Machkeon Among Herbs

In herbal gardens we feel as though We are  let in on a secret. On the cover of C.H. Sisson’sCollected Poems (Carcanet, 1998) is a watercolor by Stephen Raw of the final stanza of “The Herb-garden” (Exactions, 1980):

“Herb-garden, dream, scent of rosemary,
Scent of thyme, the deep error of sage,
Fennel that falls like a fountain, rue that says nothing,
Blue leaves, in a garden of green.”

“ Almost like High Tatra mountain villages- The small town of Kuşköy, which is tucked into an isolated valley on the rainy, mountainous Black Sea coast, … is remarkable not for how it looks but for how it sounds: here, the roar of the water and the daily calls to prayer are often accompanied by loud, lilting whistles – the distinctive tones of the local language.” (includes sound samples)  The New Yorker 

Spying on Praha's Garden and Underground ... MMXII

“‘Every day,’ he said, ‘I’ve got to get hold of something by the throat and strangle it. And that keeps me young.’”

| ~ Henri Matisse, in conversation with Edward G. Robinson (quoted in All My Yesterdays: An Autobiography, by Edward G. Robinson with Leonard Spigelgass)

Literary history is as strewn with colorful attempts to define love — including some particularly memorable ones — as modern psychology is with attempts to dissect its inner workings. But perhaps the most powerful and profoundly human definition I’ve ever encountered comes from Czech-born British playwright Tom Stoppard’s 1982 play The Real Thing — a masterwork of insight on the heart’s trials and triumphs in human relationships. Complement this gem from the altogether brilliant The Real Thing with the stirring 1958 letter of advice on falling in love that John Steinbeck sent to his teenage son, Susan Sontag’s lifetime of reflections on love, and Sherwin Nuland on what everybody needs.

Birds!
Look at the troubles happening in our world!
Anarchy — discontent — upheaval!
Desperate fights over territory, water, and food!
Poisoned air! Unhappiness!
I fear we are lost. We must do something!
I’wve seen the world. I know many secrets.
Listen to me: I know of a king who has all the answers.
We must go and find him.

Complement The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2013 with this collection of 2012’s finest science writing online, then revisit the best science books of the past year.

Nobel Physicist Frank Wilczek: ‘The World is a Piece of Art’ Der Spiegel

There are many interesting ideas and bits in this NYT Paul Sullivan piece about bohemian boxer: “As for the seeming contradiction of the Buddhist boxer…”

Secrets of the species that thrive in the big city BBC

NOAA: July warmest month in historyMacroBusiness

Several new species of spider orchids have been discovered in Western Australia's south west region. Source: AAP

The world’s most ‘liveable’ cities Economist 

“Somehow those pencils and that jar from my last teenage year takes me back to my most elemental self, the same self who learned to write holding a chubby pencil and then graduated to the traditional yellow Dixon Ticonderoga. I switched to black ones somewhere along the line, probably thinking I was too punk rock for a kid’s pencil, probably imagining black pencils were the sort of thing Gertrude Stein would have approved of and Nelson Algren might have liked Literary Hub 

GardEning and Ought Experiment compliment each other well ... We had ourselves quite the weekend, didn’t we? Well hang on to your armchairs, folks, because apparently it’s time for a Very Special Episode. After the heated conversation about professional cliques, a certain blog editor wrote in with a question about the role and consequences of anonymity in online philosophical discussion:

Dear Louie,
I run a philosophy blog. Usually I think it’s worth it—it’s good to have a public space to share news, hash out issues, have some fun, etc.,—but sometimes, Louie, sometimes….
Provocative topics are good blog material. People like to read and discuss them. But they are also bad blog material, in that they pull in a lot of commenters who like to spout off in intemperate, uninformed, and insulting ways. When discussion threads are dominated by these commenters, it turns off some others from participating. I think what would improve matters is more people posting under their own names. It makes contributors accountable for what they say. And I think that as more people participate under their real names, that will encourage others to do so, and the general tenor of discourse at the blog will improve.

I understand that people sometimes have good reasons for posting anonymously. I also understand that some people are worried that if they post under their own names, they risk others responding harshly to them. I moderate comments at my site, so I can protect participants from pointless insults and needless hostility there. But there is the rest of the internet, and the risk of being insulted, teased, or slandered elsewhere discourages some people from posting. The result of this worry is that a large number thoughtful people with interesting and valuable things to say refrain from taking part in the public conversation. And that is pretty bad.

