June 12, 2014

• Mass shootings in the US aren't on the rise—media coverage of mass shootings is.
• Last month, the Iraqi government fruitlessly asked US to airstrike militants.
• Related: Dexter Filkins on Iraq.
• After more than 50 years of boots-on-the-ground intervention, the US should reconsider its military-first status.
• An Israeli woman talks about having an African partner in a violently anti-miscegenist Israel.
• Proportionately more babies die before their first birthdays in Detroit than in China, Mexico, or Thailand.
• A poll of countries competing in the World Cup: Who will win, who plays the best, and who should lose.
• In Brazil, a maximum-security prison holds a soccer tournament: The winners get boxes of food and a chance to play the guards.
• An argument in favor of doping for athletes: The values we hold dear in sport aren't always contrary to performance enhancement.
• If private social networks want to be global public spheres, as they claim, they cannot willingly adhere to censorship.
• Once available, Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets will be priced at what they cost to make.
• Wearable tech targeted at women enforces the stereotype of the anxious and eager-to-please modern woman.
• All by Myself: Man uses iPhone, luggage tape, and a wheelchair to film a ​Celine Dion ​ music video during a layover.
• The final days of the Searching for Sugarman director, who committed suicide a year after winning an Oscar.
• The dissident fetishist takes a brave, principled person, and uses them like a codpiece of competitive virtue.
• Eagle Scout Rosecrans Baldwin attends the 18th national Boy Scout Jamboree.
• Thirty-eight years after its release, the Ramones' debut album goes gold.
• World's oldest cat dies at 24.