Newsletter 313
[1]Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder
Links:
1. http://b.rw/iLXxyi
Mark Mazetti & Emily Hager | NYT | 14 May 2011
After the scandal of Iraq, notorious American mercenary is hired by the
United Arab Emirates. His task: To establish covert force of foreign
fighters to conduct special operations, defend oil installations, put down
internal revolts [2]Comments
Links:
2. http://thebrowser.com/articles/secret-desert-force-set-blackwater’s-founder
[3]Gossip, Privacy And Censorship
Links:
3. http://b.rw/jdyvOH
Kenan Malik | Pandaemonium | 13 May 2011
Outstanding essay on privacy, tabloid journalism and the law. "The current
debate about privacy confuses the recognition that something is odious or
distasteful with the belief that therefore it should be censored"
[4]Comments
Links:
4. http://thebrowser.com/articles/gossip-privacy-and-censorship
[5]America's Army Of Non-Citizens
Links:
5. http://b.rw/k07qGT
Doug Saunders | dougsaunders | 14 May 2011
Succinct, important piece on the destructiveness to a nation of having a
large population needed by the economy but denied a pathway to citizenship.
What starts as an economic or political issue could yet become a security
threat [6]Comments
Links:
6. http://thebrowser.com/articles/americas-army-non-citizens
[7]The Information Sage
Links:
7. http://b.rw/myyB4G
Joshua Yaffa | Washington Monthly | 11 May 2011
Profile of Edward Tufte, infographics guru. "A philosopher king who reigns
over his field largely because he invented it." Now he's working with the
White House, trying to make government statistics easier to manage and
understand [8]Comments
Links:
8. http://thebrowser.com/articles/information-sage
[9]Grand Delusions: Why We’re Determined To Be Free
Links:
9. http://b.rw/kjqdIN
Dan Jones | Empress Of The Global Universe / New Scientist | 9 May 2011
Does determinism pose a threat to free will? Possibly but it's overstated.
What matters is whether we have "a sense of our conscious selves being in
control of what we do. And that can depend on how our behaviour is
described" [10]Comments
Links:
10. http://thebrowser.com/articles/grand-delusions-why-we’re-determined-be-free
[11]The Day I (Nearly) Met Bob Dylan
Links:
11. http://b.rw/lcsoe2
John Harris | Guardian | 14 May 2011
The author, a huge fan, never quite managed it. But he speaks to some of
those who did. A lovely, personal, unpretentious appreciation, none the
worse for leaving questions about the man unanswered [12]Comments
Links:
12. http://thebrowser.com/articles/day-i-nearly-met-bob-dylan
FiveBooks Interview
[13]Joe Posnanski on Baseball
Links:
13. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/joe-posnanski-on-baseball
The Sports Illustrated columnist says the best sports books tell human
stories – and tells us why nostalgia is intrinsic to baseball
Featured Topic
[14]Popular Science
Links:
14. http://thebrowser.com/topics/popular-science
Black holes, DIY bio-engineering, aliens and more. Interviews and articles
from many of the biggest names in Science. No prior knowledge necessary
Reader Recommendations
@[15]TheAmScho: A black professor, an all-white class, and the thing nobody
will say. [16]tinyurl.com/3smnkga #[17]browsings
Links:
15. http://twitter.com/TheAmScho
16. http://tinyurl.com/3smnkga
17. http://twitter.com/#!/search?q=#browsings
Book of the Day
[18]Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis
Links:
18. http://thebrowser.com/recommended/epitaph-small-winner-by-machado-de-assis
[19]Woody Allen says: "I was shocked by how charming and amusing this book
was. It’s a very, very original piece of work"
Links:
19. http://thebrowser.com/interviews/woody-allen-on-memory
Video of the Day
[20]Sumo Lake
Links:
20. http://thebrowser.com/videos/sumo-lake
Just when you thought you might never get to see Swan Lake performed by sumo
wrestlers, along it comes
Quote of the Day
[21]LA restaurant owner, on Humphrey Bogart
Links:
21. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n10/jenny-diski/a-bout-de-bogart
"Bogart’s a hell of a nice guy until around 11.30 p.m. After that, he
thinks he’s Bogart"