So, Louie, my question is: given that there will continue to be anonymous commenting at my blog (and elsewhere), what can I do to raise the quality of discussion threads?

Best,
Just Uncomplicatedly Solve The Internet, Nerd 

Gardening and Trolling in the philosophical blogosphere Ought Experiment

The World of Shooting: Billus, Social Media ...

Last night dramatic footage of biblical proportion has been captured on CCTV cameras in China showing the moment a sink hole opens up and swallows four people The World Is Getting Risque

Even in his own angry manifesto, the motives of Vester Flanagan, the man accused of murdering a TV crew on air, were confused. He was aggrieved at being sacked, he was the victim of racist and sexual harassment at work and he was responding to the calls for a race war by Dylann Roof, the Charleston church killer.

Virginia TV reporter killer Vester Flanagan planned a social media murder

Up to 40 people inside a busy Indian restaurant in Sydney's west were "extremely lucky" not to be injured when a gunman fired a shot through the front window, police say. The gunman, dressed in a blue tracksuit, was seen running from Billu's Indian Eatery on Wigram Street in Harris Park after the shooting, which occurred just before 9pm on Tuesday.

Shots Fired at Billus Restaurant : Billu is best known for his wide ranging catering of Sydney and Media Dragon Weddings 

“Oh sh*t, you’re kidding me.” That was the response magician Neil Henry got when he proposed on stage using alphabet soup during his show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Czech out the way the magician propose front audience

A video of a street fight which took place between an Irish tourist and a group of shopkeepers in Istanbul has become a viral sensation in Turkey. The footage shows one man seemingly take on an entire neighbourhood of men who attack him with chairs, sticks and other blunt objects.

Korean charged with body in bin murder in Epping

A Sydney bar has sparked outrage with a particularly salacious table setting. Cruise Bar in Circular Quay hired nude women to lie on tables with nothing but fruit covering their bare bodies during an event last night. Some at the bar were even hand fed by the scantily clad women, via the Daily Terror

Books and Death

I squander untold effort making an arrangement of my thoughts that may have no value whatever.

“We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full.”

~ Marcel Proust,Albertine disparue

Booksellers are, in fact, as dependent on death as much as undertakers for their livelihood ...

True rightful and final owner

“Books were the original social media dragons.”

Chicago Tribune

Twenty years ago, in Evangelium Vitae, St. John Paul II warned of the emergence of a “Culture of Death” in western society, which warred against the principles of human dignity upheld in a “Culture of Life.” At that time and ever since, critics have argued that St. John Paul II was imprudent in painting the distinction so starkly, was mistakenly leading the Church into the so-called in the “Culture Wars,” and had wrongly denigrated those who support access to abortion as participating in the “Culture of Death.”

Secrets of the species that thrive in the big city BBC

First wolf pack found in California in nearly a century Los Angeles Times (Chuck L)

Dozens of Dead Whales Are Washing Ashore in Alaska Wired (furzy mouse) :-(

NOAA: July warmest month in historyMacroBusiness

President Jimmy Carter’s amazing last wishVox

Welcome to Dismaland: A First Look at Banksy’s New Art Exhibition Housed Inside a Dystopian Theme Park Colossal. Resilc: “i want to see the Fed ride.”

Banksy Dismaland show revealed at Weston’s Tropicana BBC (furzy mouse)

Humans aren’t normal animals—we are unnaturally destructive super-predatorsQuartz. Resilc: “Especially those inside the Beltway.”

Orin Kerr has this post at The Volokh Conspiracy. In part:

Computer searches usually happen in two stages. Agents take the computer, make a mirror image copy of its hard drive on a government storage device, and then search the image. Officers do this to ensure the integrity of the original data. Searching can alter the contents on the computer, so working from a copy preserves the original.

“Across the entire sample, there were 1.72 times as many unique words in picture books than in conversations. Part of picture books’ greater diversity, the authors note, stems from the fact that each one tells a different story about a different topic.” Pacific Standard

Evan Lavender-Smith doesn’t imitate Markson in the quartet of stories he contributes, including this one:

... Was David Markson “merely” ahead of his time?

By which ahead I mean the last four (anti-)novels, the so-called Notecard Quartet.

I’m reminded of some lines from Evan Lavender-Smith’s Marksonesque novel From Old Notebooks.

