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Erik Davis' | MetaFilter
Expanding Mind - "This week's guest is Dennis McKenna, ethnobotanist, expert in the pharmacology of ayahuasca and other visionary plants, and brother of legendary mushroom bard Terence McKenna." (via)
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Please Call Me Hararie | MetaFilter
Japanese Element Symbols is an introduction for non-Japanese to the Japanese language through Kanji symbols, its alphabet, elements of Japan's culture, and what to expect on the culinary front.
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ba ling hou: best identified by their ambivalence | MetaFilter
Beijing's underground: "Five years ago, none of my students at Tsinghua or Beida had any interest in what we would call countercultural stuff," says Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Beida's -- that is, Peking University's -- Guanghua School of Management who owns D-22 and the Maybe Mars label. Today Mr. Pettis estimates that a quarter of his students have been to rock clubs and maybe 5% to 10% "are really knowledgeable and sophisticated.
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The Fight To Abolish Slavery Continues | MetaFilter
Not For Sale: There are 27 million slaves worldwide right now. Here’s a map of where they are.
For many people, awareness of modern slavery—especially slavery in America—began with John Bowe, when his article “Nobodies” was published in the New Yorker in 2003. That was subsequently followed by a book of the same title, part of which became the basis for This American Life #344 “The Competition.” Here’s Bowe on NPR’s Marketplace as well.
Now ethicist David Batstone (interview) is devoting his time to abolishing slavery, through his book Not For Sale, and through co-founding the Not For Sale Campaign, which “equips and mobilizes Smart Activists to deploy innovative solutions to re-abolish slavery in their own backyards and across the globe.” Here’s an excerpt from the book. -
Overthinking Carol | MetaFilter
The Carol Syndrome "Carol's perception that she scares men away is not a delusion after all. … It is not a matter of bad luck but a collateral effect of interactive rationality. A paradoxical consequence is that Carol's attractiveness acts as a repellent." Game theory (mis?)applied to dating.
Dating and 'mate selection' are a popular choice for game theorists: there's the Eligible Bachelor Paradox, Nash equilibria as an explanation for male students' keg-party behavior, and an analysis of dating strategies (including the 'Idealistic Love Strategy w/ Time Restriction' and 'Advanced Young Love Strategy'). Still, others have competing theories. -
Trees Never Meet | MetaFilter
Trees Never Meet is the thoughtful blog of David, a historian of Africa. Though posting has slowed recently, the archives are fascinating. On fitting in; on killing animals as an ex-vegetarian; on Namibian legal history; on "anti-conquests"; on the types of people who have inhabited Namibia since the conquest; on Namibian politics. David also has a fantastic, well-written dream blog.
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The Beziers Massacre. | MetaFilter
"Kill them all. For God knows His own." Today is the 800th anniversary of the massacre of the inhabitants of the town of Beziers in Languedoc, in the south of France, known by the Romans as Gallia Narbonensis. Beziers was the first town to be sacked in the Albigensian Crusades to extirpate the Christian heresy of Catharism, which flourished in Languedoc. The Albigensian Crusades represented the initial application in Europe of religious warfare sanctioned by the resurgent medieval Papacy, and led directly to the institution of the Inquisition and rise of the Dominican Order.
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Fancy some endangered fetus soup? | MetaFilter
Endangered pangolins (scaly anteaters) have been heavily hunted in China to supply a large demand for food, particularly fetus soup (warning: graphic photos), and Chinese medicine. "Proceedings of the workshop on trade and conservation of pangolins native to South and Southeast Asia" [PDF] a report from TRAFFIC (Wildlife Trade Network) was released yesterday. More on pangolins previously on MetaFilter
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\squiggle | MetaFilter
Detexify is a neat little tool that let's you draw a symbol and then finds the corresponding LaTeX notation. The explanation is an interesting read as well.
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Military pictures from around the world. | MetaFilter
Pictures of military subjects , many of them annotated, from all over such as Russia, Malaysia, Japan (Special Police), Ireland, Cyprus, Sri Lanka and Canada.
