Monday Medley

What we read while they checked the A/C in Miami…

• The prisoner exchange leading to the release of Bowe Bergdahl has led to spouts of Islamophobia and a variety of backlash, with many wondering why President Obama can release these five prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, while leaving others stranded in legal limbo. Perhaps lost in this is the plight of being a prisoner of war.

• Real life forensics labs are nothing like CSI.

• Last week marked the one year anniversary of Edward Snowden’s revelations. Here are four ways he’s changed the world. Is he obliged to accept punishment for his behavior? Noam Chomsky thinks not.

• A mother recalls the fallout from leaving her son in the car for five minutes.

• This week in oral histories: An MLB draft theme of Yankees #1 pick Brien Taylor and the amazing Cardinals class of 2009.

• The cinematic brilliance of Louie.

• Roy Williams is shocked — SHOCKED! — to hear that Rashad McCants took sham classes at UNC.

• Are you ready for some soccer?!

Monday Medley

What we read while not getting on Adam Silver’s bad side…

• Adam Silver (Duke alum!) brought the hammer down on Donald Sterling in a press conference last week, banning him from the NBA for life, to the approval of many. The NBA will now likely try to force a sale of the team.

• Michael Hayden, Glenn Greenwald, Alan Dershowitz, and Alexis Ohanian debate the value of NSA surveillance.

• A horrifying botched execution in Oklahoma is renewing debates about the practice.

• A tweet by Louis C.K. triggered a debate about the Common Core throughout the Internet and the education community.

• Christopher Evan Welch, who passed away last year, had his last episode on Silicon Valley aired last night.

• Joe Posnanski on A Few Good Men.

 

Monday Medley

What we read while the Emmys honored Jeff Daniels sarcastically…

• Last Tuesday was the two-year anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. Here are six things the movement accomplished, as well as six reasons why another crisis is inevitable. And a look at how the NYPD systematically breaks up protests.

• What was the flight from Dallas like on November 22, 1963?

• Jonathan Franzen hates the modern world. Meanwhile, The Millions looks at Franzen’s first novel on the occasion of its 25th anniversary and a reissuing.

• Conan O’Brien celebrated his 20th anniversary on the air by talking to frequent guest and early writer Louis C.K.

• The odds of Koji Uehara’s accomplishment.

• The Washington Post on Skip Bayless, when he’s off the air.

• Bryan Goldberg, the man who helped bring you Bleacher Report, is bringing his fresh take on “journalism” to women’s magazines.

• Republicans vs. Obamacare.

• On the history of last meals.

• A visit to Gitmo, where evidently nobody reads Kafka.

• The bullshit job title generator.

• The weirdest and most haunting thing you’ll read this week (you know, maybe).

Monday Medley

What we read while not searching for sugarman . . . 

• Thursday would have been David Foster Wallace’s 51st birthday. Here are 15 of his greatest quotes.

• Steven Brill’s excellent article on why health care is so expensive. Maybe Watson, the Jeopardy!-winning robot, can help.

• Joe Posnanski on the rise and fall of A-Rod. Meanwhile, the MLB has opened its vault.

• Why don’t point guards win Player of the Year? And can a Division II coach in West Virginia fix college basketball’s scoring problem?

• Yet another backdoor bank bailout. Also, the big banks’ real problem.

• Bradley Manning has now been in jail for more than 1,000 days, many of them in solitary confinement, which now even George Will is against.

• Why you need a college degree to sort files.

• A revealing story on the science of junk food.

• Louis C.K. and Nikolai Gogol.

• On suicide and gay porn.

• Reclining on an airplane: Evil or monstrously evil?

• The best places with books.

‘Twas 2012: Top Ten Television Episodes of the Year

Here are the best episodes of 2012. Obviously this contains spoilers:

10) “Argentina” — Dexter

One of the nicest surprises on television this year was Dexter’s renaissance in quality. After some misguided years and a true nadir of a season in 2011, Dexter finally embraced a real progression in the story—having Debra find out about her brother’s “hobby”—and was all the better for it. The tension between Deb and Dexter led to some of the show’s best scenes ever. And since Dexter didn’t spend the entire season chasing his usual Big Bad Guy, Season Seven actually had decent subplots, including great guest performances from Ray Stevenson and Yvonne Strahovski. In “Argentina,” the show was even able to address the weirdest element of last season—Deb’s crush on her brother—in an impressive and compelling way.

Monday Medley

What we read while waiting in line for gas…

http://www.hulu.com/watch/421095?playlist_id=1222#i0,p4

• So, there was some kind of storm last week. Hurricane Sandy made landfall last Monday, cutting off power to millions along the East Coast and killing over 100 people. New York City and New Jersey were hit the hardest, as public transportation was down for days and is still not fully operational. Images from the storm were harrowing, including these from Coney Island and two different amusement park rides caught in the water. Power in lower Manhattan was gone for days, leaving it a kind of ghost town. And, of course, the storm left behind stories of tragedy, but also amazing stories of survival.

• Of course, in the wake of the storm, there were other concerns: What was the role of global warming in the hurricane? Will any politicians, besides NYC Mayor Bloomberg that is, talk about the issue now? What is the proper role of FEMA? Has Occupy Wall Street outperformed the Red Cross in its recovery efforts? Will local businesses recover or sink in debt? How can New Yorkers get gas? How long with the recovery last? How could the flooding have been prevented? Did Twitter spread false information or not? Is this a victory for “Big Government”? Will people need to use vacation days if they work for James Dolan? How did New York’s talk shows go on? And what happened to all of New York City’s rats?!