I count David Markson’s literary-anecdote books among the few things I want to read over and over again, yet I have no idea whether they are actually any good. They’re like porn for English majors.

Berlin has said it expects to receive a record 800,000 asylum seekers this year, more than the entire EU combined in 2014, laying bare the scale of the biggest refugee crisis to face the continent since the second world war.

Thomas Wuil Joo, University of California, Davis, Law School, has published Corporate Speech and the Rights of Others at 30 Constitutional Commentary 335 (2015). Here is the abstract.

The Supreme Court is often erroneously criticized for giving business corporations the constitutional rights of human persons. In fact, constitutional decisions protecting corporations tend to be based not on the rights of corporate “persons,” but on the rights of other persons: human individuals such as shareholders or persons who listen to the content of corporate speech. Shareholders’ property and privacy interests have been invoked to protect corporations from regulatory takings and from unreasonable searches ...

Relativity of Kommunist China [The Last Emperor Standing Without Clothes]: Google and Election Results

“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”
~ This is Einstein's explanation of relativity that he gave to his secretary, Helen Dukas, to relay to reporters and others.

Vaclav Havel once noted that as we know more and more we tend to care less and less ... As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests...

We're in uncharted territory. We truly live in interesting times filled with opportunities and dangerous challenges as never before in 5000 years ... A Simple Chart [3000 BC to 2015 AD] explains why politicians around the world are struggling-to revive their economies

Last night thought provoking Phillip Adams talked on yOur ABC radio about Why China Will Fail ...
We are rather fond of Phillip as he is the Antipodean Vaclav Havel character. Phillip does not believe in any political extremists be it left or right having the monopoly on truth and democracy ... His melodic voice does speak up for the powerless in our society ... [We encourage potential young media dragons, who are unlike us still a long way from the waiting room for God, to exchange ideas with Phillip because even though, just like Havel and Steve Jobs, he is extremely busy but if you email Phillip does get back to you with ideas and advice about most matters of concerns - Just be yourself!]

China’s central bank on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate and freed banks to lend more, the latest signs of the government’s growing distress over slumping stocks and slowing economic growth. Is this the start of printing more money without any ink? Oracle of Ohama might provide some guidance next week ... Stock Market is lot more complex in China as it is as Simple to Follow as Casino or Lottery

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says "it's important that people don't hyperventilate" after the Australian sharemarket suffered its worst day on Monday since the global financial crisis. Hyperventilating Responses

Fake Peer Review Scandal Shines Spotlight on China Wall Street Journal

Shoddy Chinese-Made Stock Market Collapses Onion 

El-Erian: Market Now Is Not Like 1998 or 2008 Bloomberg

China’s market Leninism turns dangerous for the world Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph

Shanghai Stocks Continue to Dive as Global Markets Elsewhere Stabilize New York Times

China Shares Drop; European Stocks and U.S. Futures Rise Wall Street Journal

On China, and Preventing the Financial Runs of August Econobrowser

What’s Scarier Than a Strong China? A Weak China ...

Air pollution kills an average of 4000 people every day in China, 17% of all China’s deaths TreeHugger 

Q&A: Why the Chinese slowdown everybody knew was coming is causing a freak-out Washington Post

Graceful show off duck dancers and pebble psephologists: Courtesy of CW ;-)

Totalitarians like Stalin and Hitler loved to preach, but never practice democracies. In the textbook of preachers we find words the voters or volk or comrades who directed us with guns to choose hope over fear .... I used to tease some of my former crown employee colleagues that Under communism we knew the election results years before the election without google or computers pendulums designed by Mackerras or Imrich ... (PS: Linda's Richard has many fond memories not only of Malcolm but also of Alister Mackerras) 

Politico.com, Robert Epstein: “America’s next president could be eased into office not just by TV ads or speeches, but by Google’s secret decisions, and no one—except for me and perhaps a few other obscure researchers—would know how this was accomplished. Research I have been directing in recent years suggests that Google, Inc., has amassed far more power to control elections—indeed, to control a wide variety of opinions and beliefs—than any company in history has ever had. Google’s search algorithm can easily shift the voting preferences of undecided voters by 20 percent or more—up to 80 percent in some demographic groups—with virtually no one knowing they are being manipulated, according to experiments I conducted recently with Ronald E. Robertson. Given that many elections are won by small margins, this gives Google the power, right now, to flip upwards of 25 percent of the national elections worldwide. In the United States, half of our presidential elections have been won by margins under 7.6 percent, and the 2012 election was won by a margin of only 3.9 percent—well within Google’s control…”

Entreprenerial Bloggers

‘Secrets Must Remain Secret’

As if Donald Trump leading the Republican pack wasn’t enough, another candidate in the US presidential race is gaining some surprising support — Deez Nuts ... Part meme, part joke, part serious, the person behind the candidacy is a 15-year-old Iowa farm boy named Brady Olson ...

