In 18th-century Lisbon, as the Inquisition entered its decline, the Catholic authorities presented the Masons as an illicit gay cult. After the French revolution the English feared them as Jacobin agitators; Hitler and Mussolini ranked them among fas...
In this account, however, Mr Dickie veers away from celebrity biography to focus on the broader membership. His characters are idealists and misfitspolitical exiles and refugees, traumatised soldiers, addicts who have overcome their vices. Their orga...
That, however, does not take account of the chances of getting caught. These have risen as enforcement of Americas 43-year-old anti-bribery law, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), has been stepped up and other countries have passed similar law...
Books and arts 文艺板块 Book review 书评 The Freemasons 共济会 Inside the Lodge 共济会会所内幕 The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World. 《The Craft：共济会如何创造现代世界。》 By John Dickie. 作者：约翰迪...
To prepare himself he had done some hard study of oceanography and meteorology, in the gaps between teaching geography in the department he had founded at Glassboro State College, now Rowan University. And he had gone seafaring: first fishing on smal...
America's behaviour is not much better. Again, the approach behind the product approved is reasonable in principle, but insufficiently tested. 美国的做法也好不到哪去。同样，被批准产品背后的方法在原则上是合理的，但是没...
A deposition containing startling allegations of corruption against three former Mexican presidents and other politicians and officials was leaked to the press. The current president, Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador, proposed holding a referendum to decide...
The world this week 本周国际要闻 Politics 政治 Alexei Navalny, Russias most prominent opposition leader and anti-corruption activist, fell into a coma after being poisoned. He was held for two days in a Russian hospital, before being released...
Business 商业版块 Bribery 贿赂 A closer look at greasy palms 审视行贿 Bribery paysif you dont get caught 贿赂的代价如果没被抓住 Many big companies may be struggling with depressed sales, but these are busy times for bribery-buste...
Marvin Creamer, geographer and circumnavigator, died on August 12th, aged 104. 马文克里默是一名地理学家和环球航海家，他于8月12日去世，享年104岁。 When Francis Drake rounded the globe in 1577 to 80, he took an astrolabe,...
What do a malaria drug, a Russian vaccine and the blood plasma of people who have recovered from covid-19 have in common? 抗疟疾药物、俄罗斯疫苗和新冠康复患者的血浆之间有什么共同之处？ All have been approved for use by...
Such change has not worked its destruction unaided. Mistaken policies have made the forests more vulnerable, especially the decades-long suppression of wildfires. Fires thin out the dense, flammable undergrowth. Preventing themas a study in Science p...
On August 16th a monitoring station in Death Valley measured a temperature of 54.4C (130F). If confirmed, that would be the highest reliably recorded anywhere on Earth. It may reflect a broader trend of global warming hitting Californians harder than...
The government's caps on mortgage availabilityhave hit first-time buyers, particularly those lookingto buy in affluent areas. 政府对获得贷款的限制打击了首次购房者，尤其是那些希望在富裕地区购房的人。 The government...
United States 美国版块 Natural disasters 自然灾害 The condors cry 加州秃鹰的哀号 California has been roiled by covid-19, drought, heatwaves and now two of the biggest fires on record 疫情、干旱、热浪和有史以来两次最大规...
