"How Do You Spell Gaddaffi? The Linguistics Behind Libya's Leader" by Zoe Fox - Time.com

Qaddafi. Gadaffi. Qhaththaffi. Whatever, I spell it D-E-D. And his face looked like a jack o'lantern that got put on the stoop on mischief night. Game, set, match, democracy?

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/23/how-do-you-spell-gaddafi-the-linguistics-behind-libyas-leader/

P.S. Zoe Fox has to be hot right? That's not a name for an ugly chick.

"Surviving the Fall" by Tom Junod - Esquire.com

Suffice to say, if you haven't had your fill of 9/11 stories yet, this one will do the trick. It's a follow up to Junod's acclaimed piece on Norberto Hernandez, a man who jumped to his death from one of the towers and was the subject of one of the most famous pictures taken that day.

http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/the-falling-man-10-years-later-6406030?click=pp

"Why Do So Many Dictators Use Scud Missiles?" by Brian Palmer - Slate.com

Good question, I'm going to guess it has something to do with them being cheap and also resistant to sand.

http://www.slate.com/id/2301847/

"CJ Chivers: What I've Learned" by Cal Fussman - Esquire.com

Bold statement here but one I feel good about. CJ Chivers' "The School" is the best magazine article I've ever read. Some people will tell you it was "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold" by Talese or John Sack's "M". But for my money, it's Chivers' piece on that Russian school that was overrun a few years back by Chechen terrorists. The guy is a master. A former Marine who dropped out of college to sign up for the Corps after the Marine barracks in Beirut were blown up by terrorists in 1983, Chivers has gone on to become a superstar of journalism. Rightfully so.

Here he gives an interview to Esquire in their great "What I've Learned" series of profiles.

http://www.esquire.com/features/what-ive-learned/cj-chivers-interview-0911?click=main_sr

"What We Saw: 9/11 Remembered" - Esquire

This is a compilation of the best Esquire has written about 9/11 since it happened. Read this if you want to get chills.

Case in point:

""We kept running over body parts," the fireman whispered. He was staring into my eyes with a pleading look, as if seeking forgiveness. "I mean, the ash was so thick, you'd see things in the street, but you couldn't tell what they were until you ran over them. I mean, what the fuck were we supposed to do?"

I nodded, patted him on the shoulder, and when I did, he let out a single sharp sob, almost like a hiccup. I looked past him at the 150 or so other firemen resting in a tunnel nearby."

—In Country, by Scott Anderson, November 2001

http://m.esquire.com/this/6274/

"What Osama bin Laden Left Behind" by Stephen Marche - Esquire.com

Not gonna lie. I haven't read this yet because I've been around the world lately, and I. I. I. still can't find my baby. Traveling for work like you see on the TV screen. That being said, Stephen Marche is one of my favorite writers out there, and you already know I have an affinity for bin Laden stories, so I'm pumped to find the time to read this. You should be too.

http://www.esquire.com/features/thousand-words-on-culture/osama-bin-laden-legacy-0911?click=pp

p.s. That's right, stick syntactically correct Lisa Stansfield lyrics in your pipe and smoke it, bub.

'The Bomb That Didn't Go Off" By Charles P. Pierce - Esquire.com

Cool article with an awesome title. It's about homegrown terrorism and how those skinhead yokels in Idaho may actually pose more of a threat to us than those bearded jackasses in Pakistan or whatever sandy shithole they live in now.

Boom goes the dynamite.

http://www.esquire.com/features/homegrown-terrorism-us-0811?click=pp

"A Year at War: The Chaos of War, Up Close" by James Dao - NYTimes.com

Wowowow. Just read this article after a Poopreader sent it to me. Great stuff. The bulk of the story is on soldiers wearing helmet cams during missions in Iraq and Afghanistan (complete with a really cool video of a firefight). But the good stuff--and by good, I mean dramatically good, there's nothing actually good about it--comes at the end. Read this article all the way through.

