Tuesday, February 01, 2005
- Bad news for Antonin Scalia? Yerkes Primate Center Researchers find "Chimpanzees' Sense of Justice Found Similar to Humans." [Scientific American]
- So that explains the difference in our salaries. Harry Frankfurt's On Bullshit:
"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit. Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted. Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it. So the phenomenon has not aroused much deliberate concern, or attracted much sustained inquiry. In consequence, we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves. And we lack a conscientiously developed appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, we have no theory. I propose to begin the development of a theoretical understanding of bullshit, mainly by providing some tentative and exploratory philosophical analysis." [read full article]
- I stumbled upon some interesting new radical reads today at Bad Subjects:
"...[A] collective that publishes a magazine (Bad Subjects: Political Education for Everyday Life) and provides access to it via a public-access website. In 1998, Bad Subjects founded a small educational nonprofit corporation, also called Bad Subjects, which promotes the progressive use of new media and print publications. Donations to the nonprofit go toward funding printed copies of the magazine Bad Subjects (distributed for free), and other related projects, such as Bad Subjects books. Bad Subjects seeks to revitalize progressive politics in retreat." [see Bad FAQ]
Some of the articles on Bad Subjects' front page today include "Feminist Revolt: Censorship of Women's Art in Poland," reviewed by Pawe? Leszkowicz, and "Iraq, the Anti-War Movement, and Anti-Romanticism," by Joe Lockard - The Pramulator: what happens when you make a baby carriage that looks just like the Chicago Bean [via Boing Boing]
- Reinventing the wheel, seriously: the Michelin Tweel just might revolutionize the automotive tire industry with its non-pneumatic, tubeless, soft-spoke design, although these strange tires would look quite odd on a Hummer™ [via BoingBoing]
- It had to happen: Hello Kitty™ sushi
- "I don't buy Taster's Choice; I do beans," says Russell Christoff, who was awarded $15.6M by a California jury because Nestlé used his likeness on jars of instant coffee worldwide since 2002 without permission or compensation [FindLaw]
- If you weren't yet convinced that the reality TV phenomenon "jumped the shark" some time ago, these two upcoming shows [both has-been musical acts seeking to replace a dead bandmember] should do the trick:
R U The Girl features T-Boz and Chilli, the 2 remaining members of TLC, as they try to find a female performer to replace Left Eye who was killed in a car crash in 2002. Oh, wait. Replacing Left Eye? Isn't that what the girls promised never to do? You're right! And there was major fan backlash. So now they're saying the prize is a "lifetime opportunity" and that the winner will "join them in an upcoming concert and record with them in the studio." The Chicago casting call is Tuesday, February 8th from 10am - 6pm at the Renaissance Chicago Hotel.
[via Chicagoist] It could be worse: they could try to resurrect Milli Vanilli. [About.com's listing of Dead 80's Rockers - 4 pages full]
The INXS show, Rock Star, is bound to be better because it's not on UPN and also because it's producers are Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice, The Restaurant) and David Goffen (American Idol). Michael Hutchence, INXS's lead singer, committed suicide in 1997 and the rest of the band is now trying to find a new lead singer. The winner will go on a worldwide tour with the band and will record the group's new album. The Chicago casting call is Sunday, February 6 from 8am - 4pm at Shubas.
farkleberries Links du Jour 53
