Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:

• The new American exceptionalism: An imperial state unable to impose its will – Salon. "Ouch. That’s a pretty harsh title. But this piece by Tom Engelhardt is a bit of an eye-opener. As corporations get their own votes, their own religions, and their own place in society, it’s hard not to recognize that the government has lost its ability to make big, sweeping changes or undertake vast enterprise. We rely on the Elon Musks of the world to do what we once elected people to. Depressing, but also a must-read for anyone sliding the slippery slope of political compromise." (Alistair for Hugh).
• No More “No Shows” – How To Make Sure Your Research Participants Actually Show Up  – Google Ventures. "The various Google Ventures blogs are some of my favorite reads on the Internet. This piece is applicable not only to customer development and user research, but also to anyone who’s trying to convince people to actually turn up at an event of any kind." (Alistair for Mitch).
• How to Flawlessly Predict Anything on the Internet – Medium. "Great how-to for (or debunking of) the ‘prediction after the fact’ scam." (Hugh for Alistair).
• Sympathy for the Comcast Rep from Hell – The Awl. "You’ve probably heard the now-famous Comcast Cancellation Song (if not, it’s below)… This article asks you to pause, though, and consider the poor guy on the other end of the phone, the one who’s going to get penalized for letting a Comcast client get away." (Hugh for Mitch).
• Nikola Tesla’s Best Productivity Tricks – Lifehacker. "No matter how cramped we are to find the time to do things in a more efficient way, it feels like we all have an infinite amount of time to read articles and books about how to be more productive. We download apps to make us more efficient. I’m guilty of this, too. I can’t get enough of articles like this. I’m fascinated by the mechanics behind how the greatest thinkers, artists and writers get things done. This article did not disappoint." (Mitch for Alistair).
• Charles Bukowski Rails Against 9-to-5 Jobs in a Brutally Honest Letter (1986) – Open Culture. "I went through a Charles Bukowski phase. I think it made me a better writer… but, more importantly, it made me a better thinker. In this very short letter, Bukowski illustrates the real illusion of our world and going to work. We look for things to be safe in a world where it doesn’t exist. Seth Godin likes to say that, ‘the safest thing that you can do is be risky, and the riskiest thing that you can do is be safe.’ Bukowski digs on this jam as well." (Mitch For Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.