Michael I. Niman wonders: “Was Paul Wellstone Murdered?” I often don’t agree with Andrew Sullivan, but he’s right: Niman’s claim is absolutely ridiculous.
Bananas as installation art.
Outside La Paz, Bolivia, “el camino de la muerte,” or the highway of death, has become a tourist attraction (New York Times; free registration required).
BBC News: “The enigma of Liverpool’s labyrinth: Tycoon Joseph Williamson dug a vast, bizarre network of tunnels under Liverpool almost 200 years ago. Were they the city’s first job creation scheme, a rich man’s whimsy or a shelter from the end of the world?”
David Brooks. Man, is he good. In his newest article, “Superiority Complex,” he examines the democratization of elitism in our country:
“‘Know thyself,’ the Greek sage advised. But of course this is nonsense. Truly happy people live by the maxim ‘Overrate thyself.’ They are raised by loving parents who slather them with praise. They stride […]
Good news: Arts & Letters Daily is back. The site has been purchased by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
News.com: “Google, the world’s most popular search engine, has quietly deleted more than 100 controversial sites from some search result listings.”
This week’s New Yorker contains two fascinating articles. The first, by Jeffrey Goldberg, which, unfortuntely, isn’t posted on the magazine’s site, describes the increase in fundamental Islamic terrorist activity in the “Triple Frontier”–the border area shared by Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil. The second article, Jerome Groopman’s “Dying Words,” is a sad, revealing look at various […]
“The American way of snacks.”
BBC News: “Plans are afoot to try and emulate the travels of a Chinese eunuch who is believed to have discovered America more than 70 years before Christopher Columbus.”
The other day, I started reading Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.” I was in the mood for some muscular prose and some violence. I made it all of 20 pages before putting the book down in disappointment. Most recently, I read Hemingway’s “To Have and Have Not” when I was in college, and I […]
“The Scales of Good and Evil”–one man’s list of the best and worst people of all time.
I attended a book signing by Dave Eggers yesterday. He autographed my copy of his new novel, “You Shall Know Our Velocity”–and, under my name, drew a picture of a small boat with the word “indeed” on it. He seemed like a nice guy.
O.J. Simpson says: “For years, I’ve been pretty sure that I did not murder my wife.”
If you enjoy Apple’s “Switch” campaign (which urges unhappy PC users to try Macs), you may also like the Japanese version of their ads. No clue what they’re saying, but the spots are funny.