doc- DU BIN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Japan is searching for ways to become less reliant on China for rare earth materials . Utaro Sekiya, torate from the California Institute of Fang Shimin has exposed more manager at the Dowa recycling factory in Kosaka, inspects used motherboards. Technology. than 900 cases of fraud in China. “If we don’t change our ways, we will be excluded from the global academic community,” said Zhang Ming, papers published. Japan Mines Gold From Used Electronics a professor of international relations “Even fake papers count because at Renmin University in Beijing. “We nobody actually reads them,” said Mr. need to focus on seeking truth, not Fang whose Web site, New Threads, Continued from Page I used electronics in Japan hold an cheap and readily available ferrite serving the agenda of some bureau- has exposed more than 900 instances estimated 270,000 metric tons of magnets, instead of the rare earth crat or satisfying the desire for per- of fakery, some involving university earths as a buffer against trade in- rare earths. Though that amount is magnets typically required. Hitachi sonal profit.” presidents and top researchers. terruptions and said he would ask tiny compared to reserves in Chi- Metals, meanwhile, is working on Pressure on scholars by state-run When plagiarism is exposed, the the government to include a “rare na, which mines 93 percent of the a magnet that minimizes the use of universities to earn journal citations accused is often protected. Mr. Fang earth strategy” in its supplementary world’s rare earth minerals, tapping rare earths by employing copper al- has produced a deluge of plagiarized said this was partly because preserv- budget for this year. these urban mines could help reduce loys. or fabricated research. In December, a ing relationships trumped protecting And experts say that some manu- Japan’s dependence on China, ana- “Japanese companies have be- British journal announced that it was the reputation of the institution. But facturers have been stockpiling rare lysts say. come painfully aware of the risks of withdrawing more than 70 papers by another reason, he said, is sobering: earths, building inventories rang- Heightened interest in alterna- relying so greatly on China for stra- Chinese authors whose research was Few academics are clean enough to ing from a few months’ to a year’s tive sources has been an impetus to tegic metals,” said Akio Shibata, of questionable originality or rigor. point a finger at others. worth. plans to reopen or establish new rare chief representative at the Marubeni In an editorial published earlier this One result is that plagiarizers often In Kosaka, Dowa Holdings, the earth mines in a handful of countries Research Institute in Tokyo. year, The Lancet, the British medical go unpunished, which only encourages company that mined here for over a around the world, including South Various players have tried to journal, warned that faked or plagia- more of it, said Zeng Guoping, director century, has built a recycling plant Africa, Australia, Canada and the recycle rare earths and metals in rized research posed a threat to Presi- of the Institute of Science Technology whose 60-meter-tall furnace renders Japan. Last year, Hitachi began to dent Hu Jintao’s vow to make China and Society at Tsinghua University in old electronics parts into a molten experiment to extract rare earths a “research superpower” by 2020. Beijing, which helped run the survey stew from which valuable metals from magnets in old computer hard “Clearly, China’s government needs to of 6,000 academics. and other minerals can be extract- In recycled gadgets, drives, though the company said the take this episode as a cue to reinvigo- Many educators say the culture of ed. The salvaged parts come from project was not expected to go into rate standards for teaching research cheating takes root in high school, around Japan and overseas. a path to national operation until 2013. ethics and for the conduct of the re- where the competition for slots in the Besides gold, Dowa’s subsidiary, But it is Dowa, the company that search itself,” the editorial said. country’s best colleges is unrelenting Kosaka Smelting and Refining, self-sufficiency. has mined in Kosaka since 1884, that In a recent government study, a and high marks on standardized tests has so far successfully reclaimed has emerged as the field’s early lead- third of the 6,000 scientists at six of the are the most important criterion for rare metals like indium, used in er. And it could not come a moment China’s top institutions admitted they admission. Pre-written essays and liquid-crystal display screens, and too soon for this town of 6,000, which had engaged in plagiarism or the fab- test questions can be bought. So, too, antimony, used in silicon wafers United States. is littered with the remnants of its rication of research data. In another can a “hired gun” test taker who will for semiconductors. The company The Japanese trading company old ore mines that went out of busi- study of 32,000 scientists last year by assume the student’s identity for the is also trying to develop ways to re- Sojitz is negotiating the rights to a ness in 1990 due to a surging yen and the China Association for Science and grueling two-day college entrance claim the harder-to-mine minerals rare earth mine in Vietnam, while international competition. Though Technology, more than 55 percent said exam. included among the rare earths — the industrial conglomerate Sumito- Dowa does not disclose the finances they knew someone guilty of academic Lu, an engineering student who like neodymium, a vital element in mo plans to work with Kazakhstan’s of its Kosaka recycling operations, fraud. graduated from Tsinghua University, industrial batteries used in electric government to recover rare earth el- the company says that after a year Fang Shimin, a writer who has considered a plum of the country’s col- motors, and dysprosium, used in la- ements from uranium ore residues. of operating at a low capacity, the become a well-known advocate for lege system, said it was common for ser materials. Japan is also pushing for new factory now turns a profit. academic integrity, said the problem students to cheat. Although Japan is poor in natural manufacturing processes that do not “It’s about time Japan started pay- started with the state-run university “Perhaps it’s a cultural difference resources, the National Institute for require rare earths. Last month, the ing more attention to recycling rare system, where politically appointed but there is nothing bad or embarrass- Materials Science, a government- government-affiliated New Energy earths,” said Utaro Sekiya, the man- bureaucrats have little expertise in ing about it,” said Mr. Lu, who request- affiliated research group, says that and Industrial Technology Devel- ager of Dowa’s recycling plant. “If the fields they oversee. Because com- ed anonymity. opment Organization, or N.E.D.O., we can become a leader in this field, petition for grants, perks and career “It’s not that students can’t do the Keith Bradsher contributed report- announced that it had developed a perhaps China will be the one com- advancement is so intense, officials work. They just see it as a way of sav- ing from Hong Kong. motor for hybrid vehicles that used ing to us to buy our technology.” base their decisions on the number of ing time.”

