September 29, 2016
According to one writer, Things Fall Apart towers over the representation of African literature abroad, lording its accessibility over every writer with ties to the continent. / western society has, for the most part, proven itself incapable of recognizing multiple forms of black greatness.
“Facebook offers advertisers more than 1,300 categories for ad targeting—everything from people whose property size is less than 0.26 acres to households with exactly seven credit cards.” Prepare to be creeped out: ProPublica built a mimic of the Facebook data mine. / ProPublica
In the 1950s, the introduction of the compiler catalyzed the development of modern computer languages. Today, artificial intelligence is poised to make a similar leap. This startup wants to clear the backlog of ways it can be deployed by making neural nets accessible to any coder. / Backchannel
“The idea that motivations beyond self-interest enter into individual decision making is simple common sense to many. Nonetheless, it differs fundamentally from homo economicus, the relentlessly self-interested character who populates many economic models.” Economists and their acolytes in office ignore social reality at their peril. / Democracy
“It is the disease of the so-called ‘lost generation.’” Dorothy Thompson’s 1943 essay “Who Goes Nazi?” proves as relevant as ever. / Harper’s
“To people who feel deprived of a clear social identity, Ur-Fascism says that their only privilege is the most common one, to be born in the same country. This is the origin of nationalism. Besides, the only ones who can provide an identity to the nation are its enemies. Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged.” Umberto Eco, who grew up in fascist Italy, calls it like he sees it when it comes to xenophobia. / The New York Review of Books
In no particular order, four Hitler-related things reported about Donald Trump and his family by Marie Brenner for Vanity Fair in 1990: / Vanity Fair
The Syrian ambassador to the United Kingdom laughed at a reporter Wednesday who asked him about the recent bombings of civilians and aid workers in Aleppo. / BuzzFeed
San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, one of the best NBA coaches of all time, offered a characteristically cerebral response supporting the strategic value of player protests while also calling for broader movements. / thecomeback.com, blog.mysanantonio.com
“I happen to be a candidate who happens to be American Indian, who happens to be a woman, who happens to be openly gay. It’s all a bonus. I think that gets people excited.” Profile of Denise Juneau, who’s running in Montana to be the first Native American woman in Congress. / MTV News
Employees at Trump’s golf courses in Southern California now know to only staff hot hostesses when Trump comes to visit. / Los Angeles Times
Yaupon tea is making a comeback. Once consumed by Native Americans and early explorers as “black drink,” it is gaining popularity in the South as a drought-resistant, caffeinated coffee alternative. / civileats.com
The Chicago Police Department has a massive, eight-digit, off-the-books bank account dedicated to the proceeds from stuff that it seizes from people, like cars from disabled elderly black women whose kids get caught with drugs. / Paul John Higgins
Fred Trump instilled in his children a belief in a “racehorse theory of human development,” Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio says in the Frontline documentary The Choice. / PBS
Why supermarket bacon hides its “glorious” fat: Because a 1973 Department of Agriculture regulation determines what’s visible in a “shingle pack.” / Bloomberg
“As a journalist I can find nothing good about the disappearance of even a bad newspaper, much less one so simultaneously luminescent and toxic as was The Trib.” Longtime Pittsburgh columnist Dennis Roddy pens an unlikely tribute to the conservative Tribune-Review, which is shutting down its print edition, mkaing Pittsburgh the latest city to be left with just one daily. / Pittsburgh City Paper
Surveys by Pew show that half of millennials now describe themselves as political independents. Gary Johnson writes in today’s Times that he is the way that millennials should go. However, after Johnson’s “Aleppo moment” last month, he manages to have another last night, when he can’t name a single foreign leader. And Johnson supporters don’t care. / pewsocialtrends.org, The New York Times, politifact.com, NPR, Rolling Stone
(FYI, as of a week ago, Johnson’s grabbing 11% of registered voters according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll.) / The Washington Post
Related: “Ralph Nader Texts Gary Johnson To Stop Making Third Party Candidates Look Bad.” (spoof) / funnyordie.com
Related/Unrelated: Selena Gomez is the first person to have 100 million Instagram followers. / Time
Untitled, Edward Slyfield, UK, 2008. / The Morning News