Open Thread- Some Lewis Black On A Friday Morning

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A little comedy as an end of the week stress buster. Lewis Black captures my feelings leading up to the election oh, so well~

 

 

So, anything new?

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A sobering quote

geomoo's picture

I was reading Richard Falk's typically complete analysis of what drones mean for our future.  He ended with this quote:

 

As with nuclear weaponry, climate change, and respect for the carrying capacity of the earth, we who are alive at present may be the last who have even the possibility of upholding the life prospects of future generations. It seems late, but still not too late to act responsibly, but we will not be able to make such claims very much longer. Part of the challenge is undoubtedly structural. For most purposes, global governance depends on cooperation among sovereign states, but in matters of war and peace the world order system remains resolutely vertical and under the control of geopolitical actors, perhaps as few as one, who are unwilling to restrict their military activities to the confines of territorial boundaries, but insist on their prerogative to manage coercively the planet as a whole. When it comes to drones the fate of humanity is squeezed between the impotence of state-centric logic and the grandiose schemes of the geopolitical mentality.

The phrases "impetus of state-centric logic" and "grandiose schemes of the geopoliical mentality" are abstract.  Put simply, I think he's talking about paranoid visions which think of entire world regions as pieces on a chess board.

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Not exactly sure how to say this, but this

Glinda's picture

very cute animated video with cute figures is pretty graphic. 

It's produced by Melbourne Metro Trains to try to discourage people not to use trains to kill themselves.  It's called Dumb Ways to Die.

Not sure how I feel about this yet, but it certainly is a catchy tune... earworm, if you will.

Melbourne Metro PSA: “Dumb ways to die”

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It's still okay to try to solve this problem

geomoo's picture

I would add a coupla verses to the song:

- Carelessly spew CO2 into the atmosphere until your only home becomes unlivable.

- Use almost half your resources to create tools for killing humans and put those tools in the hands of sociopaths with delusions of grandeur.

There are indeed so many ways to die.  But for only certain ones is it fully acceptable to plead publicly with people to stop doing them.

(Sorry, I'm in a very bitter mood today.  My first thought, which I think a lot these days, is, "So, this is what we're putting our efforts into trying to solve.")

 

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Oooooh, this gets funnier by the minute

Glinda's picture

The Florida socialite who traded flirtatious emails with the top commander in Afghanistan also sent numerous emails to the mayor of Tampa, including one begging him to shoo away news reporters camped outside her waterfront mansion.

 

The emails were released Friday by Mayor Bob Buckhorn.[...]

 

However, Buckhorn declined most of Kelley's invitations because he had other commitments. He was polite, but most of his replies were brief. Some replies were sent by the mayor's staff and not Buckhorn himself.

 

Buckhorn's office said the emails began in March 2011, a month after he was elected. More recently, Kelley begged him to remove the media outside her home and chastised officials for releasing 911 calls she made to police.

And  Petraeus was brought down by this wanna be fake socialite?  The irony is priceless.

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