He has even set up a website outlining his platform and said his motive for entering the race was “to clear the way for a future third-party movement.’’

‘Secrets Must Remain Secret’ German Intelligence Coordinator on NSA and Media Leaks Der Spiegel

Data retention and the end of Australians' digital privacy

In Australia, Sydney Luke Foley makes good on promise to publish diary details ...

Facebook Should Pay All of Us Tim Wu, The New Yorker. Yep. Facebook’s revenues are plunder, albeit of a genteel sort.

Europe’s Forgotten History: From Human Zoos to Human Trophies Displayed in Museums Today Counterpunch


Leonard and Virginia Woolf, unhappy couple. A mosquito-infested honeymoon, a history of insanity, a lack of love making »

Viewers repulsed by Ivan Albright’s The Picture of Dorian Gray

Poisonous connections The Economist. “So a company with an opaque ownership structure, connected by family ties to a port official under investigation, was helped by an order signed by another man under investigation to expedite its handling of dangerous chemicals. On August 20th the death toll from the blast stood at 114.”  

Jeff Bezos, Amazon, and the Lack of ProfitsCEPR. Before there were pirates like Travis Kalanick, there was Jeff Bezos. Whenever you hear “disruption” or “innovation,” think “plunder.”

Brandon McGinley has a sobering, convicting piece up at First Things called "Our Potemkin Life."  Here's a bit:

We have built a society whose balance depends on the institutionalized killing of the unborn. We have built a society whose progress, as that concept is popularly understood, requires the corpses of these unborn victims.

There’s water in the engine room but the captain still claims it’s unsinkable....

The Clinton Ship Takes on Water Wall Street Journal

A Los Angeles judge has dismissed actor Frank Sivero's lawsuit against Fox, finding that the plaintiff did not have a likelihood of prevailing on the merits at trial. Mr. Sivero objected to the depiction of the character Louie on the popular show The Simpsons, alleging that the show based the character on him. Mr. Sivero has played mob characters inGoodfellas and The Godfather II. Under California's anti-SLAPP statute which protects the right to free speech, a plaintiff must show that he is likely to prevail on the merits in order to overcome the defendant's motion to strike.   More here from The Hollywood Reporter.

SABRA LANE, PRESENTER: The rise of terrorism, technology and national security has forged a network not only of police and spy agencies, but of private companies with extraordinary capabilities the country knows little about. Cracks opened into this hidden world of hacking and surveillance when the world's most notorious hacking company's secrets were spilled by WikiLeaks.

It was revealed the Australian Federal Police had used its services to spy on potential targets. An investigation by 7.30 has unearthed a number of private Australian companies selling spyware here and overseas, including one that claimed the Australian Defence Force as its client ABC 7.30

... Quello Center, have published Social Media Definition and the Governance Challenge: An Introduction to the Special Issue, Introduction, Telecommunications Policy

Sydneysider Sarsha Simone Sings ~ Simply ~ Lets Dance

"Simplicity is the glory of expression”—Walt Whitman

Best and Simplest Album of 2015 that you may not have heard underrated

Songbird Choir: "Simplicity is the glory of expression”—Walt Whitman

Songstress, chanteuse, diva ...

The best things in life are often simplest ...

 I feel there could be a turf war between Melbourne and Sydney Soul Soon. Down here, we’ve got a knack for big brass; as Saskwatch, Clairy Browne, and The Cactus Channel have gone on to reflect the city’s penchant for gritty live shows. And in true form, Sydney’s hit back with something slick. That person behind it all is Sarsha Simone.

Previously front woman of Dojo Cuts—a revivalist funk outfit—Simone has brought out the Gold EP: five tracks that serve up a mix of neo-soul, hip-hop, and contemporary RnB. But, Simone’s voice is hard to place.  It’s raspy in part, but it’s smooth as well — almost like Winehouse’s raw voice on her debut Frank. You can her this more clearly on Jazz Soul Scent, Simone’s recent collaboration with French artist DJ Moar. And, in the vein of your neo-RnB revivalists, she can rap to boot.  This could raise ire in others, but she seems to rap in a style that’s akin to spoken word poetry on tracks like ‘All Night’. And of course, you could look to the likes of Candice Monique for further comparisons. Whothehell

One of our favorite local singers, SARSHA SIMONE (of DOJO CUTS) drops her new single ‘Lets Dance’ last week and we are seriously feeling the new sound.

“Let’s Dance”, the debut solo single from the intriguing Australian singer Sarsha Simone was officially released to digital last week, “Let’s Dance” has been creating buzz since,
Reaching #82 on the Australian iTunes R&B chart after it’s release over the weekend, “Let’s Dance” is one track you won’t want to sleep on as it walks the line between the edginess of electronic styles and the warmth of R&B. Sydney Soul Music trendy single lets dance

Lets Dance

Singer Sarsha Simone So Many Smiles

‘The World is a Piece of Art’ Der Spiegel

From Port to Port Foreign Affairs. “How Colonialism Shaped Music As We Know It.”

"I’ve been part of the DIY musical community for nearly 10 years, creating my own label, booking agency, PR team, being active in social media and speaking at conferences and writing blogs on how to survive and thrive as an independent musician."
Twenty Five ~ XXV ~ 25 Music Marketing Masters : tips for indie

Don't use too many words, too many notes, too many colours, or too many buttons.

As late Steve Jobs,  of Thinking Differently fame, once said,

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity.  Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” Express Yourself Uniquely ...

CODA:  we expect a sea of songs to materialise as a result of this study. ...Study of survivors finds trauma passed on to children's genes

Our grandparents and parent survived the two world wars and as my dad used to day the folks maintained their sense of humour even at a time of death ...

One of the methods of communicating from one officer to another in the trenches of the the great world wars was to give the message to one of the privates and tell him to pass the word along the line until it reached its destination, viz., the officer at the other end.

The following story is similar to stories, though not as risque, as those told at the Mittleuropean tables. These war stories show how a serious message can be distorted on its journey from mouth to mouth:— Lieutenant A., in charge of one end of the Battle line told the private in front to pass the word along to Lieutenant B.: “Time to advance” When Lieutenant B. received the message it was like this: “Time to have a dance ...” [Like with so many songs we hear what we wish  or prefer to hear ....]  

On this day the Sergeant started the message at one end with: “Col. Lang is going to advance. Send reinforcements.” 

When the Sergeant got to the other end of the line the men there seemed unable to keep their faces straight.

“Well,” asked the Sergeant, “what is the message?”

Said the last man with a broad grin and an Irish brogue: “Sure Sergeant, Col. Lang is going to a dance; send his pants to be pressed!”

Identity Fraud Etsy

“A person’s identity … is like a pattern drawn on a tightly stretched parchment. Touch just one part of it, just one allegiance, and the whole person will react, the whole drum will sound.”

That’s precisely what Maalouf goes on to do in the remainder of the wholly excellent, urgently relevant In the Name of Identity. Complement it with Margaret Mead and James Baldwin’sforgotten conversation about identity and Rebecca Goldstein on the mystery of personhood.


The ATO restricts access to records of Tax Office staff to a limited number of appropriately cleared and authorised staff to reduce the risk of fraud and privacy breaches. ATO

How Etsy Crafted a Tax Strategy in Ireland:

Etsy, the online marketplace for artisans, works to keep its business “mindful, transparent and humane,” but that became tricky when it crafted a new tax strategy.

Three months ago, the IRS disclosed that hackers gained access on the IRS website to tax returns for 100,000 taxpayers (more here). Yesterday, the IRS disclosed that the true number is 330,000.

• The Hill
• New York Times
• NPR
• USA Today
• Wall Street Journal
• Washington Post

Adam Thimmesch (Nebraska),Transacting in Data: Tax, Privacy, and the New Economy:

The technological developments of recent decades have allowed data to emerge as the functional equivalent of a currency in the digital economy. One result is that individuals now have the ability to obtain a wide variety of benefits, from cash discounts to access to news, social media, and online software, in exchange for their personal data. Scholars in a variety of fields recognize these personal-data transfers as market exchanges and have questioned the functioning and impact of the personal-data market. That market is currently invisible, however, for tax purposes.

As part of the government’s scrutiny of the property sector, the ATO has been tasked with overseeing foreign investment in residential real estate and establishing a new register of foreign asset ownership. The ATO is now responsible for policing foreign investors’ compliance with their obligations under the Foreign Acquisition and Takeover Act 1975 (FATA). The legislation bars non-residents from buying established residential property.
The ATO is investigating a surge in cases where offshore buyers are believed to be using nominee purchasers, companies, trusts and other structures to circumvent the rules.
Aislinn Walwyn, assistant commissioner for private groups and high-wealth individuals at the ATO, said her agency was not responsible for identifying money laundering but that it was working closely with other agencies including AUSTRAC and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). She said that if a foreign buyer made a property purchase in cash, for instance, that could be a red flag for further investigation.
Renovation and money laundering 

Caleb Newquist, IRS Was Just Kidding When It Said Cyber Criminals Tried to Access Tax Return Information for 225,000 Households. “It was quite a few more than that, actually.”

Russ Fox, IRS Data Breach Impacted 334,000, Not 100,000 as IRS First Said. “Being a cynic, I wonder if the IRS’s announcement last week regarding free credit monitoring services has to do with today’s announcement.”

TaxGrrrl, IRS Releases Additional Statement On Illegal Access To Taxpayer Accounts

Kay Bell, Uncle Sam, watch TV! You need these kind of tech-savvy staffers to fight growing tax & government website hacking. Actually, it appears the IRS already relies on fictional characters to protect its systems.

The IRS continues to send billions of dollars to identity thieves, most far less sophisticated than the (presumably Russian) outfit that hacked the transcript application. For example:

Fourteen reputed gangsters from Plainfield, Elizabeth and Newark have been indicted on charges ranging from tax fraud to murder following a seven-month investigation into alleged financial scams that helped sustain their criminal organization.

All 14 members and associates of the Elizabeth-based 111 Neighborhood Crips street gang were charged under the state’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, or RICO.

If you can’t keep the 111 Neighborhood Crips from electronic tax theft, you don’t stand much chance against Russian organized crime.

Ashley madison hack Australian cheaters sexual fantasies laid bare

Trade Secrets: mixing oil of greed with pure spring of water

Sydney traffic : as burst water creates perfect traffic storm in the city

Developers and real estate agents should be banned from being local councillors and political donations and spending should be capped in council elections, NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley has declared Property Developers banned from being local tzar

O'Farrell's 2012 - MMXII - controversial council-voting law to disappear from statute books after salim mehajer saga

When Joe Lorincz and his wife Wendy bought their property in the Southern Highlands, it had everything they wanted – tranquillity, space and privacy ensured by a pretty ridge line and 100-year-old eucalyptus trees. But few weeks later the reality of greed showed its face and demonstrated how power works if you do not stand up to abusers ...
Removing trees on Mittagong's hillside for a city view

Arras of Terrorism

 While 11 April 1917 saw the launch of the first action at Bullecourt, on 9 April the larger Arras Offensive commenced.  The Arras Offensive of 1917 is often referred to as the Battle of Arras and is a significant battle honour more identified with the British Army.  This offensive does however also incorporate the smaller ‘battles’ and 'actions' of the Scarpe, of Vimy Ridge which the Canadians commemorate, and Bullecourt which Australians  identify with ... 90th anniversary of thenbattle of Arras

 

Americans who thwarted train attack praised for 'exceptional courage'

CNN-10 hours ago

El Khazzani was transferred from Arras, the northern French town where the train stopped after the attempted attack, to the anti-terrorist police ...

A Shot, a Glimpse of an AK-47, and US Servicemen Pounced on ...
New York Times-10 hours ago

'Train terror attack': Praise for passengers who tackled gunman
International-euronews-20 hours ago

Train suspect had been flagged as potential risk
In-Depth-Washington Post-12 hours ago

France train attack: First picture emerges of Moroccan gunman ...
Live Updating-Telegraph.co.uk-2 hours ago

Gunman opens fire in 'terrorist attack' on Amsterdam-Paris train
International-Expatica France-Aug 21, 2015

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YouTube

New York Times

WPXI Pittsburgh

Mirror.co.uk

The Fiscal Times

euronews

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 income: Mexico 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

Why Bezos’ Denials About Exploitation at Amazon Sound Like Sociopathic CEO-Speak Alternet

Will we enslave robots? If so, prepare for their inevitable revolt. Fabius Maximus 

Robert Wood, A $35 Million Wedding? Yes, Before Taxes:

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.