There is something fascinatingly contradictory about carnivorous plants. This close up video by the BBC shows how one of them, the Venus Flytrap, works. I have to admit, I was fascinated to learn how the plant captures its prey but saddened by the sight of hapless flies succumbing to its wiles.
It is quite extraordinary how on the one hand the US political-media class in the US is outraged, absolutely outraged, by alleged Russian attempts to sway US elections while at the same time they are openly calling for a military coup in Venezuela to overthrow president Nicholas Maduro and install Juan Guaidó as president. This is not the first time that the US has done it. The US expressed great joy when Hugo Chavez seemed to have been ousted only to end up with egg on its face when he beat back the coup.
[Read more…]
The Indian general elections began on April 11 and will continue until May 19, with the results to be announced on May 23. It is an important election that will show how much support current prime minister Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP party have for their right-wing, Hindu nationalist agenda. But in this post, I want to focus on the impressive way that Indian elections are conducted. It is a mammoth undertaking since 900 million people are eligible to vote for 2,354 registered political parties and the law requires that every voter should not have to travel more that 2 km (1.24 miles) to cast their ballot. This means that election officials have to lug some of the 2.3 million electronic voting machines to the remotest parts of the country. They have to take one machine up to a height of 15,256 feet and travel 35 km with another just to get to a single resident, the temple priest in the Gir National Forest in Gujarat.
[Read more…]
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer, the three guitar players in the 1984 cult film that featured the loudest rock band ever (it went up to 11), are actual musicians and a few days ago, the trio performed live with Elvis Costello at the Tribeca Film Festival at a screening for the 35 anniversary of the film. (The drummers in the band had a habit of dying mysteriously.)
Here’s the trailer for the original film from back in 1984.
I am not naïve. I know that politics is a dirty business and that people will do unsavory things to help their chosen candidate win. But there are some things that so sicken me that I feel the urge to say the hell with it and go and become a hermit just to avoid reading about it.
One such case is the attempt by two Republicans to recruit gay Republicans to allege that Democratic contender Pete Buttigieg had sexually assaulted them. Fortunately that plot was exposed by Hunter Kelly, the person who was being used for the purpose
[Read more…]
Anthropologist Scott Atran writes that recent events suggest that we are witnessing an escalating cycle of tit-for-tat violence in which Islamic extremists and white nationalists are engaged in a global competition to inflict death and destruction in an attempt to trigger an all-out race war that they think will benefit their own side.
[Read more…]
Once in a while, one needs to actually send a physical letter. For those of you for whom this is an unfamiliar exercise, this involves writing or typing (and then printing) the message, addressing an envelope, sealing the envelope, putting a stamp, and then popping it in the mail box.
Do you find that process onerous? Rob Beschizza says that there is a company that will do all that for you for a cost that starts at $1.52 per letter. All you have to do is email them the text of the letter and the address you want it sent to.
This may be the beginning of a new class of service industries for retro services.
The National Rifle Association is one of the most powerful lobbies in the US, successfully thwarting many attempts at serious gun control laws. It started out as an organization dedicated to the responsible use of guns but over time was taken over by zealots who opposed any and all attempts at controlling the spread of even the most lethal weapons, even if the net result was that seriously disturbed people could get their hands on them.
[Read more…]
Saudi Arabia has one of the worst governments in the world, ruthless and oppressive. It is however a close ally of the US and because of the value it provides as a friendly source of oil and its willingness to act as a regional surrogate power against Iran and Yemen, the US turns a blind eye to even the most outrageous actions. The most obvious recent example is of course the way that the country and its de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman have suffered no consequences at all for the brutal murder of reporter Jamal Khashoggi.
But that is not all. The Saudi government brazenly allows its citizens in the US to escape the consequences of their crimes by paying their bail and spiriting them out of the country before they can be tried, even if their passports have been impounded. It is hard to imagine how this could only happen unless the US government has decided to look the other way. The right to justice for the victims of the crimes is simply ignored.
[Read more…]
I have written many times before about the Satanic Temple and their efforts to keep the public square secular and open to all beliefs and not have it become the domain of those who favor one religion over other religions or religion in general over non-religion. Their demand that their statue of Baphomet be allowed in any public space that allows religious symbols has proven to be a potent political and legal argument against religious exclusivity but their broader goals are to promote social justice and equality.
[Read more…]