Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
With the election of Donald Trump, the latent threat of American authoritarianism—identified decades ago by German intellectuals—is on the verge of being realized. Credit PHOTOGRAPH BY DAMON WINTER / THE NEW YORK TIMES / REDUX Barrier Status: ‘none’ Shortly after the Presidential election, a small piece of good news came over the wire: the Thomas Mann…
Could James Mattis, the former head of Central Command, have a moderating influence on the Trump Administration and its foreign policy? Credit Photograph by Alex Brandon / AP Barrier Status: ‘none’ In September, 2011, I met General James Mattis, then in charge of U.S. Central Command, at its headquarters, in Tampa, Florida. Central Command directs…
Books, ‘As Close to Immortality as the Written Word Can Expect’ (Dreamstime image: Yulan) A Firing Line conversation with Philip Terzian Philip Terzian, the literary editor of The Weekly Standard since 2005, has become one of the deans of the book-reviewing trade. He is much admired for his ability to make taste and…
For over two and a half years, Jake Beckman has been waging a war against clickbait. The flashy headlines peppered with teasers and exclamations tend to obscure the legitimacy of an article, rendering it into nothing more than a question and answer, a latent pique of curiosity that sometimes never manifests further than a headline….
Google Microdata Mobile only ad Article “Cover” Breakfast Cereal’s Last Gasp Better-informed consumers are ditching the bowls of sugar that were once a triumph of 20th-century marketing. Google Metadata Wikimedia Commons Last year, General Mills launched a new product aimed at health-conscious customers: Cheerios Protein, a version of its popular cereal made with whole-grain oats…
A few years ago, the software start-up GitHub faced an uncomfortable truth: It could be a pretty unpleasant place. It was 2014 and the company was growing rapidly as a hub for programmers to collaborate on coding projects. But as its user base grew, so too did its problems. A GitHub developer, Julie Ann Horvath,…
black atheists matter FEATURE December 4, 2016 by Christopher Cameron Christianity has played a central role in African-American life from the late 18th century to the present. Black churches raised funds for fugitive slaves, served as schoolhouses, and provided space for political meetings and activities, among other functions. Leaders of black…
“Slap the bag” — the ancient coming-of-age game involving slapping a bag of wine (usually Franzia) while drinking directly out of its plastic spigot — is a college staple. As is drinking Fireball. So, it was only a matter of time before the two converged in alcoholic matrimony to create the perfect party vessel: boxed…
British scientist Prof. Stephen Hawking gives his ‘The Origin of the Universe’ lecture to a packed hall December 14, 2006 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Hawking suffers from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrigs disease), which has rendered him quadriplegic, and is able to speak only via a computerized voice synthesizer…
There is no magic bullet to fix this problem. December is always a very busy time for the banks and credit card companies as we all scramble to purchase presents in time for Christmas. But it’s also a boon period for fraudsters who are trying to steal those precious card details. And now it…