panies like the Fox Entertainment In HTML 5’s impressive New Internet Code Poses New Privacy Risks Group and NBC Universal, and technology companies like Clearspring capabilities, critics have Con tin ued from Page I new Web language would include a by some as “extremely persistent” or Technologies and Quantcast, of vio- public review. “There is accountabil- even “horrific.” lating users’ privacy by tracking their spied a Pandora’s box. ping carts before they are bought. ity,” he said. “This is not a secret cabal Mr. Kamkar said he did not create online activities even after they took The new Web language and its addi- for global adoption of these core stan- it to violate anyone’s privacy. He said steps to prevent that. tional features present more tracking dards.” he was curious about how advertisers Most people control their online pri- opportunities because the technology The additional capabilities provided tracked him on the Internet. vacy by adjusting settings in today’s ogy officer at Opera, a browser com- uses a process in which large amounts by the new Web language are already After cataloging what he found on most common Web browsers. pany, said it worries that the privacy of data can be collected and stored on being put to use by Samy Kamkar, a his computer, he made the Evercookie Each browser has different privacy settings it develops could be too strict. the user’s hard drive while online. Be- California programmer best known in to demonstrate just how thoroughly settings, but not all of them have obvi- For example, he said, Opera once tried cause of that process, advertisers and some circles for creating a virus called people’s computers could be infiltrat- ous settings for removing data created to put more controls on certain types others could, experts say, see weeks the “Samy Worm,” which took down ed by the latest Internet technology. by the new Web language. of cookies, but users in Russia com- or even months of personal data. That MySpace.com in 2005. “I think it’s O.K. for them to say “Now there are so many sources of plained that the controls prevented a could include a user’s location, time Mr. Kamkar has now created a we want to provide better service,” data storage, it’s very hard for brows- popular social networking site from zone, photographs, blogs, shopping cookie that is not easily deleted, even Mr. Kamkar said of advertisers who er manufacturers to handle that,” Mr. working properly. carts, e-mails and Web pages vis- by experts — something he calls an placed tracking cookies on his com- Cox said. But software developers and the ited. Evercookie. puter. “However, I should also be able Mr. Kamkar and privacy experts say representatives of the World Wide Pam Dixon, the executive director Some observers call it a “supercook- to opt out because it is my computer.” that makers of Web browsers should Web argue that as technology advanc- of the World Privacy Forum in Califor- ie” because it stores information in at Mr. Kamkar has made the code open agree on one control for eliminating all es, consumers have to balance its fea- nia, said: “HTML 5 opens a Pandora’s least 10 places on a computer, far more to anyone who wants to examine it and tracking capabilities at once. tures against their privacy. box of tracking in the Internet.” than usually found. says the cookie should be used “as a “There should be simple enough “You can do more, but you need to be Ian Jacobs, head of communications Combining traditional tracking litmus test for preventing tracking.” controls to take care of every single aware of how your information might at the World Wide Web Consortium, tools with new features that come with A recent spate of class-action law- thing,” said Ms. Dixon. be used or misused,” Mr. Jacobs said. said the development process for the the new Web language, it’s described suits have accused large media com- Hakon Wium Lie, the chief technol- “It’s the human questions.”

Repubblica NewYork MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010 V

MONEY & BUSINESS India’s Rich Told to Back Profit Makers Who Help the Poor

By VIKAS BAJAJ using his SKS profits to set up MUMBAI, India — Vinod a new venture fund that will Khosla, the billionaire venture invest in companies that fit his capitalist and co-founder of Sun model of profitable poverty Microsystems, was already alleviation. He has already in- among the world’s richest men vested in MokshaYug Access, when he invested a few years which sets up milk collection ago in SKS Microfinance, a and chilling plants in India to lender to poor women in India. help dairy farmers. The com- But the roaring success of pany says it helps farmers re- SKS’s recent initial public stock microfinance — the business duce transportation costs and offering in Mumbai has made of giving small loans to poor get higher prices for their milk him richer by about $117 million entrepreneurs, of which SKS than they can with local dis- — money he says he plans to Microfinance is a notable prac- tributors. plow back into other ventures titioner. Experts say commercial that aim to fight poverty while Besides Mr. Khosla, entre- companies play an important also trying to turn a profit. preneurs like Pierre Omidyar, role in combating poverty by And he says he wants to chal- a co-founder of eBay, and Ste- creating jobs. But they say lenge other rich Indians to do phen M. Case, a founder of these “social enterprises,” as more to help their country’s America Online, have started they are sometimes known, poor. funds that aim to do well and cannot be solely relied upon to By backing businesses that do good by catering to people address the many entrenched provide education loans or dis- at the so-called bottom of the causes of poverty. tribute solar panels in villages, pyramid. Moreover, as the fallout from Mr. Khosla says he wants to But Mr. Khosla, 55, who the global financial crisis has show that commercial entities moved to the United States KAINAZ AMARIA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES; LEFT, MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS made clear, the profit-maximiz- can better help people in pov- from India as a graduate stu- Vinod Khosla, far left, is a founder of Sun Microsystems who promotes Indian social ing tendencies of businesses erty than most nonprofit agen- dent in 1976, has another mo- enterprises that turn a profit. Women’s slippers pile up outside a loan repayment meeting can hurt society, said Phil Bu- cies. tive. He wants to goad other at a microfinance firm in a Mumbai suburb. chanan, president for the Cen- “There needs to be more ex- rich Indians into giving away ter for Effective Philanthropy, periments in building sustain- more of their wealth. a research organization based able businesses going after the Forbes estimates that In- been a mainstay for some In- ting their money into real pro- lending as a commercial com- in Cambridge, Massachusetts. market for the poor,” he said. “It dia now has 69 billionaires, up dian business families like the grams, which will have real im- pany in 2006. It now has 6.8 mil- Mr. Khosla says he is not has to be done in a sustainable from seven in 2000, but only a Tatas and for technology en- pact on poverty alleviation.” lion customers and a loan port- completely opposed to chari- way. There is not enough mon- few have set up large charities, trepreneurs like Aziz Premji of Mr. Khosla has invested in folio of 43 billion rupees ($940 ties but is generally skeptical ey to be given away in the world endowments or venture capital Wipro, the Bangalore outsourc- commercial microfinance lend- million). that nongovernmental organi- to make the poor well off.” funds. ing firm. But many others have ers and has donated to nonprof- By contrast, CashPor, a non- zations can accomplish much Some nonprofit experts say “It surprises me that in India given very little. it ones, and he said that money- profit Indian lender to which because they tend to drift away commercial social enterprises there is not a tradition of large- Rich Indians “are more into making versions had grown Mr. Khosla has also given mon- from what their donors wanted have significant limitations scale giving and helping to temple building and things like much faster and reached many ey, has 417,000 borrowers and them to do. and pose conflicts of interest. solve social problems and set a that,” said Samit Ghosh, the more needy borrowers. a portfolio of 2.7 billion rupees “I am relatively negative on But proponents like Mr. Kho- social model,” Mr. Khosla said. chief executive of Ujjivan Fi- He said he wanted to help ($58 million) even though it most N.G.O.’s and their effec- sla draw inspiration from the Charitable activities and nancial, a microlender based create a new generation of com- started operations in 1996. tiveness,” he said. “I am not astounding global growth of venture capital investing have in Bangalore, “rather than put- panies like SKS, which started Mr. Khosla said he will be negative on their intentions.”

