Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Les Twins - amazing dancing!! watch every second...

I'm having a Macklemore moment

Although he is a touchstone to my wife, I didn't get it until I saw a one hour broadcast of him and Ryan at the Outlands Festival, which revved me up - bought the album The Heist and now I'm enjoying this interview (1 hr).  Speaks to me in both...

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Saturday, December 27, 2014

top ballroom exhibition dancer comments on west coast swing, hustle and country western dance

In Ballroom: Obsession and Passion Inside the World of Competitive Dance, an interesting memoir by Sharon Savoy:

At the upper echelons of technical ability, the demands of ballet versus balloom skills are not comparable.  I have marveled for years that in even smaller dance communities such as country western, hustle and west coast swing, some dancers actually acquire huge egos.  My only conclusion is that these dancers have never taken class. 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

The Colder War

Just watched the BookTV broadcast of a talk by Marin Katusa, author of The Colder War.
It's a very interesting picture of Putin's Russia, the evolution of the global energy industry and
our future in general.  Bleak...

"Tear down that Wall!" not the real story

As I said before, the sight of the Berlin Wall going down under attack by German citizens brought tears of joy to my eyes.  It turns out that a lot of Americans think it came down because Reagan said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!"  The real story is very different, one of a near-miss Tiananmen II planned by the GDR and a victory for dissidents.

Watch a talk on BookTV by Mary Elise Sarotte, author of The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall and the book she wrote about the aftermath, 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe

K and M and I discussed fascism as something that benefits from economic distress

here is more discussion, referencing Paul Krugman...

"They're killing us!"

This was the thought that popped into my mind when I heard four student anti-war protestors were shot at Kent State in 1970.  The Pulitzer Prize winning photo of a shocked witness screaming over one body was instantly iconic and ignited protests.  The CSNY song Ohio was a rallying cry.

I can only imagine what Afro-Americans feel after all the police killings of young black men
and wish something would ignite a similar level of social change as arose in 1970.

footnote: Chrissie Hynde was one of the protestors, as were her bandmates Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, who went on to found Devo

Nils Peter Molvaer live&direct (h/t to Steve Adams)

Thursday, December 4, 2014

the Unabomber was the victim of a college experiment in ridicule

I did not know that Professor Murray conducted a long-term ridicule experiment on him ( and others).
The experiment was described in a Fresh Air episode.

President Nixon pleaded guilty

I did not know that a condition of the pardon of Nixon by Ford was that guilt was implicit.
This was mentioned in a discussion at the President Ford Library that was broadcast on BookTV.

Friday, October 10, 2014

The Nation slams the Times' lame response to the CIA/cocaine coverage mentioned in the previous post

follow up here

Reagan's CIA and the rise of crack cocaine: participants come forward

Key figures in a scandal that once rocked the Central Intelligence Agency are coming forward to tell their stories in a new documentary, Freeway: Crack In the System, and in a series of interviews with The Huffington Post.  A major motion picture, Kill the Messenger, tells the story of the reporter Gary Webb, who revealed the truth in a newspaper series I well remember and who committed suicide after he was hounded out of journalism.


Monday, September 22, 2014

RIP Celia

Sadly she died of a massive heart attack.  A memorial service will be held Wednesday night at the Center.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

LJE as leader and copywriter

http://recode.net/2014/09/20/larry-ellison-genius-leader-terrible-copywriter/

Blatently corrupt practices at DEA promoted scare stories about ecstacy and prevented research

The colossal DEA failure that prevented a potentially major medical breakthrough



If you are a racial minority or poor or a drug user ( even a psychiatric drug researcher) our justice system will not serve you well.  Lucky for me I am none of those, but I know the story.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

the American Right longs for a Putin of its own

This just reinforces the certainty of the Right's  basically fascist nature - corporate rule with a strong president.  Forget liberty, their chant - it is the liberty to rule it longs for.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Ashok Gadgil's Berkeley-Darfur stoves project

I worked with him in college!  Check out his appropriate technology project.

note: the show is also co-sponsored by someone else I worked with in the past,
Derry Kabcenell

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

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