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Survival of the Friendliest

Kelly Clancy Nautilus
It’s time to give the violent metaphors of evolution a break. For those most invested in the old-school Darwinian view of the survival of the fittest and violence as virtue, then, the message is clear: Just relax.

Expanding the Slaveocracy

Matt Karp and Eric Foner Jacobin
Historians Eric Foner and Matt Karp on the international ambitions of the US slaveholding class — and the abolitionist movement that brought them down.

The Perils of P3s

Gabrielle Gurley The American Prospect
Public-private partnerships may indeed provide the dollars that fearful politicians are unable to pry from the pockets of their tax-averse constituents. But P3s, as they are known in the infrastructure sector, are more complex than they appear. The idea that P3s allow infrastructure to be built for free is economic snake oil, P3s do not end up saving taxpayers money, especially when policymakers obscure the true costs and the risks.

Interview: Ajamu Dillahunt, Long-Time Civil Rights Organizer

Jonathan Michels Scalawag
Ajamu Dillahunt, founding member of Black Workers for Justice, a grassroots organization focused on empowering African-American workers to become leaders in the Black Freedom and labor movements. The text below is from an oral history interview conducted on May 8, 2014. This interview was supported by the Southern Oral History Program and is a part of a larger oral history project focused on documenting the recent political upsurge in North Carolina and across the South.

CERN Experiment Spots Two Different Five-Quark Particles

John Timmer Ars Technica
Assuming the results hold up, the particle raises the question: how is this put together? There are two options, as shown at top. One is that it's put together like known particles, with multiple quarks interacting through gluons. The alternative is that it's a hybrid composed of two particles we already know about. But this would have to be held together by a force we're not familiar with. Either way, there's some distinctive physics waiting for a more detailed analysis