Dubai Keeps In Japan, Deep Fear Over China’s Deep Pockets

Building, By HIROKO TABUCHI MISASA, Japan — A plan by Chi- nese real estate developers to invest in this little mountain town has opened a But More window onto a Japanese crisis of con- fidence. For locals here, the planned devel- Soberly Now LEE HOAGLAND FOR opment — vacation homes for rich Chi- THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE nese — is a welcome infusion of capital A billboard on the outskirts of into a town that has been in decline By LIZ ALDERMAN Dubai shows members of the since the 1980s. DUBAI — The planned replica of royal family. But seen from elsewhere in Japan, the Las Vegas Strip and a glow-in- the investment is a land grab that the-dark copy of a Giza pyramid are threatens the country’s pristine for- now delayed. But only a few kilome- with disaster, the economy here still ests and streams, and a chilling re- ters away, workers are busy on a se- stands out as the most globally inte- minder of the expanding shadow cast ries of government-backed projects grated in the Middle East. by China, which recently surpassed of a far more practical nature. But it is curbing some of its past Japan to become the world’s second- A hulking “aerotropolis” — nearly excesses. largest economy after the United twice the size of London’s Heathrow “There’s a new injection of con- States. Airport — is rising from Dubai’s servatism in Dubai,” said Steven “Targeted by Foreign Money? sands, designed to fan cargo and Blackwell, an independent Middle Japan’s Forests for Sale,” was the HIRO KOMAE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES people toward neighboring cities East expert. warning title of a news program last Some Japanese say Chinese investment threatens national security. A that are expected to boom in the Dubai’s economy is almost entire- month. development site for rich Chinese in Misasa. next decade. ly service-based, virtually devoid A fear that “China money” is buying Highways are expanding to speed of manufacturing or agriculture or up the homeland is spreading across goods to the airport from ships at the oil income, which makes it highly this nation, fanned by news reports and nese enterprises, taking advantage of the purchases raise the specter of nearby Jebel Ali seaport, the Middle dependent on global trends in trade, a general anxiety over Tokyo’s fading depressed asset prices, according to a China’s gaining control of the cher- East’s largest, toward even faster banking and tourism. economic prowess and an increasingly recent report from Goldman Sachs. ished hinterlands. delivery routes by air. And a subway A huge oversupply has led to a col- hostile wealthy neighbor. The amount The figure represents a sixfold in- Japan’s logging industry is in de- system is spreading across town, lapse in real estate prices outside of money invested is still small by Chi- crease from the comparable period cline, as the country has been flooded amid hopes that people will flock the core business district — even as na’s standards, but seems to be setting last year. China is also now Japan’s with cheap imported timber. As a re- once again to this city as the global skyscraper forests going up on the off an outsize reaction among the Japa- biggest trading partner. sult, forest real estate prices are now economy revives. edge of town seem likely to further nese. “We shouldn’t think it a bad thing extremely low. Chastened after an extravagance- depress prices and weigh down any Tokyo’s recent retreat over the ar- that foreign investors are recogniz- In January, the Tokyo Foundation, fueled debt crisis last year at Dubai economic recovery. rest of a Chinese trawler captain, and ing value in Japan,” said Kazuhiko a respected independent research or- World, the state-run investment gi- The International Monetary Fund China’s suspension of shipments of Masumoto, an analyst in Tokyo. ganization, warned that foreign bro- ant, Dubai is getting back to basics. predicted that the Dubai economy vital industrial metals and minerals But Japan’s finance ministry has kers could threaten Japan’s national Glamorous whimsies like a giant would shrink by 0.5 percent this to Japan have also put many Japanese seemed slow to agree. security. artificial island shaped like a palm year after a 2.5 percent contraction on edge. In September, Yoshihiko Noda, “If we wait until the exploitation of tree are giving way to more prag- in 2009. “I’m all for closer ties with China, the finance minister, asked Chinese Japan’s natural resources by global matic priorities meant to revive For all its excesses, Dubai, with its but we need to be on our guard,” said policy makers to “clarify their objec- interests is well under way,” its report Dubai’s status as the dominant trad- unsustainable building frenzy that Hideki Hirano, author of “Japan’s For- tives” after recent bulk purchases of said, “it may be too late.” ing hub between the industrially ad- ended in such a spectacular bust, is ests Under Siege: How Foreign Capital Japanese government bonds. Tokyo Since then, local news media have vanced West and the oil-rich Middle now positioned well ahead of other Threatens Our Water Source.” Here in was concerned that the buying was been sounding alarms, including a East. Gulf states, including Abu Dhabi. Misasa, however, nationalist rhetoric is helping to drive up the yen’s value report, which turned out to be false, “While the world was languishing Nearly all the world’s corporate often tempered by pragmatism. — making Japan’s exports less com- of the sale of 23 hectares of forest to a in recession, Dubai didn’t pause for giants have established their Middle “Rich Chinese spend money in ways petitive with China’s. But bowing to Chinese broker. an instant in building an airport and East headquarters here. that no longer exist in Japan,” said economic realities, Finance Ministry But whatever the wisdom of selling a huge network of logistics,” said Jim “Dubai has the best infrastruc- Kiyomi Kawakami, a developer who officials have since played down the to rich Chinese, Japan could use the Krane, author of “City of Gold,” a his- ture of any city in the Middle East,” plans to build 47 luxury homes with conflict. cash. tory of Dubai. “So when the recovery said Jan Willem Plantagie, the partners from Shanghai. But reports of Chinese snapping “People warn me not to sell land to comes to the global economy, they Middle East manager at Standard Chinese companies spent $120 mil- up Japanese land have struck a raw the Chinese,” said Mr. Kawakami, should be ready.” and Poor’s. “This is not the end for lion in the first half of this year to ac- nerve. About 70 percent of Japan’s the developer. “But I run a business. Despite Dubai’s recent brush Dubai.” quire various small and midsize Japa- landmass is mountainous forest, and If somebody’s buying, I’m selling.”