Forum photo topics also include pre Great War, dogs (airborne), cats, aircraft carriers, riot police, women, destroyed tanks, camouflage, art, accidents, and daily threads of random images. -
Living communally in Russia | MetaFilter
Kommunalka - communal apartments - were begun by the Bolsheviks in Russia at the end of the Russian Revolution to address overcrowding in cities - and also to punish the bourgeoisie who had previously lived in comfort. Kommunalka were an enduring social experiment, where multiple families were assigned by the state to live together in close quarters with no expectation of privacy. It was not uncommon for tenants to spy on each other. Though communism ended in Russia almost two decades ago, Kommunalka still exist today.
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a pink sliver of rat brain sat in a beaker | MetaFilter
The simulated brain - "The scientists behind Blue Brain hope to have a virtual human brain functioning in ten years... Dr. Markram began by collecting detailed information about the rat's NCC, down to the level of genes, proteins, molecules and the electrical signals that connect one neuron to another. These complex relationships were then turned into millions of equations, written in software. He then recorded real-world data -- the strength and path of each electrical signal -- directly from rat brains to test the accuracy of the software." Is it possible to digitally simulate a brain accurately? Can it only be analog? And are there quantum effects to be considered? (previously 1 2 3 4)
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Ethnic conflict in China | MetaFilter
"On the evening of July 5th, several hundred Uighur youths went on a bloody rampage [in Urumqi, Xinjiang] following a peaceful demonstration over a separate incident of ethnic violence at a Guangdong toy factory. . . . In the days that followed, bands of roving Han vigilantes armed with kitchen knives, hammers, metal pipes and other improvised weapons sought to mete out revenge in the Uighur suburbs of the city. . . . Caught in-between these increasingly polarized and agitated ethnic communities is the Chinese state, which, rather than orchestrating the brutal oppression of the non-Han minorities, finds itself increasingly powerless to stop the spiralling circle of ethnic hatred which its policies helped to foster in the first place."
Here is a news report on the Guangdong toy factory violence that preceded the Xinjiang rioting.
Here is a translation of the Gongmeng (Open Constitution Initiative) study of China's Tibet policy referred to in the linked China Beat article, with an introduction by the Campaign for Tibet. The report is carefully critical of the government's approach to Tibet: "Ordinary Tibetans have a far keener and evident sense of deprivation than any sense of government help, and like many people living in provinces in the interior, are deeply discontented with the local power-brokers." -
“N****r rigs” should now be called “presidential solutions” | MetaFilter
"I don't see where there's a story, I'm not the only one that does it." Such is the excuse of patriotic Atwater City (CA) Councilman (and Mayor Pre Tem) Gary Frago for sending out "at least a half-dozen e-mails to city staff and other prominent community members containing racist jokes aimed at President Barack Obama, his wife and black people in general." Frago received some of the e-mail jokes from ex-city worker Bob Rieger and forwarded them on "to various community leaders, 'including a county supervisor, a former police chief, a city manager, a former city council member, a former president of a veterans group, a former grand knight of the Knights of Columbus, among others.'" Rieger said the jokes he sent had no racial meaning. "As far as I'm concerned the e-mails need no explanation," he said. "I sent them out, I'm not concerned with it," he said.
"Previous disastrous interactions between racially-insensitive public officials and modern technology include the 'historical keepsake photo' sent around by a Tennessee state government staffer, the picture of watermelons on the White House lawn distributed by a California mayor, and the Michelle Obama gorilla joke posted on Facebook by a GOP activist and ex-official." * -
Dead Silence: Fear and Terror on the Anthrax Trail | MetaFilter
Anthrax War - On the 6th Anniversary of the death of Dr. David Kelly, a provocative film (and book) about the 2001 Anthrax Attacks examines Kelly's role in the hidden world of germ weapons research. Youtube parts: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Anthrax War goes on to reveal how the 2001 Anthrax Attacks have spawned a $50 billion dollar “Bio-defense” boom in which biological weapons research is now being conducted, with little oversight, by corporations and private labs – the new “Bio-Terrorism Industrial Complex”.
The film underscores how fear of terrorism combined with the lure of extraordinary profits may be leading to a global germ war arms race that could be hurtling the planet toward catastrophe.
