Dennis O'Toole
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Patrick Radden Keefe on the Sinaloa Cartel

6/27/2012

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This is one finely written article.  Check out my man's bio from his website:

He received a Masters in International Relations from Cambridge University, a Masters in New Media and Information Systems from the London School of Economics, and a JD from Yale Law School.  The recipient of a Marshall Scholarship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a fellowship at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library, he blah blah blah blah....

Boy, do I hate reading a bio like that.  I assume he also holds the World Record in the 5000 meter, invented the touchscreen visual display, and is now patiently nursing Lindsay Lohan back to health on a small yet fried-chicken-filled island in the Caribbean.  The bastard.

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Trevor Pryce on life after football

4/26/2012

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I'm not a football fan, and had never heard of this guy--and even I love this article.

"I was part of the inaugural rookie symposium the N.F.L. conducts to help college players make the transition to professional football. Three days of meetings pretty much consisted of the same two messages: use a condom and save your money."
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Go find a bookstore or newstand

4/11/2012

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Or friend who sells the New Yorker.  Then, read "Transatlantic," by Colum McCann.  It's behind the paywall.  I mention it here in a linkless post anyway since it will be worth the effort.
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Jacques Barzun on Machiavelli

4/7/2012

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"In spite of his exile, he had a wide circle of friends and admirers to whom he wrote unbuttoned letters.  In the most famous of these, to Francesco Vettori, we glimpse his addiction to hobnobbing with simple people over cards and drinks at the tavern.  When in the late afternoon he is through with that recreation, he goes home, dresses in the handsome garments, and converses with the ancients, 'asking' them about their lives and actions.  During these four studious hours he is never bored; he forgets his poverty and disgrace, and does not fear death."

-From Dawn to Decadence, p. 259
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I'm not very good about this media filter, but here is what I have read lately

4/4/2012

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My idea was to post a whole bunch of stuff as I read it, whenever enthusiasm strikes.  It has not worked out that way.  In the interest of recharging my devotion to sharing with you, whoever you are, things that I find rad, here are several satisfying things I have read in the past week:

Lauren Collins on UK rag, The Daily Mail.  Collins is such a fun writer.  She could make an article about bags of poo interesting.  Unfortunately, that one is behind the paywall.

Andrew Sullivan's readers write in about football's concussion crisis
.  This one is great.  Also on the Dish, the man himself has a very good post titled, "Jesus and Sex."  Toward the end of the post, which is largely about forgiveness, Sullivan acknowledges his own failings and quite eloquently concludes, "I am unworthy to deliver such a message. But if no broken being can speak to the truths he cannot always live up to and has often strayed from, then we would have a great deal of silence."  It's nice seeing Andrew, as his fans call him, resort to blunt modesty like that.

Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a devastating rebuke to Juan Williams.

David Brooks is my homeboy.  A lot of people dis him because he veers off into psychology, (pop or otherwise), rather than constantly rebuking his fellow travelers on the right.  I am fine with him writing about what he feels like because:  first of all, I don't need yet more commentary to convince me the GOP is intellectually bankrupt; and secondly, unlike snobs who live in think-tanks, I don't read psychology journals all day and don't care if he is dumbing it down for me.*  But anyway, I appreciate his efforts, along with his NYT colleague Ross Douthat, to remind people that not everyone on the right is insane, cynical, stupid, or some dangerous combination of the three.  Here are three recent articles by him I dug.

And with that, I offer a toast:  to a vibrant Media Filter in the coming weeks, months, and yea, centuries, throughout which DennisOToole.com will entertain and instruct all who need it most.


*Note a day later: this is an infelicitous phrase in a run-on sentence, but you know what I mean.  There are two connotations for "to dumb it down."  One is "to make the complex accessible;" the other is "to dilute original, intelligently crafted research while insulting the intelligence of the audience."  Clearly I mean the former.  But, since Brooks is accused of the latter, I am making the distinction.  As for the snobs in think-tanks line, that alludes to one very harsh critique I saw of Brooks's forays into psychology.  Don't feel like linking to it.  Trust me.  It exists.

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Steve Coll on the New Orleans Saints

3/3/2012

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This blog post is so intellectually satisfying that I just can't handle it. 
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We can stop kissing his ass now

2/25/2012

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"The Book of Jobs," a very long and very excellent article on Steve Jobs, by Maureen Tkacik.

(Posted via a Mac.)


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Key and Peele Reaction: Vandaveon and Mike Fix Episode 1

2/7/2012

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Two fans offer suggestions for new Comedy Central show, "Key & Peele."  (...psst!  It's Key and Peele!)
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Whatever that song is called, by Adele

2/1/2012

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I can't handle it.  They started playing the radio in my office, and I have this disease where I can't not listen to music.  If it a radio is on, I hear it even if I don't want to, no matter how softly it's playing.  So, whenever that Adele song comes on, (hourly), I play this through my headphones.  Loudly. It works.
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The More the Marrier, by Ben Greenman

1/21/2012

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Hi-larious.
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