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/a-year-at-war-the-chaos-of-war-up-close/?partner=rss&emc=rss

thanks to Swankie

"U.S. Was Braced for Fight with Pakistanis in bin Laden Raid" by Eric Schmitt, Thom Shanker and David E. Sanger - NYTimes.com

Reporters just found out that the reason there were so many helicopters filled with SEALs during the bin Laden raid was not because they needed 40 of the most deadly men in the world to kill one dirty piece of shit--it was because Obama and others were afraid that Pakistani forces might attempt to engage the SEALs and we wanted to be ensure that they could fight their way out if need be.

Which is all to say, fuck Pakistan. Really, from the bottom of my heart. Fuck Pakistan. We give that useless shit stain of a country something like $5 billion dollars a year in aid so a guy we've spent countless dollars and thousands of lives trying to find can hide 35 miles from their version of West Point. And their public is largely sympathetic to a mass murder? And our government was afraid their government would kill our soldiers for going in and trying to get the guy? Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining Pakistan. You're not a friend. We should just blow that whole place up. Harry Truman's probably spinning in his grave.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/world/asia/10intel.html?_r=1&hp

p.s. sorry for the rant.

"An Army of One" by Chris Heath - GQ.com

Remember Gary Faulkner? No? Name doesn't ring a bell? Well how about that crazy long-haired dude who went to Pakistan with a sword and a bible looking to kill Bin Laden. Oh yeah, him. GQ profiled him well, here. To say this guy is an odd bird is like saying Ndamukong Suh is a stout fellow.

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201009/gary-faulkner-hunts-osama-bin-laden

"Release the Dead Laden Photos" by Jack Shafer - Slate.com

Jack Shafer argues that the US should release the photos of bin Laden. I think I saw today that 80% of the publc would disagree with him. Makes sense, I see no reason to release them. Could see some little terrorist in training in Egypt or somewhere pinning them on his wall like I used to have Michael Jordan and Will Clark posters up in my room when I was little. Shafer argues that not releasing them because they endanger troops in Iraq and Afghanistan opens up an enormous loophole for the government to squash news, but I don't know if it really holds water in this case. Finding out bin Laden got capped is news, seeing his head blown apart in hi-res detail, not so much. This piece is an interesting counter argument to the prevailing feeling though.

http://www.slate.com/id/2293031/

"Connecting the Dots: The Paradoxes of Intelligence Reform" by Malcolm Gladwell - Newyorker.com

Malcolm Gladwell turns the military intelligence world on its head as only he can do, trying to figure out a more effective way for the CIA and similar organizations to identify terroristic patterns and stop them before they culminate in disaster.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/03/10/030310crat_atlarge

"What Really Killed Osama bin Laden" by Tom Junod - Esquire.com

Not gonna lie I don't really agree with much of what Junod has to say here. But he raises some damn interesting questions. Like, I guarantee you read this article about bin Laden being executed, and the violent power of religion, and the similarities between the US and terrorism, and the entire time you're thinking in your head "no way man, that's wrong, that's bullshit." And then later in the day it'll dawn on you that, holy shit, he might have been a little right. That's what we here at Poopreads call provocative.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/bin-laden-blood-5681415?click=pp

"Deadspin Funbag: Special Bin Laden Edition" by Drew Magary - Deadspin.com

The Deadspin Funbag and bin Laden together? I told you I read my stats! I know what Poopreaders want! And that's random bros writing in to Drew Magary to try and make sense of the biggest terrorist in the world getting his eyeballs shot out while using his wife as a human shield. AMERICA!!!! FUCK YEAH!!!!!! ( And no, I don't feel bad for Bin Laden's wife, you commie--pretty sure she wouldn't have had a whole lot of compassion for the victims of 9/11, so her and her dead body can go kick rocks for all I care.)

Excuse me I got carried away.

