January 2012
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“It’s not a very good example of compassion when you’re philanthropy can only be...”
– Evil Teabagger: Free Markets are Best Markets
I’m not going to comment on Ron Paul’s ideology or EvilTeaBagger’s (probably) superb knowledge of research funding but I will provide a few figures from Avert [source],
In 2008, an estimated $15.6 billion was spent on...
December 2011
“For a long time, Latin America has been a region plagued by economic troubles...”
– From Counting the Cost: Rise of Latin America [Al Jazeera]
I went out to a dinner a month ago with a few South Americans (all in graduate school at my university) who mentioned returning to their homelands, post-30’s, after they’ve lived their finer years in US America’s urban...
“North Korea has announced the appointment of Kim Jong-un, the anointed successor...”
– SUPREME [Al Jazeera]
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Maybe we should stop saying...
From of-praxis,
Most importantly, the problem with the formulation is that it misconstrues the nature of power. In a capitalist system viewed as a whole, almost all power is economic. Political power, institutional power, police power, military power, all of these are a function of capital and its uses and the extent to which an entity possesses power in a capitalist system is inextricably...
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“Post 1” in this base is an access control point between the Iraqi Army compound...”
– Jayel Aheram, from one of the emails sent to his stepfather while stationed at Combat Outpost Rawah in the Al Anbar province in Iraq.
Thank you for sharing this.
“God is dead. Nietzsche is dead. Diamonds are forever.”
– From my ad service.
“Once digitized, a page of words loses its fixity. It can change every time it’s...”
– Nicholas Carr on E-Books - WSJ.com (via infoneer-pulse)
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I Understand
atomvincent:
chasewhiteside:
I am going to continue using Missing-E. I understand that I should anticipate potential data loss, a lack of privacy, and performance issues, and that Tumblr will not provide support for my account.
Reblog if you understand.
I understand. I understand that the features provided by Missing E make Tumblr infinitely more useful to me. I understand that Tumblr would...
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“If popular stereotypes about classical music held true, the genre should have...”
–
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“In his 1987 manifesto “Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution after 200-Plus...”
– In early book, Rep. Ron Paul criticized AIDS patients, minority rights and sexual harassment victims (via ryking)
This is the book I read and criticized the other day, here’s a gem,
Victims of the disease AIDS argue, with no qualms of inconsistency about rights, for crash research programs...
“Most notably, Philip Glass’s “Satyagraha,” a monumental minimalist opera evoking...”
– Culture Desk: Outside the Machine: The Best Classical Performances of 2011
Alex Ross demonstrating, again, why he is the best at what he does, music criticism. I’ve often wondered about the key absurdity relayed here: that classical music is the domain of the elite. It’s chief flaw, in the eyes of...
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“But the point of all this is that I am often bothered by this privileging of the...”
– EXISTENTIAL ANGST GAME STRESSFUL: weird thing western feminists do.
Amen.
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“What English speakers call ‘computer science’ Europeans have known as...”
– James Gleick, The Information. All this is true and interesting and cool — but, I want to say, once you have acknowledged that in a sense everything is information, you need to move on to acknowledge the equally important point that one thing may be information in a radically different form than...
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WatchWorking hard at 11:26 pm,
There is a frequently retold story about a little old lady who claims, after hearing a scientific lecture, that the world is a flat plate resting on the back of a giant tortoise. When asked what the turtle is standing on, she invokes a second turtle. And when the inevitable follow-up question comes, she replies, “You’re very clever, young man, but you can’t fool...
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“Imagine a candidate who, more than 15 years ago, fundraised and attempted to...”
– David Groshoff: Ron Paul: Secret Homophobe or Misunderstood Ally?
The point is well-taken. Actions do speak louder than words. But words still speak. And when they’re vile, they ought to be explained better than they have been here. (via jeffmiller)
This argument has merit but it’s porous...
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Duck Sauce - “Barbra Streisand”
Over 90 years...
“Shapers are organized in a network of local hubs based in each major city around...”
– Global Shapers | World Economic Forum-Global Shapers
felixsalmon: Ah, Davospeak. How I haven’t missed you.
pegobry: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
In the deepest and darkest corners of hell, the text of your favorite literature will be replaced with management literature. It will be void of meaning, priggish,...
