The most interesting thing about Cole Phelps is that he is an asshole who might also be insane.
Grantland: Tom Bissell reviews L.A. Noire
The story of L.A. Noire concerns a psychopathic cop named Cole Phelps, a man who inappropriately commandeers cars from civilians, steals outright any car that is left unattended, frequently destroys private property, and enjoys running over civilians. Despite his recklessness, Phelps becomes the most speedily promoted police officer in constabulary history.
At least, that is what L.A. Noire’s story can be about, if the player allows it, which nicely nutshells the problem of open-world games that give players a large amount of behavioral freedom while simultaneously trying to tell a coherent, linear story.
But it’s not an issue of the personal susceptibility of journalists. All the journalists are working within structures which put limits on what they can actually do.
Jonathan Cook on Nick Davies and the corporate media
Davies’ figure of 5-10% [proprietorial & advertiser influence on the media] is simply preposterous. It would be fascinating to know if he still sticks to this estimate or now accepts it was wildly off. And if it was wildly off, what does it do to his theory that journalism’s failure can be explained simply by the 10 rules of production - practical pressure and limitations on journalists caused chiefly by cost- and corner-cutting?
If Davies admitted strong proprietorial influence on the media, it would force him to examine structural constraints on “truth-telling”. Can he now bring himself to do that? If he can’t, it would be yet further proof of Chomsky’s view that the media filters out truly independent-minded journalists, the ones capable of understanding the intimate connection between corporate power and a corporate media.
We have to keep in mind and never forget that those who condemn the innocent protect the guilty
Inscribed in the living tile: Type in the Toronto subway
Joe Clark on the train wreck that is signage on the Toronto subway. It’s such a shame as well, as that original Futura-esque geometric face is gorgeous.
Eurogamer’s L.A. Noire Review
L.A. Noire is slow but quietly engrossing; its mechanics are suspect, but you can’t fault the ambition, attention to detail and commitment that went into its making. It risks stumbling over its own earnestness at times, but it’s saved by its star – and I don’t mean Staton, who does his best with a dry character.
That star is Los Angeles: as bizarre, threatening and fascinating in this virtual 1947 as it is in the real world today. L.A. Noire may owe its vision of the city to Ellroy and others, but as a game, it can depict it in a way those others can’t. McNamara, Team Bondi and Rockstar have taken that responsibility seriously, convincingly peeling away the layers of a sick society over the game’s length. That – not the curse words or the grim subject matter or the naked corpses – is what makes L.A. Noire a genuinely mature game.
Fortune: J.P. Morgan’s hunt for Afghan gold
An insiders’ look at the carving up of Afghanistan for foreign firms. (It also touches on Iraq, briefly.)
This bit, referring to a banker and a US official discussing a mining project, struck me as particularly cynical:
Hannam and Brinkley agreed that any such project should be led by an Afghan, lest it be seen as part of a resource grab by foreigners.
Read this article and tell me that the entire war is not.
How Bob Crow is saving the economy
Aditya Chakrabortty:
[Y]ou don’t have to love Bob Crow to see that he is effective at fighting for his members’ interests — not just against Transport for London, but Heathrow Express and a whole bunch of private transport firms. Similarly, if the Westminster classes mean what they say about narrowing the gap between the rich and the rest, MPs have to concede that unions unafraid to use their bargaining power are essential in doing just that. Yet many of the ministers who talk about tackling inequality are this week laying into the teachers, jobcentre clerks and other public servants preparing to strike to protect their wages and pensions.
There’s more to this than fairness; it’s also a matter of having sounder economies.
Set Adrift From Economic Progress
Despite the warnings, in a number of countries, including the UK and the US, what growth there has been since the crash has been used to restore profit levels, financial sector bonuses and personal fortunes. In the US, profits have jumped by $528 billion since recovery began while wages have grown by only $168 billion. In the UK in the last 18 months, profits and personal fortunes have risen while real wages have actually fallen.
