Monday Medley

What we read while disqualifying ourselves from the Masters…

• 42, the movie about Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier, opened this weekend. Roger Angell and Joe Posnanski look back at Robinson’s legacy.

• Jonah Keri breaks down last week’s Dodgers-Padres brawl.

• McClatchy reports on the Obama Administration’s use of drones against “unknown” targets, exposing the lies the CIA and White House officials have told the public.

• A report on the OCC’s foreclosure review details the fraud behind the lackluster settlement obtained for Americans whose homes have been illegally seized by banks.

• Margaret Thatcher, the influential Prime Minister who changed Great Britain, backed apartheid, and helped support dictators all across the world, died at the age of 87.

• Also dying last week: Gus Triandos. David Simon discusses how Gus came to be mentioned on The Wire.

• A look back at Earth Day and the environmental movement.

• Atheism and Islamophobia.

• Why wasn’t the Super Mario Bros. movie a hit?

• Congress wants to protect Israel’s right to discriminate against Americans.

• The fake story of when Dickens met Dostoevsky.

• A chart of college nicknames.

Monday Medley

What we read after knocking out Manny Pacquiao…

• Some great lists of the year’s best photographs, as well as an illustrated deck of cards for The Wire characters.

• The leaked audio of Fox News’ Kathleen McFarland talking to David Petraeus last year is sickening and revealing.

• Judd Apatow edited the first comedy issue of Vanity Fair, which featured, among other things, this oral history of Freaks and Geeks.

• The ongoing persecution of Bradley Manning continues, but most of the media, including The New York Times which benefited from his leaks, is still ignoring him.

• Joe Posnanski on breaking down the baseball Hall of Fame. Also, Will Leitch on Bob Costas.

• Everything you ever wanted to know about New York City candy shops.

• The militarization of America’s police forces, and some moral questions about the military itself.

• What happened to Google Reader?

• Why significant credit card bonuses are here to stay.

• Noam Chomsky celebrated his birthday this weekend.

• Why the fiscal cliff doesn’t really matter.

• Jay-Z on the subway.

• The worst free throw of all time.

Monday Medley

What we read while we all just got along…

• A look at how Jim Messina is running Obama’s reelection campaign like a business. Part of that, presumably is this recently-released list of Obama’s accomplishments that’s mostly a list of people he’s killed. Speaking of which, a young Yemeni explains how drones help Al Qaeda.

• Thoughts on the career of Vladimir Guerrero.

• In addition to banning soda, Mayor Bloomberg is trying to sell off the city’s parking meters.

• Matthew Weiner talks about the Mad Men finale in a couple of interviews.

• How have we only recently discovered the online existence of the original series bible for The Wire?

• Elizabeth Wurtzel says what it takes to be a real feminist. And speaking of feminism, a depressing look at Barbie and Ken.

• I’m sure Karl Marx would at least appreciate the irony…

Monday Medley

What we read after Carlos Beltran’s “foul ball”…

• A Met finally threw a no-hitter! Mike Vaccaro of the NY Post pulled the old columnist’s trick of driving to the ballpark after the fifth inning (worth it) while Brian Costa told the story inning by inning. Faith and Fear in Flushing puts Santana’s no-hitter in perspective. Joe Posnanski offers his views on the matter.

• Last week’s New York Times story on President Obama’s “Kill List” caused quite the controversy, particularly its revelation that the Obama Administration considers all military-aged males combatants. Harper’s also has the accounts of the inevitable unintended victims of this administration’s drone policies. Of course, liberals get very upset when you say negative things about Obama sending killer robots to other countries.

• The best part about watching the Stanley Cup Finals (GO DEVILS!) is listening to Mike Emrick, sports’ master of verbs.

• Chris Hayes, who was one of those attacked for criticizing Obama’s drone wars, got in trouble from the other side of the spectrum for daring to question whether all soldiers are heroes. And on Memorial Day!

• Jeff Pearlman chats with Shawn Green about what retirement from baseball is like. Can you guys believe Shawn Green once hit 49 homers for the Dodgers?

• This Week in Oral Histories: Maxim uses the tenth anniversary of the premiere of The Wire to look back at the greatest series in television history.

• In other TV news, Christina Hendricks discusses Joan’s controversial decision from last Sunday’s Mad Men.

• 100 years of Woody Guthrie.

• The sad state of Conan. 

• Andy Samberg is officially leaving SNL. Is Taran Killam the next big thing?

• Some of history’s most powerful photographs.

Monday Medley

What we read while Mike Wallace didn’t throw out the first pitch…

• Baseball has begun! Opening Day was last week, and fans in New York and Boston are already panicking. Both teams are 0-3, and Baltimore is 3-0: The world is on its head.

• David Simon is sick of hearing about how much you love The Wire. Actually, as he later explained to Alan Sepinwall, he’s just sick of people reducing the show down to who is the coolest character.

• Speaking of showrunners, an interview with the head of Happy Endings. And Aaron Sorkin appears to have inspired a generation of political operatives.

• The American police state continues to expand with little outcry. Internet freedom continues to get squeezed, and cops can now patrol your hallway in New York City.

• Rand Paul is the most important anti-war politician.

• How is Sanford reacting to the Trayvon Martin case?

• E.O. Wilson explains political tribalism in terms of evolutionary biology.

• The worst of Park Slope.

• What does the word “blog” even mean?

Monday Medley

What we read while debating the merits of Spandau Ballet…

• Duke’s loss to Lehigh – the second 2-seed upset on Friday, after none for 11 years – pretty much killed our brackets. But President Obama is sitting pretty. Maybe he used this model for his.

• Though John S criticized Grantland’s The Wire bracket, he was happy for Michael K. Williams and Omar.

