¶ Junot Diaz’s essay, in the Boston Review, on Haïti’s apocalypse — a social, not a natural disaster — is this week’s legendum. In an anaphoral passage that is powerfully reminiscent of our Declaration of Independence, Diaz encapsulates the sins that have been visited on the country’s body since the time of the French. The worst of it is that Haïti’s abyssal social inequality looks more and more like everyone else’s future. (via The Morning News) ¶ Historian Richard Evans writes about looting through the ages, and about emerging guidelines for restitution. The idea that works of cultural significance are to be treated differently from other property can be traced explicitly to Union Army policy in the American Civil War. (The National Interest; via Brainiac) ¶ Josh Jacobs, who lost a brother on 9/11, is troubled by the “mercifulness” of his Facebook friends in the wake of the bin Laden take-out. Clarity is not the object of this essay; never have we seen the thickness of grief presented so masterfully. (The Awl)

¶ Gary Antonacci writes about “the world’s first index fund.” We were tickled to death. (Optimal Momentum; via The Reformed Broker) ¶ David Cain’s No-Procrastination policy is so fierce that we can tell just how big and bad the problem of putting things off has become for him. We’re glad that “disorganization” heads his list of pitfalls. (Raptitude) ¶ Frédéric Filloux haruspexates the tweeting that preceded the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death, and argues that it spells the end of such media concepts as “edition” and “deadline.” (Monday Note) ¶ The wisdom of Felix Salmon: “The more that both publishers and advertisers concentrate on the creative side of things, and the less they worry about the distractions of granular economics, the more successful both are likely to be.” Down with the the Math State!

¶ Mary Snydor, a descendant of Eng Bunker (the Siamese twin of Chang), visits Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum, where her progenitor’s liver is on display. Yes, it’s awkward. (The Smart Set)

The guide became excited. He asked me if I had told any of the museum staff and I mentioned that I had the last time I came, but no one seemed to be too interested. For a few moments, he quietly contemplated the display with me, but then things started to get awkward. Outside the museum, people couldn’t be more fascinated about my heritage; inside, no one ever knows quite what to say. It’s hard to be impressed with my tie to Chang and Eng when you’re staring at the their grimacing faces and preserved liver.

¶ Richard Crary reminds us (sorry! we’re late) that last Thursday was International Midwife Day. (The Existence Machine) ¶ Mr Wrong diets on CLIF bars — tacitly raising the question, when are they going to invent an energy bar for people who sit at desks all day and who don’t need the energy so much as something to fill you up? (The Awl) ¶ Mother’s Day with lots of mommies. (Philly Post; thanks Philip!) ¶ Meet James Priest, the English ex-pat gardener who’s about to take over at Giverny. (Telegraph; via Arts Journal)

¶ Josh Kurp does some virtual spelunking and unearths what information there is about the lost DuMont television network, which came to an end in 1956. We remember it!But we didn’t know that it was the same Dr DuMont who invented radar.  (Splitsider) ¶ Kevin Nguyen discovers that the only way to read Harper’s on an iPad is to subscribe to the print edition. (Zinio sucks, apparently.) The good news is that Kevin thinks that it’s worth it. (The Bygone Bureau) ¶ At The Neglected Books Page, a few words about Theodor Fontane, whose Irretrievable has just been published in a fresh translation by NYRB. ¶ Francine Prose talks to The Paris Review about one of our favorite books, her new novel, My New American Life. “[N]othing has ever happened to me. I had to go to Albania; I couldn’t make it up.” (Thanks, Ms NOLA!)

New: ¶ College fraternities: “notorious sites of anti-intellectualism, alcohol abuse, and sexual assault,” in the words of Historiann. Why do good schools tolerate them? (via MetaFilter)

Have a Look: ¶ “I Want to Support My Local Bookshop,” @ The Age of Uncertainty. ¶ The Final Edition. (via The Morning News) ¶ “Transformer Apartment” @ Joe.My.God.

Noted: ¶ “My Two Days As a Russian Tabloid Sensation,” from Michael Idov’s “forthcoming” book about Russia. WDKWTLOC. (The Awl) ¶ Superman renounces American citizenship, @ Naked Capitalism.

