INTERNET TROLLS
Joel Stein’s Aug. 29 cover story on the rise of Internet trolling, from the alt-right in particular, sparked discussions everywhere from Fox News to the New York Observer to Twitter, where Andrew Stroehlein observed, “We’re not just in danger of losing the Internet to hate but of losing democracies to it too.” Sheldon Prial of Goose Creek, S.C., a World War II veteran, wrote that trolling reminded him of the “hate stirred up by the Nazi party.” To combat the abuse, Monique Bondeux, who called the piece “chilling,” suggested boycotting affected social-media sites, while Peter Guerin of Hadley, N.Y., advocated the introduction of new legislation “to reflect this frightening reality … before more people are hurt.”
SENIORS AND STEIN
“Was this written tongue-in-cheek, or were you serious? Either way, it was not the least bit funny.” That rebuke came from L. Kathleen Geesey, “67 and proud of it,” on the subject of another Aug. 29 piece by Joel Stein, a humor column suggesting older voters should be banned from the booths because of “poor,” nonprogressive voting patterns. Tom Mader of Walnut Creek, Calif., called Stein “an excellent writer” in need of schooling: “I’m sure his father has taken him out to the woodshed,” he wrote, adding that seniors have time to discuss complex issues while “youngsters are so distracted with making a living, getting ahead, overeating, overdrinking and making a lot of noise that understandably they often come up with foolish ideas and idiotic decisions.”
GOT GAME?
TIME’s tech team rated 150 video games across four decades, from classic arcade fare to recent console hits. Among our picks for the 50 best (which you can find at time.com/bestgames): Tetris (No. 1), the addictive block-stacking game that has enthralled fans since its arrival in 1984, and the 1982 Pac-Man spin-off Ms. Pac-Man (No. 5), which obsoleted its mate with smarter ghosts and on-the-move fruit bonuses.
WILD PICS
Aug. 25 marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. National Park Service. Less well known is the work done decades earlier that helped bring about such an achievement: a series of 1861 photos of Yosemite by Carleton Watkins. The shots thrilled Ralph Waldo Emerson and helped push Abraham Lincoln to sign a 1864 bill setting aside the land for public use. View Watkins’ images at time.com/watkins
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This appears in the September 05, 2016 issue of TIME.
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