Some things should be, on the contrary, celebrated for their very groundedness and averageness and relatability. Human interest stories — when they're of true human interest (rather than the products of cable's attempts to sensationalize the serious …
CJR has a fantastic interview with Michael Hudson on the origins of the financial crisis, and his background reporting on poverty issues becomes extremely relevant. It's one of the best resources I've seen, with about a dozen links to background stories …
So, we've had blogs and the intarwebs for some time now, but it still feels a bit like the wild-west frontier at times. It's fun to see people exploring the medium, trying to find new ways to connect, or just make a buck.
Salon.com interviews Berkley Breathed about the end of his long-running, oft-revived cartoon character & strip. I thought this quote was touching, in a melancholy sort of way:
The very, absolute last comic strip characters destined to become true …
Michael Pollan, author of the very well-written The Omnivore's Dilemna, has penned a timely and flat-out brilliant op-ed for the NYT. Though a tad long-ish, the whole thing is well worth reading.
This, in brief, is the bad news: the food and agriculture …