Monday Medley

What we read while wishing our Dads a happy birthday…

• Eli Saslow’s Washington Post piece on the Barton family in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting is everything a newspaper piece should be: In-depth on multiple levels on a story that needs to be told, it also exercises an admirable authorial restraint. Saslow is quick becoming a writer whose every word should be read.

• Some Edward Snowden fallout: Polling indicates most Americans support Snowden’s leaks, and he has several notable defenders. Still, certain journalists are uneasy with him, and there has been predictably harsh backlash. His girlfriend, at least, is not happy. Meanwhile,  other leakers have backed up his story and even indicated things are a lot worse.

• Perhaps lost in all the discussion of the leaker are the leaks themselves. Here are some reasons why the information about the NSA and PRISM and the cyber-targets is so dangerous, and why citizens should be upset. David Simon had an exchange with Clay Shirky on the program’s impact. Of course, Hollywood warned us.

• Patton Oswalt writes about rape jokes, comedy thieves, and heckling.

• So it turns out Derek Jeter is actually clutch. Even though clutch players don’t exist. In other baseball news, an interview with Ken Singleton and Jonah Keri on the inflated value of closers.

• A very sickening survey about college sexual assaults.

• George Packer on Silicon Valley’s politics, or lack thereof. In other class news, everyone is poor now (though a court ruling on paying interns might help). And Bank of America lied to homeowners looking for foreclosures.

• The Star-Ledger‘s Andy McCullough, already one of our favorite baseball writers, shows his range with this heartfelt post on his late father.

• The war behind Call of Duty.

• Here comes the Del Close Marathon.

• Pete Carroll thinks 9/11 was an inside job.

Monday Medley

What we read while the government spying- NEVERMIND EVERYTHING’S FINE!

• So you may have heard about a few government leaks last weak, including a court order to Verizon for millions of phone records of American citizens, a program called PRISM that allows the NSA to monitor computer activity, and a government order of possible targets for a cyber attack. They caused a bit of a kerfuffle: Though elected representatives think anything goes when it comes to terrorism, many citizens for some reason think the ability to monitor who calls whom, when, and from where might be a breach of privacy and not just troubling but even “obscenely outrageous,” since it is exactly what a totalitarian dictator would want. David Simon, who wrote a whole television series about government surveillance, thinks we should have seen this all coming.

• The Internet companies implicated in the leaked documents rushed to issue denials, though they were carefully worded and other evidence points to their complicity. The result is a massive surveillance system built by Bush and Obama that spans the entire globe. In a quirk of timing, Julian Assange had just penned an attack on Google’s stated “Don’t Be Evil” mission. Meanwhile, the claims that these programs save lives seem dubious.

• All of this only underscores the importance of whistleblowers in this era of government secrecy. The hero who leaked all this information actually came forward: His name is Edward Snowden (“There, there”) and, though he will likely face extreme punishment if he is not granted asylum, he felt the public’s right to know trumped his personal well-being.

• Speaking of invasions of privacy, the MLB is looking to suspend up to 20 players based on the dubious evidence obtained in the investigation of Biogenesis. Why baseball continues to go so vigilantly after suspected steroid users is a little puzzling, but probably has to do with Bud Selig’s concern for his own legacy. And it’s important to remember that not everyone involved is as hated as A-Rod.

• People in other parts of the country talk weird.

• An absolutely crushing story from Eli Saslow on mourning in Newtown.

• Is recycling actually bad?

• This week in oral histories: The sexual history of the UCB Theatre. And did ESPN kill oral histories with this instant oral history of Tony Parker’s shot at the end of Game 1 of the NBA Finals?

• Everything you need to know about Pretty Little Liars in advance of Tuesday’s season premiere.

Monday Medley

What we read while celebrating Veinte y Nueve de Abril…

• Jason Collins became the first active professional athlete in one of the four major leagues to come out of the closet (well, sort of the first). Most of the sports world was supportive, including Collins’ former fiancee, though obviously there was a predictable share of ignorance and intolerance.

• Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could avoid the death penalty.

• The issue of Guantánamo Bay was raised again, thanks to the prisoners’ ongoing hunger strike. Some are now being force-fed, which is as bad as it sounds. President Obama reiterated his desire to close the prison, though once again took no tangible steps to make that happen.

• Read this, and you’ll never have to read anything else about Tim Tebow again.

• Grantland tries to match the NY Times when it comes to the visual presentation of stories inexorably tied to the cold.

• Would open borders end poverty?

• Good journalism.

• Scenes from the early days at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater.

• An interview with David Graeber, whose new book The Democracy Project was reviewed by John S yesterday.

• The fall of standardized tests in Texas.

• Jazz scholars analyze the new soundtrack for The Great Gatsby.

• Beards make you healthy and handsome.

Monday Medley

What we read while the name “Sandy” took another big hit...

• Obviously everyone is still reeling from the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, which killed 27 people, including 20 first graders. The latest in a series of mass shootings, President Obama decalred that something must change. There will be renewed calls for gun control, and debates about how to treat the mentally ill. But what can anyone really say?

• On the bright side, 26 things to cheer you up.

• Moments from last week’s 12/12/12 concert.

• D.T. Max on the origins of the title of his DFW biography.

• How gay marriage won at the ballot.

• If we were to pen a response to Sally Jenkins’ “Why I’m Not Angry at Lance Armstrong,” it would be called “Why We’re Angry at Sally Jenkins.”

• Forget everything you thought you knew about hoodies…

• What is the real legacy of David Petraeus?

• We only agree with about 19 of these.

• Mel Brooks talks about, among other things, playing Hitler.

• A short story of caveman love.

• Another reason to despise what ESPN has become.