Politics & Current Affairs — May 30, 2010

Pakistan Drone Attacks

“Drone strikes may not be perfect, but they’re likely the most humane option available,” writes C. Fair who calls for greater transparency in the currently classified drone program over Pakistan. Because the drone missions are run by the Central Intelligence Agency, the program is classified and the government refuses to discuss details or even admit that the program exists. Writing for Foreign Policy, Fair calls for more transparency in order to determine whether the drone program is securing American interests or if, for example, the program is killing civilians at a rate that could turn public opinion further against the U.S.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

When to Retire?

“Retirement, like other post-industrial inventions like electricity or television, has become a luxury we’ve come to expect and rely upon,” says the Economist, but it hasn’t always been this way.