Month: December 2017

RELIGION MAY NOT BE LITERALLY TRUE BUT HAS IT CIVILISED US?

It’s popular to write about the self-evident importance of Judeo-Christian religion to the development of modern civilisation. But Agoston finds this unconvincing and in this piece tries to explain why.

BRASH SELF-ASSURANCE BEATS OPEN-MINDED PATIENCE

contrarianexternalnewslegion

Why is it that strident assholes who’re usually proven wrong in the end triumph time and time again in competition with intelligent nuanced decency? Merton Futon speculates about this strangely irrational truism.

DON’T CONFLATE ISLAMOPHOBIA WITH ANTI-ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

contrariannewslegionsociety

The response to cultural “offences” in the name of Islam is generally “on message” in a tribal way but this tribal reaction to the Muslim world and its anti-Islam rhetoric is a bad choice. It’s only going to make things worse.

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Seizing Everything: The Theft of the Global Commons – Part 1

27 October 2021

Iain Davis The people who none of us elect, who ultimately control international finance, all corporate & business activity, government policy and international relations have constructed a system that will enable them to seize the “global commons.” They are the Global Public Private Partnership (GPPP) and while elected representatives are within their ranks, they don’t set either the …

WATCH: How to Disarm Propaganda

26 October 2021

Mark Crispin Miller, NYU Professor and News From Underground publisher, joins James Corbett to discuss his specialty: propaganda. In true #SolutionsWatch style, they discuss ways to identify and dissect propaganda, as well as how to help others to see through common propaganda techniques. Links, sources and shownotes – as well as download options and an audio-only …

75 Years & Counting: A History of Western Regime Change in Syria Part I

25 October 2021

Vanessa Beeley Washington and London’s latest war against Syria was incubated in CIA and MI6 offices long before the manufactured “uprising” erupted in 2011. This was not the first time that the US neocolonialist alliance had attempted regime change in Syria. Historian Stephen Gowans writes about Washington’s Long War on Syria in his comprehensive book …

This Week in the New Normal #9

24 October 2021

Audio Version New Feature! Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world. 1. The Death of a War Criminal 2021 sure has been hard on blood-soaked warmongers behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq. …

The Banners of the King of Hell Advance

24 October 2021

Edward Curtin “Vexilla regis prodeunt Inferni” Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: The Inferno Try to look ahead and see if you can see what’s been coming for decades. Try to climb higher and see the beautiful things that Heaven bears, where we came forth, and once more see the stars and raise a banner of resistance …

CDC Director: “We may need to update our definition of ‘fully vaccinated'”

23 October 2021

Kit Knightly Audio Version New Feature! Yesterday, in a press conference, the director of the CDC warned that they may have to “update” the definition of “fully vaccinated”. At the virtual presser accompanying the approval of “mix-and-match” booster jabs, Dr Rochelle Walensky told reporters that: We will continue to look at this. We may need …

Goodbye Mr Marx

23 October 2021

Darren Allen Audio Version New Feature! Many of the problems with socialism, both official and unofficial, in fact many of the problems with the world, can be traced back to Karl Marx. Not that all leftists are, say, Marxist materialists — many today are idealists (e.g. pacifistic Buddhists) — nor that all leftists are uncritical …

Current Members of the U.S. House of Representatives

9 February 2021

This is a list of individuals currently serving in the United States House of Representatives as of the 117th Congress

QAnon vs. Hitler's Brownshirts

28 January 2021

The world has seen QAnon before. It was called Nazism.

World Headlines: Capitol Siege by MAGA Mob

10 January 2021

On January 6, 2021, white insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol, proudly displayed the confederate flag, and set up gallows on the Capitol grounds.

U.S. Senate Seats up for Reelection in 2022

8 January 2021

It's 2022 vision time. The U.S. Senate elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2020. Thirty-four of the 100 Senators are up for reelection and will serve a six-year term from January 3, 2023, until January 3, 2029. The time to start organizing is now.

The Marijuana Industry's Dirty Little Secret

14 May 2019

The runaway-growth in the cannabis industry, fueled by rolling de-regulation and a high demand forecast, is bringing with it a growing carbon footprint.

A Personal Account of Hawaii's False Missile Alert

20 February 2018

Countries North Korea Can Currently Hit With Their Missiles

29 May 2017

Should North Korea ever have the capacity to launch a nuclear missile that could reach the U.S. mainland, Trump would have approximately ten minutes to react and make a decision to counterattack.

