Inspiring Francis Ford Coppola to make a movie [Letters of Note]

In March of 1980, a school librarian by the name of Jo Ellen Misakian wrote to Francis Ford Coppola and, on behalf of the students at Lone Star School in Fresno, California, asked him to consider adapting their favourite novel, S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, for the big screen. Also included with her letter were a copy of the book, and a petition signed by 110 of the kids.  An impressive outcome from a persuasive letter.

Why the world needs more Bradley Mannings & Wikileaks [Article]

Andrew Sullivan, referring to the Guardian’s 15-month investigation, sheds new light on the atrocities that Donald Rumsfeld & his political masters allowed to be perpetrated on the Iraqi populace, hidden behind the lies of “weapons of mass destruction”.  ……. “I remember a 14-year-old who was tied to one of the library’s columns. And he was tied up, with his legs above his head. Tied up. His whole body was blue because of the impact of the cables with which he had been beaten.”

What’s in a can of Coke? [Article]

Kevin Ashton discovers that “a can of Coke is a product of our world entire and contains inventions that trace all the way back to the origins of our species.”
He concludes that “The number of individuals who know how to make a can of Coke is zero. The number of individual nations that could produce a can of Coke is zero. This famously American product is not American at all. Invention and creation is something we are all in together. Modern tool chains are so long and complex that they bind us into one people and one planet. They are not only chains of tools, they are also chains of minds: local and foreign, ancient and modern, living and dead — the result of disparate invention and intelligence distributed over time and space.“.
It may all be true, but that doesn’t make it healthy.

A couple of kids dancing [Video]

Before you think it’s just another one of those cute kids dancing videos, have a look at these kids. As one commenter about to start his week says, “You see the first baby and you think, “All right, this baby is pretty good. But I still can’t stop thinking about how it’s Monday morning, and about how quickly the weekends race by, and about how this is how it’s going to be for the rest of my life — working my ass off for what seems like only a few moments of repose OH MY GOODNESS, IS THE SECOND BABY EVEN YOUNGER? AND SHE’S EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST BABY?! JERRY– CANCEL ALL MY MEETINGS AND GET IN HERE! YA GOTTA SEE THESE BABIES!”