Wednesday, November 5th, 2014

1

Red Dawn

The Democratic election night drinking game might be going on for a while after the GOP gave the party a shellacking at the polls. For Republicans, it was the red wave; for Democrats, it was more like the Red Wedding as they lost just about everything that was up for grabs. The Washington Generals could have beaten the Dems last night. Michael D. Shear sums it up in the NYT: "The full magnitude of the Republican Party's success in reshaping the national political landscape at President Obama's expense became clearer Wednesday morning as the party seemed headed toward an even longer list of electoral victories in Senate and governor races that had been too close to call before dawn."

+ New Yorker: The horror show for Democrats began early and ran late.

+ "From the outset of the campaign, Republicans had a simple plan: Don't make mistakes, and make it all about Obama, Obama, Obama." WaPo: How the GOP did it.

+ "The Clarified Butter State opted to continue allowing hunters to bait bears with sugary treats before shooting them dead." The Atlantic provides some local election highlights.

+ 11 big firsts from the midterm elections.

+ The good news: The world is more democratic than ever. The bad news: In the short term, elections make society less happy overall. (But eventually that unhappiness cedes to a general feeling of frustration, alienation, and hopelessness...)

2

District of Cannabis

The Republicans weren't the only ones who sent a blunt message to Washington. The other big election losers were marijuana prohibitionists. Alaska, Oregon, and Washington D.C. all voted to legalize pot. Florida voters did not pass a medical marijuana bill (is there a place on Earth that needs it more?). The fact that we keep pain and nausea relieving drugs from sick people in distress is one of the sickest parts of our horrific drug policy.

+ And Berkeley just became the first city to pass a soda tax. More than thirty other cities and states had tried and failed.

3

Not Such a Bargain

The justice system "is regularly portrayed in movies and television programs as an open battle played out in public before a judge and jury. But this is all a mirage. In actuality, our criminal justice system is almost exclusively a system of plea bargaining." In the NY Review of Books, Jed Rakoff explains why innocent people plead guilty.

4

A Speeding Bullet

Michael Alsbury, the pilot of the Virgin Galactic, was found dead and strapped to his seat after the aircraft nearly disintegrated. His co-pilot somehow managed to survive with "a parachute but no spacesuit to protect him from the lethal environment as he plunged toward Earth at close to the speed of a bullet."

+ "Not many pilots wanted to tell shrinks about break-off. Talking about your feelings was the opposite of what you were supposed to do as a hyper-masculine alpha pilot, and some refused to share their experiences for fear of sounding corny." FastCo's Sydney Brownstone on the coming of space tourism, and the psychological impact of the break-off effect.

+ Vanity Fair on the human factor: Should airplanes be flying themselves?

5

2500000000 Pennies for Your Thoughts

The number of American households with a net worth of over $25 million set a new record last year. But 23 percent of those worth that much say they worry about their finances constantly.

6

Give Me One Reason

For the past decade, a nonprofit called Experience Corps has "paired people ages 55 and older with students in kindergarten through third grade who need academic help. Across 19 U.S. cities, volunteers have taken up literacy coaching and proven that in their spare time they can significantly increase students' test scores and morale. Which is great." But it's not the really interesting part. What was really interesting is what happened to the tutors. A health tip from James Hamblin: Find Purpose in Life.

7

Taylor Made

Earlier this week, Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify. But can one artist really shake up the industry? Before you answer, consider this. Swift's new album just sold 1.287 million copies in its first week. That's the biggest week an album has had since Eminem was singing for the moment back in 2002.

+ NPR: Platinum Party of One.

8

Is That a Yes?

"Yes, he bought performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis of America, paying roughly $12,000 a month to Anthony Bosch, the fake doctor who owned the clinic. Yes, Bosch gave him pre-filled syringes for hormone injections into the ballplayer's stomach, and even drew blood from him in the men's room of a South Beach nightclub. And yes, the ballplayer's cousin, Yuri Sucart, was his steroid go-fer." Alex Rodriguez may not have confessed to you. But, according to the Miami Herald, he definitely confessed to the DEA.

9

Rock and Roll High

"Dellentash was moonlighting as a wingman for two of history's most deadly criminal organizations, flying Pablo Escobar's drugs from Colombia to the Gambino crime family in New York. His mile-high empire was a front for the most rock 'n' roll drug smuggling ring in history. Ironically, Dellentash was secretly getting the whole of America high -- hiding in plain sight as a chartered plane provider, and later, a music manager for 1980s acts including Meat Loaf and the Bay City Roller." Narratively's Jeff Maysh shares the unbelievable story of the man who got America high.

10

The Bottom of the News

If you drop a bowling ball and a feather at the same time, which will land first? You know the answer, but it's pretty cool to watch the experiment.

+ The best whisky in the world is from ... Japan.

+ The non-white emoji are finally coming. (Can we please not name the Native American ones the Redskins...)