The New York Times published a Guest Essay titled “Globalism Failed to Deliver the Economy We Need” by Rana Foroohar. But the chaos is transitory, as it is largely driven by the tumult that attends any transition from an old economic order to a new one. Every economy goes through cycles of expansion … [Read more…]
Eight months into Russia’s war against Ukraine, POLITICO talks to the Russia analyst about whether Putin’s aims are evolving and what it would take to end the war. Now, despite the setbacks Russia has suffered on the battlefield, Hill thinks Putin is undaunted. She sees him adapting to new conditions, not giving up. And … [Read more…]
I’ve been working on my syntax, my commands, my interaction with my new toy, stable-diffusion. I’m like a few hundred thousand others tonight, all working away at how best to communicate with this software to get the images we think we might want, but we won’t know until the machine comes back with them, completed. … [Read more…]
From WIKIPEDIA – Victor Klemperer (9 October 1881 – 11 February 1960) was a German scholar who also became known as a diarist. His journals, published in Germany in 1995, detailed his life under the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the German Democratic Republic. Well known works include Lingua Tertii Imperii, … [Read more…]
Interview – Peter Kalmus: ‘As a species, we’re on autopilot, not making the right decisions’ Ian Tucker May 21, 2022 The Nasa data scientist explains why inaction on the climate crisis pushed him to chain himself to an LA bank – and why trusting in the ‘people in charge’ is so dangerous: ==================================== Do you … [Read more…]
In the Guardian, May 7, 2022, an article on hate speech Hate speech online has escalated to unprecedented levels. Matthew Williams, a professor of criminology, is shining a scientific light on who is behind it and why. “It is no coincidence that soaring hate-crime figures are found in countries where the extreme right is rising … [Read more…]
In Politico, this interview with Ruth Ben-Ghiat – An expert on autocracy assesses how far America has slipped away from democracy, and what it will take to get it back. Ben-Ghiat: One of the big talking points and strategy of right-wing authoritarianism, is to label democratic systems as tyrannical. Mussolini was the first to say … [Read more…]
The Atlantic has an article about a pressing pandemic problem with orphaned children. Losing a parent may be one of the most destabilizing events of the human experience. Orphans are at increased risk of substance abuse, dropping out of school, and poverty. They are almost twice as likely as non-orphans to die by suicide, and … [Read more…]
Commentary: Utility profits the unspoken factor in California’s rooftop solar fight