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We Are the 99 Percent 14th October 2013 Question with 172 notes Anonymous asked: How can you claim to speak for 99% of people? We don’t claim to speak for anyone, we merely present stories. 10 Mind-Blowing Theories That Will Change Your Perception of the World Reality is not as obvious and simple as we like to think. Some of the things that we accept as true at face value are notoriously wrong. Scientists and philosophers have made every effort to change our common perceptions of it. The Idea of a Local Economy A TOTAL ECONOMY is one in which everything — “life forms,” for instance, — or the “right to pollute” is “private property” and has a price and is for sale. In a total economy significant and sometimes critical choices that once belonged to individuals or communities become the property of corporations. A total economy, operating internationally, necessarily shrinks the powers of state and national governments, not only because those governments have signed over significant powers to an international bureaucracy or because political leaders become the paid hacks of the corporations but also because political processes — and especially democratic processes — are too slow to react to unrestrained economic and technological development on a global scale. In default of government protections against the total economy of the supranational corporations, people are where they have been many times before: in danger of losing their economic security and their freedom, both at once.
Naomi Wolf: Fascist America, in 10 easy steps Last autumn, there was a military coup in Thailand. The leaders of the coup took a number of steps, rather systematically, as if they had a shopping list. In a sense, they did. Within a matter of days, democracy had been closed down: the coup leaders declared martial law, sent armed soldiers into residential areas, took over radio and TV stations, issued restrictions on the press, tightened some limits on travel, and took certain activists into custody. The 6 Most Creative Abuses of Loopholes The best way to get away with cheating isn't to avoid getting caught... it's to technically not do anything wrong, and still get all the rewards. That's where you find the line between lawbreakers and those who simply think outside the box... and that line is very thin indeed. Bar Declares Everyone to be Actors to Circumvent Smoking Ban Back in 2007, Minnesota followed a national trend by passing an anti-smoking law that banned smoking in pretty much every public building, including bars. Unfortunately, that was bad news for the bars, because if you're going to get good and drunk to fight off the depression manual labor and seasonal affective disorder brings, you want to get your smoke on, too. Nobody wants to go stand outside to smoke, since in Minnesota it gets cold enough at night that neurons stick open and thoughts freeze in your head.
The Glory of the Commons by Timothy Noah July/ August 2013The Glory of the Commons Jonathan Rowe’s brilliant posthumous meditation on the shared, non-commercialized realms of life that sustain us. By Timothy Noah Our Common Wealth: The Hidden Economy That Makes Everything Else Work by Jonathan Rowe Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 123 pp. One of the sharper satirical jabs in People, a recent play by the English writer Alan Bennett, occurs when a consortium of wealthy investors decides to purchase Winchester Cathedral. “I know it’s pricey,” says an absurdly practical-minded archdeacon, “but Winchester is such a good idea.”
Alien Tort Statute Text[edit] The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.[1] History[edit] 10 Most Unbelievable Places in the World There are ten most unbelievable places in the world that you definitely must visit before you die. 1. Tunnel of Love, Ukraine Image credits: Oleg Gordienko This powerful train tunnel of trees called the Tunnel of Love is located in Kleven, Ukraine.
An Update on Ken Wilber's Health Ken Wilber April 14th, 2013 Your rating: None Average: 5 (6 votes) Over the past few years there has been a tremendous outpouring of compassion and concern from the integral community for Ken Wilber's wellbeing. As many people know, Ken has been dealing with some health-related challenges in recent years that have impacted his ability to show up for public appearances, and worse, has forced him to take a brief sabbatical from his writing.
GBU-28 The Guided Bomb Unit 28 (GBU-28) is a 5,000-pound (2,268 kg) laser-guided "bunker busting" bomb nicknamed "Deep Throat" produced originally by the Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, New York. It was designed, manufactured, and deployed in less than three weeks due to an urgent need during Operation Desert Storm to penetrate hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground. Only two of the weapons were dropped in Desert Storm, both by F-111Fs.[1] The Enhanced GBU-28 augments the laser-guidance with Inertial navigation and GPS guidance systems.[2] Design and development[edit] In August 1990, the U.S. military began planning an air offensive campaign against Iraq.
Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived Additional notes from the author: If you want to learn more about Tesla, I highly recommend reading Tesla: Man Out of Time Also, this Badass of the week by Ben Thompson is what originally inspired me to write a comic about Tesla. Ben's also got a book out which is packed full of awesome. There's an old movie from the 80s on Netflix Instant Queue right now about Tesla: The Secret of Nikola Tesla. It's corny and full of bad acting, but it paints a fairly accurate depiction of his life. The drunk history of Tesla is quite awesome, too.
70+ book picks from TED speakers and attendees The tables in bookstores can be overwhelming: Every book cover looks appealing, every blurb glows with praise. Sometimes, you just need a recommendation from a human, someone you trust. Below, 10 members of the TED community — with very different points of view — share the books they think you’ll enjoy this summer. Their selections are wonderfully untethered to new releases and bestsellers, with a little something for everyone.