The Tyler Cowen

1. One woman's explanation for why she's joining another flotilla aimed at the Gaza blockade. A clear reminder that, for all the obfuscating politics of our world, right and wrong can be, and often are, simple choices. Via The Browser. Her full account can be found on her blog.
2. Another summary of North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
3. According to one think-tank's algorithm, China is the most pregnant for revolution in 2011.
4. Amazing tribute to Terminator 2 on its 20th anniversary.  Via Gizmodo.
   

The Tyler Cowen

1. Fantastic, terrifying article about the state of American psychiatry. Perverse incentives abound from the pharmaceutical bed-fellows to the Supplemental Security Income on an individual basis. Via The Browser.
2. Neat infographic charting the rise of Foursquare.
3. Beautiful, sad travelogue of a former military advisor returning to Iraq.
4. North Korean meth production and addiction. Via NKEconWatch.
5. The Daily Show takes Fox to task...again.
6. Incredible levels of customization in Halo: Reach. Via The Awesomer.
   

The Tyler Cowen

1. Beautiful photos of our subterranean lives. Via Marginal Revolution.
2. Shifting economies viewed through the lens of per capita GDP.
3. Brutal article about the people who work at US military bases around the world. Via The Browser.
4. Infographic of what happens in 60 seconds on the internet. Via Gizmodo.
5. I really do love the internet. Ask and ye shall receive in spades. Literally the exact video I originally commented on gets the stationary-sky treatment.
   
6. The FUTURE!

X-Men: First Class Review

To call X-Men: First Class a disappointment is not being fair. It is leaps and bounds ahead of the last two X-Men movies: The Last Stand and Wolverine. It is tightly directed, reasonably well-acted, and decently exciting. By any normal metric, a 'disappointment' is not the correct term for this movie.

However, I have insider information. I know some backstory to the various permutations of the X-Men intellectual property. And this background makes First Class almost unbearable to watch. It is a Frankenstein of a movie with stitches so indelicately sewing it together that I am shocked there aren't more reviewers crying foul.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Comparing North Korea with the Soviet Union. Via North Korean Economy Watch.
2. Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union. On the ground accounts from the people who were there, retrospectives digging into the intangibles that sparked the revolution, and what the fall initially meant for dictators the world over compared to China's template today.
3. Visualizing our fuel reserves. Made for GE by Information is Beautiful.
4. Fukashima is worse than our short-attention spans would like to believe. 

The Tyler Cowen

1. Analysis of Washington's North Korean policies.
2. YouTube Doubler. The link is to my following the advice found in the comments to the Assassin's Creed Brotherhood trailer. Make sure to mute the left video.

Straggler Videos From Gizmodo

1. More night sky time lapses. These never get old.
   
2. Incredible animated violence on live action children.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Excellent, haunting photography. Via Gawker.
2. Terrifying news about antibiotics. Via Marginal Revolution.
3. Funny application of the 'two cows' economic joke to the Middle East.
4. More funny stuff from Jon Stewart.

The Tyler Cowen

1. Two different views of the Republican primaries in New Hampshire. One takes them somewhat seriously, questioning whether the Republican Party is putting its George Bush years of Foreign Policy behind it. The other...well...the other's a clip from The Daily Show so you take a wild guess.
2. An amazing series of photos of Russia's disparity, framed through the lens of their car culture.
3. Terrifying portents of the future. Via, where else, Gizmodo.
   
4. We've been Sean Bean fans since GoldenEye but getting stabbed and then ordering another pint raises our admiration to a whole new level.
5. The true purpose of our higher faculties. 

The Tyler Cowen

1. Compelling re-review of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Via Marginal Revolution.
2. Also from Marginal Revolution, Bitcoin's first dip and an ominous potent for where we assume currency is heading in the future.
3. Conan gives a great commencement address for Dartmouth.