Musing Of A Mind In Controlled Chaos

If not, why not?

265 notes

newyorker: It’s not a documentary; and there’s nothing in it of the anthropological earnestness that can deaden a film that looks into an obscure corner of the world. “Beasts” has an exciting palpability, an oxygen-sharp sense of the present tense. It’s raucous and alive. David Denby on “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” an independent film from Behn Zeitlin: http://nyr.kr/MGEfzu

newyorker:

It’s not a documentary; and there’s nothing in it of the anthropological earnestness that can deaden a film that looks into an obscure corner of the world. “Beasts” has an exciting palpability, an oxygen-sharp sense of the present tense. It’s raucous and alive.

David Denby on “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” an independent film from Behn Zeitlin: http://nyr.kr/MGEfzu

52 notes

longreads: In Atlanta, a drug dealer is asked to become a confidential informant for cops in a narcotics unit. He ends up turning them in when the officers try to cover up a botched drug bust that ends up killing an innocent woman: You made a buy today for us,’ Smith explained. ‘Two $25 baggies of crack.’ ‘I did?’ White asked. It took him a moment to register. ‘O.K. Who did I buy it from?’ ‘Dude named Sam.’ Smith described the imaginary seller, told how Sam had taken his money then walked White to the back of the house and handed him the drugs as Smith and a fellow officer, Arthur Tesler, watched from a car across the street. ‘O.K.,’ White said. ‘Where?’ Smith said: ‘933 Neal Street. I’ll call you later.’ Now in the living room, the TV reporter was saying how a 92-year-old woman had died in the incident, and people were suggesting that the police had shot her. Two and two came together in White’s mind. They did it, he suddenly knew. They messed up. They killed that old lady. Now his heart pounded as the implications became clear. And they want me to cover for them. “A Snitch’s Dilemma.” — Ted Conover, New York Times Magazine More #longreads about drugs

longreads:

In Atlanta, a drug dealer is asked to become a confidential informant for cops in a narcotics unit. He ends up turning them in when the officers try to cover up a botched drug bust that ends up killing an innocent woman:

You made a buy today for us,’ Smith explained. ‘Two $25 baggies of crack.’

‘I did?’ White asked. It took him a moment to register. ‘O.K. Who did I buy it from?’

‘Dude named Sam.’ Smith described the imaginary seller, told how Sam had taken his money then walked White to the back of the house and handed him the drugs as Smith and a fellow officer, Arthur Tesler, watched from a car across the street.

‘O.K.,’ White said. ‘Where?’

Smith said: ‘933 Neal Street. I’ll call you later.’

Now in the living room, the TV reporter was saying how a 92-year-old woman had died in the incident, and people were suggesting that the police had shot her. Two and two came together in White’s mind. They did it, he suddenly knew. They messed up. They killed that old lady. Now his heart pounded as the implications became clear. And they want me to cover for them.

“A Snitch’s Dilemma.” — Ted Conover, New York Times Magazine

More #longreads about drugs

(via longreads)

350 notes

whiporwill: The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s Over the last several decades, both through good economic times and bad, the United States has transformed into the planet’s undisputed worry champion. Around the turn of the millennium, anxiety flew past depression as the most prominent mental health issue in America, and it’s never looked back: With more than 18 percent of adults suffering from an anxiety disorder in any given year, the United States is now the most anxious nation in the world, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Stress-related ailments cost the nation $300 billion every year in medical bills and lost productivity, while our usage of sedative drugs keeps skyrocketing; just between 1997 and 2004, Americans more than doubled their spending on anti-anxiety medications like Xanax and Valium, from $900 million to $2.1 billion. And this anxious strain hits us well before we reach college.

whiporwill:

The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s

Over the last several decades, both through good economic times and bad, the United States has transformed into the planet’s undisputed worry champion. Around the turn of the millennium, anxiety flew past depression as the most prominent mental health issue in America, and it’s never looked back: With more than 18 percent of adults suffering from an anxiety disorder in any given year, the United States is now the most anxious nation in the world, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Stress-related ailments cost the nation $300 billion every year in medical bills and lost productivity, while our usage of sedative drugs keeps skyrocketing; just between 1997 and 2004, Americans more than doubled their spending on anti-anxiety medications like Xanax and Valium, from $900 million to $2.1 billion. And this anxious strain hits us well before we reach college.

(via motherjones)

194 notes

It is the nature of stupid people to hide their perplexity and attack what they cannot grasp.
John Gardner. The subject was fiction writing, but it could have been politics. (via motherjones)

I couldn’t agree more