Dec 17 2016

The darkest song ever sung: “Coventry Carol” (Saturday Video Roundup)

Remembering the blackest moment of the entire nativity cycle is an odd way to celebrate.

For a couple weeks now I have been assembling my “Dark Christmas Melancholy” playlist, a process I described in a post a few days ago.

While I have listened to (and sung) a lot of holiday music through the years, my little project introduced me to a classic that somehow I had never encountered before, the English traditional “Coventry Carol.” This version, by Darkwave artists Nox Arcana, is by far my favorite for the way in which it captures the interwoven beauty and horror of the Massacre of the Innocents story.

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Automated indoor farm capable of producing 30,000 heads of lettuce per day
Dec 13 2016

What Donald learned from Putin, what we should learn from Piketty: the despicable inequality and cruel egalitarianism of wealth

Ending inequality with a wealth tax and a basic income grant

Wealth, inequality and povertyPart 1 of a series.

Inequality is rendered stark where astonishing fortunes are made by individuals who then bend their lives, from that point on, to avoid paying tax. This is possible, not because of the nature of capitalism, but because governments have permitted it to happen.

I’m not going to waste your time. This is what we need to do about it.

1) Introduce a unilateral progressive wealth tax

Three years ago, Thomas Piketty, a French economist, released the most important book on inequality in the last hundred years. In it, he carefully laid out – through data spanning centuries – how wealth accumulates, and how inequality has come to be as high as it has.

“Without a global tax on capital or some similar policy,” he warned, “there is a substantial risk that the top centile’s share of global wealth will continue to grow indefinitely – and this should worry everyone.” Continue reading →

wikileaks-netbook-globe-01-03
Dec 12 2016

Donald interviews Rex Tillerson

wikileaks-netbook-globe-01-03

Rex: We need to stop the CIA from briefing the Electoral College.

Donald: People are already saying I’m a tyrant. Won’t it look worse if I come out against an informed electorate?

Rex: The chances of swaying thirty seven electors is practically nil. Everyone knows it. What they don’t know is that the Chinese have moles everywhere. If 538 people get briefed on what the CIA knows and how they know it, all our methods, tactics, even some sources are compromised. The chance of a secret getting out is equal to the square of the number of people who know it. If ten people know, that’s a 100% chance. If 538 people know, we might as well broadcast the briefing via satellite to every corner of the world. Continue reading →

Donald Trump
Dec 11 2016

Donald Trump’s very odd cabinet choices

Donald TrumpWell, so far it’s been a race to the bottom of a barrel with an ever-receding bottom. This is not completely unexpected–Trump had been pretty clear throughout the campaign about certain things he was unhappy about–environmental regulation, for example, or diversity, and things he was in favor of, like fossil fuels, in which he must have a sizable investment. So many of these choices are as bad as you would expect.

Except for one interesting fact–they’re so much worse than you might expect. Let’s see, a maniacal charter school advocate for education, perhaps no surprise there, but charter schools are starting to get rejected around the country–Massachusetts, for example (although I would never regard Massachusetts as indicative of what’s going on in the US, I should make clear). Elaine Chao for Transportation. A bunch of Wall Street guys for the economy. So much for draining the swamp.  Continue reading →

wikileaks-netbook-globe-01-03
Dec 9 2016

Donald hires Scott Pruitt

wikileaks-netbook-globe-01-03

Scott: We need to talk about hog farms.

Donald: I love bacon. They say every slice of bacon takes three minutes off your life. At this point I died in 1795.

Scott: North Carolina, under Chinese control, recently enacted a law making it a crime to record video on private hog farms.

Donald: It’s private property. They should be allowed to do what they want without activists making them look like Darth Vader.

Scott: They’re dumping raw animal waste into the drinking water. There are signs along the highway that say, ” Foreign owned hog farms are polluting our water.” They’re paid for by North Carolina hog farmers. Continue reading →

faux-journalism
Dec 9 2016

Fake news. Who should be the judge?

ZOMG!!1! I saw this meme, or was it a tweet? Or a meme of a tweet? on the internet today, and it looked really urgent and seemed legit and everything, because it had quotes. And it told me to share, so here!! !

trump-bannon-quote

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