Required Reading for August

• One of my favorite writers' has just written a NY Times best-selling memoire. Sweet. Said writer celebrated the success of his book launch by waking up nearly paralyzed with cancer. Shitty. Then he wrote about it. Tough to Read. Christopher Hitchen's latest piece for Vanity Fair. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009
• Hitchens isn't letting cancer slow him down. In Slate, he weighs in on the Ground Zero mosque/cultural centre: http://www.slate.com/id/2264770/
• In Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi assesses the US financial reform bill as well as Wall Street's $600 million fin-reg lobbying effort. His conclusion: it was lobbyist money well spent. An exerpt: "Throughout the debate over finance reform, Democrats had sold the public on the idea that it was the Republicans who were killing progressive initiatives. In reality, Republican and Democratic leaders were working together with industry insiders and deep-pocketed lobbyists to prevent rogue members like Merkley and Levin from effecting real change. In public, the parties stage a show of bitter bipartisan stalemate. But when the cameras are off, they fuck like crazed weasels in heat." http://tinyurl.com/35uo6fn
• In The Atlantic Jeffrey Goldberg assesses the likelihood (and fallout) of an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities: http://tinyurl.com/39uy2b2 Also check out this close read of Goldberg's article (it is rather long) in Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2263594
• The summer issue of Foreign Policy, called "The Bad Guy Issue", assesses responsibility for the world's failed states and ranks the world's worst despots. Specifically, FP singles out France for its role in creating failed states in Africa (five of the world's 12 worst). Surprisingly, Quebec is not listed as one of those five. http://tinyurl.com/2faxuuf
• Also in Foreign Policy: Are their paralells between the Chinese economy today and the Japanese lost decade of the 1990s? http://tinyurl.com/2fcnhr6
• In Slate, the tale of the most isolated man in the world. The article looks at what Brazil is doing to protect an Indian man who is the last remaining member of an uncontacted jungle tribe. http://www.slate.com/id/2264478
• The funniest thing I've read this month -- Deadspin's Haters' Guide to the Top 25. Hilarious. http://deadspin.com/5620076/the-2010-haters-guide-to-the-top-25