ICYMI – Both Jacinda Ardern and the Pope know how to keep their cool when facing the unexpected

26 October 2021

The post ICYMI – Both Jacinda Ardern and the Pope know how to keep their cool when facing the unexpected appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Model soldiers and secret bunkers on Taiwan’s front line with China

26 October 2021

The post Model soldiers and secret bunkers on Taiwan’s front line with China appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Vehicles travel along the embankment of the Moskva River during sunset in Moscow

25 October 2021

The post Vehicles travel along the embankment of the Moskva River during sunset in Moscow appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to erupt as seen from El Paso before sunrise

25 October 2021

The post Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to erupt as seen from El Paso before sunrise appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

‘Dune’ Opens to $40 Million at the Box Office. Strong Enough for a Sequel?

24 October 2021

The post ‘Dune’ Opens to $40 Million at the Box Office. Strong Enough for a Sequel? appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Alec Baldwin fires gun on movie set, killing cinematographer, authorities say

22 October 2021

The post Alec Baldwin fires gun on movie set, killing cinematographer, authorities say appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

New Zealand’s Ardern keeps going as earthquake rattles live event

22 October 2021

The post New Zealand’s Ardern keeps going as earthquake rattles live event appeared first on Reuters News Agency.

Biden Administration Urged Senate to Raise Profit Threshold for Minimum Corporate Tax to $1 Billion

27 October 2021

Sen. Angus King said a $100 million threshold was raised at the administration’s behest, sacrificing hundreds of billions in revenue for Build Back Better.

The post Biden Administration Urged Senate to Raise Profit Threshold for Minimum Corporate Tax to $1 Billion appeared first on The Intercept.

“The Spoils of War”: How Profits Rather Than Empire Define Success for the Pentagon

27 October 2021

Andrew Cockburn’s new book is an incredible compendium of avarice and folly.

The post “The Spoils of War”: How Profits Rather Than Empire Define Success for the Pentagon appeared first on The Intercept.

Making a Killing: The Business of War Profiteering

27 October 2021

Renowned national security journalist Andrew Cockburn breaks down the 21st century’s “spoils of war.”

The post Making a Killing: The Business of War Profiteering appeared first on The Intercept.

After Tractor Collision During Strike, John Deere Declares Accident Reports “Confidential”

26 October 2021

Concerned about "reputational risk" on social media, management is trying to keep accidents among salaried workers quiet.

The post After Tractor Collision During Strike, John Deere Declares Accident Reports “Confidential” appeared first on The Intercept.

Banks Lobby Against Biden Proposal to Crack Down on Ultrawealthy “Tax Cheats”

26 October 2021

Mostly rich people avoid paying $600 billion a year in taxes, in part through lack of income reporting to the IRS that Biden is trying to change.

The post Banks Lobby Against Biden Proposal to Crack Down on Ultrawealthy “Tax Cheats” appeared first on The Intercept.

Josh Gottheimer’s Obstructionist Crew Raised Millions During Showdown With Nancy Pelosi

25 October 2021

Wealthy donors rushed funds to conservative Democrats after they threatened to torpedo the Build Back Better plan.

The post Josh Gottheimer’s Obstructionist Crew Raised Millions During Showdown With Nancy Pelosi appeared first on The Intercept.

Parents Reported to Child Services for Keeping Unvaccinated Kids Home

25 October 2021

As remote learning options disappear, parents uncomfortable with their schools’ Covid-19 protocols risk being charged with neglect.

The post Parents Reported to Child Services for Keeping Unvaccinated Kids Home appeared first on The Intercept.

Kevin Hart apologizes for saying Damn to Don Cheadle

27 October 2021

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Life expectancy in 2019 [OC]

27 October 2021

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average Fixed Internet Speed in european subcontinent as it was in September 2021

27 October 2021

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They put my sister on legal methamphetamine. doctor prescribed

27 October 2021

submitted by /u/chilipeppersamurai to r/conspiracy [link] [comments]

On October 27, 2018 (3 Years Ago), I traveled to London. It’s been a dream of mine since I was ten years old to visit the city…….and I did. 🇬🇧

27 October 2021

submitted by /u/rubanthmendez997 to r/london [link] [comments]

Who do you want to be marooned on an island with?