Anthrax War recently aired on CBC's documentary series, The Passionate Eye and will be broadcast on the ARTE network and other broadcasters in Europe and SBS in Australia in the coming months. -
"I am feminist, neo-feminist, post-feminist and alter-feminist." | MetaFilter
"If you were to describe me without anyone being able to see me, they would think I am a monster (Guardian video + article), that I am not fuckable. But if they see me, that could perhaps change." While French artist ORLAN's work spans decades and mediums (FR, may be NSFW), she is perhaps best known for her 1990s performance series "The Reincarnation of Saint-ORLAN" wherein ORLAN filmed herself receiving seven different plastic surgeries (NSFW) while entirely conscious.
ORLAN's exhibit caused quite a stir (NYT) at its inception, with art critics such as Barbara Rose grappling with "the disquieting question of whether masochism may be a legitimate component of esthetic intention, or whether we are dealing here not with art but with illustrated psychopathology." Wherever your opinion may lie, it is hard not to be fascinated by this interesting and eloquent (both FR) woman. -
Danvers | MetaFilter
A website has been launched to preserve the history of Danvers State Insane Asylum. The Asylum, which opened in 1878 in Danvers, MA (site of the Salem Witch Trials) and closed in 1992, was featured in the horror movie Session 9, and may have been the inspiration for HP Lovecraft's Arkham Asylum. Its Kirkbride Wings, which once held the institution's living quarters, now house a 400+ unit apartment complex.
Unfortunately, Avalon Communities destroyed most of the hospital in order to build their apartments. Danvers is also not the first asylum to be turned into consumer residences.
The Danvers gallery includes excellent, evocative images from John Gray, who specializes in photographing "abandoned architectural environments."
The "Kirkbride Buildings" link was part of a former FPP. Fascinating stuff. Pennsylvania psychiatrist Thomas Kirkbride literally wrote the book (pdf link) on the construction of massive mental hospitals through the "Moral Treatment". In all, approximately 30 US hospitals were designed according to the Kirkbride Plan. -
A new scare? | MetaFilter
You may know it as acetaminophen, paracetamol, APAP, or ... Tylenol. Today an FDA advisory panel recommended banning prescription drugs that contain acetaminophen, such as vicodin and percocet. The panel of experts also voted to give acetaminophen a black box warning, and reduce the maximum dosage of over-the-counter formulations. Acetaminophen is a popular painkiller by itself and, in combination with opiates, is the most commonly prescribed medication in the US.
Acetaminophen has known for over a hundred years, though its use in the US began in 1955. The brand has survived scares and maintained its popularity for decades, thanks to some innovative marketing (last link is a pdf) and effective analgesia in many clinical settings.
Acetaminophen is generally better tolerated than ibuprofen and other painkillers, but it's not without adverse effects -- acetaminophen is now the leading cause of liver failure in the US. The FDA panel hopes these measures will reduce overdoses leading to fulminant liver failure, but similar restrictions in the UK have had mixed results. -
Algorithmic Music | MetaFilter
The principles of Harmonics were discovered by Pythagoras c.587-c.507 B.C. during travels to Egypt and throughout the ancient world. Hans Kayser made a profound philosophic study of harmonics in the 20th century. Algorithmic composition is the technique of using harmonic algorithms to create music. Drew Lesso has been creating algorithmic music since 1975. Samples like Crystal, Constellations, or Planet Earth demonstrate the math behind the music. Over the years, Lesso has collaborated with many other musicians and poets to create an airy, evolutionary legacy.
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The Requested Miami Vice Thread | MetaFilter
September 16 1984, a television show like no other swept onto American screens via NBC. Yes, that is correct, 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of Miami Vice.
The thundering opening title music became a hit all its own, and along with Glen Frey's Smuggler's Blues helped propel the television soundtrack album to record sales, only recently knocked from the top spot by the High School Musical soundtrack.
But the series didn't simply promote music. It inhabited it, used it in nearly surrealist ways, overlaid the storyline with a sheen of postmodern irony. Music was used as emotional shorthand. But in finer moments, the blend of audio and visual was sublime.
The show's impact on men's fashion cannot be understated, and even now, some are trying to bring back the pastel sensibility.
Those with access to hulu can watch episodes on demand. Everyone else, I apologize for not finding resources available in your country. Perhaps others can post them here?
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