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Sunday, May 20

20th May - Weekender: Off-Topics

Weekend's linkfest to articles that have nothing to do with the markets. NATO and gambling are this week's themes. Follow ‘MoreLiver’ on Twitter or Facebook.  The JP Morgan post has been updated.

Previously posted:


 
NATO SUMMIT
The Alliance Gathers: What NATO Should and Shouldn't Do in ChicagoForeign Affairs
A host of issues confront NATO leaders this weekend in Chicago. Success depends on prioritizing Afghanistan, the Smart Defense Program, and enlargement. Russia can wait.

Javier Solana: Russia Stays HomeProject Syndicate

Why Europe Still Needs Nuclear DeterrenceProject Syndicate

Russia and NATO: Rethink the resetThe Economist

Will NATO Look East?The Diplomat

NATO to Talk AfghanistanThe Diplomat

Globalizing NATOProject Syndicate

GAMBLING
The Gambler Who Blew $127 Million (2009)WSJ
During a year-long gambling binge at the Caesars Palace and Rio casinos in 2007, Terrance Watanabe managed to lose nearly $127 million. The run is believed to be one of the biggest losing streaks by an individual in Las Vegas history.

Cracking the Scratch Lottery Code (2011)Wired
How Mohan Srivastava, a Canadian statistician, figured out the flaw in the North American lottery system

The High Is Always the Pain and the Pain Is Always the High (2010)The Morning News
Gambling addiction is a simple disease. Living the addiction is a bit more complicated. A chronicle of dependency in seven parts about poker, Lolita, and how to lose $18,000 in 36 hours.

Sweat in the Game: A Gambler's Grind in the NBA (2011)Negative Dunkalectics
…lurking in the shadows of the league, there are oddsmakers and the handicappers who try to outsmart them, hoarding an understanding of the game that rivals most NBA front-offices. Haralabos Voulgaris is among them.

The God of GamblersThe New Yorker
The improbable story of how Macau become the biggest player in the casino universe.

Bingo in the Blood (2010)NYT
Though it enjoys a steadfast following among older working-class residents, bingo has been in retreat across the country for many years, eroded by competing forms of legalized gambling with sweeter riches or superior odds, as well as by online entertainment options (including Internet bingo). The recession and smoking bans haven’t helped. (The economy has bruised the entire gambling industry.)

PEOPLE
Love, DadLetters of Note
In June of 1971, just days before his 26-year-old son, Michael, got married, future-U.S. President Ronald Reagan sent him the following letter of advice.

Special Report: Don't call him Mr. MerkelReuters
Political spouses sometimes provide a spot of glamour. Then there is Joachim Sauer, a professor of theoretical chemistry.

UncatchableGQ
George Wright, America's most elusive fugitive, ran for forty years. He ran from the cops after escaping from prison. He ran from the feds after the most brazen hijacking in history. He ran from the authorities on three continents, hiding out and blending in wherever he went. It was a historic run—and now that it's over, he might just pull off the greatest escape of all

The Most Dangerous Game (2006)WP
Fred Kovaleski and Yuri Rastvorov were secret agents, sworn enemies on opposite sides of the Cold War. When they finally came face to face, a mutual love of tennis spawned the beginning of a beautiful friendship

The Madness of General Mladic (1995)The New York Review of Books

SCIENCE, TECH
First Simulation Of Quantum Tunnelling On A Quantum Computertechnology review
Quantum tunnelling had always been thought too complex to simulate on today's simple quantum computers. Now a new approach to quantum computing has changed that and opens the door to more complex simulations

How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the InternetGizmodo
This is the story of a wonderful idea. Something that had never been done before, a moment of change that shaped the Internet we know today.

Antimatter Propulsion Engine Redesigned Using CERN's Particle Physics Simulation Toolkittechnology review
Latest simulation shows that the magnetic nozzles required for antimatter propulsion could be vastly more efficient than previously thought--and built with today's technologies

Planet Earth by The UniverseGigaPan
Very high-resolution zoomable satellite image of Earth

A Chart that Reveals How Science Fiction Futures Changed Over Timeio9
We wanted to know whether there are historical trends in how far in the future we set our science fiction — and there definitely are.

OTHER
FiveBooks Interviews: Julia Lovell on the Opium WarThe Browser
The 19th century opium war marked the clash of the world’s great empires of the age – Britain and China. The historian says its legacy of Chinese humiliation is still felt keenly in Beijing

The Many Ways to Catch Shut-Eye in the SkyWSJ
Airlines Adopt Different Layouts for Business-Class Beds; How to Avoid Climbing Over Sleeping Passengers

Blogging for mental healthThe British Psychological Society
To coincide with the Mental Health Month Blog Party organised by the APA, I've collated some highlights from our coverage of mental health issues here at the BPS Research Digest.

Tuck into our latest round-up of the best psych and neuro links: