Sunday, August 23, 2015

Web of Avarice and Culture

Australian academics seek to challenge ‘web of avarice’ in scientific publishing Guardian. Chuck L flags this quote: “Scholarly publishing is a bit like the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. It’s not totally clear what the hell is going on, but you can be sure someone is making a hell of a lot of money from it.” The plurality of obesity epidemics


Is there a place for the virtues courage, contemplation, and compassion in aculture of debunking realism? Such a question is in danger of dropping off the map of human inquiry... 

The culture wars are over, long live the culture wars! On the Internet, new participants battle on. Has it all become an ideological  sideshow? 

The Finnish government is considering a pilot project that would see the state pay people a basic income regardless of whether they work ...  So Finland will experiment with a guaranteed annual incomeMexico hands out ten million flat screen TVs 

For Montaigne, the three finest things in life are friendship, sex, and reading. The best? Reading. Your friend may die, your sexual partner may betray you, but literature is always there... Cccold River

Poor kids should go hungry so they know they’re loved Daily Kos 



How Humans Cause Mass Extinctions Project Syndicate


A seal has made a lucky escape and managed to avoid the jaws of a white shark off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
The seal more than holds its own.
The seal more than holds its own
But suppose you’re all about business? Is it possible to write off the cost if you’re inviting all your clients and customers?
Dream on.


The War Against Change The Archdruid Report

The Origins of the American Revolution: Politics and Politicized Societies The Junto


The Venezuelan currency is becoming so worthless as hyperinflation begins to grip the failing economy, that people are using banks notes as napkins. At least that’s what one Reddit user is doing who posted a picture of him using a two bolivar note to hold an empanada.