Math is Harder for Girls

Heather Mac Donald is a very interesting individual with a very interesting biography. Her most recent piece for the City Journal is both an indictment of New York Times reporting and the feminist - both genders are the same - ethos. Her analysis of the statistics seems a lot more accurate than the Times and while TMR is always reluctant to claim bias reporting (it seems like a crutch used by individuals who disagree with an articles thrust, and an irrational act by reporters) it's either that or stupidity and I'm not sure which Tamar Lewin would prefer.

On another note TMR watched Reality Bites Back on Comedy Central and is totally on board. The show essentially punishes reality t.v. contestants for wanting to be famous which is both funny and rewarding. Definitely worth the half-hour.

Paris Match

I read this Vanity Fair article on French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his ex-model wife on www.spreeder.com and while the article wasn't bad the real revelation was how awesome spreeder is. Copy and paste the text from anything you're looking to read and hit play, it's an excellent way to save time while still coming away with the bulk of the information available.

On another note, I neglected to mention this New Yorker cartoon in my last post. Definitely one of the funnier cartoons I've seen in some time, enjoy.

Dr. Kush

This New Yorker article by David Samuels on the economics of the semi-legal California marijuana business is fascinating - or at least I think it was, I was stoned for most of it. But seriously it’s a good read if a bit demeaning toward the trade at times, particularly in the second to last paragraph where the Samuels seems to draw conclusions that are very loosely based on his reporting throughout the story. Regardless, his reporting is excellent even if his conclusions lack support, he gets involved in all aspects of the trade and generally writes from a detached observers angle.

Another article worthy of note is Condoleezza Rice’s Rethinking the National Interest in Foreign Affairs July/August issue (btw, Condoleezza does not have squiggly lines indicating a misspelling as I type this on Microsoft Word, goddamn the Bush administration, they have their hands in everything!). Ms. Rice also wrote an essay for FA in 2000 and it is interesting to see her address (and in some ways backtrack from) what she wrote then in light of the events of the last eight years.

Spartan Warriors in the YouTube Age

This New York Magazine article by Stephen Rodrick is lacking any real story arc and ends rather abruptly but is otherwise a really enjoyable look into the Spartans of Union Square.

As for the McCain editorial, TMR is convinced it was sent to the Times understanding that there was no way the Times would publish an article that was a rebuttal rather than a actual opinion piece. McCain’s camp sent it anyway, knowing it would be rejected, so that they could leak it to Drudge, where it would get just as much, if not more coverage, and they could score points against the “liberal mainstream media” at the same time. This is the type of politicking that makes TMR wonder if Karl Rove isn’t doing more than just writing editorials for the Wall Street Journal.

The Great African-American Awakaning

The City-Journal is one of those publications TMR loves to hate and often loves to love. The magazine often makes eloquent arguments for conservative viewpoints and does so with a compassion that many liberals think is devoid in conservative ideology (just as conservatives think liberals are fantasy chasing idealist (and people who don't allow themselves to be pigeonholed into narrow ideological labels think those who do are dragging this country into the sewer faster than Ann Coulter can bang on Al Sharpton for playing the race card)). Anyway, this City-Journal article is an interesting examination of what Myron Magnet sees as a new era in African-American leadership.

The three weaknesses of the article are that it relies too heavily on two books, its repeated attempts to tie the thugs in US urban centers to terrorists in the Middle East and its (inevitably) superficial understanding of rap and hip hop. Although this passage provides an interesting angle for the argument against rap:

Of course, white kids listen to this music and see these videos, too, including kids who will grow up to be corporate America’s bosses, and it affects the way they see black people, Williams says. They will come away with an image of black women as indiscriminate sluts, and black men, as African-American journalist Stanley Crouch puts it, as “monkey-moving, gold-chain-wearing, illiteracy-spouting, penis-pulling, sullen, combative buffoons.” “Who would hire such a person?” Williams asks. “Who would want to live next to them?” This $4-billion-a-year industry, in which blacks are the performers, the designers, and many of the executives, presents African-Americans to the entire world in terms the Ku Klux Klan would use. Where are the civil rights leaders?

All in all well worth the read, particularly considering this seminal moment in American politics.

On another note, congrats to the McCain campaign on a genius political move sending that farce of an editorial to the New York Times knowing full it wasn't up to the editorial boards standards. More on this tomorrow.

The Most Dangerous Seas in the World

TMR has spent most of this morning feeling like his head has been looted by pirates and this Economist story speaks to that possibility. TMR can't help but think that pirates are cool, sure it's wrong and stuff but come'on, seriously come'on.

American Murder Mystery

In addition to being a fascinating analysis of project diaspora this Atlantic article provides an interesting follow up to Gang Leader for a Day. The sensationally named Sudhir Venkatesh account of his experiences in the Robert Taylor projects originally made famous in Freakonomics. (I'd like to find a study on the proliferation of the word "rogue" following the publishing of these two works).

The Long War of Genaro Garcia Luna

To describe The Long War of Genaro Garcia Luna as a profile piece is really to miss the point. The article, by Daniel Kurtz-Phelan in this week’s New York Times Magazine, is more of a survey of the Mexican drug cartel landscape told through the person who is currently in charge of leading the fight against drug proliferation. But as the article suggests, lifetime expectancy drops significantly when an individual enlists their services in the Mexican drug war, particularly on the side of enforcement. Kurtz-Phelan interviews individuals who are killed during his research for the story and recounts tales of other high ranking officials who have suffered their fates at the hands of the cartels.

Garcia Luna is confident and determined but as the final line of the article, and much of the facts that proceed it, suggest these feelings might be foolhardy.

Libertarians: A (Not So) Lunatic Fringe

TMR has many libertarian leanings but has never felt comfortable with the party's lunacy. This Time article is an interesting analysis of where the party stands now and how the party is primed to have it's largest impact yet. The article isn't Nathan Thornburgh's best writing but it is timely and I suspect the Libertarian party will get more and more coverage as we approach the election. Also, this passage is a masterful synopsis of why that is:

It helps that the U.S. has been throttled for a century by two parties whose core differences are narrowing. The current general election has seemed at times a contest about who can crib off the other party's platform more, from McCain's enthusiasm for using government to fight global warming to Obama's hedging on warrantless wiretapping. For an electorate having a harder time distinguishing Coke from Pepsi, there's a thirst for something--anything--new.

The article interestingly coincides with Ed Koch calling for a viable third party in New York state politics as analyzed by Steven Malanga in the City Journal.

Silent No More

This is a short but beautiful Economist story that has inspired the first post of this blog. Every weekday going forward TMR will post a magazine article that is worthy of note. Very few will represent the potential of the human spirit better than this one.