Repubblica NewYork VI MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Teaching Semantics A machine that not only understands, it can To a Learning Computer correct its own mistakes.

By STEVE LOHR ning is an American football player Few challenges in computing loom (category). The Indianapolis Colts is a tem like this works much better if you larger than understanding the mean- football team (category). By scanning force it to learn many things, hundreds ing of language. One reason is that text patterns, NELL can infer that at once,” he said. semantics, the meaning of words and Peyton Manning plays for the India- For example, the text-phrase “I phrases, hinges not only on context, napolis Colts. “Plays for” is a relation, climbed XXX” often occurs with a but also on background knowledge and there are 280 kinds of relations. mountain. But when NELL reads that humans learn over the years. The number of categories and rela- “I climbed stairs,” it has previously Researchers at Carnegie Mellon tions will steadily expand. learned that “stairs” belongs to the University in Pittsburgh have been The facts are continuously added to category “building part.” “It self- fine-tuning a computer system that is NELL’s growing database. A larger corrects when it has more informa- trying to master semantics by learn- pool of facts, Dr. Mitchell says, will tion, as it learns more,” Dr. Mitchell ing more like a human. help refine its learning algorithms so JEFF SWENSEN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES explained. “For all the advances in computer that it finds facts more accurately over Computers are being designed to comprehend language the way humans NELL still needs human help. When science, we still don’t have a computer time. do. The team of the Never-Ending Language Learning system, or NELL. Dr. Mitchell scanned the “baked that can learn as humans do, cumu- NELL is one project in a widening goods” category recently, he noticed latively, over the long term,” said the field. Many of these efforts tap the that initially there was a clear pattern. team’s leader, Tom M. Mitchell, a com- Web as a rich trove of text to assemble help,” said Oren Etzioni, a computer classify text phrases from the Web, But things went awry after NELL’s puter scientist and chairman of the formal descriptions of concepts and scientist at the University of Wash- and look for patterns and correlations. noun-phrase classifier decided “In- machine learning department. relationships to help computers mimic ington. For example, when the computer sys- ternet cookies” was a baked good. (Its The Never-Ending Language human understanding. The potential applications of com- tem reads the phrase “Pikes Peak,” database apparently lacked the knowl- Learning system, or NELL, has made For example, I.B.M.’s “question puters that understand language it studies the structure — two words, edge to correct the mistake.) an impressive showing. NELL scans answering” machine, Watson, shows range from smarter search to virtual each beginning with a capital letter, NELL had read the sentence “I de- hundreds of millions of Web pages for remarkable semantic understanding personal assistants that can answer and the last word is Peak. That struc- leted my Internet cookies.” So when text patterns that it uses to learn facts, in fields like history, literature and questions. ture alone might make it probable that it read “I deleted my files,” it decided 390,000 to date, with an estimated ac- sports. Google Squared, a research “The technology is really matur- Pikes Peak is a mountain. But NELL “files” was probably a baked good, curacy of 87 percent. These facts are project at the Internet search giant, ing, and will increasingly be used will also mine for text phrases that too. “It started this whole avalanche grouped into semantic categories demonstrates ample grasp of seman- to gain understanding,” said Alfred surround Pikes Peak and similar noun of mistakes,” Dr. Mitchell said. He cor- — cities, sports teams, actors, plants tic categories as it finds and presents Spector, vice president of research phrases repeatedly. rected the Internet cookies error and and 276 others. The category facts are information from around the Web. for Google. NELL, Dr. Mitchell explains, is de- restarted NELL’s bakery education. things like “San Francisco is a city” Still, the Carnegie Mellon approach With NELL, the researchers built a signed to deal with words in different His ideal, Dr. Mitchell said, was a and “sunflower is a plant.” stands out. “What’s exciting and sig- base of knowledge, seeding each cate- contexts, by deploying a hierarchy of computer that could learn without hu- NELL also learns facts that are re- nificant about it is the continuous gory or relation with 10 to 15 examples rules to resolve ambiguity. This kind man assistance. “We’re not there yet,” lations between members of two cat- learning, as if NELL is exercising cu- that are true. of nuanced judgment tends to confuse he said. “But you and I don’t learn in egories. For example, Peyton Man- riosity on its own, with little human Then NELL’s programs extract and computers. “But as it turns out, a sys- isolation either.”

