Most insightful analysis of marijuana

• How marijuana became legal by Roger Parloff at Fortune

Over the years the government's position has become progressively more embattled, if not untenable. It potentially leads to exactly the same endpoint as the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed the federal prohibition on alcoholic beverage sales. When states make a legal loophole allowing medical use of marijuana, they must grapple with the messy question of what precisely constitutes medical use. After all, doctors regularly prescribe powerful drugs like Valium, Viagra, Prozac, and -- give us a break -- Botox to patients who are hardly at death's door.

One thing that I've always found puzzling in the Chinese, or indeed, worldwide, media was the demonization of pot. It is usually presumed to belong in the same class of dangerous narcotics like heroin and cocaine, whereas in fact marijuana is clearly less harmful and affects users in varied ways. Obama's first online town hall was dominated by pot questions, but they were dismissed as just another demonstration of netizens' sleaziness. Through careful mapping, Parloff points out that the legalization of marijuana may be closer than we thought.

Most brain dead op-ed from a mainstream writer

• Our One-Party Democracy by Thomas Friedman at New York Times

China’s one-party autocracy can impose the important policies needed to move a society forward in the 21st century. Is this a political advantage?

There are so many extremely elementary flaws in this op-ed piece that it can serve as an example of how NOT to argue for kindergarten students.

1. The US is emphatically not under a one-party democracy, as everything the Democrats are trying to do is critically constrained and checked by the Republicans.
2. China is not "led by a reasonably enlightened group of people." For every open-minded, hardworking technocrat promoting clean power and energy efficiency, there are 10 egotistic, power hungry, and CORRUPT officials doing everything - including things that directly harm their subjects - to hold on to a one-party system. Do not make the mistake of homogenizing China's leadership.
3. The health care financing system in China is indeed one of universal care. But don't forget that, as a whole, China spends far less on health care than the US (4.5% of GDP vs 15.3%), and out-of-pocket expense is much higher in China (53.9% of health care expense vs 12.7%). (Figures from WHO) The practical implications are that Chinese people have poorer health care infrastructure and everybody has to save much more money in case of medical emergencies - the norm is that ambulances won't take a patient until he/she presents rolls of cash. For more discussion on the ills of China's health care system, even after taking the baby steps that are the latest reforms, see this brief, or the myriad analyses freely available online.

I could go on, but there are far better things to do in life than to pick apart Friedman's amateurish work.

Most heartening display of geekery

• Obi-wanobama at Time blog Swampland

Most inspiring technological solution

• EverybodyLovesSketch - A gesture-based 3D curve sketching system

A practical, elegant, time saving tool that automates a repetitive yet vital manual process. This is what technology is all about.

Newly subscribed RSS

• Articles by Alexandra Stanley at New York Times - I like her writings on American television, THE passtime of mine.
• 韩寒, a famous young writer in China with a taste for controversy. His writings are sarcastic but with a strong viewpoint that shows independent thinking.

Newly followed Tweeps

• @shifeike - Editor of South China Weekly, one of the most outspoken periodicals in China.
• @rtmeme - Bot that automatically retweets twice retweeted Chinese tweets. Or, more simply, a meme spotter.
• @iA - Oliver Reichenstein, self-described Information Architect.