The ten best philosophy articles of the year?
So, long story short, this is yet another chapter in what is becoming Europe's defining story: being the incompetent sucker in the room.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp backs ousted Ukraine defense minister's new defense tech startup
Exclusive: US intel assessments reshaped to suit Trump Al Mayadeen
US to deploy new carrier to West Asia as Trump claims ‘big victory’ Al Mayadeen
Rezaei: Any ‘evil’ against Iran will bring affliction on US ‘recorded in history’ Press TV
They Survived an Iran War Drone Attack. Six Months Later, They’re Struggling to Get Care The War Horse
Our No Longer Free Press
Trump’s DHS is using an obscure law to secretly snoop on journalists, non-profits and unions: ‘It’s outrageous’ The Guardian
The Crazy History of the Shower. I think that’s self-recommending.
Jamelle Bouie saw The Odyssey and shared his thoughts about it on YouTube. From his Letterboxd review:
The Odyssey or, what if you did THE DARK KNIGHT in ancient Greece?
This, to be clear, is not a bad thing. Nolan is covering the same thematic territory he did nearly 20 years ago and more recently with OPPENHEIMER. And it is compelling! A kind of Burkean liberalism that sees the heroism of “great men” as a necessary bulwark against disorder and chaos but understands the great men as merely men — who themselves bear some responsibility for the chaos — and sees heroism as a terrible burden to bear, more akin to a curse than a crown. There are no parades or honors. In the end you bear the scars and fade away, an exile remembered in legend.
Anyway, I am glad Hollywood keeps giving the man hundreds of millions of dollars to make his didactic and idiosyncratic blockbusters. Keep ‘em coming!
Yeah, exactly. I feel like most pans of The Odyssey fell into two main buckets: 1) it wasn’t long enough — pacing off, didn’t include my favorite scene, etc. — which was entirely due to 3-hour runtime constraints of IMAX projectors, and 2) I wish Christopher Nolan hadn’t made a Christopher Nolan movie.
Debbie Millman again: Is the World Getting Uglier? First brand she mentions is a Tesla Cybertruck, a completely tasteless monstrosity designed by Elon Simpson that I still laugh at every time I see one on the road.
Due to drought in Britain, you can see “gardens that disappeared hundreds of years ago starting to show themselves again through the grass”.
Artisans make punchcards by hand for the looms that weave beautiful banarasi sarees.
A Living Museum of the Comic. “A living museum of where the comic came from — its Western and Eastern roots, the women who drew the early funnies, the Europeans who invented its grammar, and the golden age of the American color cartoon. Every artifact is public domain, restored by us, and free to explore.”
From Kurzgesagt: The Impenetrable Barrier Trapping Us in the Solar System. “From the vast empty space to the laws of physics themselves, there are many reasons why the dream of space travel might stay just a dream.” Alt title: Why Humanity Will Never Leave The Solar System.
The Dingo Fence | The Longest Fence in the World. “In the heart of Australia, the continent has been cut in two by the longest fence in the world in a bid to protect livestock from dingoes. Dingoes have divided the nation for the past 150 years, but with new research coming to light, is it time for this to change?”
“I rebuilt 1901 by Phoenix from scratch to figure out what makes it so good.” I love this song and will make time to watch this soon.
The Deadly Legacy of HIV Truthers (2015). “Even as the medical community reached a consensus that HIV caused AIDS, a counter-movement was emerging, claiming that HIV didn’t exist, or that the virus existed but was harmless. The symptoms of AIDS, according to some of these people, were actually caused by HIV therapies themselves.”
Recent Howtown: So… did NASA find life on Mars? “Awkwardly, we’ve now collected the most promising extra-terrestrial biosignature in a tube that might spend the rest of eternity sealed inside a dead rover.”
I love these little icon collages and creations from Font Awesome (FA serves the icons I use on KDO). Starry Night! Sudoku! Chef Vader! Business Fett!
More than 200 Ansel Adams photos, mostly of National Parks, that are free to view & download. Via Open Culture, one of the gems of the open web.