Oskar Engdahl (Goteborg): Economic Crime as Hiding Behavior. Crime fighters vs. the constitution: Where's the authority for federal laws aimed at hate crimes and sex crimes? From Newsweek, a cover story on True Crime and the roots of an American obsession (and more). Why did gay-rights activist Carol Anne Burger stab her wife with a screwdriver 222 times? A review of This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang by Samuel Logan. Psychopathic killers are the basis for some must-watch TV, but what really makes them tick? Despite the large sums the country spends on law enforcement, experts are largely at a loss to explain what makes the crime rate go up or down. A review of Ryan Grim's This is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America. In spite of efforts at law enforcement, illegal drug use is as widespread as ever. New White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske says he wants to end the drug war, but other men in his position have tried and failed to do just that; Ricardo Cortes shows how science, politics, ego, and scandal transformed a public-health initiative into a century-long military campaign. An article on the immorality of marijuana prohibition. Michael Huemer argues we shouldn’t fight a war on drugs, we should legalise them.
From Foreign Affairs, a review of books on Afghanistan. Karzai in his labyrinth: The Afghan president is isolated and distrusted, and even if he is re-elected this month, that’s not likely to change. A review of In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan by Seth Jones. If you thought the longtime head of the Taliban was bad, you should meet his no. 2 (and an interveiw with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar). Afghans, they're just like us: The younger generation is rejecting traditional music for modern, some say immoral, Western pop. From Esquire, C.J. Chivers on Afghanistan (and its future) as you've never seen it; and Thomas P.M. Barnett on seven rules for America's (long) future in Afghanistan. Are there lessons for America in its own revolution that can be applied to Iraq and Afghanistan? A review of The Iraq War and International Law. A review of The Rape of Mesopotamia: Behind the Looting of the Iraq Museum by Lawrence Rothfield. Will we really be out of Iraq by the end of 2011? The architecture of war: A look at Saddam Hussein’s palaces. No matter what happens in Iraq, we can’t forget what a mistake it was. From HNN, the belief in regenerative war: Why so many American intellectuals supported the Iraq war; and an article on explaining why we fight to the American home front.
A review of Science: A Four Thousand Year History by Patricia Fara. A review of The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes (and more and more and more and more and more and more). From Seed, here's their first State of Science, an examination of the radical changes within science itself by assessing the evolving role of scientists and the shifting dimensions of scientific practice. Can science reveal the truth? What questions can science answer? A review of William James at the Boundaries: Philosophy, Science, and the Geography of Knowledge by Francesca Bordogna. A review of Karl Popper's Philosophy of Science: Rationality Without Foundations by Stefano Gattei. A review of Thomas Kuhn's "Linguistic Turn" and the Legacy of Logical Empiricism by Stefano Gattei. Philosophy as complementary science: Hasok Chang sees a new role for the history and philosophy of science. Gordon Rugg and Sue Gerrard on philosophy of knowledge in an age of artificial intelligence. Is science inherently illogical, because it relies in part on assumed theories that reach beyond what we can ever observe? A look at why studies of popular science are often wrong. Here are 5 atrocious science cliches to throw down a black hole.
A review of Winning the Presidency 2008 (and more). Stories and Stats: The truth about Obama’s victory wasn’t in the papers. For the modern GOP, it's a return to the "white voter strategy". From Esquire, Nate Silver to Republicans — Raise Taxes: The GOP is no longer the party of the rich; it's a populist party now, and the deficit can be its ticket back; and when did Americans turn into a bunch of raving lunatics? A look back at how we got to this apex of the "birther" movement and a road trip into the heart of Obama hater country. Here is Salon's handy-dandy guide to refuting the Birthers; and Obama isn't just Kenyan, he's also the Antichrist? Why Armageddon stands between the president and the evangelical vote. With Obama in the White House, America is better liked around the world — so what? Barack Obama is the getting-things-done president, but is GTD any way to run a country? Martin Cohen examines Barack Obama's political philosophy and finds parallels with Machiavelli's Prince — behind the rhetoric, the President is a pragmatist who will do whatever it takes (and more on The Prince). Inside the mind of illustrator Barry Blitt: how he created that controversial New Yorker cover, the reaction it provoked and what he thinks about his Obama fist-bump now.