ruff linkage 2018358 min read

[weekly linkdump, somewhat edited from my diigo]


#tumblr

Tumblr Image of the Week
Tumblr Image of the Week


#twitter


#ifyouonlyreadone

Oscar Wilde of YouTube fights the alt-right with decadence and seduction – “ContraPoints is an elegant, whip-smart middle finger to the putrefying swamps of the internet” I am in love.


#watch,

David Lynch in “Curtain’s Up”, from Stella McCartney – “Face illuminated by the rippling light of a film’s projection, genre-defying American filmmaker David Lynch opens up about the magic of the cinema in this profile from Stella McCartney.” Slow but pretty lovely.

Why Incels Love Jordan Peterson – “How did Jordan Peterson get so popular? John Iadarola interviews Laurie Penny about the contradictory message of Jordan Peterson on The Damage Report.” Penny Red is spot on as ever.

Incels | ContraPoints – “Hello boys. Let’s talk about bone structure.” I am in love. (see above)


listen and


#learn

Skim reading is the new normal. The effect on society is profound – “When the reading brain skims texts, we don’t have time to grasp complexity, to understand another’s feelings or to perceive beauty. We need a new literacy for the digital age” Dunno if this article is good, only skimmed it.

Tumblr bans non-consensual creepshots and deepfake porn – “Tumblr is to ban content that results in the “unwanted sexualisation or sexual harassment of others.” Took your bloody time, didn’t you?

A Sociologist Examines the “White Fragility” That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism – “Much of “White Fragility” is dedicated to pulling back the veil on these so-called pillars of whiteness: assumptions that prop up racist beliefs without our realizing it. Such ideologies include individualism, or the distinctly white-American dream that one writes one’s own destiny, and objectivity, the confidence that one can free oneself entirely from bias.” Snowflakes, the lot of them.

The City Of Dreams – “Another problem with the cheerful assessment is that it tends to evaluate the existing state against “things as they used to be” rather than “things as they ought to be.” This results in the conflation of “better” with “good,” meaning that even if U.S. infant/maternal mortality is far higher than it needs to be, as longer as it’s better than it was during the Great Depression, we will seem to be making “progress.” Finally, the rosy view ignores a whole pile of factors that are getting worse and about which people’s complaints are quire justified: suicide rates, consumer debt, police militarization, public services, immigration policy, incarceration.” #Pinkering Some good thoughts on how an utopian can also be optimistic for assessing the current state of affairs.

Someone pulled their dick out: Louis C.K. and the #MeToo movement – “It’s a generalization, but in the same way men tend look to their partners to fix relationships when they are the ones who screwed up, they shouldn’t depend on some lady on Twitter to learn the right way to return to society after pulling their dick out and masturbating in front of someone. They need to man up and come to the realization and solution themselves. They need to act on it.” Louis D.I.C.K.H.E.A.D. pretending like nothing happened.

20,000 bees swarm a New York City hotdog stand – video – “A section of a New York city street had to be shut down by police on Tuesday, when about 20,000 bees swarmed the umbrella of a hotdog stand. As tourists watched the drama unfold, a police officer-turned-beekeeper arrived to remove the bees … with a vacuum cleaner” This is weird bee behavior, they swarm, yes, but on top of an umbrella? Hmm.

Comic: Steven Pinker—Certified Grief Counselor – “If you’re feeling down, don’t worry: the data proves that you’re actually fine.” Very funny.

‘Apocalyptic threat’: dire climate report raises fears for California’s future – “Statewide assessment, which comes amid summer of extreme wildfires, warns of deadly cost if climate change is not stopped” We’re all gonna die. Yeah, duh.

Bees become ‘addicted’ to harmful pesticides, scientists warn – “Almost a quarter of European bumblebee species are threatened with extinction, largely because of climate change and intensive farming, studies have warned.” Jonesing bees.

There are fewer vegetarians in the U.S. now than 20 years ago – “The number of people who identify as vegetarian in the United States has barely changed in the past 20 years. In 1999, six percent of the population ate no meat; that number stayed the same in 2001, but dropped slightly to five percent in 2012, where it has remained steady ever since. When it comes to vegans, the number has gone up from 2 to 3 percent since 2012.” This worked well.

IP Address is Not Enough to Identify Pirate, US Court of Appeals Rules – “The owner of an adult foster care home who operated an open WiFi network has booked a big win against a copyright troll. Thomas Gonzales was accused of downloading the Adam Sandler movie The Cobbler but won $17k last year after being wrongfully targeted. The case went to appeal and in a ruling handed down yesterday by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Gonzales emerged victorious again.” Minimally good news.

Scientists Warn the UN of Capitalism’s Imminent Demise – “Climate change and species extinctions are accelerating even as societies are experiencing rising inequality, unemployment, slow economic growth, rising debt levels, and impotent governments. Contrary to the way policymakers usually think about these problems, the new report says that these are not really separate crises at all.”
Champagne for everyone.

Milo Yiannopolous plays the victim in Facebook tirade – “Such a snowflake!” Heul doch leise, Milo.

“Fake News” and Unrest in Nicaragua – “Suppressing an uprising, President Daniel Ortega borrows tactics from autocrats abroad.” Long read.

The Philanthropy Racket – “Asked whether all this flagrant Pinkering had contributed to the backlash of pseudo-populist anger now roiling the West, Giussani avers, “Of course that distortion contributed. I believe even that it is one of the biggest engines of it.” #Pinkering make it trend.


#oldiebutgoodie

Steven Pinker’s Ideas About Progress Are Fatally Flawed. These Eight Graphs Show Why. – To be re-read. Because #Pinkering (see above)


#francais_deutsch_other

#MeerMenschlichkeit – “die Humanitarian Pilots Initiative ist eine Gruppe von Schweizer Piloten, die sich freiwillig an der Rettung von tausenden Flüchtenden auf dem Mittelmeer beteiligt hat. Weil sie Menschenleben retten wollten, versuchen die maltesischen Behörden nun, sie zu blockieren.”

Wenn der Nazi mit dem Bürger … – “In Chemnitz instrumentalisieren Rechte ein Tötungsdelikt, um pogromartig gegen MigrantInnen zu hetzen. Die Polizei schaut weg, die bürgerliche Mitte marschiert mit – und bereits ist der nächste Aufmarsch angekündigt.” Sie marschieren wieder. They march again. In plain sight. And fairly normal citizens join them.

Rechte hetzen mit Falschmeldungen nach tödlicher Attacke in Chemnitz – “Rechte Medien, Aktivisten und Politiker verbreiten auf Twitter und Facebook die Geschichte eines angeblichen zweiten Todesfalls in Chemnitz. Die Polizei dementiert, doch die Posts werden tausendfach geteilt.” How the right wing extremists in Chemnitz spread fake stories to mobilise.

Diskriminierung ǀ Sexismus lässt sich nicht umdrehen – “Vorurteile gegenüber bestimmten Personen zu haben, ist eine Sache. Rassismus oder Sexismus eine andere” Theres is no reverse sexism (and no reverse racism either btw.)


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