Newsletter 303
[1]The Long Con
Links:
1. http://b.rw/jmsg7S
Brendan Kiley | Stranger | 4 May 2011
Well-turned feature on FBI sting operation in Seattle targeting green
activists. Scary lesson on dangers of entrapment. You make friends with the
wrong people, you end up in a car full of guns and drugs with a SWAT team on
your tail [2]Comments
Links:
2. http://thebrowser.com/articles/long-con
[3]Jerry Brown's Last Stand
Links:
3. http://b.rw/j79rwa
Adam Nagourney | NYT | 5 May 2011
Back as governor of California after 30 years. "His stripped-down style
seems right for these times". Strategy for handling state's $26bn budget
deficit: cut public services so brutally that people start asking to pay
more taxes [4]Comments
Links:
4. http://thebrowser.com/articles/jerry-browns-last-stand
[5]Was "Justice" Served?
Links:
5. http://b.rw/ivArTY
Charli Carpenter | Lawyers, Guns & Money | 4 May 2011
Was "justice" - in the existential sense - served with the killing of Osama
bin Laden? Not really. Now that he's dead, there's no way to put him on
trial and "demystify" him. Ultimately, he got what he wanted: martyrdom
[6]Comments
Links:
6. http://thebrowser.com/articles/was-justice-served
[7]The Man Who Cured A Sick Hospital
Links:
7. http://b.rw/kqPOVM
Russ Mitchell | Fast Company | 2 May 2011
Alameda county hospital in Oakland was dirty, disorderly, near-bankrupt. Ten
CEOs came and went in 11 years. Harold Lassiter turned it round. Seemed like
a miracle, but it was really down to cost control and good labour relations
[8]Comments
Links:
8. http://thebrowser.com/articles/man-who-saved-hospital
[9]Does Revenge Serve An Evolutionary Purpose?
Links:
9. http://b.rw/lVB7sh
Katherine Harmon | Scientific American | 4 May 2011
Interview explaining that "revenge is the output of mechanisms that are
designed for deterrence of harm". Why does our desire for revenge increase
if others have seen us suffer? Evolution's trick to prevent us becoming the
hunted [10]Comments
Links:
10. http://thebrowser.com/articles/does-revenge-serve-evolutionary-purpose
[11]What Does "Friend" Mean Now?
Links:
11. http://b.rw/kerbKN
Joseph P Kahn | Boston Globe | 5 May 2011
How has social media altered our understanding of the word "friend"?
Dramatically it would seem. Now implies companionship rather than intimacy.
Sometimes not even that. An example of how the meaning of language can shift
over time [12]Comments
Links:
12. http://thebrowser.com/articles/what-does-friend-mean-now
FiveBooks Interview
[13]Woody Allen on Inspiration
Links:
13. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/woody-allen-on-memory
The film legend discusses books that have resonated with him, from JD
Salinger to Elia Kazan and beyond
Featured Topic
[14]Mind And Brain
Links:
14. http://thebrowser.com/topics/mind
Everything you wanted - or didn't want - to know about your mind. From how
many friends your brain can cope with, to experts discussing consciousness
and mental illness
Reader Recommendations
@[15]polit2k What Happened to Air France Flight 447? - NYTimes.com
-[16]goo.gl/3ipv6 #[17]browsings
Links:
15. http://twitter.com/polit2k
16. http://goo.gl/3ipv6
17. http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#browsings
Book of the Day
[18]Taxi by Khalid Al Khamissi
Links:
18. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/taxi-by-khalid-al-khamissi
[19]Humphrey Davies says: "This is a delightful book. It’s 58 short
passages, each of which is a taxi ride during which the author gets into
conversation with the driver."
Links:
19. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/humphrey-davies-on-egyptian-writing
Video of the Day
[20]Human Planet
Links:
20. http://thebrowser.com/videos/human-planet
Truly awe-inspiring look at human life in all its varied forms from the BBC
Quote of the Day
[21]Diego Gambetta, on trust
Links:
21. http://www.stanford.edu/~mpblimpo/Trust_Blimpo2009.pdf
"For trust to be relevant, there must be a possibility of betrayal"