humanities & culture

How so many big name Western intellectuals worked for the CIA

ikosmos — Tue, 03 Jan 2017 20:08:14 +0000

The source of this piece is fascinating: The New Republic.(associated with all sorts of neocon and rightist causes)

police

Ward — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 14:49:03 +0000

https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/12/06/toronto-police-union-l...

I have an undeveloped position on police and society...

Should the driverless car kill the kid or the retiree?

NorthReport — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 23:11:03 +0000

!!!

The Nobel Prize for Literature ... is dead.

ikosmos — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 01:38:26 +0000

OK, the Nobels are very much discredited these days. A US President gets one "for not being George Bush". And so on.

Now Bob Dylan gets the Nobel for literature?

Sorry. I love Bob's old songs as much as anyone. But the Nobel?

Garbage. The Prize is now garbage.

If you want to give the Nobel Prize for Literature to a musician, then let it be Leonard Cohen, ffs.

Assholes.

Blue Jays vs. racist stereotype

swallow — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 17:49:03 +0000

#notyourmascot

Badiou: The Age of the Poets: Poetry and Communism

ikosmos — Sat, 08 Oct 2016 23:48:51 +0000

introduction wrote:

Badiou proposes the essential link between poetry and communism in the twentieth century, through the common good of language, and gives reason to both the writing and reading of poetry in a time of revolution.

Celebrating National Poetry Day in the UK, a passage from his new book, The Age of the Poets.

Chris Hedges interviews Rob Urie, author of Zen Economics

ikosmos — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 21:14:20 +0000

very much worth watching. Inside the Capitalist Labyrinth

Hedges summarizes:

Quote:

Hope comes from the attempts to dismantle the system of corporate capitalism, not the attempts to accomodate it.

amen.

Rich Kids of Instagram "are different from you and me"

ikosmos — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 18:52:22 +0000

The Baffler on the 1%: the Acquisitive Self, Minus the Self

"All social organizing is science fiction." adrienne maree brown

ikosmos — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 20:06:51 +0000

Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown were recently interviewed on the Laura Flanders Show. The two were involved in the publication of "Octavia's Brood", a collection of Science Fiction by activists. The title is a reference to Octavio Butler, an African-American woman who wrote "Lilith's Brood" .

Some really interesting remarks follow. Flanders is just f'ing brilliant. I keep telling myself to watch her show more often, then I forget to do so.

Decolonizing the Mind

Late in life, Michel Foucault developed a curious sympathy for neoliberalism

little eiffel — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 23:47:37 +0000

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/12/foucault-interview/

Explain why you are (NOT) watching the Olympic spectacle in Rio.

ikosmos — Fri, 22 Jul 2016 16:56:23 +0000

an idea from babblers Rev Pesky and Michael Moriarity ...

Quote:

Michael Moriarity wrote:
Quote:
Rev Pesky wrote:

And as far as the Olympics go, they are the absolute center of corruption in sport. Forget banning Russia. The whole bloody organization should be banned. It is nothing more than a taxpayer funded party for the stinking rich, and the idea that they have some integrity to lose is ridiculous.

I couldn't agree more. But it isn't just a corrupt party for the super rich. It's also the circuses part of "bread and circuses". I've always been amazed that so many otherwise sensible people are sucked in by this bullshit.

Discuss.

How the Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan Became an SJW-Hating Conservative Crusader

Snuckles — Sat, 14 May 2016 16:58:34 +0000

Gen-X icon and Obama conspiracy theorist Billy Corgan slammed Bernie Sanders and compared liberal activists to the KKK during an appearance on Info Wars. How did he get here?

Partisan song from Vilna ghetto sung by Annie Lederhendler

lagatta — Fri, 06 May 2016 13:51:09 +0000

http://forward.com/video/339984/partisan-song-sung-by-annie-lederhendler...

Happy Easter to All

kropotkin1951 — Sun, 27 Mar 2016 16:20:46 +0000

Growing up as a Catholic the Easter weekend was the biggest deal for religious events. Here is what I learnt.

Irish history: the Easter Rising

Doug Woodard — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 17:35:10 +0000

*****