Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.
1. Earth Had Two Moons, New Model Suggests
By Ker Than | Daily News :: National Geographic | Aug. 3
“Earth may have once had two moons, but one was destroyed in a slow-motion collision that left our current lunar orb lumpier on one side than the other, scientists say.”
2. Q&A on S&P’s downgrade of US debt
By Pallavi Gogoi and Peter Svensson | Associated Press | Aug. 6
“What did Standard & Poor’s do? What does a downgrade mean? Does it mean U.S. interest rates will go up?”
3. It’s PMQs — the video game
By Helen Lewis Hasteley | New Statesman | Aug. 1
“You might have heard people saying that politicians treat Prime Minister’s Questions like a game. Now, you can, too!”
4. London Riots Put Spotlight on Troubled, Unemployed Youths in Britain
By Landon Thomas Jr. and Ravi Somaiya | The New York Times | Aug. 9
“Widespread antisocial and criminal behavior by young and usually unemployed people has long troubled Britain. Attacks and vandalism by gangs of young people are ‘a blight on the lives of millions,’ said a 2010 government report commissioned in the aftermath of several deaths related to such gangs. They signal, it said, ‘the decline of whole towns and city areas.’ ”
5. New U.S. soccer coach seeks high energy vs. Mexico
By Chelsea Janes | USA Today | Aug. 9
“Jurgen Klinsmann will pace the sidelines for the first time as coach of the U.S. men’s soccer team Wednesday night when the Americans take on Mexico in a friendly in Philadelphia.”
6. A list of the top Latino endearments
By Sara Ines Calderon | NewsTaco | Aug. 9
“Latinos love nicknames, especially endearing ones, but I have to admit it’s probably due largely in part to the fact that Spanish is a language very amenable to nicknames.”
7. Mona Lisa recreated with coffee
The Telegraph | Aug. 4, 2009
“The Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings, has been recreated with 3,604 cups of coffee – and 564 pints of milk. ”
8. The ‘Mostly Straight’ Woman Jumping From One Male Lover’s Bed to Another’s
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | June 27
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the ‘Mostly Straight’ Woman Jumping From One Male Lover’s Bed to Another’s: female, web editor, Spanish Harlem, 25, mostly straight, casually dating.”
9. Rereading: The Rainbow by DH Lawrence
By Rachel Cusk | The Guardian | March 19
“Lawrence is still seen by many as controversial – and controversial he was, but the highly sexed pornographer of public imagination bears no relation at all to the man whose modes of thought and self-expression still retain the power to provoke violent disagreement.”
10. Rape of Nanjing
Witness :: BBC News | June 17
“In 1937, the Japanese army went on the rampage after invading the Chinese city of Nanjing. Hundreds of thousands of people are thought to have died.”
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stillness of heart 