From Rolling Stone, Nir Rosen on the myth of the surge: Hoping to turn enemies into allies, U.S. forces are arming Iraqis who fought with the insurgents, but it's already starting to backfire. The Physics of the Familiar: How paint dries, the way flags flutter, how Nature discovered origami, and other marvels of the physical world. The real reason we are singing Barack's praises? He likes cool music. Only a revolution will do: Taki's Top Drawer hosts a symposium on the Ron Paul movement. From The Atlantic, when postwar modernism went west, it dropped the angst—and transformed a culture. Prices are going up for contemporary art, but will these works still be so fashionable—and saleable—in 25 years? From Wired, free! A look at why $0.00 is the future of business. Dani Rodrik and Arvind Subramanian on why we must curb international flows of capital. Taking beauty personally: A beauty salon for veiled women has provoked the wrath of secularist Egyptians. The Forensic Humanitarian: How a statistical sleight of hand can expose war crimes. A review of Global Pharmaceuticals: Ethics, Markets, Practices by Adriana Petryna, Andrew Lakoff and Arthur Kleinman. A review of Suckers: How Alternative Medicine Makes Fools of Us All by Rose Shapiro. Where Kant meets Kareem: A review of Basketball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Paint.
