May 2011
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Do you know the difference between a "loose"... →
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“In an attempt to learn how to live with less, I’m giving away my things, one by...”
– Chappell Ellison, creator of the blog Everything Must Go, which chronicles her attempts to give away as much of her stuff as possible. In short, Ellison is downsizing her everything. Read more …
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10 Essential Books for Thought-Provoking Summer... →
theatlantic:
Everything from cutting-edge scientific ideas to a new philosophy of learning to art that honors living in the moment
Have at it.
We’ve got to cast our vote for Moby-Duck, for Donovan Hohn’s treatment of maritime travel, environmentalism, consumer culture, and above all fool’s errands. Entertaining and thought-provoking.
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How many times can Jesus Christ (Superstar) be... →
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Meet Tom Dalzell, the lexicographer of slang →
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“[H]ighlighting a candidate’s humble background isn’t just to suggest a “jes’...”
– Ross Douthat on Tim Pawlenty’s blue-collar beginnings.
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Do You Live in One of America's Best-Read Cities?
Amazon released it’s list of best-read cities—those that purchase the most books from it’s website. (Still not sure if this is an accurate measure … ?) Here’s the Top 20:
1. Cambridge, Mass. 2. Alexandria, Va. 3. Berkeley, Calif. 4. Ann Arbor, Mich. 5. Boulder, Colo. 6. Miami, Fla. 7. Salt Lake City, Utah 8. Gainesville, Fla. 9. Seattle, Wash. 10. Arlington,...
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Was Donald Trump bought off by the White House!? →
motherjones:
It’s days like this we wish WorldNetDaily was on Tumblr.
Or a Tumblr wholly devoted to conspiracy theories …
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The Crockpot: A Weekly Link-Digest from Utne
Oyster mushrooms have a taste for dirty disposable diapers. Would you have a taste for the resulting fungi?
Ever sassy and sardonic, The Hairpin offers a list of online dating’s pros and cons.
“I’ve got nothing to hide” ultimately makes a poor pro-surveillance argument. Here’s how to go up against it.
You provide the punchline: Tim Pawlenty gives a speech to a libertarian think tank …
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“If I were Obama, I would not want to run against Palin. Contrary to what...”
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Rush Limbaugh (via washingtonexaminer)
Let’s just assume that this nugget o’ wisdom is severely out of context.
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“What about you? What are the needs of the world that touch you most deeply? Is...”
– Utne Reader founder Eric Utne writing about “putting it on the line” a la Nelson Mandela. Read more …
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Bin Laden Considered Cutting a Deal for Pakistani... →
In a visit to Pakistan today to reset strained U.S.-Pakistani relations in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated that the U.S. has no evidence that any senior Pakistani officials knew bin Laden was hiding in the country. But, according a New York Times report this morning,U.S. officials have uncovered evidence that bin Laden considered cutting a deal...
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“We’re getting to a gap between what the public thinks the law says and what the...”
– There’s a Secret Patriot Act, Senator Says | Danger Room | Wired.com (via centerforinvestigativereporting)
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Cultured People Feel Less Stress →
Art snobs and dance fanatics, relax! People who go to museums and concerts or create art or play an instrument are more satisfied with their lives, regardless of how educated or rich they are, according to a study highlighted by Discover.
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Nuclear Power Is Like a Religion →
How many times have we been told, since the Fukushima nuclear crisis began, that we’re not being told everything? The revelation that three reactors suffered fuel meltdowns soon after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami—a scenario vigorously denied by plant and government officials at the time—only reinforces my view that whatever the technological wonders of nuclear fission, it’s humans...
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Literary Stockholm Syndrome, or How 1,000-page... →
As a former English major, I’ve slashed my way through tons (literally) of books. The aggregate weight of your literary explorations becomes a sort of status symbol on campus, with extra-shiny merit badges awarded for the really heavy tomes—the Ulysseses and Infinite Jests and David Copperfields and The Count of Monte Cristos. From a semi-serious academic perspective, this logorrheaic ...
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Secular Bible Channels the Voice of . . . Reason? →
Liberals, atheists, and Satan’s henchmen are trying to remove God from our schools, our government, and even our private lives, goes the frequent Christian conservative complaint. Well, author A.C. Grayling has gone a step further and taken God out of the Bible.
The Good Book: A Humanist Bible is Grayling’s attempt to create an inspirational book without a supernatural being at the center....
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The New Inquiry: Place Matters →
thenewinquiry:
By Jennifer Acker
As more aspects of our lives are digitized, literature is an increasingly crucial means of expressing, understanding, and preserving places and their influences.
At the end of the eighties, when I was in middle school, a development threatened a parcel of land a…
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WatchHave you ever gobbled up a smallish bag of chips only to realize that, according to the food label on the side of the package, you’ve just consumed three servings, not the single serving you expected? Do you stop to recalculate the dreaded saturated-fat percentage? Or, wait a minute; is it the trans-fat percentage that’s going to kill you? And are thetwelve grams of protein you just ingested...
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The Lost Bob Dylan Interview →
“I kicked a heroin habit in New York City,” he confesses. “I got very, very strung out for a while, I mean really, very strung out. And I kicked the habit. I had about a $25-a-day habit and I kicked it.”
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Tim Pawlenty has a truthiness problem. →
motherjones:
The GOP presidential candidate launched his campaign yesterday with a fancy video and a promise to tell the truth to the American people. Well, except for when it comes to his record on climate change. And spending cuts. And the Wall Street bailout. You know, maybe this “truth” thing isn’t working out so well.
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Remember Obama's speech stressing women's rights...
csmonitor:
Manal al-Sharif, a women’s rights activist, uploaded to YouTube a video of herself driving in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province last week. The video was part of an online campaign encouraging Saudi women to take a page out of the Arab uprisings playbooks, and to defy oppression by driving on June 17 of this year. Over the weekend, Ms. Sharif was arrested and is currently being held on...
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In Defense of Chick-Lit →
“At its core, chick lit is about a lot of things that I actually find very interesting,” writes S.E. Smith of This Ain’t Livin’. “Starting with the fact that these character-driven books usually focus on women and their lives. Not on men. Some feature romantic elements, but the woman is the centre of the story, as are her female friends. This is a marked departure from, uhm, pretty much...
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The myth of the paperless office. →
Clutterbugs beware! Futurists despair!
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ShortFormBlog: On Paul Ryan and his viability as a... →
shortformblog:
thenoobyorker said: Paul Ryan is the new 2008 Mitt Romney. Nobody wants to touch him or take him seriously, yet looking forward he could be a viable candidate. Of course, the national mood may be anti-Ryan then as well. Will voters vote for a man who made such cuts? Idk
» SFB says:…
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Sarah Lacy: The Chilling Story of Genius in a Land... →
ladyjournos:
On the ground in Nigeria with the nation’s notorious scam artists, who share a remarkable number of qualities with America’s top entrepreneurs.
TechCrunch || May 15, 2011
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The Crockpot: A Weekly Link-Digest from Utne
Does it sometimes feel like your shower curtain is out to get you? The folks at Mental Floss explain the science behind the “shower curtain effect.”
Gliese 581d, the newly discovered planet that is capable of sustaining life, is about to get an earful. Two years ago, an Australian magazine collected messages from the people of planet Earth for their new galactic neighbors and began...
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Watch: Heated debate over new Malcolm X biography...
Summary here …
