Why The Wire Feels Dated

And why that's a good thing, according to John Hendel in The Atlantic.

It's Your Moment

Stephen Bright's commencement address at Yale Law School, 2012. 

Quebec

The "truncheon law" and a new wave of protests.

Obama, Drone Strikes, the "Kill List"

An incredible look at the complexities of counterterrorism. Obama has been nothing if not decisive, but man...

And Amy Davidson of The New Yorker has something to say about it. I'm sure she won't be the last.

If Not George Bailey's Dream, Maybe the Mayans

rsn.com urges you to support your local credit unions.

anyone know anything about rsn.com?

Johnny Tapia

"Johnny Tapia, a prizefighter who won world titles in three weight classes in a chaotic life that included jail, struggles with mental illness, suicide attempts and five times being declared clinically dead as a result of drug overdoses, was found dead at his home in Albuquerque on Sunday. He was 45."  Read the full story in the New York Times.

Can a Couple of Techies Revolutionize Campaigning?

Joe Green and Jim Gilliam are going to try, with NationBuilder.

Photographs of the Amish

In this week's New Yorker.

It All Happened.

Damon Lindelof talks about "LOST," its controversial ending, and a lot of things you wouldn't necessarily think about when you think about telling stories, in this interview on The Verge.

Why I Won't Watch Football This Year

In the wake of Junior Seau's death, I had a conversation with a friend of mine, whose intelligence I admire, and whose opinions on sports and social issues I respect, about football's "safety issues." I told him that I didn't know if I would be able to watch the sport anymore. His last words on the matter were, "Well, we don't have to decide right away." Football season doesn't start until September, after all.

But our conversation was not isolated: Seau's death has brought the discussion of violence in football, and more specifically CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative disease associated with multiple concussions), into the national spotlight yet again.

"My White Friends"

A photography exhibition, by Myra Greene.

Featured in The New York Times.


The Kickstarter Campaign.

Lucas v. Marin

When George Lucas wanted to build a third production ranch on his estate in Marin County, residents resisted. He now hopes to create affordable housing in its stead.

(5.22.12)

Lying About the Past

How the Professor Who Fooled Wikipedia Got Caught by Reddit

Psst. Bud.

Superior Court Judge James P. Grey on the legalization of marijuana in California.

How Yahoo Killed Flickr

And Lost the Internet. Gizmodo.

On community:

"The milestones for that acquisition were all based around integrating that local event data into Yahoo. Yahoo didn't care about Upcoming's users—the community that created the data. Yahoo's approach turned out to be completely backwards. The value of the the company was determined by the index itself, rather than how the index was built—which is to say, by the community.

It was a stunning failure in vision, and more or less the same thing happened at Flickr. All Yahoo cared about was the database its users had built and tagged. It didn't care about the community that had created it or (more importantly) continuing to grow that community by introducing new features."

Death of Death of a Salesman?

In The New Yorker, Giles Harvey argues that the play is overwrought, and not the masterpiece we perceive it to be.

You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

Aaron Sorkin's commencement address at Syracuse University. Awesome.

From thepurposefairy, "15 Things You Should Give Up in Order to Be Happy."

And finally, from MarcandAngel, "What I Know at 62 That I Didn't Know at 24."

"Gay Rights are Human Rights, and Human Rights are Gay Rights."

Thanks, Hillary.

The Atlantic wire looks at:

Hillary's speech to the UN.

A potential change in Republican policy.

Reactions from around the world.

Hysteria

On sexuality in film, from women's perspectives. - Julie Bloom, NYT

This is Big Oil

Steve Coll talks to The Daily Beast's Jimmy So about ExxonMobil, and its financial and geographical reach.

From North Carolina, Let's Take a Lesson in Framing

North Carolina's voters approved a measure that would add a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage. This is Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, two days before the measure passed, on asking the right questions. Let this be a lesson to us moving forward:

"The question shouldn't have been- not, 'How do you feel about same-sex marriage?', but 'Do you believe that a majority, by popular vote, should get to decide the rights of a minority?' That's a dangerous precedent. Because that means that the rights of people are determined by who's in the majority at a particular time."

Colbert, Tyson, and e=mc²

Neil de Grasse Tyson, that is. For an hour and twenty minutes. In one of the best interviews about anything I've ever seen, Stephen Colbert and the astrophysicist chat about the universe, our society, science education, and even James Cameron.

Some excerpts:

Colbert: Is knowledge always a good thing?
Tyson: I have to say yes.
Colbert: Why?
Tyson: Because it empowers you to react, and possibly even do something about it, if something needs to be done.

Tyson: Some of the greatest poetry is revealing to the reader the beauty in something that was so simple you had taken it for granted.

Also, The Most Amazing Fact Ever  (Tyson).

11 Million People and Zero Ads. Wait, What?

"In September 2006, São Paulo’s populist mayor, Gilberto Kassab, passed the so-called 'Clean City Law,' outlawing the use of all outdoor advertisements, including on billboards, transit, and in front of stores." 


In short, it's working. From New Dream.

Google and Government

My main takeaway from David Ewing Duncan's interview of Bill Maris, a Google Venture Managing Partner, is that we need people in government today who have bigger ideas. From The Atlantic.

OWS and the Pros and Cons of the Black Bloc

Harry Siegel from The Daily Beast on the OWS "general strike," and their "diversity of tactics."

Ladies and Gentleman, Mayor Corey Booker

And his poem, "I Will Not Lie Down."

Soldiering.

Good news: The U.S. is giving money to aid in the education of Lebanese college students. They're also giving 100 times that much to the Egyptian military.