• This American Life has retracted one of its most popular stories, about Mike Daisey’s trip to an Apple factory in China. Apparently, Daisey made a lot of it up. So I’m sure Apple’s labor practices are totally fine…

• Greg Smith, a former executive at Goldman Sachs, explained why he left the much-maligned corporation. Will this be the end of vampire squid culture?

• Community is back! Here’s everything you need to know to start watching.

• It was a rough week for the guy from the “Kony 2012″ video. He made a less successful video.

• What ever happened to the cast of Boy Meets World?

• Advice from Jack Kerouac.

Against Brackets

There is nothing better than March Madness. But like all great things, March Madness gets exploited in the name of some stupid shit. And the ubiquity of various pop culture brackets every March is one of the most annoying trends.

This year’s bracket du jour is Grandland’s “tournament” of characters from The Wire. On paper, I should love this, as it combines two of my favorite things: March Madness and The Wire. And while I’m always in favor of conversations about the greatest television show of all-time, I was only mildly pleased by Grandland’s bracket—and not just because of the huge flaws made by the committee.

Monday Medley

What we read while Joseph Kony stood up to his cyberbullies…

• Yesterday was Selection Sunday! St. Bonaventure stole a spot (which would have gone to one of six teams) on the final day, and Iona snuck in, but other than that, there weren’t many snubs. Start filling out your brackets…

• If you hadn’t heard of Joseph Kony, the Ugandan warlord and new Internet sensation, before last week, you almost certainly have by now, thanks to the video made by Invisible Children. Though Kony is certainly an evil man, there have been lots of questions raised about the video’s accuracy and intent, as well as the nature of online activism. (It’s only a matter of time before Malcolm Gladwell starts trashing it…)

• Speaking of war crimes, Eric Holder clarified the Obama Administration’s position on when it can kill you. Here’s a hint: Judicial process is not always necessary! This policy may seem unwise, but nobody bothered to ask President Obama about it the next day.

• On the other hand, Obama called Republican candidates on their bullshit regarding Iran. Of course, Obama has basically been doing everything the Republicans say they would do on the issue of Iran. Can you even tell him apart from George W. Bush? And would a nuclear Iran even be so bad?

• Grantland unveiled its bracket to determine the best character on The Wire. Michael Schur responded with his own bracket, and Grantland featured some highlights of the show’s characters. Meanwhile, The Village Voice unveiled a bracket of best musicians from New York.

• In other news of great TV, someone cut a video of all the Breaking Bad openings.

• Surprise! The TSA full body scanners are ineffective. The TSA can barely muster a defense.

• A very cool basketball graphic.

• Why didn’t Rush Limbaugh’s sponsors leave after he said all this stuff?

• Dennis Kucinich’s congressional career is likely over. Will he be missed? Or was he just “wacky”?

• The Gospel according to Louis C.K.

• Kate Hopkins offers some advice for traveling alone.

• An empirical look at the effects of Citizens United.

• Why Jonathan Franzen and the Internet will never get along.

Monday Medley

What we read while Rush Limbaugh called us way worse stuff…

• Noam Chomsky inspected Iran’s nuclear ambitions as public rhetoric on Iran grows increasingly bellicose. Andrew Sullivan predicted that Israel would goad the U.S. into support of war with Iran before the election in November (Sullivan was, of course, deemed anti-Semitic for such a remark).

• The New York City media is apparently totally fine with the NYPD spying program, as is future mayoral candidate Christine Quinn, even as the program is motivating some Muslims to alter their behavior.

• There’s a new documentary about legendary drummer Ginger Baker.

• Yet another absurd drug law was thankfully blocked by Sen. Rand Paul. And Ron Paul tells Ben Bernanke why he’s the worst.

• Speaking of unnecessary drug laws, has Ryan Braun changed the public sentiment on steroids in baseball? John S would certainly welcome it…

• What makes President Obama cooler: his continued affection for Omar Little, or his daughter’s love of Parks and Recreation?

• This week in oral histories: Grantland remembers the Malice at the Palace.

• There’s never been a trash-talker quite like Martin Luther…

Monday Medley

What we read while Irene thankfully didn’t affect the VMAs…

• NPI-favorite Michael Schur teamed up with The Decembrists to make a video based on the NPI-favorite Eschaton scene in NPI-favorite novel Infinite Jest by NPI-favorite writer, David Foster Wallace. NPI really enjoyed it.

• Speaking of DFW, the New York Times Magazine tried to blame him for bad blog writing.

• Steve Jobs resigned from Apple for health reasons. Whether or not you’re an official member of the cult of Jobs, there’s no denying his profound influence. This Rolling Stone interview, given during his decade-long exile from Apple, shows his intelligence and prescience. Apple, of course, is still in good hands, and new CEO Tim Cook has some great ideas…

• Miranda July has a new movie out, The Future,  which garnered a very positive review from Roger Ebert, who ranked July’s first film, Me and You and Everyone We Know, as one of the best of the Aughts. New York Times Magazine had a feature on July last month.

• The New Yorker details the politics and impact of Clarence Thomas and his wife. Reason Magazine points out Jeffrey Toobin’s inconsistent position on Thomas’s influence on the Court.

• Jeffrey Sachs discusses the dishonest debate about America’s deficit.

• Is the Colbert Super PAC funny or serious? Or both?

• Joe Posnanski talks about pitchers and the MVP award, Jonah Keri tries to figure out how the Angels keep winning, and Joe DeLessio tries to figure out if Jeff Nelson ever effectively used “the old Jeff Nelson.”

• An interview with Paul Rudd.

• Inspirational posters from The Wire.