Automattic

We are sympathetic to the extraordinary challenge President Obama faces, but if we’ve learned anything at all two years into the worst financial crisis of our lifetimes, it is that a capital-markets system this dependent on public confidence is a shockingly inadequate foundation upon which to rest our economy.

In a personal essay, the acclaimed singer recalls the origins of her childhood stutter, the lengths she went to overcome it, and the boy who made it all OK.

An American kid hired as an assassin for a Mexican drug cartel sits in a safe house in Laredo and brags about his hits and the one he’s planning next — only this time Texas police are watching.

The habits and needs of a little-understood group

Microbes have brought down more empires than bombs, and pose a greater terroristic threat. Stephan Talty, author of The Illustrious Dead, describes how the coming germ attack could unfold.

During the past decade, innovation has stumbled. And that may help explain America’s economic woes

Sometime in the next few weeks, Congress and the White House will descend into the labyrinthine politics of comprehensive health care reform. For Barack Obama, this signals the end, in a sense, of the eventful prologue to his presidency.

One of the hardest parts of having your show cancelled is the part BEFORE it’s cancelled, when it’s “on the bubble”. The absolute hardest part of that, besides the phrase “on the bubble,” is everyone gets it in their head that you actually know what’s happening with your show and you’re just not telling them. […]