March 2010
43 posts
The (Political) Science of Salt →
Three decades of controversy over the putative benefits of salt reduction show how the demands of good science clash with the pressures of public health policy.
(Thanks, Shane Emmons)
No Rules! →
Is Le Fooding, the French culinary movement, more than a feeling?
The photograph that defined the class divide →
In 1937, five boys were famously snapped standing outside Lord’s. But who were they, what were they doing there – and what happened to them?
(Thanks, Vikrant Rai)
Sorority on E. 63rd St. →
For a small-town girl with a dream, from the Roaring 20s through the 1960s, there was no address more glamorous than New York’s “women only” Barbizon Hotel. A combined charm school and dormitory, it would shelter a parade of yet-to-be-discovered damsels—Joan Crawford, Grace Kelly, Candice Bergen, Sylvia Plath, Ali MacGraw, and many more—nurture their ambitions, and leave some with broken...
Bush, Obama, and the Intellectuals →
America’s intellectual class seems to adore President Barack Obama nearly as much as it reviled his predecessor. While George W. Bush was routinely derided for his purported lack of intelligence and learning, Obama has been embraced by the intellectuals as one of their own — to a degree unmatched by any president since perhaps Woodrow Wilson
(Thanks shuffstuff)
Public triumph, private torment →
When Times sportswriter Mike Penner announced he’d become Christine Daniels, he sought ‘joy and fulfillment.’ After a year of accolades and ordeals, he returned as Mike. But his struggles continued.
The Great West Coast Newspaper War →
Seized delivery vans, murderous editors, irate blog posts, allegations of insanity, connections to the Church of Satan, illegal predatory-pricing schemes, and more than $21 million on the line—the crazy alt-weekly war in San Francisco has it all.
(Thanks diffikvlt)
Dead Man Driving →
Car crashes happen to other guys, right? Maybe they don’t have your quick reaction time or uncanny ability to multitask behind the wheel. Or maybe they’re simply lesser drivers. If you believe that, let us introduce you to Adam LaBar, 1970-2008. We suspect you’ll recognize him. We hope you’ll learn from him.
The Tiger Bubble →
Not too long ago, 2010 was shaping up as a good year for Tiger Woods. After knee surgery in 2008, Woods returned to competitive golf in 2009 and logged six victories. […] But then November and December happened.
I, Pencil →
I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.
The clouds of unknowing →
There are lots of uncertainties in climate science. But that does not mean it is fundamentally wrong
Paul Popenoe, eugenics, and marriage counseling →
The rise of marriage therapy, and other dreams of human betterment.
Walmart, I Can't Quit You →
Laying it on the line, Walmart is not considered a prestigious place to buy clothes, quality jewelry or Paris fashions. If you’re looking for sexy underwear, maybe Victoria’s Secret is a better place for you. There’s even a Web site that reveals shoppers at superstores in all their sometimes backwoods, broadass glory.
The Not-So-Lucky Country →
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, like Obama, symbolizes a distinct shift in his country’s politics. Replacing the rough-hewn but long-serving Liberal Party leader John Howard, Rudd offered sophisticated Australians a better reflection of their own savoir faire, much as Obama restored the self-image of America’s Bush-wracked educated classes.
Health Vote Caps a Journey Back From the Brink →
Now, in what could become a legislative Lazarus tale — or at least the most riveting cliffhanger of the Obama presidency so far— the House is set to take up the health bill for what Democrats hope will be the last time.
The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight →
Six billion dollars later, the Afghan National Police can’t begin to do their jobs right—never mind relieve American forces.
A 'new' play by William Shakespeare? I'd prefer a... →
This feels like an unprecedentedly derivative age. I know that almost all periods of history have considered themselves to be the most disastrous ever – and ours is no exception – but that’s the only superlative that we seem to allow ourselves. In the last few years, we’ve haemorrhaged confidence in our ability to make new stuff up. It’s not just pretending we’ve found...
Who's still biased? →
Diversity training has swept corporate America. Just one problem: It doesn’t seem to work.
Marry Him! →
The case for settling for Mr. Good Enough
Educating Elite Hackers →
Inside the rush to recruit, train, and deploy a new generation of cybersecurity experts to protect and defend our digital borders.
Man Versus Afghanistan →
Divided by geography, cursed by corruption, stunted by poverty, staggered by a growing insurgency—Afghanistan seems beyond salvation. Is it?
