David Groshoff (Western State): Hoisted by the "God, Guns, and Gays" Petard: Recognizing Bullycidal Queer Students’ Rights to Engage in Lethal Self-Defense. Immanuel Wallerstein on the Great Libyan Distraction. From Policy Review, Shmuel Bar on America’s fading Middle East influence: Speaking softly, wielding no sticks; and Kip Hagopian on the inequity of the progressive income tax. Tenthers: Jillian Rayfield on the normalization of nullification. From Forbes.com, a look at how U.S. News abandoned print and learned to love its data. Collective thought: The essay is the medium of choice for novelists seeking a rapid response to the world around them — a neutral platform where race, class, politics and mortality are examined. Philosophes sans frontieres as Plato battles Nato: The arrival of Bernard Henri-Levy, the dapper philosophe and soi-disant diplomat, in Benghazi and his phone call to Nicolas Sarkozy was enough to spur the French president into action. Paul Theroux on why we travel: As the traveler’s map is redrawn, parts in unsettling and tragic ways, voices might whisper, “Stay home”; don’t — there are opportunities to be had. From Cracked, an article on 6 factors that secretly influence who you have sex with; and a look at the 7 most terrifying sex toys ever patented. The Map That Made New York: Described by some historians as the single most important document in New York City’s history, the right-angled layout spurred unimagined development (and more and more). Epidemiology, the study of a lifetime: In 1946, scientists started tracking thousands of British children born during one cold March week — on their 65th birthday, the study members find themselves more scientifically valuable than ever before. Titas wuz here: Ancient graffiti begins giving up its secrets.