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cuntymint asked: I've heard a few definitions of neoliberalism. Define it yourself, for me? Plz?
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“[Keynes] was one of the great liberals of our time. He saw clearly that in...”
– A.F.W. Plumptre, Keynes in Cambridge. The crucial lesson of the Depression that many contemporary politicians and economists have either forgotten, structurally unable to actualize, or realize that crisis benefits them and their corporate cronies greatly. There are exceptions, like in Latin...
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“What does our use and abuse of Nietzsche’s thinking say about us?”
– This fascinating question comes from an engaging book review of Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen’s new book, American Nietzsche.
I haven’t yet read the book, as it was only just published, but I’m anxious to do so. As the reviewer notes, Americans enjoy engaging Nietzsche, despite what I always tell my...
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Underreported Stories of 2011
joshsternberg:
Yesterday, Current started a series of the 5 Underreported Stories of 2011. The first one was about child homelessness rates in the U.S.
Today’s story is how the U.S. military is propagating pro-U.S propaganda around the world through deceptive social media tactics.
The Guardian reports:
the U.S. military awarded a $2.76 million contract to Ntrepid, a California corporation,...
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“It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Arleigh Clemens, a 74-year-old retired...”
– From Paul Campaign Rejects Racist Claims [WSJ]
Really? You can’t believe a guy from South Texas could get elected to Congress if he was a known racist? Really?
“The great irony and tragedy of “intro econ” is that it is at its introductory...”
– The Trouble with Principles: Or, How to Not Lose Friends and Alienate People When Learning Economics (#OccupyWallStreet, #OWS)
Perhaps the most interesting bit,
To casually label economics a science is at best aspirational, at worst manipulative, at a minimum misleading. At the introductory...
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“Socialists are usually the ones accused of having an overly optimistic view of...”
– Utopian Capitalism [NY Times]
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“And this gets to the important point.
The iPad is the same. But the number of...”
– Henry Blodget in MILLIONAIRE’S ISLAND: A Simple Example Of Why ‘Rich People’ Don’t Create Jobs (via quotingthecrisis)
I hate it when biological terms are borrowed to describe the most unnatural forms of social organization.
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“It’s all part of a widespread Republican effort to restrict the voting rights of...”
– This is how Ideology functions, it’s not that high ranking members of the GOP or their supporters are explicitly racist (because they’re probably not), it’s just that they’re legitimately concerned about voter fraud and it’s just happens to be a mere coincidence that...
ninety9:
The haus style at the Times is pretty much cast to the dwindling edges of the empire, but you can still find the rich exceptionalism in areas like arts coverage. For those whom the sad pale remnants in Styles just doesn’t do it any more (hacky Auster-bitz slice of life tripe that could be written by most of the NYU Local staff - hell, it prolly was), hie yourself over to examples such...
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“Anyway it only makes sense if you assume those premises; that all human...”
– This interview with David Graeber on “What Is Debt?” is one of the most thought-provoking things published this year about the premises of finance. (via moorehn)
“Because of piety’s penchant for taking itself too seriously, theology does well...”
– Tom Oden (via Philip Tallon on Twitter)
For Pritchard.
“Libertarians don’t like institutions. Generally. “We would be more equal without...”
– The Callus (via azspot)
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My favorite part of Christmas?
The guilt.
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“At the end of the day, I think an anti-war position is a terrific one. But,...”
– Running Chicken: A Very Ad Hominem Christmas
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LIBERTARIANISM: A NOVEL →
sonofapritch:
I am, within the confines of reason, elated to announce to you that Libertarianism: A Novel has finally been completed and may be found at the above link. This long-awaited aesthetic treatise on the philosophy of FREEDOM and LIBERTY, with a special introduction by none other than Ludwig von Mises, should serve to clarify the various misgivings of those who would seek to castigate...
againstpower asked: Just to clarify: I am militantly anti-interventionist, not a partisan. Ron Paul's Republican Party affiliation is not a factor in my support of him.
Libertarians Don't Have a Monopoly on Human Rights
After decades of being ignored (and rightfully so), Ron Paul supporters are befuddled by the lack of universal praise for their guy (the truth will set you free?) and seem to be up in arms at the negative attention their candidate is receiving. Some are rescinding their support, others seem to be asking for some accountability (kind of an Obama-esque critique, no?), and others have simply lost the...