27 October 2021

View Poll

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#265 — The Religion of Anti-Racism

27 October 2021

submitted by /u/dwaxe to r/samharris [link] [comments]

BBC feedback

27 October 2021

I just filled out this form on the BBC website. Here’s what I wrote, based on this open letter to the BCC Upper Management and Editorial Staff.

What is your complaint about?

BBC website or apps

Which website or app is your complaint about?

BBC News website

Please give the URL, or name of the app

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-57853385

Are you contacting us about a previous complaint?

Select the best category to describe your complaint

Standards of interviewing/presenting

What is the subject of your complaint?

Innacurate reporting and unreliable source

Please enter your complaint

The article is based on a single self selected study of 80 individuals sourced from Get The L Out, a group who, prior to the survey, were already united by anti-trans views.

This study breaks the BBC’s own guidelines about using surveys as sources for claims in coverage, as it is self-selected, with a small sample size and a clear bias held by those self-selected to respond.

The article dangerously frames this as a widespread issue, whilst simultaneously acknowledging that there is no actual evidence to that effect outside of isolated claims and cherry picked individual cases.

The article routinely implies that transgender women are not women, uncritically quoting people who call transgender women men without at any point clarifying that this is ignoring their legal status as women in the UK.

Season three of the Clearleft podcast

27 October 2021

Season three of the Clearleft podcast is done and dusted. I’m pretty happy with how the six episodes turned out.

Episode one

Coaching. There was one question at the heart of this episode: what’s the difference between training, coaching, and mentoring? I got some great answers to that question, with some good stories along the way.

Episode two

Design Engineering. It will come as no surprise that I really enjoyed this episode. This is a topic I think is growing in importance. The relevation for me was the way Trys framed it less as the intersection between design and development, and more about the gap between design and development. And remember we’re looking for a design engineer to join Clearleft.

Episode three

Design Research. A really fun deep dive, thanks to Steph. I feel like this episode set things up for the next two episodes. Oh, and we’re also looking for a design researcher to join Clearleft.

Episode four

Innovation. I had lots of great material to draw on here: a panel discussion, conference talks, and interviews. I really like the ensemble nature of the end result.

Episode five

Measuring Design. My favourite episode of the season, and probably my favourite episode of the Clearleft podcast so far. This episode builds on a hot topic from UX Fest. And just this week, Andy published a blog post that continues the debate. If you only listen to one episode of the season, make it this one.

Episode six

Design Principles. Needless to say, I enjoyed the heck out of this one. As a well-known nerd for design principles this felt kind of self-indulgent, but in the end there’s not much of me in it (thankfully). In fact it’s more like a case study of the work Clearleft did with Citizens Advice.

I also wrote a bit about each episode when they came out:

Coaching Design Engineering Design Research Innovation Measuring Design Design Principles

Six episodes might not sound like much, but it takes a lot of work to put a season together. It’s rewarding though. And I’m already looking forward to crafting the arc for season four. But that won’t be until the start of next year.

Still, it’s never to early to subscribe so you’ll be the first to hear the newest episodes. Subscribe to the RSS feed or on Apple, Spotify, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Design principles on the Clearleft podcast

13 October 2021

The final episode of season three of the Clearleft podcast is out. Ah, what a bittersweet feeling! On the hand it’s sad that the season has come to an end. But it feels good to look back at six great episodes all gathered together.

Episode six is all about design principles. That’s a topic close to my heart. I collect design principles.

But for this podcast episode the focus is on one specific project. Clearleft worked with Citizens Advice on a recent project that ended up having design principles at the heart of it. It worked as a great focus for the episode, and a way of exploring design principles in general. As Katie put it, this about searching for principles for design principles.

Katie and Maite worked hard on nailing the design principles for the Citizens Advice project. I was able to get some of Maite’s time for her to talk me through it. I’ve also got some thoughts from my fellow Clearlefties Andy and Chris on the topic of design principles in general.

It’s nineteen minutes long and well worth a listen.

And with that, season three of the Clearleft podcast is a wrap!

Changing Situation

10 October 2021

The Situation persists. But it has changed. There are no longer any official restrictions to speak of here in England. Instead it’s down to everyone to figure out individually what’s right.

