Sensations: The Sounds Of Japanese Water Gardens

Yurara Sarara Films (December 31, 2023) – Japanese water gardens, built in the traditional style of a Tsukiyama Garden originating in Japan, often aim to make a smaller garden appear larger than it is.

In Japan, garden making is considered a high art, akin to the arts of calligraphy and ink painting. Traditionally, the art of garden making was passed from sensei to apprentice through oral transmission.

The New York Times Book Review – December 31, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (December 31, 2023): The latest issue features Francis Ford Coppola Is Ready For His Close-Up – Sam Wasson’s supremely entertaining new book, “The Path to Paradise”, tracks the ups and downs, ins and outs, of a remarkable career.

The Problem of Misinformation in an Era Without Trust

This image shows the face of a wooden Pinocchio figure reflected in the screen of an iPhone on a bright red background. Pinocchio’s long nose protrudes a couple inches from the screen.

Elon Musk thinks a free market of ideas will self-correct. Liberals want to regulate it. Both are missing a deeper predicament.

By Jennifer Szalai

When the billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk sat down for his profanity-laced interview at The New York Times’s DealBook Summit in late November, his petulant dropping of F-bombs received a lot of attention. Less noticed but far more revealing was his evident disdain for a humble word beginning with the letter T. “You could not trust me,” Musk said, affecting an air of tough-guy indifference in his shearling-collared flight jacket and shiny black boots. “It is irrelevant. The rocket track record speaks for itself.”

Travel: Making The Most Of Traveling In Germany

DW Travel (December 31, 2023) – Lukas Stege will provide you with insider information you need to know, which faux pas to avoid, which season is best, how much should you tip in restaurants, where should you stay, what’s the best way to travel around and finally, is Germany safe?

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:37 Geography and basics 01:35 Must-sees: Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Dresden 02:36 Seasons and weather: What to wear? Which festivals to visit? 04:08 Transportation and traffic 07:05 Accommodations 07:34 How safe is Germany? 08:00 Money 08:27 Particularities 09:40 Food and Beverages 10:21 Little language guide

Previews: Best Books On Foreign Affairs For 2024

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Foreign Policy Magazine (December 31, 2023): The Best of Books 2024 Here are 30 major nonfiction titles coming out this year on Foreign Policy’s radar, from economic manifestos to histories of forgotten eras to new assessments of great-power competition in the 21st century. New titles include:

The Everything War: Amazon’s Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake Corporate Power 

The Everything War: Amazon's Ruthless Quest to Own the World and Remake  Corporate Power: 9780316269773: Mattioli, Dana: Books - Amazon.com

by Dana Mattioli (April 23, 2024)

From veteran Amazon reporter for The Wall Street Journal, The Everything War is the first untold, devastating exposé of Amazon’s endless strategic greed, from destroying Main Street to remaking corporate power, in pursuit of total domination, by any means necessary.

In 2017, Lina Khan published a paper that accused Amazon of being a monopoly, having grown so large, and embedded in so many industries, it was akin to a modern-day Standard Oil. Unlike Rockefeller’s empire, however, Bezos’s company had grown voraciously without much scrutiny. 

Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World

Foreign Agents

By Casey Michel (August 2024)

A stunning investigation and indictment of the elements in United States’ foreign lobbying industry and the threat they pose to democracy.

For years, one group of Americans has worked as foot-soldiers for the most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the process, they’ve not only entrenched dictatorships and spread kleptocratic networks, but they’ve secretly guided U.S. policy without the rest of America even being aware. And now, journalist Casey Michel contends some of them have begun turning their sights on American democracy itself.

New Cold Wars : China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West

New Cold Wars by David E. Sanger: 9780593443590 | PenguinRandomHouse.com:  Books

By David E. Sanger (April 2024)

Three decades after the end of the Cold War, the United States finds itself in a volatile rivalry against the other two great nuclear powers–Xi Jinping’s China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia–in a world far more complex and dangerous than that of a half century ago

.New Cold Wars–the latest from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of The Perfect Weapon, David E. Sanger–is a fast-paced account of America’s plunge into simultaneous confrontations against two very different adversaries. For years, the United States was confident that the newly-democratic Russia and increasingly wealthy China could be lured into a Western-led order that promised prosperity and relative peace–so long as they agreed to Washington’s terms. By the time America emerged from the age of terrorism, it was clear that this had been a fantasy.

The New York Times — Sunday, December 31, 2023

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‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7

A Times investigation uncovered new details showing a pattern of rape, mutilation and extreme brutality against women in the attacks on Israel.

Ukraine, Stalled on the Front, Steps Up Sabotage, Targeting Trains

A photo Russia released last month purporting to show the site of a derailed train in the Ryazan region, Russia. Russian authorities said the derailment was caused by an improvised explosive device.

As conventional forces struggle to break through defensive lines, both sides are increasingly turning to guerrilla tactics.

UKRAINE’S STOLEN CHILDREN

Some have returned to tell their stories. Thousands of others have not been as lucky.

They’re Paid Billions to Root Out Child Labor in the U.S. Why Do They Fail?

Private auditors have failed to detect migrant children working for U.S. suppliers of Oreos, Gerber baby snacks, McDonald’s milk and many other products.