A Flickr set from Sally Davies, whoever that is. Six months in and still alarmingly intact.
random
“This scheming at APS HQ is so bizarre that there cannot be a simple explanation for it. Some have held that the physicists of today are not as smart as they used to be, but I don’t think that is an issue. I think it is the money, exactly what Eisenhower warned about a half-century ago. There are indeed trillions of dollars involved, to say nothing of the fame and glory (and frequent trips to exotic islands) that go with being a member of the club.”
From Harold Lewis’ letter of resignation from the American Physical Society. Lewis is Emeritus Professor of Physics at UCSB.
“Exactly what Eisenhower warned about a half-century ago.”
That is, “the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex…”
I’ve heard many people connect the global-warming hoo-hah to the moneyed interests of our day, but I’ve never read anyone connect it to the influence of the military-industrial complex.
Patrick J. Deneen, "American Self-Loathing", on Front Porch Republic. →
Deneen really nails it.
Anti-Washington fever will rise to dizzying heights in coming days. The chattering classes will conclude that Americans have a firm idea of their destiny, choosing one party over another in coming days. Few will understand that the source of our loathing will be the division within ourselves. The divided government we will embrace is the division in our souls: two versions of democracy. In the one version, democracy is rugged individualism. In the other, democracy is a gentler concern that no one should be left behind. Both are fantasies born of bad modern anthropology. Our country oscillates between two fantasies of democracy – a downward spiral that is self-perpetuating and mutually reinforcing. The election is no more than a radar blip in the erosion of self-government. The more deeply we hate ourselves, the louder our denunciation of Washington will resound. The din of self-loathing will soon be deafening.
I would summarize thusly: idolatry produces confusion leading to self-destruction.
Water in Excelsis →
My dear friend Joshua Appel’s blog. I’m trying to get him to move over to Tumblr, but for now, he’s right up there at that address.
“Find out if it’s circular.
If it is, it’s circular.”
“Mr Lanier lays into the Web 2.0 culture, arguing that what passes for creativity today is really just endlessly rehashed content and that the “fake friendship” of social networks “is just bait laid by the lords of the clouds to lure hypothetical advertisers”. For Mr Lanier there is no wisdom of crowds, only a cruel mob.”
Earlier this year, Jaron Lanier, a technologist, musician and polymath best known for pioneering work in the field of virtual reality, published “You Are Not A Gadget: A Manifesto”. He has become a stern critic of many of the internet’s sacred cows.
Thus far, The Economist.
Endlessly rehashed content. That’s precisely what this tumblething happens to be.
I make my living off so-called “Web 2.0”, and I know that it’s the worst kind of ephemeral bulls**t masquerading as the “new, game-changing way to do things and network and make friends and buy stuff—yeah, especially, buy stuff.”
It’ll be gone or unrecognizable in five years, and that’s by design. Well, the “buy stuff” part will still be around.
One Dalton Ghetti, of Connecticut, carves lead pencil points into tiny sculptures. There’s a full gallery of these on the Telegraph website. This Ghetti fellow uses his time well.
The Olivetti Lettera 22. I have one of these coming to me for my 32nd birthday, which is still 40-something days away. I know this because my wife isn’t as good at hiding and sneaking and lying as I am. She is virtuous, I am not. I look forward to typing on something without monitor glare, that cannot connect to the internet, and that doesn’t heat up when I use it. I’ll even be able to hold what I’ve written.