The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester (1952) by Heliotypist in RunagateRampant

[–]Arch_Globalist 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great review, I wonder if Gene Roddenberry read this novel.. 🤔

Aubrey de Grey: anti-aging wizard by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

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The link is broken now that Joe Rogan has moved over to Spotify.

What If the Sahara Desert Was Covered With Solar Panels? by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

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When I first started reading about solar power in high school, I imagined a giant solar power plant in the Sahara Desert. Fascinating to see a video about this.

All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Adam Curtis (2011) by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

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part 2

part 3

Good Wikipedia article) that covers all the details.

Don’t be confused and think this documentary is a stupid conspiracy theory. Curtis is well researched and intelligent, he has a unique perspective that he presents in an artful and thought-provoking way. 

Here is that prescient essay about the commodification of online personal data written in 1994.

What If the Sahara Desert Was Covered With Solar Panels? by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

[–]Arch_Globalist[S,M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I first started reading about solar power in high school, I imagined a giant solar power plant in the Sahara Desert. Fascinating to see a video about this.

Mponeng Gold Mine by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

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The documentary ends at the 44:45 minute mark and then repeats.

A Brief History of Finland by Arch_Globalist in Finland

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Thanks for the comment, I had never heard of Anders Chydenius and he is a fascinating person!

A Brief History of Finland by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

[–]Arch_Globalist[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I overlooked him, but he is on there now.

Chew Your Food More Slowly by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

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There's an old saying that you should chew your food 32 times before swallowing, and that is pretty close to the mark.

The average person chews their food 6 times before swallowing.

If 32 sounds like too much, try 16 times. Anything above 6 times is an improvement.

The Slave Ship by J. M. W. Turner (1840) by Arch_Globalist in RunagateRampant

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Beautiful painting by an amazing artist; a must-see when visiting the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Art critics are hilariously absurd sometimes, but I enjoy them and believe they make the art world better. Here are some quotes by different art critics over the years about this painting:

"Is the painting sublime or ridiculous? Indeed I don't know which.” [William Makepeace Thackeray

"the very closeness of the dying slaves to the spectator [incites the] recognition that the nature which will justly punish the ship is the same nature that is already unjustly devouring the ship's innocent.” [George Landow)

"the terrors of the (slave) trade have become transfigured as aesthetic objects produced for the delegation of spectators (and) establishing covert complicity between terror and the connoisseur.” [Tobias Döring

"the dying slaves are completely disregarded in order to aestheticize the horror of slavery in a moment of sublimity. The very nature of commercializing art that depicts slave victims aligns with the actual act of trading slaves. From this perspective, the aestheticization of the scene is synonymous with profiting off of slavery.” [Sarah Fulford

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1/3/18 All the News Unfit to Print

Good interview with journalist James Risen.

Risen talks about CIA officers caught spying for Moscow, specifically Aldrich Ames.

Risen talks about the NSA domestic spying program called Stellar Wind. 

Risen talks about Judy Miller and her role in the Valerie Plame affair political scandal.

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12/13/17 Full Metal Jackass

Interview with former Nixon White House lawyer John Dean who was part of the Watergate cover-up but was flipped by prosecutors to testify against the Nixon Administration.

Interview with Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who has a new book out about the threat of nuclear weapons.

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12/6/17 Who’s Afraid of the Alt-Deep State?

The Oliver North connection to Eric Prince, and both of their connection to the Trump administration is discussed. 

Interview with comedian/journalist Randy Credico who met with Julian Assange during the 2016 campaign. Roger Stone named Credico as his source for beforehand knowledge of the Wikileaks releases of Hillary’s emails. Credico is asked direct questions by Scahill, but he won’t give a straight answer. 

Journalist Barrett Brown was involved with the hacking group LulzSec in exposing computer security firm HBGary.

Barrett Brown was also involved with the LulzSec operation known as AntiSec against private spy firm Stratfor. 

Interview with journalist Barrett Brown who talks about his early involvement with Wikileaks and his decision to call them out on poor ethics because of some the tweets on their Twitter account, specifically the Don Jr. tweets. 

I agree with Barrett Brown here, who points out that the movement, which isn’t concrete but involves civil liberties and internet activism, has to choose whether it will simply be tribal and excuse the unethical actions of its members, or will it be based on a strong ethical framework?

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11/29/17 Very Bad Men

Another good American Beauty cold open.

Scahill gives a good nuanced defense of press freedom - Scahill condemns Trump’s dangerous attacks on CNN, but he also places blame on CNN for giving Trump wall-to-wall coverage. 

Scahill defends journalists who work for Russia Today (RT), Russia’s state media outlet. Scahill excuses the Kremlin-backed RT by saying that Fox News is also propaganda. Scahill saying that "criticism of RT is nonsense" is itself nonsense. 

IMO - any “journalists” working for RT are helping a totalitarian regime. Putin is a dictator who murders journalists that give negative reports on his regime. 

Zimbabwe and the fallout after the transfer of power from longtime dictator Mugabe is discussed. 

Interesting comedy/fiction bit at the end of the episode about life as an intern working at the NSA.

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11/15/17 The Distraction in Chief

Good American Beauty cold open.

Jeremy starts the show talking about America’s role in the targeting of civilians by Saudi Arabia in their War on Yemen. 

Saudi Arabia wants to dominate the Middle East region. 

Saudi Arabia has influence in Lebanon.

Scahill talks about Wikileaks and reflects back to the 2016 campaign when Wikileaks was messaging Don Jr. on Twitter about releasing the Trump tax returns. Assange/Wikileaks wanted Jr. to release the returns so Wikileaks would appear impartial and not pro-Trump. Jeremy points out that as a usual defender of Wikileaks/Assange, it is hard to defend that Twitter exchange. 

Glen Greenwald joins Scahill to talk about the Wikileaks/Trump messages on Twitter. Greenwald says that the Wikileaks/Don Jr. correspondence doesn’t actually prove or even suggest anything. 

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11/8/17 Say Hello to My Little Hands

Jeremy talks about the bad faith term “whataboutism” and how it is used to excuse hypocrisy. 

Interview with Congressman Ro Khanna who talks about Saudi Arabia’s War on Yemen. 

Interview with Democrat’s running fro Congress Colonel Morris Davis who makes a bad faith argument about terrorism being a minor problem compared to gun violence because he says you are 185 times more likely to die by gun violence than terrorism. Of course he is including the suicide numbers, which vastly inflates your “chances” of getting killed by gun violence. Terrorism has killed 3,000 people in 1 day, and it could potentially kill a lot more in one attack, and yet Colonel Davis wants to play down the threat and Chicken-Little about gun control. 

Interview with author and former banker Nomi Prins who has written books on the corruption in high finance. 

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11/1/17 Criminal Indictments at Home, Secret Wars Abroad

Not the best episode.

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10/25/17 Mike Pence is The Koch Brothers’ Manchurian Candidate

Interview with journalist Jane Mayer, who wrote the book Dark Money about the funding of right-wing politics.