Newsletter 792

Best of the Moment

Portrait Of The Artist As A Postman

Jason Sheeler | Texas Monthly | 24 September 2012

Meet Kermit Oliver, painter, mystic and recluse. Works the night shift sorting mail in a Waco, Texas post office. Mourns his son, who was executed for murder. And designs silk scarves for the Hermès fashion house in Paris Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/portrait-artist-postman)

Mitt's Stake

Benjamin Wallace-Wells | New York | 23 September 2012

"As a church leader, Romney seemed devoted to a Mormon ethic of sacrifice for the welfare of the group, an almost communitarian system of belief. As a candidate, his philosophy has been nakedly individualistic." How to square them? Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/mitts-stake)

Surviving Progress

Michael Hudson | Michael Hudson | 24 September 2012

"Some ways of getting rich are corrosive, not productive. The wealthiest 10% have got rich mainly by getting the bottom 90% into debt. This isn't industrial capitalism. It's a regression to the usury problem that destroyed Rome" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/surviving-progress)

The Air Force Men Who Fly Drones In Afghanistan By Remote Control

Rob Blackhurst | Telegraph | 24 September 2012

"The plane cannot start, cannot fly and cannot release a weapon without us doing it. Human beings are in the cockpit – exactly the same as when I was flying a Tornado. We just happen to be 8,000 miles away from the plane" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/air-force-men-who-fly-drones-afghanistan-remote-control)

Deconstructing Recommender Systems

Joseph Konstan, John Riedl | IEEE Spectrum | 24 September 2012

"Have you ever wondered what you look like to Amazon? You are a very long row of numbers in a very, very large table. This row describes everything you’ve looked at, everything you’ve clicked on, and everything you’ve purchased" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/deconstructing-recommender-systems)

Tasting Like Chicken

Jackson Landers | Slate | 20 September 2012

Birds, snakes, lizards, turtles: All are said to taste of chicken. But why? Do they have a common evolutionary link? A distant ancestor that was the first creature to taste of chicken? Landers heads back 350 million years for clues Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/tasting-chicken)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)

FiveBooks Interview

(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/deborah-blum-on-science-society)

Deborah Blum on Science in Society

The Pulitzer prize-winning writer says science is too important to be left for the scientists, and recommends books that show how much it matters in our daily lives Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/deborah-blum-on-science-society)