Some stuff Ampersand is reading today

• Greg Palast discusses the cause of the blackouts, and provides a brief (and enjoyably biased) history of power deregulation. Via Elayne Riggs.
• A lot of bloggers have gone “Fair and Balanced” this week. I mean, a lot of bloggers. (Once again, via Elayne Riggs).
• Matthew Yglesias critiques a recent New Yorker article on helping poor folks via government “marriage incentives” programs. As he points out, the needy woman profiled in the article could be helped with much more certainty by a well-funded bus system.
• Wired has a fascinating article about new technology for manufacturing diamonds – but these are real diamonds, not cubic zirconia. If so, the potential benefits are endless: faster personal computers, cheaper gems for all, the undercutting of the “blood diamond trade,” and the screwing over of De Beers, one of the most evil corporations in the world. Via Blueheron.
• When George Bush meets a U.S. soldier, does he need to struggle to keep himself from openly sneering and spitting at the soldier? I wonder. Anyhow, check out this well-done flash animation on the subject, linked to by Making Light.
• Pigs and Fishes does a wonderful and intelligent job ripping apart an anti-gay-marriage argument.
• Sometimes it’s hard not to like mob violence. Wis[s]e Words has an example of what I mean, from Argentina.
• In the last several years, I’ve paid literally hundreds of dollars in overdue library fines. It’s because I tend to take dozens of books out at a time, so if I forget to renew for even a short period the fines build up very quickly. But as the Head Heeb recounts, I’ve gotten off very lightly compared to poor old Henry Justice.
• Body and Soul discusses a recent article on the ongoing tragedy of Afghanistan, and relates it to the tragedy-in-the-making that is our Iraq policy.
• Trish Wilson dissects the so-called “war on boys” in higher education.

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