FSogol
FSogol's JournalDo Not Pick Up the Puppies!
A Harvard professor explains why the world is actually becoming a much better place
Here's an interview in the Washington Post with him:
Pinker: Think about it: If you arrived in a new city and saw that it was raining, would you conclude, The rain has gotten worse? How could you tell, unless you knew how much it had rained before that day? Yet people read about a war or terrorist attack this morning and conclude that violence is increasing, which is just as illogical. In fact, rates of war have been roller-coastering downward since 1946, rates of American homicide have plunged since 1992, and rates of disease, starvation, extreme poverty, illiteracy and dictatorship, when they are measured by a constant yardstick, have all decreased not to zero, but by a lot.
But even if civilization is improving from a birds-eye view over the long-term, things can get still worse for many years in the short-term, right?
Pinker: Progress is not the same as magic. There are always blips and setbacks, and sometimes horrific lurches, like the Spanish flu pandemic, World War II and the post-1960s crime boom. Progress takes place when the setbacks are fewer, less severe or stop altogether. Clearly we have to be mindful of the worst possible setback, namely nuclear war, and of the risk of permanent reversals, such as the worst-case climate change scenarios. Of course life is bad for those people with the worst possible lives, and that will be true until the rates of war, crime, disease and poverty are exactly zero. The point is that there are far fewer people living in nightmares of war and disease.
Whole interview here:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2018/02/13/a-famed-harvard-professor-explains-why-the-world-is-actually-becoming-a-much-better-place/?utm_term=.a6a47c727a75&wpisrc=nl_optimist&wpmm=1
Hope Hicks' totally ridiculous explanation for why she quit
From Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
"She told colleagues that she had accomplished what she felt she could with a job that made her one of the most powerful people in Washington, and that there would never be a perfect moment to leave."
Conclusion:
Favorite Lo Fi Song
Mine has to be Alexander Bends by Butterglory
This is music stripped to the bare minimum. Nothing extra, no pretense.
The seven cities likely to run out of water in 10 years
The UN estimates global demand for water will exceed supply in 2030, meaning more cities will mirror Cape Town, South Africa, which has essentially run out of water.
The following is a list of the seven cities likely to run out of water by 2030:
1. Sao Paulo, Brazil
2. Beijing, China
3. Moscow, Russia
4. Cairo, Egypt
5. Mexico City, Mexico
6. London, England
7. Miami, Florida
More including why these cities made the list are at
https://www.pmengineer.com/articles/93570-the-seven-cities-likely-to-run-out-of-water-in-10-years?id=93570-the-seven-cities-likely-to-run-out-of-water-in-10-years
The closest Donald Trump has ever come to showing courage in the face of physical danger is when he
eats McDonalds." - Frank Conniff
https://twitter.com/FrankConniff/status/968193745463148544
How to get through the DU shutdown:
2. Incorporate Basic Exercise
3. Get Plenty of Rest
4. Stock Up on Healthy Foods and Liquids
5. Attend Detox
Me? I plan on drinking heavily and laying in an ice-filled bathtub.
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Post your favorite atonal rock songs!
Here's mine:
My Pal Foot Foot by The Shaggs (1968)
I double dog dare you to listen to the entire track. Turn up the volume!
The band is primarily notable today for their perceived ineptitude at playing conventional rock music; the band was described in one Rolling Stone article as "sounding like lobotomized Trapp Family singers."
If teachers are armed, will school librarians have silencers?
Overheard and lost on twitter.
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Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 10:34 AM
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