March 17, 2016
Toward Truthiness: "After the Fact"
"The era of the fact is coming to an end: the place once held by 'facts' is being taken over by 'data.'...No matter the bigness of the data, the vastness of the Web, the freeness of speech, nothing could be less well settled in the twenty-first century than whether people know what they know from faith or from facts, or whether anything, in the end, can really be said to be fully proved." Jill Lepore's essay for The New Yorker, "After the Fact," looks at the current state of American politics as a symptom of a bigger question: Whose reality is it, anyway? [more inside]
"The Replicant project was reportedly shut down in December"
Dark Arts in the Classroom
Psychic High School is the leading transdimensional day and boarding school for psychic youth of all ages and dispositions.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
“My God, that fiddle sounds incredible.”
The Violin Thief by Geoff Edgers Philip Johnson was a promising musical prodigy. Then he stole a teacher’s prized Stradivarius. [more inside]
Secret Trash Museum. Way cooler than it sounds.
Fascinating Photos from the Secret Trash Museum in a New York Sanitation Garage. (sl Atlas Obscura)
Do not eat
Heat egg in grandfather's mouth: Easy Recipe For Warm Egg Near Blue Square You Can Make In Just 4 Months! [more inside]
"Your sweet, sweet daughter”
Laura Lee, a vibrant young woman whose life was a series of firsts, died in her sleep last month at 33. "The death has left not only her family mourning, but thousands of people across the country, some who knew Lee and others who simply admired her as a trailblazer. On Saturday, the family will hold a funeral service for Lee in Fairfax County, but already the tributes have begun."
She inspired those with Down syndrome as unstoppable — until she wasn’t. (SLWaPo)
“What’s your son going to think?”
“What will your kid think?” and “Are you worried your son is going to hate you when he grows up?” and “Are you going to let him read it?” and “What’re you going to do when your kid Googles you?” are all questions that, even when offered lightheartedly and in a spirit of ostensible support, feel less like genuine questions and more like a chastening. “Remember, you’re a MOM” and “Remember, you have a mother” both mean “Remember, you’re a woman, and there are consequences.” The Patronizing Questions We Ask Women Who Write by Meaghan O'Connell
“They were analog criminals operating in a digital world.”
April 2015: The vault at the Hatton Garden Safety Deposit of London's Diamond district is ransacked by thieves. They score an estimated £14 to £35 million in cash, jewels and other valuables. The media calls it "the greatest heist in British history" and speculates about the acrobatic feats the gang must have used. London’s newspapers are filled with artists’ renderings of the heist, featuring hard-bodied burglars in black turtlenecks doing superhuman things. Experts insist that a foreign team of navy-SEAL-like professionals must have masterminded the theft. Nope. [more inside]
Canon (Australia) Blue
Greatest Living Americans Bracket
"America is home to more than 100 people. These are the 64 greatest and most important. We did not forget anyone. Fill out the bracket, hit Submit, and find out how correct you are."
The Future Is Looking Bright
Artist Ariel Hart has created a Tarot deck inspired by Lisa Frank. Full size major arcana available at Huffington Post.
How do you see me?
How do you see me? (SLYT) Let's change the way we look at people with Down syndrome. AnnaRose is a nineteen year old from NJ. She's a full time college student who works part-time at a physical therapy center and enjoys basketball and swimming through the Special Olympics NJ. AnnaRose, as many people with Down syndrome, only wants to realize her potential and live a meaningful, beautiful life.
Official State Fossils Rock!
Ed Yong, science writer for The Atlantic, rounds up the various official state fossils, from Colorado's claim on Stegosaurus to Florida's accidental choice of agatized coral, which is actually the state stone. [more inside]
tweet tweet
It's time for some bird cams! Watch some bald eagles get ready to hatch at the DC Arboretum, check out some freshly hatched bald eagles in Minnesota, monitor four falcon eggs the atop the Rachel Carson State Office Building in Harrisburg, Pa (and follow along @falconchatter), keep an eye on the two peregrine falcon eggs at Pitt, or simply enjoy the variety of wild birds feeding outside the Cornell Lab.
Don't look down
Italy. One 50 metre double line. 16 hammocks. 22 people. And, relax. Some background to the photo shoot.
A humaner Sea World
SeaWorld has announced a partnership with the Humane Society to end its orca breeding program, and the elimination of their theatrical shows that involve orca whales. [more inside]
Whitewashing the Green Rush
Raise what's left of the flag for me, with animated horses
Random audio-visual mash-up du jour: What's Left of the Flag by Flogging Molly, set to video clips from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, which doesn't originally have nearly such rousing music (score by Hans Zimmer, with more songs by Bryan Adams).
Tut plus two
Back in November of last year, archeologist Nicholas Reeves announced that in analyzing high resolution scans of Tutankamun's tomb (KV62) that there was almost certainly rooms beyond the four currently known hidden behind the plaster coated walls of the burial chamber. [more inside]
Now that's magic
Paul Daniels, internationally renowned magician and television performer, has died aged 77 after a diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour in late February 2016. [more inside]
sources of obligation, sources of value
an introduction to fiat money (pdf) by Steve Randy Waldman:* - "Self-reinforcing bootstrap dynamics hold as strongly for a king's token as it would for any other thing, but much more stably so, since the king can reinforce and assure the stability of his token so long as he retains the political capacity to coerce or persuade payment of tax." (via) [more inside]
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