Crossrail, Cannabis, Against existence, Joe Biden, Fiorina
Crossrail: The End Of The Beginning
John Bull & Pedantic Of Purley | London Reconnections | 4th June 2015
The digging is done for London's new east-west railway link. The operational planning reaches a degree of contingency that shades into philosophy: There is already a train timetable for 2019 correct to the quarter-minute. As the British learned from the Channel Tunnel, you aren't building a tunnel that happens to have a railway running through it; you are building a railway that happens to go through a tunnel (4,580 words)
Cannabis: California Green Rush
Leslie Hook | Financial Times | 8th August 2015 | | Read with 1Pass
As America gradually legalises cannabis, investors from Silicon Valley are leading the race to corporatise production and distribution. Eaze, the “Uber for pot”, connects buyers and sellers in 60 cities across California: “We are a technology service provider. We don’t touch the plant.” Peter Thiel's Founder's Fund has $75m invested in Privateer, which hopes to create a global cannabis brand modelled on Coca-Cola (3,690 words)
We Are Creatures That Should Not Exist
David Benatar | The Critique | 15th July 2015
Matthew McConaughey's misanthropic lead in True Detective, Rustin Cohle, is modelled in part on South African philosopher David Benatar, who argues that procreation is morally wrong because there is so much suffering in human life, and humans devastate other animals. "If that level of destruction were caused by another species we would rapidly recommend that new members of that species not be brought into existence" (1,380 words)
Joe Biden Turned Liberals Against Integration
Jason Sokol | Politico | 4th August 2015
Joe Biden joined with Jesse Helms to kill school-busing in the US Senate in the 1970s. Biden claimed to favour desegregating schools — it was the inconvenience of busing that he opposed. His arguments defined the new liberal approach to race: "Liberals would pay homage to the civil rights movement and its dream of integration, but refrain from championing the legislation that would make that dream a reality" (4,300 words)
The Cult of Carly
Quentin Hardy | Forbes | 13th December 1999
Profile of Carly Fiorina as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard in 1999. Worth a re-read as she starts to strike sparks in the Republican primary campaign. Her expertise is in sales and branding. She approaches leadership as a performance art: "It is all energy, all Carly, all the time". At HP she bought two corporate jets, cultivated her own celebrity, and was full of flashy new ideas — none of which came to anything (2,580 words)
Video of the day: The Murder Of The Young In Mexico
What to expect: Alma Guillermoprieto discusses the Iguala massacre. Some distressing images (12'02")
Thought for the day
The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said
Peter Drucker