What do people think about Rashard Mendenhall's tweets about Bin Laden and "not hearing his side of the story"? There's of course the knee jerk reaction that "what an idiot that fat idiot is and does he hate America and doesn't he know thousands of people died?" and that's valid. But I think Rashard is a victim of his own brain and heart. He's got a big heart, anyone who watches him play knows that. And he seems like he's probably a devout Christian. And I would guess that at some point in his life either he or people he is close with got into some serious trouble and got railroaded by the system for one reason or another. So I think Mendenhall's statements at least show that he is capable of compassion--possibly too a fault--and some fairly intellectual introspection. So I'll say this, it wasn't that Rashard Mendenhall wasn't thinking when he tweeted those comments, it's that he wasn't thinking hard enough.

Anyway, Funbag, have at:

http://deadspin.com/#!5798130/your-special-edition-dead-bin-laden-funbag

"Death of a Madman" by Christopher Hitchens - Slate.com

What a great day to be an American. I am so happy some SEAL slopped bin Laden's evil brain all over his shithole mansion. It just kind of makes thing right in my brain. Feels kind of good. Which is kind of fucked up to say, but it's the truth. Who isn't happy this dude got smoked? Because you gotta hand it to him, he was smart, he was charismatic, he was wealthy, tough, and incredibly connected. None of which will save him from getting eternally buttraped by Satan in his own special circle of Hell.

Today is Bin Laden's Dead and I Feel Great day at Poopreads. Read these articles while you eat a goddam cheeseburger and remember why you're ancestors came to this country in the first place. Because it's the best.

http://www.slate.com/id/2292687/

p.s. Christopher Hitchens lays out the possibilities for Bin Laden's legacy in this piece. Hitchens is always good.

"The Secret Team That Killed Bin Laden" by Marc Ambinder - Nationaljournal.com

The National Journal wrote the best article on the web today about the U.S. Navy SEAL team that killed Bin Laden. Dudes are total badasses. Seal Team Six. They don't even officially exist. They report straight to Obama and he's like "go cap this bitch in thus and such country. he's bad." and they're all "Yes, sir!" It's awesome.

They are specially picked from the very best of SEALs, which if you've read anything about what those guys do, not only as SEALs, but just to become part of that group, is wildly impressive. And then, and then! There's a 50% attrition rate during training for SEAL Team Six. I can't even fathom that. You'll love this article.

http://nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/the-secret-team-that-killed-bin-laden-20110502

p.s. If you want to learn more about Navy SEALs read Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell.

p.p.s. Who gets more butt, a circa 2004 Clooney or the cat who put a double tap in Bin Laden's melon?

"Notes on the Death of Osama Bin Laden" by Steve Coll - Newyorker.com

The New Yorker lays out exactly what happened when we split Bin Laden's wig in an insightful but easily digestible article with tidbits explaining exactly what happened, who did it, how, and what it means. If your head is kind of spinning over all the information that has come in on the Bin Laden death, this is the article for you.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/05/notes-on-the-death-of-osama-bin-laden.html

"Go After Qaddafi" by Christopher Hitchens - Slate.com

Christopher Hitchens thinks someone should put one in between Qaddafi's eyes. Lots of reasons to disagree with him. Lots of reasons to agree with him. Lots of reasons to read this.

http://www.slate.com/id/2292067/

"Guantanamo Files" by Charlie Savage, William Glaberson and Andrew W. Lehren - NYTimes.com

The U.S. government just released files on every inmate held at Guantanamo. There's some pictures in there. Not a bad read if you're gonna be flying anytime soon. Just sit there like an owl with your head on a swivel. Full 360 degree rotation looking for terrorists like 25 to life never crossed your mind.

Some people got freaked out by the shoe bomber dude a few years back, lighting his airwalks on fire and failing miserably like a worthless terrorist. I think that's kind of a dream scenario though in some respects. Like, this loser was going to try and blow you and a hundred other innocent people up for no reason, and now he failed and you and the burly dude from aisle 18 have an hour to absolutely fuck his shit UP before you land? And no jury in America is going to convict you for it? Free shots on terrorists? Sign me up.

I would do work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/world/guantanamo-files-lives-in-an-american-limbo.html?_r=1&hp