Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Entry Text Think about everything you understood about our system of government here in the United States. We’re governed under a document that starts with the words, “We the People.” Right? When We the People agree that something should done to make our lives better, it’s supposed to get done. Right? You didn’t know it,…
Why did Greek warriors have awesome abs and pecs hammered into their armor? We know from ancient texts, pottery, and archaeological evidence that some ancient Greek warriors — like the citizen-soldier hoplites — wore uniforms that had the same aesthetic as a nippled Batman suit. And it’s pretty clear that subsequent armies often worked off…
Ted Rall is a lying, fantasist scumbag. Or maybe, just maybe, the LA Times,complicit with the Los Angeles police, have slandered and slimed America’s toughest critic of police violence.The story: On July 27, the LA Times fired their long-time columnist and cartoonist Ted Rall for fabricating a story of police misconduct. The LA Times’ evidence? …
Uber, Silicon Valley’s prized amoral unicorn, is presumed to be a financial titan and a sure-thing IPO in the near future. Which may be true. But one thing that’s frequently missing from the conversation about its inevitable dominance over virtually every facet of our lives is the answer to a fundamental question: Does it make…
Whole Foods says that a product called “asparagus water” found in a California store earlier this week was a mistake. It has been pulled from shelves.(Photo: Tony Dejak, AP) Whole Foods (WFM) was just kidding with that $6 Asparagus Water. After the bottles — literally three stalks of asparagus in each bottle of water — were spotted on…
For some wealthy donors, it doesn’t matter who takes the White House in 2016—as long as the president’s name is Clinton or Bush. More than 60 ultra-rich Americans have contributed to both Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton’s federal campaigns, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by Vocativ and The Daily Beast. Seventeen…
In a study commissioned by the National Gun Victims Action Council, the group found that people without firearms training performed poorly in simulated scenarios, like a carjacking, an armed robbery and a suspected larceny. (National Gun Victims Action Council) In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, the National Rifle Association proposed putting more guns…
In order to fully understand just how useless the Golden Age Atom was, simply encounter him in the context of his adventures with the Justice Society Of America. The original Atom (created by Ben Flinton and Bill O’Connor) was Al Pratt, a costumed adventurer with no superpowers save for the fact that he…
Presidential hopeful and would-be Christ figure Ted Cruz recently did an interview with The New York Times, and it’s an absolute must-read. Rather than delve deeply into policy, interviewer Ana Marie Cox presses the senator about who he is under that “wacko bird” exterior. As a youth, he was an unpopular nerd. He loved and still loves Spider-Man and…
Photo The burial service for Sandra Bland on Saturday in Lisle, Ill. Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times LISLE, Ill. — Funerals are often predictably somber — a cloistering and culminating of grief and pain. Not Sandra Bland’s funeral. (Everyone called her Sandy, by the way.) Sandy’s was simultaneously celebratory and defiant. Bland…