Brain Time Appears to Heal Feedback Our Lapses in Morality

To Help By BENEDICT CAREY catalog of bad and good behavior, as She had every reason to start steal- well as a rough guide to what people ing, or so it seemed at the time. A consider most shameful. The most Ailing Minds young daughter at home. Sickly, de- common bad acts were also some of pendent in-laws. No savings or decent the most regretted: stealing, followed income. And here she was working at a by cheating (whether on a romantic By KATHERINE ELLISON large department store that was pull- partner or on a test) and lying. You sit in a chair, facing a computer ing in the cash. Who would miss a few To complete the study, the partici- screen, with electrodes attached items here and there, a jacket, some pants returned weeks later and rated to your scalp with a viscous goop. cosmetics? each of their own tales on a variety of Wires from the sensors connect to a “I knew it was wrong and I knew I scales, including the emotions they computer programmed to respond to would probably get caught,” said the felt at the time and the estimated your brain’s activity. thief, a woman who recently recounted date when the episode happened. Af- Try to relax and focus. If your brain her 1980s spree to researchers study- ter correcting for age at the time of behaves as desired, you’ll be encour- ing moral choices. “After that, I really memories (in other words, trying to aged with soothing sounds and visual made up my mind that I was going to take account of the lunacy of youth) treats, like images of exploding stars get my life together and get on track.” the researchers identified a clear pat- or a flowering field. If not, you’ll get In recent years psychologists have tern: people dated their memories of silence, a darkening screen and wilt- TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES exposed the many ways that people moral failings about 10 years earlier, ing flora. At $3,000 for a course of treatment, neurofeedback helps patients subconsciously massage their moral on average, than their memories of This is neurofeedback, a kind of train their thoughts to counter neurological ills. self-image. Now, scientists are begin- good deeds. biofeedback for the brain, which ning to learn how, in piecing together “The main finding is that if I ask practitioners say can address a host a life story, the mind nudges moral you to tell me about a positive moral of neurological ills — such as atten- Health in Washington recently spon- EEG, as brain waves with different lapses back in time and shunts good memory, you’ll tell me something re- tion deficit hyperactivity disorder, sored its first study of neurofeedback frequencies. deeds forward — creating, in effect, a cent,” said Jessica R. Escobedo, who autism, depression and anxiety — by for A.D.H.D.: a randomized, con- Neurofeedback practitioners say doctored autobiography. Recognizing wrote a paper on the study with Ralph allowing patients to alter their own trolled trial of 36 subjects. people have problems when their this tendency in oneself, psychologists Adolphs. “If I ask you to tell me about brain waves through practice and In an interview in the summer, the brain wave frequencies aren’t suited say, can both reduce the risk of laps- bad moral memory, you’re going to repetition. study’s director, Dr. L. Eugene Ar- for the task at hand, or when parts of ing into middle-aged sanctimony and give me something from much further The procedure is controversial nold, an emeritus professor of psychi- the brain aren’t communicating ad- increase moral vigilance for when it in the past.” and expensive. An average course of atry at Ohio State University, noted equately with other parts. These is- matters most: the present. Dr. Adolphs and Dr. Escobedo argue treatment, with at least 30 sessions, that there had been “quite a bit of im- sues, they say, can be represented on “We can’t make up the past, but the that to talk about moral lapses at all, can cost $3,000 or more, and few provement” in many of the children’s a “brain map,” the initial EEG read- brain has difficulty placing events in people first needed time to reimagine American health insurers will pay behavior, as reported by parents and ings that serve as a guide for treat- time, and we’re able to shift elements themselves as having evolved. for it. Still, it appears to be growing teachers. Dr. Arnold said that if the ment. around,” said Anne E. Wilson, a so- “People honestly view their past in in popularity. Others doubt it works results bore out that neurofeedback Subsequently, a clinician will help cial psychologist at Wilfrid Laurier a morally critical light, but at the same at all. was making the difference, he would a patient learn to slow down or speed University in Waterloo, Ontario. “The time they tend to emphasize that they William E. Pelham Jr., director of seek financing for a broader study, up those brain waves, through a pro- result is that we can create a personal have been improving,” the authors the Center for Children and Fami- with as many as 100 subjects. cess known as operant conditioning. history that, if not perfect, makes us concluded. lies at Florida International Univer- Neurofeedback was developed in The brain begins by generating feel we’re getting better and better.” Other researchers note that many sity, called neurofeedback “crackpot the 1960s and ’70s. In 1968, M. Barry fairly random patterns, while the Neuroscientists at the California unpleasant events feel more distant charlatanism.” He warned that exag- Sterman, a neuroscientist at the Uni- computer software responds with Institute of Technology in Pasadena than they actually are, not just mor- gerated claims might lead parents to versity of California, Los Angeles, re- encouragement whenever the activ- recruited 100 people, ages 40 to 60, to ally charged ones. But the mind seems favor it over proven options like be- ported that the treatment helped cats ity meets the target. participate in what was described as a particularly prone to backdating when havioral therapy and medication. resist epileptic seizures. John Kounios, a professor of psy- memory study. In response to dozens it comes to cruel, greedy or cowardly But Cynthia Kerson, executive di- Dr. Sterman later claimed to have chology at Drexel University in Phil- of prompts, they poured out memo- acts — the physical evidence people rector of the International Society achieved similar benefits with peo- adelphia, published a small study in ries. weigh against stand-up deeds to judge for Neurofeedback and Research, an ple. 2007 suggesting that the treatment One person confessed to poaching a whether they are as good as their par- advocacy group for practitioners, es- A major attraction of neurofeed- speeded cognitive processing in el- pad of memo notes from an employer, ents told them they were. timates that 7,500 mental health pro- back is the hope that it can help pa- derly people. another to stealing books while grow- “The weirdest thing about reading fessionals in the United States now tients avoid drugs. Patients practice “There’s no question that neu- ing up poor in Mexico. A third admit- about all these bad moral choices,” Dr. offer neurofeedback and that more routines that seem more like exer- rofeedback works, that people can ted cheating on her husband. A former Escobedo said, “is that it makes you than 100,000 Americans have tried it cising a muscle. Brain cells com- change brain activity,” he said. “The drug addict recalled holding a knife to kind of feel good about yourself. Just over the past decade. municate with one another, in part, big questions we still haven’t an- a man’s throat in a robbery. (“I just re- seeing how everyone makes mistakes The treatment is also gaining at- through a constant storm of electri- swered are precisely how it works member that rush — it gave me a sense and regrets not doing what was mor- tention from mainstream research- cal impulses. Their patterns show and how it can be harnessed to treat of great power.”) ally right: it makes you feel more at- ers. The National Institute of Mental up on an electroencephalogram, or disorders.” The database provides a detailed tached to humanity.”

