As most everyone has heard by now, the renown South African activist and politician Nelson Mandela died last week. This brief editorial argues that Mandela deserves the near-legendary status that many confer on him. But more popular than Mandela, at least among the Facebook crowd, is Pope Francis. According to Facebook, the Roman Pontiff is the highest trending topic on the website.
On a related note, Facebook and other large tech firms have made common cause to oppose NSA surveillance of the internet. Whether the companies wield enough collective influence to affect the situation remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Time gives a short list of what Congress will likely address towards the end of the year, including possible movement on a farm bill.
And these two pieces lament a loss of patience and of story-telling, but argue that these goods can be regained by the efforts of teachers and parents respectively.
