Newsletter 144
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Writing Worth Reading
[2]Legal Highs: Chemists Outfox Law
Links:
2. http://b.rw/9JhVyd
Jeanne Whalen | WSJ | 30 October 2010
Eye-opening report on "laboratory-adept European entrepreneurs" who make and
sell synthetic recreational drugs, such as mephedrone, Nopaine. When
governments ban a particular drug, makers just change the formula
[3]The Marijuana Frontier
Links:
3. http://b.rw/bdGKcJ
John Gravois | Washington Monthly | 1 November 2010
Writer buys house in Mendocino County, California, finds two-thirds of local
economy geared to marijuana. Food stores sell turkey-roasting bags by the
case, because they're used to package pound-weights of cannabis
[4]A Machine For Recording Dreams
Links:
4. http://b.rw/9cUbon
Charlie Brooker | Guardian | 1 November 2010
Funny but persuasive. It won't stop there. "Your dreams will consist of a
gigantic mouth shouting the words 'Diet Coke' over and over, until you wake
up and reach for a Diet Coke without really understanding why"
[5]Straight Outta Comp 101
Links:
5. http://b.rw/cuYMsI
Sam Anderson | New York | 31 October 2010
Highly enjoyably. Language writer with no previous knowledge of rap plunges
into new Yale anthology of rap lyrics "It feels like it was published,
exclusively for me, by the vanity press of my own subconscious"
[6]The Clintons Told You So
Links:
6. http://b.rw/ah2x9G
John Heilemann | New York | 31 October 2010
What if Hillary had won presidency? Outcome would probably have been pretty
similar. Same policy priorities. Right would have hated her just as much. On
the upside, she'd have had Bill as strategist
[7]Loneliest Shop In The World
Links:
7. http://b.rw/a9yrNH
Mike Dash | Blast From The Past | 30 October 2010
Mulka Store, in Australian outback. Only shop in 70,000 square miles. Run by
ex-policeman turned anthropologist. Fine stock of medieval armour. Best
selection of duelling pistols outside Europe
[8]Twitter And The Dunbar Number
Links:
8. http://b.rw/912T32
Robert Paterson | Weblog | 31 October 2010
Group size crucial when it comes to getting humans to work together. It's a
Fibonacci sequence: 8 for close team; 34 for compound group; 89 for tribe;
144 as biggest possible unit regulated by mutual trust
[9]Holiday Spirits
Links:
9. http://b.rw/c0zyLw
Igor Galynker | Barnes & Noble Review | 1 November 2010
Russia doctor describes correct way to drink vodka. "If you have done
everything right, you should be feeling tender warmth deep in your chest,
spectacular tastes in your mouth, and no burning anywhere"
[10]Modern History Of Cancer
Links:
10. http://b.rw/bG62fq
Steven Shapin | New Yorker | 31 October 2010
Fight against cancer has taken central place in post-war Western medicine,
as other killer diseases have become curable. No silver bullet. But getting
closer to treating cancer as manageable, chronic illness
[11]Working In Wal-Mart Hell
Links:
11. http://b.rw/9D5B06
John Olympic | AlterNet | 29 October 2010
Blackly humourous account of worker playing avoid-the-customer. "I didn't
used to, but that was before the guy who was looking for blenders in the
garden section. Next time I'm cornered I'm trying, 'No hablo inglés'"
[12]
Ignoring Yemen At Our Peril
Links:
12. http://b.rw/dyhuuM
Gregory Johnsen | Foreign Policy | 31 October 2010
If you want to know where the sophisticated parcel bombs found on cargo
planes in Britain and Dubai came from, you have to go back to 2006 when 23
men tunnelled out of a maximum-security prison in Yemen
[13]
A Sane Debate On Drugs
Links:
13. http://b.rw/bGWmzA
Mary Ann Sieghart | Independent | 1 November 2010
Embracing cannabis legalisation would be good politics for Democrats, and
good policy for America. Prohibition ties up police and prison system,
exacerbates race relations, costs budget billions
[14]
The Western Myth Of Arab Men
Links:
14. http://b.rw/ckLNQj
Khaled Diab | Guardian | 30 October 2010
Arab men are often perceived through stereotypes. Not all are negative, such
as reputed generosity, hospitality. But this bank clerk won no prizes: "We
have a guy called Osama here, should I open an account for him?"
[15]Stimulating Debate
Links:
15. http://b.rw/azfxgZ
Tim Harford | Undercover Economist | 30 October 2010
Plain thoughts on economic stimulus. Sometimes, ramping up public spending
will be right thing to do, but hardly possible to calibrate accurately.
Economies change. Historic data of limited value
[16]Nudge The Vote
Links:
16. http://b.rw/ddi2NS
Sasha Issenberg | NYT | 29 October 2010
Behavioural scientists experiment on voters, find they don't respond well to
robo-calls, excitable emails. Best way to get out the vote: peer pressure.
Publish information on who's voting, who's not
[17]
Führer In The Making
Links:
17. http://b.rw/9pP1Tm
Norman Stone | WSJ | 30 October 2010
New biography "fundamentally alters our understanding" of Hitler. He didn't
have a particularly traumatic time in First World War. His emergence as
fascist demagogue in 1922 was more opportunism than ideology
[18]Carlos The Jackal's Missing Years
Links:
18. http://b.rw/a32oP4
Tony Paterson | Independent | 30 October 2010
Shredded Stasi documents show terrorist spent 1980s in East Germany, where
the secret police gave him office space, cars, and a staff of 75, enabling
him to carry out attacks in Germany and France
[19]Topic: Legalising Cannabis
Links:
19. http://thebrowser.com/topics/legalising-cannabis
Arguments in favour: legalisation would be good for US budget, for health, for
civil liberties—and bad for organised crime in US and Mexico... [20]Continue
reading...
Links:
20. http://thebrowser.com/topics/legalising-cannabis
[21]Today on FiveBooks: Scott Turow on Legal Novels
Links:
21. http://fivebooks.com
About [22]The Browser: _Editor_, [23]Robert Cottrell; _Managing
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