Repubblica NewYork MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010 VII

LIVING: BOUNDARIES In the Cubicle, Toilet Paper and Talking

The corner office has become the out from. toilet office. In many ways, the anxiety sur- From speaking on cordless phones rounding cellphone conduct mirrors at home to texting a colleague during the period of a century ago when the The Secret a break at work, from updating your telephone was becoming widely ad- Facebook status at a opted. family dinner to con- Claude S. Fischer, a sociologist at BRUCE firming a staff meeting the University of California, Berkeley, Is Exposed during a date, the rest- and the author of “America Calling: FEILER room, long home to the A Social History of the Telephone to most private of human 1940,” said that telephone companies Online ESSAY acts, has become less originally discouraged people from a place to powder your using the phone for social conversa- nose and more a place to work. tions at all. By NOAM COHEN In August, a legal intern working Upscale hotels have long had bath- After 58 continuous years of for the defense team in a North Caro- room telephones, a legacy of luxury performances in London, the lina murder trial was caught discuss- travel traditions where guests doing surprise ending of the Agatha ing the case over a cellphone in the their ablutions could not be expected Christie play “The Mousetrap” restroom while jurors were present. to reach a ringing phone on the far has been largely preserved by The judge barred her from the court- side of the suite. Bathroom phones the estimated 10 million people room. have been a condition for achieving who have seen the play. In July, Geveryl Robinson wrote in four or five stars by ratings groups, There is one notable exception: my hometown paper, The Savannah said Dean Compoginis, the chief Wikipedia. The online encyclope- (Georgia) Morning News, about ask- executive of Bittel Americas, which dia, in a single sentence, reveals ing her 100-year-old grandmother specializes in the product. He expects the killer. what invention had most amazed her. the requirement to be dropped in the In an age of information over- The cellphone, her grandmother said. coming years as cellphones have ob- load, it is getting harder to pre- “I’m amazed that people talk while viated the need. serve mystery and surprise in they’re on the toilet. Are they the “What happens in periods of large entertainment. president of the United States?” social change is that people adapt the Olympics results are reported And on a recent TV episode of “En- new technology to fit their priorities,” via Twitter before they are shown tourage” on HBO, the superagent Ari Dr. Fischer said. With the telephone, on television, and TV show plots Gold is forced by his therapist to go far from destroying social cohesion, are revealed by people on the set on a cellphone-free date with his wife the public believed the telephone was or Web sites. when he spots a rival and is overcome advancing it. “A similar transition is “It’s hard to argue that there with an urge to call her. He races to under way today,” he said. is an intellectual or academic the restroom and reaches behind the Michael T. Sykes, of the nonprofit reason for getting deeply into the toilet bowl, where his assistant has Scripps Research Institute in Cali- secrets of a movie that the vast taped his BlackBerry. fornia, started a Web site called the majority of the public has not had

The scene is an homage to an iconic RICH HIBNER International Center for Bathroom access to,” said Andrew Jarecki, moment in “The Godfather” in which Etiquette in 1995. He said rules gov- whose 2003 documentary, “Cap- Michael Corleone reaches behind a “A lot of our ideas about social erning telephone use are one of the toilet in an Italian-American restau- interaction prioritize face-to-face top questions on his site. rant and retrieves a revolver, which Using a very private interaction,” he said. “But mediated “In public restrooms, I’m 100 per- he then uses to kill a rival. interaction can also enhance human cent against talking on the phone,” Shows strive for Now that working in the water clos- place for social connections.” If I slip into the boys’ he said. “Short of your wife going into et has come out of the closet, people interaction. room at a dinner party to text my wife labor, there’s really no good reason surprise; the Web are trying to determine the rules for that I’ll be late or to check whether to be answering the phone in a public this new genre of social etiquette. In my daughter has returned from the bathroom. Bathroom etiquette is thrives on exposure. recent weeks I’ve heard white-haired movies, Dr. Ling said, I deserve credit about other people, and nobody wants lawyers confess to the flush and run. for not disrupting my hosts’ dinner to listen to your phone conversation.” I’ve heard teenagers correct them ogy at the IT University of Copen- party, while also reinforcing my own At home, however, he supports the by saying, “That’s why God invented hagen, studies the transition from family ties. custom, as long as your interlocutor turing the Friedmans,” also con- the mute button.” A newlywed admit- old technologies to new. In his book, Dr. Ling said the message is clear: doesn’t know or isn’t offended. “I tained crucial plot twists. Wiki- ted he pretends to go to the restroom “New Tech, New Ties,” he argues that connectivity is more important to wouldn’t recommend speaking to pedia, however, considers itself at a restaurant when he’s really just mobile phones and other devices actu- people these days than decorum. your grandmother, but your brother a comprehensive reference work checking his e-mail. ally improve society by strengthening Reaching out is more valued than out- or buddy, why not? If in doubt, don’t and thus doesn’t censor facts. Richard Ling, a professor of sociol- bonds among family and friends. moded standards of where we reach flush while you’re talking.” Movies, plays and books may be caught in the worst bind. “There is a distinct difference between spoiling something, and writing about something after it happens,” says Carlton Cuse, an When Posting Photos Reveals executive producer of the “Lost” TV series. “ ‘The Mousetrap’ is a work that exists in both spaces.” What You’d Rather Not Share Mr. Cuse said he had no problem with Wikipedia printing the plot of the much-anticipated By KATE MURPHY ersley, a staff technologist with the finale to “Lost.” “Once it has of- When Adam Savage, host of the Electronic Frontier Foundation in ficially aired, the narrative is out American popular science television San Francisco, “and consent is sort there for public consumption,” he program “MythBusters,” posted a of a slippery slope when the only said. picture on Twitter of his automobile way you can turn off the function on The musician and mystery parked in front of his house, he let his your smartphone is through an invis- writer Rupert Holmes was less fans know much more than that he ible menu that no one really knows forgiving of Wikipedia’s penchant drove a Toyota Land Cruiser. about.” for exposing his twists. Embedded in the image was a geo- The Web site ICanStalkU.com pro- “The rules of ‘full disclosure’ tag, a bit of data providing the longi- vides detailed instructions for dis- don’t apply to fictional creations,” tude and latitude of where the photo abling the photo geotagging function he wrote in an e-mail. “We want, was taken. Hence, he revealed exactly on iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and even hope to be tricked, sur- where he lived. And since the accompa- Palm devices. prised, stunned.” An illusionist Because of the way photographs are “is selling us the childlike thrill formatted by some sites like Facebook of believing, for one moment, that

