Newsletter 867
Best of the Moment
In Rust Belt, A Teenager’s Climb From Poverty
Anne Hull | Washington Post | 9 December 2012
Tabitha Rouzzo, 17, was dealt a poor hand in life. She is determined through hard work and sheer effort to get out of the circumstances in which she grew up. But leaving poverty is tougher than it once was in America (h/t D Lippman) Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/rust-belt-teenager’s-climb-poverty)
Operation Delirium
Raffi Khatchadourian | New Yorker | 10 December 2012
Lawsuit exposes 20 years of US military "psychochemical" research. “The characteristics we are looking for in these agents are exactly opposite to what pharmaceutical firms want in drugs, that is, the undesirable side effects” Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/operation-delirium)
Those Crazy Indemnity Forms We All Sign
Daniel Akst | NYT | 8 December 2012
"One-sided legal releases are part of modern life, but these ubiquitous documents often contain little-noticed indemnification clauses that make every one of us an insurer. Are these indemnifications legally enforceable?" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/those-crazy-indemnity-forms-we-all-sign)
Does Mo Yan Deserve The Nobel Prize?
Perry Link | NYRB | 6 December 2012
"It would be wrong for spectators like you and me, who enjoy the comfort of distance, to demand that Mo Yan risk all and be another Liu Xiaobo. But it would be even more wrong to mistake the clear difference between the two" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/does-mo-yan-deserve-nobel-prize)
A Martyr Is Made – Jane's Jihad
John Shiffman | Reuters | 7 December 2012
How American-born Colleen LaRose came to be considered the new face of terror. Was the US authorities' case against her all it was cracked up to be? Part one of a four-part investigation Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/martyr-made-–-janes-jihad)
Past Pandemics Are In Our Genes
Carl Zimmer | Slate | 6 December 2012
"To understand what it means to be human, you have to understand koalas. Or, to be more precise, you have to understand how they are dying from a bizarre viral outbreak that has been raging for the past 150 years or so" Comments (http://thebrowser.com/articles/past-pandemics-are-our-genes)
(http://www.amazon.com/Best-of-FiveBooks-2011-ebook/dp/B007GAM6RC?tag=thebro-21)
FiveBooks Interview
(http://thebrowser.com/interviews/philip-plait-on-wonders-universe)
Philip Plait on the Wonders of the Universe
The astronomer and author of the acclaimed Bad Astronomy blog gives us a superbly informative beginner’s guide to the galaxy, taking in the birthdate of the universe, solar flares and much, much more Read on (http://thebrowser.com/interviews/philip-plait-on-wonders-universe)
Featured Special Report
(http://thebrowser.com/reports/american-prisons)
American Prisons
An epidemic of incarceration. A prison system that provides neither retributive justice nor rehabilitation. Is this America's moral catastrophe? Read on (http://thebrowser.com/reports/american-prisons)
Reader Recommendations
@henrylf: They Know What You're Shopping For: "Tracking companies are redefining what it means to be anonymous" @wsj #browsings t.co/SV5IPfST #browsings (https://twitter.com/search?q=#browsings) More like this (http://thebrowser.com/browsings)
Book of the Day
Book of the Day (http://thebrowser.com/recommended/hound-baskervilles-by-sir-arthur-conan-doyle)
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Michael Dirda says (https://thebrowser.com/interviews/michael-dirda-on-sherlock-holmes) : “The hound from hell really gives the story an air of the uncanny that readers love. The idea of the curse of the Baskervilles is especially brilliant” FiveBooks Archive (http://thebrowser.com/fivebooks/archive)
Quote of the Day
Nietzsche, on marriage (http://www.berfrois.com/2012/12/do-it-for-the-askesis)
"A married philosopher belongs to comedy. That is my rule"
More quotes (http://thebrowser.com/quotations)