The Brazilianization of the World - American Affairs Journal
The Brazilianization of the World - American Affairs Journal
https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2021/05/the-brazilianization-of-the-world/
The West’s involution finds its mirror image in the original country of the future, the nation doomed forever to remain the country of the future, the one that never reaches its destination: Brazil. The Brazilianization of the world is our encounter with a future denied, and in which this frustration has become constitutive of our social reality. While the closing of historical horizons has often been a leftist, indeed Marxist, concern, the sense that things don’t work as they should is now widely shared across the political spectrum. Welcome to Brazil. Here the only people satisfied with their situation are financial elites and venal politicians. Everyone complains, but everyone shrugs their shoulders. This slow degradation of society is not so much a runaway train, but more of a jittery rollercoaster, occasionally holding out promise of ascent, yet never breaking free from the tracks. We always come back to where we started, shaken and disoriented, haunted by what might have been...
How sci-fi writer JG Ballard's computer poems predicted ChatGPT
How sci-fi writer JG Ballard's computer poems predicted ChatGPT
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240510-how-sci-fi-writer-jg-ballards-computer-poems-predicted-chatgpt
In the 1970s, science fiction writer JG Ballard was intrigued by the growing capabilities of computers – so used one to compose poems. They were a first step on the road to ChatGPT.
An anthropologist studies the warring ideas of Noam Chomsky | Aeon Essays
An anthropologist studies the warring ideas of Noam Chomsky | Aeon Essays
https://aeon.co/essays/an-anthropologist-studies-the-warring-ideas-of-noam-chomsky
The US military’s greatest enemy worked in an institution saturated with military funding. How did it shape his thought?
Ty and the history of UK rap: A brief history of UK hip hop, rap and MC culture told by a linchpin of the scene, Shortee Blitz
Ty and the history of UK rap
https://mixmag.net/feature/ty-and-the-history-of-uk-rap
A brief history of UK hip hop, rap and MC culture told by a linchpin of the scene, Shortee Blitz
Calypso and the birth of British black music
British Library
https://www.bl.uk/windrush/articles/calypso-and-the-birth-of-british-black-music
Ask a North Korean: What did state propaganda teach you about love? | NK News
archive.vn
https://archive.vn/sooir
Collections: Why Don’t We Use Chemical Weapons Anymore?
Collections: Why Don’t We Use Chemical Weapons Anymore?
https://acoup.blog/2020/03/20/collections-why-dont-we-use-chemical-weapons-anymore/
This week, we’re going to talk briefly about why ‘we’ – and by ‘we’ here, I mean the top-tier of modern militaries – have generally eschewed the systematic…
The role of organic amendments in soil reclamation: A review
The role of organic amendments in soil reclamation: A review
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.4141/cjss2010-064
Larney, F. J. and Angers, D. A. 2012. The role of organic amendments in soil reclamation: A review. Can. J. Soil Sci. 92: 19–38. A basic tenet of sustainable soil management is that current human activities are not detrimental to future generations. Soils are degraded by natural events (erosion) or industrial activity. A prevalent feature of degraded or disturbed soils is lack of organic matter compared with adjacent undisturbed areas. Organic amendments, such as livestock manure, biosolids, pulp and paper mill by-products, wood residuals and crop residues, are produced in abundance in Canada and could be widely used in soil reclamation. Biosolids production is ∼0.5 Tg yr−1(dry wt.); paper mill sludge generated in the province of Quebec was ∼2 Tg (wet wt.) in 2002. This review paper examines mechanisms through which organic amendments affect soil properties (physical, chemical, biological) and describes the role of organic amendments in reclamation, with emphasis on amendment types and application rates for soil amelioration and biomass production. Single large applications of organic amendments can accelerate initial reclamation and lead to self-sustaining net primary productivity. Readily decomposable organic amendments may provide immediate, but transient, effects, whereas stable, less decomposable materials may provide longer-lasting effects. Using organic amendments for reclamation is mutually beneficial wherein waste products from agriculture, forestry and urban areas help other sectors meet their land reclamation goals.
The Disappearing Art Of Maintenance | NOEMA
The Disappearing Art Of Maintenance | NOEMA
https://www.noemamag.com/the-disappearing-art-of-maintenance
The noble but undervalued craft of maintenance could help preserve modernity’s finest achievements, from public transit systems to power grids, and serve as a useful framework for addressing climate change and other pressing planetary constraints.
After seven years at Snapchat, I finally learned the truth about why our most important apps seem destined to disappoint us.
Social media is doomed to die
https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23672769/social-media-inevitable-death-monetization-growth-hacks
I spent seven years at Snapchat. I thought things would be different.