Everyone is evaluating the risks, making calculations and coming to different conclusions. It’s only natural that everyone—myself incuded—thinks they’ve found the Goldilocks zone. “That person is being far too blasé! And that person is being far too cautious! But I’m doing exactly the right thing.”

With that in mind, I’m trying not to be judgemental about the decisions other people are making (apart from the decsion not to get vaccinated—I’m judgemental as hell about those selfish assholes). For example, I wear a mask when I’m on public transport. Other people don’t. I try not to judge them (although really, how hard is it to wear a piece of cloth for the duration of a bus ride? …sorry, that’s judgy).

This tendency to comparison extends to the country level too. Right now England has the highest case numbers for COVID-19 in Europe. I look at Ireland with its magnificentally low levels of vaccine hesistancy and I’m jealous: why can’t we be like that? But then I look to the United States and think, yowzah!, things could be worse.

Jessica and I have made a couple of trips to London. One involved indoor entertainment—the long-delayed premier of Akram Khan’s Creature at Sadlers Wells. We wore masks. Not everyone did. I tried not to judge. Others would judge me for just being inside the building.

The other trip to London was a dog-sitting visit, hanging out with Cider who is a very good boy.

After each excursion like that, we do a lateral flow test. So far, so negative. Having access to free testing makes a big difference to making post-hoc evaluations of risks. It boggles my mind that testing is pricy luxury in the States (there I go again, making comparisons).

We’ve also started playing tunes at a session in our local pub. We make sure to test ourselves before going. Spending an evening in a pub—even a nice chilled-out pub on a Monday evening—is still a risk. But it’s worth it. Each time we go I think “this is nice.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve had to make risk assessments. I remember it was like this last year between the first and second wave. Can we sit outside a restaurant? Can we go see the new Christopher Nolan film?

But it feels different this time because of our vaccinations. I know the Delta variant has altered the game, but the stakes certainly aren’t the same as pre-vaccine times. So while I’m still trying to avoid catching this damned disease, I’m also trying not to let it rule every decision the way it did last year.

It’s a balancing act. It’s the same balancing act that everyone is undertaking. We’re all walking our own individual tightropes. But at least being vaccinated, the tightrope doesn’t feel quite so high off the ground.

I’m speaking at a conference in Lisbon next week. That means going to an airport. That means getting on a plane. That means spending time inside a conference venue.

But it also means I’ll be travelling to a country with a wonderfully high vaccination rate, where I’ll be able to enjoy the sunny weather and dine outdoors in the evening.

Risks. Benefits. Running the numbers. Making decisions. Trying to do the right thing. Trying to stay safe but also trying to live life.

The Situation persists. But it has changed. I look forward to it changing more. I’m in line to get a booster shot before the year is out. That’ll be another factor in my calculations.

I look forward to a time when I won’t have to keep making these calculations. That time isn’t here yet.

Measuring design on the Clearleft podcast

6 October 2021

A new episode of the Clearleft podcast just dropped and I have to say, this is one of my favourites so far. It’s all about measuring design.

There was a bit of a theme running through UX Fest earlier this year. On the one hand, there was all the talk of designers learning to speak the language of business (to get that coveted seat at the table), which means talking in numbers. But on the other hand, isn’t there a real danger in reducing user experience to numbers in a spreadsheet?

For this episode I put the narrative together using lots of snippets from different talks, not just from UX Fest but from previous Clearleft events too. I also got some good hot takes from my colleagues Chris, Andy, and Maite. Oh, and it opens with former US Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara. If you know, you know.

This episode comes in at 22 and a half minutes and I think it’s well worth your time. Have a listen.

This is the penultimate episode of season three. Just one more to go!

Twenty years of writing on my website

30 September 2021

On this day twenty years ago I wrote the first entry in my online journal. In the intervening two decades I’ve written a further 2,817 entries.

I am now fifty years old, which means I’ve been blogging for two fifths of my lifetime.

My website has actually been around for longer than twenty years, but its early incarnations had no blog. That all changed when I relaunched the site on September 30th, 2001.

I wrote at the time:

I’m not quite sure what I will be saying here over the coming days, weeks, months and years.

Honestly I still feel like that.

I think it’s safe to assume an “anything goes” attitude for what I post here. Being a web developer, there’s bound to be lots of geeky, techy stuff but I also want a place where I can rant and rave about life in general.

That’s been pretty true, although I feel that maybe there’s been too much geeky stuff and not enough about everything else in my life.

