Cyrus Farivar

Los Angeles Times: IMAGINE a presidential debate in which John McCain answers Hillary Clinton’s arguments by stripping down to his underwear or breaking into a rap song. Strange as it might sound, such tactics are gaining cachet — and victories — in a top breeding ground for future politicians: America’s college debate circuit. In recent years, renegade rhetoricians from Cal State Fullerton and other underdog schools have clobbered debate kingpins from Harvard and UC Berkeley with a hodgepodge of unorthodox…

The Washington Post: When the State Department recently asked the CIA for names of Iranians who could be sanctioned for their involvement in a clandestine nuclear weapons program, the agency refused, citing a large workload and a desire to protect its sources and tradecraft. Frustrated, the State Department assigned a junior Foreign Service officer to find the names another way — by using Google. Those with the most hits under search terms such as “Iran and nuclear,” three officials said,…

One would think that one of our most valuable embassies in the Arabic-speaking world would have more than 0.6 percent of its staff fluent in the language of the host country, wouldn’t you think? Nah, that’d make too much sense. Reuters: WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Among the 1,000 people who work in the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, only 33 are Arabic speakers and only six speak the language fluently, according to the Iraq Study Group report released on Wednesday.…

Wired News: by Cyrus Farivar Hazmat suits to protect against biological and chemical attacks are often made of thick, synthetic rubber that’s impervious to the nastiest toxins. But they’re also impervious to sweat, and people wearing them can typically only work for short periods before succumbing to exhaustion, heat stroke and, occasionally, death. Now, a joint team of scientists from the University of Colorado and private firm TDA Research have developed a breathable rubber suit made from butyl rubber impregnated…

Rolling Stone: At the time, the proto-Ali G was a slightly more upper-class character who delivered wack monologues and went by various monikers, among them MC Jocelyn Cheadle-Hume (named after an area of Chesire). But one day, everything changed: Baron Cohen, while filming an MC Jocelyn Cheadle-Hume segment, saw a group of white skateboarders who were also dressed like wanna-be gangstas. Baron Cohen and Toppin decided it might be fun to interact with them. “Afterward,” he recalls, “me and Mike…

I wrote a piece for Foreign Policy for the November/December 2006 issue, but just today got a letter from Editor-in-Chief Moisés Naím, thanking me for my work. I’m not sure if this is standard for all FP contributors, or just new freelancers, or if my tiny back-of-the-book piece was so great that it warranted a thank you note, but either way, I was mightily impressed by his letter: Dear Mr. Farivar, Thank you for contributing an excellent article to the…

The New York Times: Cheating is not unheard of on university campuses. But cheating on an open-book, take-home exam in a pass-fail course seems odd, and all the more so in a course about ethics. Yet Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism is looking into whether students may have cheated on the final exam in just such a course, “Critical Issues in Journalism.” According to the school’s Web site, the course “explores the social role of journalism and the journalist from…

This book was originally published in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1983. From the preface: “New innovations and wonders which are being made every day in the press, the growing up of real men or genuine writers, and emotional legends of love for people are unthinkable from the wise guidance and utmost care of the dear Comrade Kim Jong Il, a great leader and a benevolent teacher. “He is always among journalists and teaches them every detailed problem…

BBC: Iranian women have been warned to be on the look-out for cameras hidden in places where they undress, such as fitting rooms, gyms and swimming pools. The chief of Iran’s police, Esmail Ahmadi Miqadam, said some shop owners were fitting spy cameras themselves. Iranian authorities want to stop a wave of secretly-filmed pornographic DVDs hitting markets and internet sites. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been championing a drive to banish unwanted Western cultural influences from Iran. Last year, Western and…

The Associated Press: ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — A leading Kazakh writer has nominated actor Sacha Baron Cohen for a national award for popularizing Kazakhstan. Novelist Sapabek Asip-uly called on the Kazakh Club of Art Patrons to give Baron Cohen its annual award, according to a letter published by the Vremya newspaper Thursday. Baron Cohen’s fictional character Borat ”has managed to spark an immense interest of the whole world in Kazakhstan, something our authorities could not do during the years of…