In Yogyakarta, a Woman Sultan?

In Yogyakarta, a Woman Sultan?

By Johannes Nugroho on 12:53 pm October 25, 2013.

Javanese royal couple Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hayu (L) and Kanjeng Pangeran Haryo Notonegoro (R) wave to the crowd during their wedding ceremony parade as part of the Royal Wedding in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Oct. 23, 2013. (JG Photo/Boy T Harjanto)

The wedding of Princess Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Hayu, fourth daughter of Yogyakarta’s monarch Hamengkubuwono X, has evidently captivated the imagination of many Indonesians as the royal event is widely broadcast in the media. And owing to the intense media interest, it is by far the most celebrated of Indonesian royal weddings to date. The figure of Princess Hayu herself has also raised questions about the changing role and status of women in Javanese royal courts.The image of the princes being lifted by her husband and uncle during the Pondhongan ceremony was one of the highlights of the royal wedding. The ceremony, according to sources within the Yogyakarta Palace, was meant to emphasize the “elevated” status of women in the Javanese tradition. The fact that the US-educated Princess Hayu is a modern, independent woman is further testimony that the formerly rigid royal protocols concerning women have been chipped away by changes. Read more of this post

Are Smartphones Turning Us Into Bad Samaritans? Busy with our tablets and smartphones in public places, we may be losing our sense of duty to others

Are Smartphones Turning Us Into Bad Samaritans?

Busy with our tablets and smartphones in public places, we may be losing our sense of duty to others

CHRISTINE ROSEN

Oct. 25, 2013 8:55 p.m. ET

We can’t afford to be so preoccupied with our gadgets when we’re in public spaces, says writer Christine Rosen in a conversation with WSJ’s Gary Rosen. In late September, on a crowded commuter train in San Francisco, a man shot and killed 20-year-old student Justin Valdez. As security footage shows, before the gunman fired, he waved around his .45 caliber pistol and at one point even pointed it across the aisle. Yet no one on the crowded train noticed because they were so focused on their smartphones and tablets. “These weren’t concealed movements—the gun is very clear,” District Attorney George Gascon later told the Associated Press. “These people are in very close proximity with him, and nobody sees this. They’re just so engrossed, texting and reading and whatnot. They’re completely oblivious of their surroundings.” Read more of this post

Scientists Turn Mind-Readers, More or Less; Working with epileptics, researchers at Stanford University managed to pinpoint certain brain activity as it was happening in real-life situations

Can’t Get You Out of My Mind

DANIEL AKST

Oct. 25, 2013 9:25 p.m. ET

At last, scientists have found a way to read people’s minds. Well, sort of. True mind-reading remains a long way off, especially in a real-world setting. But now, in a situation approaching normal life, scientists have correlated activity in a small part of the brain so closely with certain types of thinking that these thoughts can be spotted just by looking at the record of brain activity. Stanford University researchers managed this by recruiting three patients who were being evaluated for surgical treatment of epilepsy, and whose skulls had therefore been opened so that electrodes could be attached to the exposed surface of their brains for up to a week. The patients, who weren’t in pain, could talk with visitors, eat, watch TV and do other things approximating everyday life—in contrast with typical experimental conditions, in which a volunteer’s brain activity might be measured inside a magnetic resonance imaging tube. Read more of this post

How a millionaire became a billionaire by mass-marketing banality as ‘premium wine.’

Book Review: ‘A Man and His Mountain’ by Edward Humes

How a millionaire became a billionaire by mass-marketing banality as ‘premium wine.’

ROBERT DRAPER

Oct. 25, 2013 3:12 p.m. ET

Shortly after finishing “A Man and His Mountain,” Edward Humes’s biography of Kendall-Jackson winery founder Jess Stonestreet Jackson, I went to my local grocery store and, for $12.99, purchased a bottle of the winery’s signature product, the Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay. It had been years since I’d had a glass of it. But the taste remains unforgettable: oaky and cloying, redolent of budget-hotel bars, a kind of polyester wine. This is the style of Chardonnay that Jackson stamped into the American palate three decades ago. Read more of this post

Lunch with the FT: Muhammad Yunus; The Nobel Peace Prize-winner and economist drinks a glass of $8 still water and talks about microcredit

October 25, 2013 5:44 pm

Lunch with the FT: Muhammad Yunus

By Martin Dickson

The Nobel Peace Prize-winner and economist drinks a glass of water and talks about microcredit

This is awkward: I am about to sit down to lunch with a man who has just told me he does not want to eat anything with me. Nothing personal, you understand. It is just that Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Bangladeshi economist famed for starting the global microcredit movement, has already eaten when he arrives for Lunch with the FT, an interview whose essential feature over its 20-year history has been the sharing of a meal. Read more of this post

Tiberius Used Quantitative Easing To Solve The Financial Crisis Of 33 AD

Tiberius Used Quantitative Easing To Solve The Financial Crisis Of 33 AD

BRYAN TAYLOR, GLOBAL FINANCIAL DATA OCT. 26, 2013, 7:10 AM 1,774 4

Although many people have hailed Ben Bernanke’s response to the current financial crisis for going outside of the box and using unorthodox policies to avoid a financial collapse, in reality, similar policies were used by Tiberius during the Financial Crisis of 33 AD, almost 2000 years ago. Tiberius ruled the Roman Empire from 14 AD to 37 AD.  He was frugal in his expenditures, and consequently, he never raised taxes during his reign. When Cappadocia became a province, Tiberius was even able to lower Roman taxes. His frugality also allowed him to be liberal in helping the provinces when, for example, a massive earthquake destroyed many of the famous cities of Asia, or when a financial panic struck the Roman Empire in 33 AD. Read more of this post