Newsletter 290

[1]BP Blowout Birthday. It Could Happen Again
Links:
1. http://b.rw/dIPWiB

Tim Dickinson | Rolling Stone | 19 April 2011

America's biggest environmental disaster. Lessons ought to have been
learned. Maybe they were—but government hasn't acted on them. "The House
introduced 84 bills in response to the spill. Two passed. They both died in
the Senate" [2]Comments
Links:
2. http://thebrowser.com/articles/bp-blowout-birthday-it-could-happen-again

[3]What Defines A Meme?
Links:
3. http://b.rw/eMNxlS

James Gleick | Smithsonian | 20 April 2011

We owe the coinage to Richard Dawkins: a unit of expression that spreads. An
idea, a tune, a catchphrase, an image. But are humans merely vehicles for
the intellectual propagation of memes, as for the physical propagation of
genes? [4]Comments
Links:
4. http://thebrowser.com/articles/what-defines-meme

[5]Why Condom Sales Soar In A Recession
Links:
5. http://b.rw/fCm2j3

Martin Lindstrom | Fast Company | 19 April 2011

Author of "Buyology" on how to build brands in hard times. When consumers
fear for the future, they focus a lot more on basic needs. Don't pitch your
product as something to buy for pleasure. Emphasise its practical aspects
[6]Comments
Links:
6. http://thebrowser.com/articles/why-condom-sales-soar-recession

[7]Lester Bangs' Basement
Links:
7. http://b.rw/g3Ekbw

Bill Wyman | Slate | 19 April 2011

Nothing's rare any more. Thank BitTorrent, iTunes, the Long Tail. Bootleg
albums, suppressed documentary films, injuncted master-tapes, early Kubrick,
stuff you would have killed for in the seventies—now it's just a click away
[8]Comments
Links:
8. http://thebrowser.com/articles/lester-bangs-basement

[9]Russia's Fading Army
Links:
9. http://b.rw/f30ijE

Richard Boudreaux | WSJ | 20 April 2011

Kremlin hopes of replacing huge badly-trained conscript army with a smaller,
smarter professional army have foundered, mainly because the army itself
can't raise its game. Still brutalises, exploits recruits. No-one wants to
join [10]Comments
Links:
10. http://thebrowser.com/articles/russias-fading-army

FiveBooks Interview

[11]Erica Jong on Unmissable Books on Women, Feminism and Life
Links:
11. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/erica-jong-on-unmissable-books-women-feminism-and-life

American feminist legend Erica Jong selects essential reading for women –
and says the revolution is far from over