Ben Bramble (Lund): A New Defense of Hedonism about Well-Being. France’s “burkini” bans are about more than religion or clothing. Aheda Zanetti: “I created the burkini to give women freedom, not to take it away”. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police will now allow its female officers to wear the hijab as part of its official uniform. What were blogs? Jeet Heer on how the demise of Gawker.com also marks the end of the utopian promise of blogging — here’s what killed them. John R. Parker on how Peter Thiel steamrolled Gawker — and laid bare the big-money bias of the American legal system. A startup is automating the lawsuit strategy Peter Thiel used to kill Gawker. The discovery of Hawaii Sign Language in 2013 amazed linguists — but as the number of users dwindles, can it survive the twin threats of globalisation and a rift in the community?
Hillary Clinton email ruror reveals hypocrisy on the Right. Nancy LeTourneau on how the AP spun the story about the Clinton Foundation. The AP’s big expose on Hillary meeting with Clinton Foundation donors is a mess (and more). The media has the Clinton Foundation story upside down. Even Trump and Clinton need big-money donors: They’re rich but still dependent on wealthy people who have far too much influence on our politics. “It’s not just that everyone does this. It’s not just that everyone in American politics does this. It’s the fact that everyone, everywhere, throughout all of human history has done this. It’s just the way human societies work”. Clinton just gonna run out the clock on this email thing.
