Tuesday 17 May 2016

Links 17/5/16

Politics: 

About President Obama's foreign policy legacy, and a legacy of two full terms at war
At this rate, Obama’s drone record may well be one of the most disappointing aspects of his administration’s legacy. But unlike with such matters as Guantánamo, where he faces significant political obstruction from Congress, he has the ability and the authority, on his own, to improve his record substantially before he leaves office. If he begins to take the Stimson Center recommendations seriously, he can still salvage his reputation—and more importantly, avoid creating a dangerous precedent for future leaders, here or abroad. If not, he will be remembered as the American president who asserted the power to kill suspects around the world by remote control, in secret.

The New York Review of Books: Obama’s Most Dangerous Legacy, February 24, 2016
Is there a Hillary doctrine?



We can debate whether Facebook has the power to influence the 2016 US Presidential elections (probably), but does it have the responsibility not to?


Pop Culture: 

Anime's troubled history with representation in the wake of Ghost in the Shell, at Verge. 

Both the Toast and Bookslut are closing soon - sadness. 

Person of Interest is the best show on TV, and getting better by the episode in its glorious final season. And CBS just chose not to pick up a Sarah Shahi starring Nancy Drew remake because it was "too female".
At the end of the simulation, Shaw chooses to end her own life instead of killing Root. A sweeping romantic gesture within the world of Person of Interest. "Emotions are hard for Shaw," Plageman said. "So we thought one of the best ways to show Root her feelings, to display how she feels inside, was to have her continuously not kill her in these simulations, over and over. She turns the gun on herself. There's something even more powerful to that." 
IGN: Person of Interest Prodcers Break Down Shaw's Big Return and Reunion with Root

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