Thomas Lake has an excellent feature in Sports Illustrated detailing the drive-by murder of Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. It’s as much a cultural study as a news story, showing how Williams and his killer were shaped by—and reflected—their upbringings.
It’s also brutally senseless. The whole thing centered around the kind stupid machismo that most young men would recognize, one that usually ends in shouts and shoves but here was twisted into murder.
Friend Maggie Flynn has a thoughtful piece in Salon on being non-religious in the Bible belt.
Amid reports that the economy is adding jobs (even as unemployment in Illinois is still 9 percent), it’s nice to see the New York Times probe whether many of these jobs are providing enough income to live on.
In “Many Low-Wage Jobs Seen as Failing to Meet Basic Needs,” they conclude, “But many of the jobs being added in retail, hospitality and home health care, to name a few categories, are unlikely to pay enough for workers to cover the cost of fundamentals like housing, utilities, food, health care, transportation and, in the case of working parents, child care.” It’s a perspective that isn’t offered enough.
An old friend sent this X-Men relationship chart today. I had a fun five minutes puzzling out who everyone was, but I think I got them all. Thanks misspent youth (and adulthood!)
Joe Stone is responsible for the design. I think it’s a definite visual upgrade over the still-fun uncannyxmen.net version from a couple years back.
Head into the field with the latest issue of Lincoln Park Zoo magazine! See how zoo scientists protect wildlife from Africa to the zoo’s backyard. Download a PDF or browse the full issue.