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I look at you Shanghai

A new poem from the land of expat

 

I look at you Shanghai. I look at you, you look away.

 

But mind you Shanghai, this is not a love song,

and fuck the broken hearted,

you know what you did to lose what you had,

you all do, as do I.

 

You gave me everything Shanghai, all you had to offer,

a billion RMB in an LV man-bag, prime real estate in Lujiazui, an uncle in politics,

and a mink mini-skirt on a late night Mint massacre.

 

That’s right, I know you Shanghai.

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Egypt’s new Islamism

Emerging tensions as a nation tries to finds a united voice

 

“We are creating an era of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Alyaa told me with a smile as the second round of parliamentary elections came to an end in Egypt [at the close of 2011]. A year after the so-called Arab awakening, Muslims are rediscovering their religion. In Tunisia and Libya, voters put their hopes in Islamist parties. In Egypt, at least one in every eight Egyptians voted for the Brotherhood. Without a doubt, the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis will emerge as winners in post-revolution elections.

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A commonplace book for digital times

Reinventing curation with a purpose, by Andrew Taggart

 

In a conversation I had with a journalist, we discussed what he deemed the two temptations of our post-print era. One is getting mixed up in the “information jungle”. The other is sitting complacently in a “filter bubble”. He suggested that the task of good curation in the coming years will be expose readers to, without overfeeding them on, information and ideas that challenge or deepen their firmly held beliefs. All right, but what shall we call it? How about “out-of-the-jungle, beyond-the-bubble journalism?”

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“My life was defined by my next hit”

Confessions of a heroin addict

 

"You don't know what it's like to have your brain trying to sabotage you." Michael Kelly sweeps a waterfall of black hair away from his eyes. "Part of me still just wants to shut myself in my room and get fucked up."

Michael is 20 years old, and a recovering heroin addict. And he’s right. I may have scoffed a shroom at university, but to be addicted to one of the most potent recreational drugs out there is beyond my ken. I can only listen – hooked.

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Beyond Tahrir Square

An eye-witness account of swiftly changing attitudes in Egypt

 

After more than ten days of upheaval, downtown Cairo was quiet again. Walking across Tahrir Square on my daily commute this past month, I soon got used to turbulent crowds and the sound of gunfire. Tear gas was like fresh air. Then, all of a sudden, Tahrir fell silent on 28 November. People were queuing in front of poll stations and eager to play a part in the first round of parliamentary elections since the fall of Mubarak.

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