• New Jersey’s own Star-Ledger delivered remarkable covers throughout the week.

• “By midnight, the worst is over. By dawn, it is visible.”

• Now for some non-Sandy stuff: Louis C.K. hosted Saturday Night Live!

• Joe Posnanski on the baseball playoffs.

• Disney bought LucasFilm and announced plans for a new Star Wars movie. Here’s an old look at the original film. At least some good will come out of it…

• Chris Hedges endorsed Jill Stein for President.

• Will Leitch endorsed the Knicks.

• The government appears to be winging it at Guantanamo Bay.

• Did the press cover up important facts about Benghazi?

• Will college football decide tomorrow’s election?

Monday Medley

What we read while strategically placing our infield flies…

http://www.hulu.com/watch/3519

• The tragic but inspiring story of Tig Notaro, whose set you can now buy from Louis C.K.  Speaking of Louis C.K., is Jerry Seinfeld the anti-Louie?

• The San Francisco Weekly explains how Bleacher Report — home to, without hyperbole, the trashiest, most nonsensical sports “articles” on the web — grew to be worth $200 million.

• Some stuff from Noam Chomsky about Occupy Wall Street and the upcoming election. Glenn Greenwald also finds the election to be an illusion of choice.

• Speaking of which, there was a debate last week, which Mitt Romney apparently won. This drove some Obama supporters nuts. They can be an hysterical bunch. Meanwhile, the confessions of an anonymous partisan. And a great piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates from a few weeks ago.

• What did David Foster Wallace have to say about comedy?

• More reasons to get excited for Arrested Development‘s imminent return.

• Joe Posnanski apologizes to Yankee fans for doubting the team.

• Can good writing fix bad schools?

• The New Yorker covers the making of Korean pop.

• The New York film locations of North by Northwest, then and now.

Monday Medley

What we read while being passed over for VP yet again…

• Coach K capped his career as the Team USA head coach with a win over Spain in yesterday’s gold medal game. Speaking of the Olympics, Individual Spring Track Cycling is odd.

• In case you missed it, Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his running mate. Nate Silver called the choice “risky,” though voices in both parties seem happy about it. This probably means one of them is wrong. If you don’t know much about Ryan, The New Yorker just ran a presciently-timed profile. Also, here’s Jonathan Chait on Ryan from April, and Matt Taibbi on him from last year.

• Speaking of the Romney campaign, Vanity Fair on the Karl Rove renaissance.

• Evgeny Morozov takes down TED.

• Another reason to work for Google…

• How Taco Bell is demonstrating economic progress.

• The real effects of sanctions on Iran.

• Why is the reaction different when terrorists are white?

• Andy Kindler criticizes Louis C.K. (gasp!).

Monday Medley

What we read while Katie Holmes left Tom for Pacey…

• The Supreme Court disappointed conservatives twice last week. First, it made Mitt Romney’s life more difficult by striking down most of Arizona’s controversial immigration law (though Romney’s campaign is getting pretty good at avoiding questions). Then, of course, the Court upheld Obamacare. The swing vote in the latter case was, surprisingly, Chief Justice John Roberts, who is now an unlikely hero to many liberals and a traitor to many conservatives. Of course, the decision wasn’t a total win for liberals, and it certainly helped Romney raise money. The effect of the case on, you know, health care, is yet to be seen

• Judge Posner agrees with Chief Justice Roberts and co. that the mandate is a “tax” under Article I of the Constitution. Two unnamed  sources confided in Jan Crawford on how Chief Justice Roberts changed his position on the constitutionally of the mandate. Orin Kerr opines on Crawford’s article. Speaking of reporting on the decision, many interns took to sprinting with the paper copies of the opinion.

• The Supreme Court invalidated a federal statute the same day as the ACA opinion, holding that the Stolen Valor Act violates the First Amendment.

• Now that October Term 2011 is over, SCOTUSBlog has released their Supreme Court stat pack, which is remarkably comprehensive. Among other things, it reveals that Scalia and Thomas agreed the most in judgment this term (93.3 percent of the time), while Scalia and Ginsburg agreed the least (56 percent of the time).

• Red Sox fans said goodbye to Kevin Youkilis, who was trade to Chicago last week. He was loved by few, hated by many, and respected by some.

• Season Three of Louie started last week, and Slate listed the 10 best episodes thus far.

• Jimmy Carter attacks America’s record on human rights. Meanwhile, Bradley Manning faces life in prison.

• Lena Dunham on Nora Ephron.

Girls: Women Be Shoppin’!

“Ladies….”

Most of the problems with HBO’s Girls come from the name. By titling her show so simply, Lena Dunham implied that she was speaking for an entire gender. Having her character announce in the pilot, “I think I might be the voice of my generation,” also didn’t help her.

Of course, this says far more about the current state of television (and society) than anything else. Shows created by, produced by, and starring women are so rare that when one appears, it is expected to make a statement about the entire gender. A show that was allegedly supposed to speak for so many couldn’t help but get criticized for being so narrowly targeted: There were no minorities, or people from poor backgrounds, or sympathetically portrayed men, etc.

But this is not a fair standard: Nobody expects Louie to speak on behalf of all men. Even someone like Tyler Perry, who is in a similar situation as one of the few African-Americans with complete creative control over his work, isn’t expected to speak on behalf of all black people. In fact, it would be seem phony and unrealistic if someone like Louis C.K. tried to tailor his vision to fit social conventions; it would ruin the show.

By the same token, it would feel phony and unrealistic for Dunham’s character on Girls, Hannah, to have a black best friend.