I’ll try and post fairly regularly but I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep. Hopefully, I’ll be updating the journal on a daily basis.

I made no promises but I think I’ve done a pretty good job. Many’s the blogger who has let the weeds grow over their websites as they were lured by the siren song of centralised social networks. I’m glad that I’ve managed to avoid that fate. It feels good to look back on twenty years of updates posted on my own domain.

Anyway, let’s see what happens. I hope you’ll like it.

I hope you still like it.

Here are some of my handpicked highlights from the past twenty years of blogging:

Hyperdrive, April 20th, 2007

Last night in San Francisco.

Design doing, November 11, 2007

The opposite of design thinking.

Iron Man and me, December 1st, 2008

The story of how one of my Flickr pictures came to be used in a Hollywood movie.

Seams, May 12th, 2014

There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.

Web! What is it good for?, May 28th, 2015

Not absolutely nothing, but not absolutely everything either.

Split, April 10th, 2019

Materials and tools; client and server; declarative and imperative; inclusion and privilege.

Innovation on the Clearleft podcast

29 September 2021

We’re past the halfway mark for this season of the Clearleft podcast. Episode four came out today. It’s all about innovation.

At the beginning of the episode, I think you can hear the scorn in my voice. Y’see, innovation is one of the words—like “disruptive”—that gets thrown around a lot and everyone assumes it only has positive connotations. But words like “innovative” and “disruptive” can be applied to endeavours that are not good for the world.

Bitcoin, for example, could rightly be described as innovative (and disruptive) but it’s also a planet-destroying ponzi scheme—like a lovechild of the trolley problem and the paperclip maximizer designed to generate the most amount of waste for the least amount of value.

So, yeah, I’m not a fan of innovation for innovation’s sake. But don’t worry. For this episode of the podcast I set my personal feelings to one side and let the episode act as a conduit for much smarter people.

The whole thing clocks in at 25 minutes but I think this episode might have the widest range of contributors yet. There are snippets from an internal Clearleft discussion, soundbites from a panel discussion, extracts from conference talks, as well as interviews with individuals. From Clearleft there’s Chris How, Andy Thornton, Jon Aizlewood and Lorenzo Ferronato. From the panel discussion there’s Janna Bastow, Matt Cooper-Wright, Dorota Biniecka and Akshan Ish. And from UX Fest there’s Radhika Dutt, Teresa Torres and Gregg Bernstein.

I happily defer to their expertise on this topic. Have a listen and hear what they have to say.

Hazardous levels of alcohol consumption identified in African hunter-gatherer group

27 October 2021

The Mbendjele BaYaka are an Indigenous Congolese hunter-gatherer population, one of a number of "Pygmy" hunter-gatherer populations living in the rainforests of Central Africa.

Team discovers evidence of prehistoric human activity in Falkland Islands

27 October 2021

Since its first recorded sighting by European explorers in the 1600s, scientists and historians have believed that Europeans were the first people to ever set foot on the Falkland Islands. Findings from a new University of Maine-led study, however, suggests otherwise; that human activity on the islands predates European arrival by centuries.

Living descendant of Sitting Bull confirmed by analysis of DNA from the legendary leader's hair

27 October 2021

A man's claim to be the great-grandson of legendary Native American leader Sitting Bull has been confirmed using DNA extracted from Sitting Bull's scalp lock. This is the first time ancient DNA has been used to confirm a familial relationship between living and historical individuals.

Researchers identify a new kind of pure carbon production by microorganisms

27 October 2021

Life on the Earth is based on carbon. Through the course of evolution, living organisms have learned to form and process large numbers of different carbon compounds. Carbon is the cornerstone of most biologically produced organic compounds such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats and DNA. All of these compounds contain, in addition to carbon, many other elements, including hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.

Researchers worry about Census' gap in 2020 survey data

27 October 2021

Researchers are worried about coronavirus-related disruptions to one of the U.S. Census Bureau's most important surveys about how Americans live, saying a gap in the 2020 data will make it more difficult to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and measure year-to-year changes.

Climate change to force crop switch for small farmers: experts

27 October 2021

Small farmers around the world who grow thirsty crops like corn will face a huge adaptation challenge as the effects of climate change worsen in the coming years, experts warned Wednesday.

NASA sending four astronauts to ISS on Sunday

27 October 2021