Good reading from this week
The very pristineness of snow, which is a big part of its appeal, is what makes its metamorphosis into a slurpy of filth so depressing.
When I got a chance to talk to Sabera, I knew exactly what she meant when she asked me to “reverse this idea that it is the Afghans who fail.” Right now there are well-meaning Americans wondering why our billions of dollars and 12 years of intervention have not caused Western democracy to flourish in Afghanistan. I guess the Afghans failed.
See, I was thinking about the happiness of Aaron Swartz. I hoped it had many times been this complete. I think this was so. And I hoped his father and mother had seen it. I think they had. And I was thinking how the federal prosecutors beat that happiness out of him using the law. If they did that to either of my boys, I’d pull the world apart. No fucking wonder the kid was scared.
Slumlord: What Has Hugo Chavez Wrought in Venezuela?
“Every regime has its architectural imprimatur, its icon, and I have no doubt that the architectural icon of this regime is the Tower of David. It embodies the urban policy of this regime, which can be defined by confiscation, expropriation, governmental incapacity, and the use of violence.” The Tower, built as a marker of Venezuela’s eminence, has become the world’s tallest slum.
