Here’s a great series of audio broadcasts done by CBC radio this winter on the matter of science and how we ought to think about it. Really interesting stuff. Ninjaman recommends episode 5 with Ulrich Beck and Bruno Latour especially. http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/science/
Straight from the “holy crap does the man ever over-react these days file” comes this little story from the U.K. where they’ve been employing high frequency devices to drive off loitering and drunken teens in certain areas. Apparently, the pitch of the frequency is something that is only audible (and thus highly annoying, uncomfortable, and even at times painful) to the ears of our younger generations. Story here.
Given the recent developments regarding the recent undersea internet cable cuts, as brought to the attention of BBD reader by Brother Greg (see previous post), I thought some further documents and websites might provide some greater context, and more ammunition for the “conspiracy” minded among us.
The most famous day in February, other than that shitty Hallmark holiday Valentine’s Day, has to be Ground Hog day. As you may or may not know, in addition to inspiring a film starring bone-dry funny man Bill Murray, Ground Hog day has also given rise to an intense rivalry between two star prognosticating rodents, that no-goodnik Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania, and Canada’s own Wiarton Willie, the albino weather wonder. Of course, these are only the two most famous Groundhogs. Check out this list for a few others.
Sometimes great wisdom is found in the most unlikely places, such as from the mouth of ex-Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. In this 10 minute clip, Jesse is confronted by media pundit Donny Deutsche (MSNBC) with the usual hostility that these types often bring when “debating” anyone that isn’t quite ready to send every brown person in Amurika to the gulag just yet.
A short, funny commentary on Apple’s Iphone by acclaimed film director David Lynch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0
Anyone else noticed the rash of UFO sightings in the U.S. recently?
Some Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAox0pcZZxo
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2008/01/16/cooper.shot.wed.cnn
http://www.youtube.com/FrozenHill
And this;
http://www.ktvu.com/news/15054540/detail.html
Woooooo!
Wow, all the hoopla surrounding these primaries is really quite astounding. As usual however, the hoopla is reserved only for a grand total of 4 or 5 front running candidates, leaving the rest of the field virtually ignored.
For instance, with all this talk of hope and progressive change that gets associated with Barack Obama, politicians who are genuinely progressive and offer real alternatives are ignored in favour of a feel good image - most notably looked over is D. Kucinich, who currently has garnered only about 1% of support in the Iowa & New Hampshire primaries - which makes him virtually irrelevant in a system of media coverage dominated by the “horse race” mentality.
The following audio link is an interview not with Kucinich, but with his chief economic policy advisor, Dr. Michael Hudson. A brilliant assessment of the current economic situation in America. Listen here. Also check out http://www.michael-hudson.com.
The ol‘ professa, Noam Chomsky, doesn’t really get the credit he deserves. Superficial encounters with his work, either sympathetic or critical, seem to dominate most perspectives of it, and I think there’s an unwarranted “Chomsky-fatigue” simply because they guy has been around so damned long. Regardless, I’ve watched this mean carry on debates in french, english, and dutch simultaneously and it’s hard to find a speaker more eloquent and sincere.
This interview is really quire excellent, and mercifully short for a Chomsky piece;
“I didn’t do any research at all on (Adam) Smith. I just read him. There’s no research. Just read it. He’s pre-capitalist, a figure of the Enlightenment. What we would call capitalism he despised. People read snippets of Adam Smith, the few phrases they teach in school. Everybody reads the first paragraph of The Wealth of Nations where he talks about how wonderful the division of labor is. But not many people get to the point hundreds of pages later, where he says that division of labor will destroy human beings and turn people into creatures as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human being to be. And therefore in any civilized society the government is going to have to take some measures to prevent division of labor from proceeding to its limits.”
Cheers.
Another item from BBD’s Insesct News Desk; it turns out modern beetles appeared on earth about 70 million years before those famous and much loved “terrible lizards”. Article here.