Defectors Say Church of Scientology Hides Abuse →
Raised as Scientologists, Christie King Collbran and her husband, Chris, were recruited as teenagers to work for the elite corps of staff members who keep the Church of Scientology running, known as the Sea Organization, or Sea Org. But after 13 years and growing disillusionment, the Collbrans decided to leave the Sea Org, setting off on a Kafkaesque journey that they said required them to sign...
Our Man in Kabul? →
The sadistic Afghan warlord who wants to be our friend.
The Wrong Kind of Green →
While I witnessed these early stages of ecocide, I imagined that American green groups were on these people’s side in the corridors of Capitol Hill, trying to stop the Weather of Mass Destruction. But it is now clear that many were on a different path—one that began in the 1980s, with a financial donation.
No Credit →
Timothy Geithner’s financial plan is working—and making him very unpopular.
How food and water are driving a 21st-century... →
An Observer investigation reveals how rich countries faced by a global food shortage now farm an area double the size of the UK to guarantee supplies for their citizens
How Tom Hanks Became America's Historian in Chief →
Over the past two decades Hanks has become American history’s highest-profile professor, bringing a nuanced view of the past into the homes and lives of countless millions.
Street Fightin' Man →
A Detroit neighborhood fights for its life, and an ex-cop leads the way
Gendercide →
Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising
Algebra in Wonderland →
Alice’s adventures with the Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and so on have often been assumed to be based purely on wild imagination. Just fantastical tales for children — and, as such, ideal material for the fanciful movie director Tim Burton, whose “Alice in Wonderland” opened on Friday. Yet Dodgson most likely had real models for the strange happenings in Wonderland, too.
The Buried Treasure in Your TV Dial →
This proposal involves no magical thinking, just good common sense: By simply reallocating the way we use the radio spectrum now devoted to over-the-air television broadcasting, we can create a bonanza for the government, stimulate the economy and advance all of the other goals listed above. Really.
Building a Better Teacher →
On a Winter day five years ago, Doug Lemov realized he had a problem. After a successful career as a teacher, a principal and a charter-school founder, he was working as a consultant, hired by troubled schools eager — desperate, in some cases — for Lemov to tell them what to do to get better.
Out of the West →
Clint Eastwood’s shifting landscape.
Don't Tell the Kids →
Rabbits are supposed to be easy to kill. The French dispatch them with a sharp knife to the throat. A farmer in upstate New York swears that a swift smack with the side of the hand works. Others prefer a quick twist of the neck. It didn’t seem so easy at the rabbit-killing seminar held in a parking lot behind Roberta’s restaurant in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn in November.
The Chief →
You think it’s so great being Rahm Emanuel?
Human Culture Plays a Role in Natural Selection →
As with any other species, human populations are shaped by the usual forces of natural selection, like famine, disease or climate. A new force is now coming into focus. It is one with a surprising implication — that for the last 20,000 years or so, people have inadvertently been shaping their own evolution.
The Rules →
Government’s proper role in the market
Lost Exile →
The unlikely life and sudden death of The Exile, Russia’s angriest newspaper.
A Perfectly Framed Assassination in Dubai →
Stepped-up surveillance technology may be tipping the scales in the cat-and-mouse game between spies and their targets. Robert Baer on the current state of spycraft.
Big Trouble at 11:35 →
Even before 48 Hours Mystery producer Joe Halderman allegedly caught David Letterman kissing his girlfriend, Late Show staffer Stephanie Birkitt, the cash-strapped veteran newsman and the multi-millionaire entertainment star were on a collision course. In the wake of Letterman’s stunning on-air confession of sex with employees, andas Halderman prepares to stand trial for attempted grand...
The Last Four Minutes of Air France Flight 447 →
The crash of Air France flight 447 from Rio to Paris last year is one of the most mysterious accidents in the history of aviation. After months of investigation, a clear picture has emerged of what went wrong. The reconstruction of the horrific final four minutes reveal continuing safety problems in civil aviation.
Greatest. Indie-est. Band. Ever. →
Pavement made some of the finest, most influential slacker noise of the ’90s, racking up an almost obscene amount of critical love along the way. Now, a decade after their final show, Stephen Malkmus and his old bandmates are once again about to rock.
Love Among the Ruins →
Caring for orphans, ransoming hostages, burying the dead—it’s all in a day’s work for Father Rick Frechette.