and Match.com, geotag information is LEFT, HEIDI SCHUMANN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES there really could be magic in the Geotags may be not always retained when an image is A geotag revealed where Adam Savage, a TV host, lived. A Web site world.” uploaded, which provides some pro- He also questioned the motives technology’s latest tection. tells how to disable geotagging on phone cameras. of someone eager to report the But experts say the problem goes far surprise in a creative work. threat to privacy. beyond social networking and photo Internet Explorer (opanda.com/en/ International Computer Science In- “It’s the self-aggrandizing van- sharing Web sites. iexif/), anyone can pinpoint the loca- stitute at the University of California, dalism of another person’s poten- “There are so many places where tion where the photo was taken and Berkeley. He and a colleague, Robin tial pleasure,” he said. people upload photos, like personal create a Google map. Sommer, wrote a paper, “Cybercasing David Thomson, the film critic nying text was “Now it’s off to work,” blogs and bulletin boards,” said Jo- Moreover, since multimedia sites the Joint: On the Privacy Implications and author of “The New Biograph- potential thieves knew he would not be hannes B. Ullrich, chief technology of- like Twitter and YouTube have user- of Geotagging.” ical Dictionary of Film,” said he at home. ficer of the SANS Technology Institute, friendly application programming ICanStalkU.com warns about the had learned not to give away the Privacy advocates have recently be- a Maryland company that provides interfaces, or A.P.I.’s, someone with a dangers of geotags by displaying a endings of the movies after hear- gun warning about the dangers of geo- network security training. little knowledge about writing comput- stream of geotagged photos posted ing from readers. tags, which are embedded in photos A handful of academic researchers er code can create a program to search on Twitter; the person who posted the Mr. Thomson, who was born in and videos taken with GPS-equipped and independent Web security ana- for geotagged photos in a systematic photo also gets a notification via Twit- Britain but lives in San Francisco, smartphones and digital cameras. lysts, who call themselves “white hat way. For example, they can search for ter. said he was less concerned about Because the location data is not vis- hackers,” have been trying to raise those accompanied with text like “on “The reaction from people is either “The Mousetrap.” ible to the casual viewer, the concern awareness about geotags. vacation” or those taken in a specified anger, like ‘I’m going to punch you out,’ “I was raised to believe that is that many people may not realize it By downloading free browser plug- neighborhood. or ‘No duh, like I didn’t already know everyone in Britain had already is there. ins like the Exif Viewer for Firefox “Any 16-year-old with basic pro- that’ or ‘Oh my God, I had no idea,’ ” seen ‘The Mousetrap,’” he said. “I’d say very few people know about (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ gramming skills can do this,” said said Larry Pesce, one of the site’s de- “I saw it when I was a child, and I geotag capabilities,” said Peter Eck- addon/3905/) or Opanda IExif for Gerald Friedland, a researcher at the velopers. can’t remember the ending.”

Repubblica NewYork VIII MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010

