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Politics

Herbert J. Gans, 97, Dies; Upended Myths on Urban and Suburban Life

April 23, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Herbert J. Gans an eminent sociologist who studied the communities and cultural bastions of America up close and shattered popular myths about urban and suburban life, poverty, ethnic groups and the news media, died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 97. For “The Urban Villagers” (1962), Dr. Gans immersed himself in Boston’s … [Read more…]

Posted in: Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Obituaries, Politics, Racism, Science, Thinking about Tagged: economic problems, Herbert Gans, Herbert J. Gans, highbrow and popular cultures, Kerner Commission, liberal activist, Nixon, nostalgia for the rural past, race relations, The Urban Villagers

What can the global left learn from Mexico

April 21, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the 18-APR-2025 Guardian: How to beat the far right – Mexico

Posted in: History, Politics, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: Andrés Manuel López Obrador, far-right, far-right politics, leftwing, López Obrador, Morena, Politics, progressives

James C. Scott and the Art of Resistance

April 18, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

James C. Scott and the Art of Resistance The late political scientist enjoined readers to look for opposition to authoritarian states not in revolutionary vanguards but in acts of quiet disobedience. By Nikil Saval New Yorker April 7, 2025 Some books: The Moral traditional societies of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia (1976) … [Read more…]

Posted in: Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, History, Obituaries, Politics, Racism, Science, Slavery, the Anthropocene, Thinking about Tagged: Authoritarian, authoritarian states, Autonomy, Dignity, disobedience, infrapolitics, James C. Scott, Meaningful Play, Meaningful Work, New Yorker, political scientist, Resistance, revolutionary vanguards, Seeing Like a State, Southeast Asia, traditional societies

Pluralistic: Machina economicus (14 Apr 2025)

April 15, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Pluralistic: Machina economicus (14 Apr 2025) Arguably, we do live in the shadow of such modern demons: we call them “limited liability corporations.” These are (potentially) immortal colony organisms that treat us fleshy humans as mere inconvenient gut flora. These artificial persons are not merely recognized as people under the law – they are given … [Read more…]

Posted in: Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Finanace, Future of Work, IT Failures, Politics, Racism, Science, Slavery, the Anthropocene, Thinking about Tagged: AI, antitrust, artificial intelligence, Cory Doctorow, enshittification, Homo economicus, IP laws, limited liability corporations, mass layoffs, regulatory capture, Yochai Benkler

‘Parkinson’s is a man-made disease’

April 15, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

‘Parkinson’s is a man-made disease’ – Europe’s flawed oversight of pesticides may be fueling a silent epidemic, warns Dutch neurologist Bas Bloem. His fight for reform pits him against industry, regulators — and time. politico.eu

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Politics, Science, the Anthropocene Tagged: Air pollution, Bas Bloem, Bayer, carcinogenic, disease, European Food Safety Authority, Farmer, glyphosate, herbicide, industrial solvents, intensive agriculture, Monsanto, MPTP, multiple sclerosis, neurologist, neurotoxic, Paraquat, Parkinson's, pesticides, Radboud University Medical Center, Ray Dorsey, Roundup, stroke, substantia nigra, Syngenta, William Langston

‘Yoda’ for scientists: the outsider ecologist whose ideas from the 80s just might fix our future

April 10, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

‘Yoda’ for scientists: the outsider ecologist whose ideas from the 80s just might fix our future The Guardian – April 10, 2025 John Todd’s eco-machine stunned experts by using natural organisms to remove toxic waste from a Cape Cod lagoon. Forty years on, he wants to build a fleet of them to clean up the … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Politics, Science, the Anthropocene Tagged: Bill McClarney, biological intelligence, Cape Cod, eco-machine, John Todd, microorganisms, Nancy Todd, New Alchemy Institute, pollution, sewage, toxic waste, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

Cory Doctorow plurasitic

March 5, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

When I get picky and need something unusual to read, I often go to Cory Doctorow’s blog, plurasitic.net. As an example, tonight I was reading about his March 3rd 2025 entry “Trumpism is our oil crisis” in which he vilifies Milton Friedman (rightly so) and delivers a new twist to my understanding of Friedman’s history. … [Read more…]

Posted in: Arts, Content, Ethical and green living, Finanace, Future of Work, IT Failures, Politics, Racism, the Anthropocene, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: Augusto Pinochet, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, Milton Friedman, New Deal, Norman Jewison, oligarchy, organized labor, Rollerball, Ronald Reagan, social justice movements, technofeudalism, the Gilded Age, Tony Blair

Why some chaos-seekers just want to watch the world burn

February 25, 2025 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Stealing (copying) directly from Science News: Why some chaos-seekers just want to watch the world burn This article is an interview with political scientist Kevin Arceneaux of the research university Sciences Po in Paris, France. In it, he and the author Sujata Gupta discuss this very relevant aspect of human behavior. Arceneaux helps us understand … [Read more…]

Posted in: Ethical and green living, History, Politics, Racism, Science, the Anthropocene, Thinking about, Trump Tagged: chaos, DEI, dissatisfaction, Donald Trump, globalization, Hugo Chavez, Inequality, Kevin Arceneaux, misinformation, populism, rebuilders, Science News, status loss, Sujata Gupta

Brain Eating Fungus?

October 12, 2024 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Just finished reading I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is What’s happening in America today is something darker than a misinformation crisis. (gift link) and realize now that there is a brain eating fungus out there that has manifested itself in key spore producers like MTG and Loomer et al. At … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, IT Failures, Politics, Racism, Science, Sea Stories, the Anthropocene, Trump, Uncategorized Tagged: delusion, Hurricane Milton, Hurricanes, Loomer, misinformation, MTG, transgender, Trump

Democracy awakening : notes on the state of America

September 6, 2024 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Nov 15, 2023 I finished “reading” Democracy awakening : notes on the state of America by Heather Cox Richardson recently. I use quotes for read because she, as a historian, tells the story of our democracy from about 1960 onward, which spans my experience, so I was able to skim much of the text while … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, What I Read Tagged: Bush, Clinton, Democracy awakening, Gingrich, Heather Cox Richardson, Nixon, Regan
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