From SciAm, an article on the science of economic bubbles and busts. In These Times on the only road out of crisis: Yes, it is socialism, but nationalize the banks already. More on The Frock-coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels by Tristram Hunt. Eric Boehlert on why the GOP lost the Web race. Burqa politics in France: What happens when feminism and sexual liberation become tools for nationalism? Year of the Cougar: Why older women pursuing younger men are all over TV and movie screens this year. Sherlock Holmes is renowned for being super-rational, yet his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, claimed to speak with the spirits of the dead. And Data for All: Why Obama's geeky new CIO wants to put all government information online. The outrageous and mysterious popularity of LOLCats has provided

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