ARTS & STYLES Shimmering Movie on the Verge Reflections Of a Broadway Run Of Monet By PATRICK HEALY In “Women on the Verge of a Are Revisited Nervous Breakdown,” the new Pedro Almodóvar’s Broadway musical about love quirky art film and abandonment in 1980s Ma- PARIS — Poor Claude Monet. drid, the gazpacho is laced with becomes a musical. He’s everywhere and invisible, passé Valium, and the boyfriends are for more than a century. Is it too late to cads and terrorists. recapture some of the shock and thrill “I can never explain/why I that caused horrified Parisians in the follow this lunatic moon/when The origins of the musical 1870s to perceive his it calls to my crazy heart,” date to 2005, shortly after the work as “leprous”? Patti LuPone sang at a recent opening of another movie-to- MICHAEL Amazingly, it’s not. rehearsal, playing a jilted wife stage comedy, “Dirty Rotten KIMMELMAN The Monet show at fresh from 19 years in an insane Scoundrels.” Its first-time book the Grand Palais is a GEMEENTEMUSEUM, DEN HAAG, THE NETHERLANDS asylum. writer, Jeffrey Lane, and Mr. ART start. The biggest art More than a painter of pretty pictures, Monet captured states of mind In his first creative foray on Yazbek began receiving offers REVIEW spectacle in Europe this infused with exquisite sadness. “Quai du Louvre,” circa 1867. Broadway, Pedro Almodóvar to team up again. autumn, with some 160 — the film director whose 1988 “David and I both knew we paintings, it is the first chance to see the Spanish-language comedy of work best when we’re scared,” whole sweep of his work in some time. The next, a sharp spring sun demanded Giverny. The erotic, mysterious, multi- the same title inspired the musi- said Mr. Lane. “We thought if The French are treating it like a national more crystalline clarity. colored abyss of shimmering, indefinite cal — ended up working deeply we’re going to adapt something, celebration. And before the awesome rock portal space kind of describes memory itself. on the show. we should look at European The exhibition is ravishing. at Étretat, Monet elected dots and dash- What makes these pictures look so “Pedro thinks in a way that films.” Monet the populist decorator of can- es to connote raw nature and a swift modern is mostly the aspiration to ren- he called “antipático,” a way Mr. Almodóvar said in an e- dle-in-Chianti-bottle bistros and college wind. The style, precisely what shocked der the intangible — to make millions of of dealing with odious things, mail that he had long imagined dormitories is modernism’s prettiest and appalled old-school Parisians, material facts immaterial and unshackle which I can only describe as “Women on the Verge” as a mu- painter, but not an especially heavy- them from time. Giverny was both his ‘Puh!’ ” said Bartlett Sher, the sical but “never did it myself be- weight thinker or troublemaker. Eden and object lesson. There, Monet musical’s director. “The more fore out of laziness.” This show helps restore something of could see the daily transience of things we understood it, the more in- “The structure is very theat- his original status. More than just the fa- Paintings that rescue saved from oblivion only by memory and teresting the dialogue and lyr- rical — I wrote it like that delib- miliar Impressionist, he comes across as by art. ics became, and the more resil- erately and took the American a painter of strange and elusive probity, the transient from the There’s a photograph he took of him- ient the women became.” screwball comedy as a refer- of memory and reflection, as an artist self around 1905, when he was in his The $5 million show is a rarity: ence,” said Mr. Almodóvar, who seeking not just to simulate sun, rain brink of oblivion. mid-60s. He’s standing on the edge of his a new musical based on a foreign cited Vincente Minnelli, Stan- and snow, but states of mind as well. In lily pond, his head casting a shadow on film from two decades ago that ley Donen and Busby Berkeley part he did this by returning again and the water. is probably not widely known as his favorite directors of film again to certain sites and motifs, often The photograph exudes a whiff of mel- among the tourists who are the musicals. “I wrote the script of completing pictures in his studio, based masqueraded as an instant take on the ancholy because like all photographs it’s backbone of Broadway box of- the film thinking that it would on what he remembered. subject. The painter created heightened a reminder, with that shadow, of some- fices. And the show is opening seem like a film adaptation of a Monet churned out 2,000 works, but versions of vistas and monuments so thing gone except in the picture and our in New York without the tradi- nonexistent play.” his best paintings thwart the problem of beckoning that, faced with the real recollections of it. Monet managed in the tional out-of-town tryout. The Mr. Lane lined up Mr. Sher, their own endless reproduction by being, thing, a natural instinct was to rec- photograph what he exalted in paint: the technical demands of the show, and the show was honed over 18 well, irreproducible. You just can’t grasp oncile truth to fiction, rather than the effervescent pleasure of seeing and the like the copious projections months during three intensive the bejeweled, darkling purple and pink other way around. inevitable disappearance of that plea- showing Madrid architecture workshops, all including Mr. light emanating from his moody rever- Monet’s visions of places can come sure. Reality, with its mess and noise, and other images, have been Almodóvar. He said he granted ies of Venice except by standing before to inhabit and even supplant our direct fails to live up to what Monet painted. such that the producer, Lincoln “all the freedom I would want them. They’re views steeped in a kind of memories of them. He seizes on the way Monet showed us “places that already Center Theater, twice delayed for myself.” exquisite sadness. that memory triggers bundles of emo- existed in our imagination,” as Marcel preview performances. The creators did go beyond His path was never straight from tions and lodges itself in the mind as a Proust said, “as if waiting to be discov- “I’ve never opened a big show the movie, giving stories to material realism toward greater ab- kernel of pleasure and pain. ered and that now bid for our affection. cold in New York before and, re- several of the characters and straction. Conditions dictated style. Monet was really painting mental “There has to be someone who will say ally, I can’t quite put into words sharpening their repartee. The Steam rising through the gloom at the states, states of reflection. His late, to us, ‘Here is what you may love: love how intense it feels,” said Gare Saint-Lazare called for gossamer sublime “Water Lilies” is literally that: it.’ ” Sherie Rene Scott, a two- curlicues of pink and white on smeared reflections of light, clouds and foli- Monet does exactly that. time Tony nominee who patches of gray-blue pigment one day. age against the surface of his pond at And how can we not? plays the musical’s central character, Pepa. At one point early in the development of the musical, Mr. Almodóvar invited the creative team For Sartorial Cyclists, a Movement That Moves to his hotel room to watch the movie again, frame by frame. For four hours, By RUTH LA FERLA through an interpreter, In a city that elevates the pursuit of chic Mr. Almodóvar described to stratospheric heights, voguish cyclists the choices that went into on vintage bikes are the new trend. each scene, each color, From the Brooklyn Bridge to the Hud- even each dress. The pur- son River and from TriBeCa to Harlem, pose of the gathering was roadways are the new runways. For not to dictate changes. style-obsessed cyclists, clutching Black- Rather, he wanted them to Berrys and clad not in spandex but in flut- strive for sharper authen- tery skirts, capes and kitten heels, their ticity in the language and bicycles are no mere conveyance but a actions of modern Spanish racy adjunct to their look. Their style, a women as he knew them. MIGUEL VIDAL/REUTERS modish amalgam of fashion and func- “We didn’t know then tion, is documented on blogs, and their that Pedro had a guiding Pedro Almodóvar, director of the enthusiasm is fueling business. point of view about life: original movie, worked closely PHOTOGRAPHS BY ELIZABETH LIPPMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES George Bliss, who owns Hudson Urban The world is a perfect place with the play ‘‘Women on the Bikes in Greenwich Village, said they The bicycle (or tricycle) is the hip new accessory for some of the more except for one thing — that Verge.’’ are far removed “from the image of the fashion-conscious women on the streets of New York City. men abandon and cheat adult cyclist as infantry soldier with a on women,” said Mr. Sher. helmet.” “But he has an allergy to direct movie concludes with the down- Mr. Bliss said that his clients tend to slips on kitten heels. “The better to hook bike-friendly. Last year, the city complet- sentiment, and knowing that fall of Lucia, while the musical be women who almost invariably dress onto the pedals,” she said. ed 320 kilometers of bike lanes in all five helped us think less predictably goes in a different direction. to impress. “They want more things,” he For the designer Lela Rose, wedge- boroughs, contributing to an increase in about the storytelling.” At a rehearsal last month Ms. said. “Fenders and baskets and chains heeled platforms and a khaki shirtdress the number of daily city cyclists to an es- David Yazbek, the composer LuPone let out a “C’mon girls!” and bells and things to carry their kids of her own design are ideal for racing on timated 201,000, up 79 percent from 2008, and lyricist, said he was ini- to beckon Ms. Scott and the and their dogs.” her custom tricycle. Ms. Rose and her cy- according to Transportation Alterna- tially skeptical of signing on to other actresses to line up shoul- The cyclists are “part of a movement,” cling cohorts began appearing in Man- tives, a bicycle advocacy organization. the musical, saying that he was der to shoulder to run through said Julie Hirschfeld, the owner of Ade- hattan in significant numbers a couple of Ms. Morrison once planned an outfit to turned off by any semblance of a song. Even though they were line Adeline, a boutique that sells bicy- years ago, influenced perhaps by a hand- complement her chopper: a chambray “hysterical women flailing their not wearing their pastel-col- cles, jaunty vintage-style wicker baskets ful of early adopters. shirt, flat sandals and a patterned ’50s- hands or running around like ored costumes or their vertigo- and canvas bags. Their look, captured Not everyone is thrilled. Ross Autry, a inspired Prada skirt. “I saw myself as their hair was on fire.” inducing high heels, the women on Web sites like The Sartorialist and Bi- blogger in Birmingham, Alabama, noted this very chic, carefree Parisian on a mo- While such chaos crops up presented a striking tableau: a cycle Catwalk, as well as Cycle Chic from in an e-mail that multitasking bicyclists ped with an Hermès bag and the wind in at times in the “Women on the major musical led by an ensem- Copenhagen, is part of “that whole sort of are too self-consciously hip for his taste my hair,” she said. Verge” movie, Mr. Yazbek said ble of female theater stars. In blog style,” Ms. Hirschfeld said. and may pose a hazard. The reality, however, was sobering. “At that he also found “a real depth that moment, singing about how A desire to look workday glamorous “Fixing your makeup or sending a times, when I see my reflection in a shop of emotion among these women “it’s murder on a hairdo when impelled Michelle Tillou, an art dealer, text message could have catastrophic window, I think, Oh, my God, I look like a who felt lost without men, but your head is underwater,” they to ride to her gallery recently wearing a results,” he said. To say nothing of going 35-year-old on a child’s bike.” It’s an im- who also had a chance in post- all broke into a chorus of smiles blazer, elasticized trousers and patent- without a helmet. age that, she said, “I just have to put out Franco Spain to take control of — a nervous breakdown seem- leather wedge-heel shoes. More often she New York has become increasingly of my mind.” their lives for the first time.” ingly nowhere in sight.

Repubblica NewYork