Tanisha M. Fazal (Columbia): Why States No Longer Declare War. From Edge, Daniel C. Dennett on Leon Wieseltier on Steven Pinker: Pomposity can be amusing, but pomposity sitting like an oversized hat on top of fear is hilarious. Daniel Luzer on the lives of dictators’ wives: The fancy clothes and charitable works aren’t incidental — the dictator’s spouse is an important part of maintaining power. Tom Slee on Six Degrees of Omidyar: As I find out more about how venture capital can erode sharing and public commons, one name appears time and time again. Erik Voeten on academics, policy makers, blogs, and the trouble with op-eds. Tenured professors make worse teachers: A study finds undergrads fare better when taught by non-tenture-track faculty. Sports Illustrated is basically doing free investigative work for the NCAA and essentially reinforcing the power of the real abusers — the NCAA cartel that colludes to prevent players who generate millions of dollars for their schools from being paid for their services. Meet the encryption aficionados who know how to hide from the NSA's watching eye. Why does a fancy purse say “stay away from my man”? Charles Lister on sorting the good guys from the bad among Syria's rebels. Is Syria setting itself up for international prosecution? Colin Dickey reviews The Summits of Modern Man: Mountaineering after the Enlightenment by Peter H. Hansen. Maxed out on Everest: Mark Jenkins on how to fix the mess at the top of the world.