¶ At A Fistful of Euros, Charlie Whitaker advances several arguments against the British monarchy, one of which seems, at first blush, absolutely damning — and then, suddenly, not so: “The monarchy promotes the idea that some people are to receive certain rewards while the rest of us get to watch.” When you consider the equally unfair distribution of movie-star looks… ¶ In a narrow sense, Terry Teachout is right about arts organizations: today’s administrators are finally facing some awful truths (and shutting down or declaring bankruptcy). What’s missing is the notion that they oughtn’t to be going through this alone. Mr Teachout’s persistent use of “business models” is key: the arts are not a business and they never will be. He must be thinking of “entertainment.” The arts require state patronage, and state patronage in turn requires an educated body politic. What kept our concerts hall full for decades was a commitment, long abandoned, to strong music-education programs in public schools. (WSJ, natch)

¶ Yves Smith socks it to the libertarians, even if it’s “like talking to a wall.” She wraps up with a concise rebuttal of the libertarian claim that the “coercive” state can do no good. (Naked Capitalism)

 It simply denies that the private sector is intrinsically dependent on the state for key functions for it to perform well, and ignores the fact its ideal of a minimal state does not scale at all. Similarly, many forms of enterprise show considerable economies of scale and hence will dominate the political realm if the political sphere is not allowed to constrain the economic realm when broader society prefers to impose rules

¶ Michael Bourne takes a good look at the “cultural irrelevance” that disheartened Jonathan Franzen back in the days before he was (very) famous (1996), and decides that it’s a good thing after all: “A novel never sells anything but itself, which means that the whole huge noisemaking machine we call popular culture leaves novelists more or less alone.” (The Millions)  ¶ Why Spy? Will Hines (who was a junior in high school when he subscribed) shares five great things about the mothership of modern humor. We’re saving our search strength for the piece with the complicated math formula that proved that Pine Mattress was a lousy school. (The Awl)

¶ Do you think Geoff Manaugh realizes that he has set a compelling creative writing assignment? “A particular type of early modern warehouse or other such industrial structure is found to house a specific species of bird, perhaps because only its frame can fit through gaps in the brickwork, precluding colonization by other species.” Thing is, he’s got to review the damn novels when FSG publishes them.” (BLDGBLOG) ¶ We don’t know if Lucas Amory is an instrumental virtuoso, but, at eight years old, he’s definitely a prodigious listener. His reponse to Anthony Tommasini’s (quasi-idiotic) “10 Best Composers” list. (Letters of Note) ¶ Jacob Lambert’s “Requiem for a Video Store,” about Beaux Arts Video in Philadelphia. We wonder how many stories like this one are out there. A hundred, perhaps? More? How many truly interesting video-rental outlets were exterminated by Netflix? (The Millions)

¶ Tom Scocca grrouses, not unreasonably, about the cost of the Black Hawk helicopter that failed the other day and had to be blown up/burned/destroyed by the Special Ops who took out Osama bin Laden. “ Estimates of the price tag for the MH-60K vary.” (Slate) Philip Greenspun, who sidelines as a pilot, puts the cost at $20 million. (Philip Greenspun’s Weblog)

New: ¶ David Cain’s Raptitude. Four words to avoid: “Wish,” “Try,” “Should,” and “Deserve.” We don’t avoid them, but we use them with care. We find that substituting “Ought” for “Should” keeps us serious, as well reducing the ambiguity that clouds that verb form. (via The Morning News) 

Have a Look: ¶ The Taxi of Tomorrow — which might have been Turkish from Brooklyn. (via Joe.My.God) ¶ Better Book Titles. (via The Morning News)

Noted: ¶ We hate to admit it, but we only just learned about Angela Lansbury’s interesting family history. Her grandfather was a founder of the Labour Party. (Guardian; via Arts Journal) ¶ Mark Singer on Donald Trump: “I’m convinced that he’s convinced that everything he says and does is ultimately good for business.” (The New Yorker) ¶ Jeff Bezos’s $1.6 security detail, a gift from Amazon. (Felix Salmon) ¶ James Franco @ Days of Yore. ¶ Derek Miller’s last post. (via MetaFilter)