Category Archives: Culture

State of the World 2023

Fierce Planet Posted on by

Happening now at The Well: a topic where Jon Lebkowsky, Bruce Sterling, and a very smart cast of dozens consider the state of the world as the new year dawns. So far it’s been a wide-ranging, global discussion about crypto, AI, climate change, health and COVID, and more. The entire topic is world-readable, though non-members can’t post directly but rather need to send questions or comments by email to the hosts. (Most of the Well is only open to members.) This is the 22nd iteration of this discussion, and earlier versions can also be found among the topics in the … Continue reading →

Ringing in 2023

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In Times Square with a very wet but still awesome performance by j-hope of BTS. Happy New Year, friends, and let’s spread more joy in the year ahead! Starting 2023 with HOPE ☺️💜 What a performance from j-hope in Times Square! @bts_bighit Keep rockin' with us on ABC! #RockinEve pic.twitter.com/FerfLkwAS8 — New Year’s Rockin’ Eve (@RockinEve) January 1, 2023

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What have we done with the Internet?

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What it is, is up to us. — Howard Rheingold, author of The Virtual Community I think of myself as an OG Internet inhabitant, because I was one of the early commercial consumers who arrived online after NSFNet began to release control of the network to corporate actors. For me, that began in 1993. I had been hanging around bulletin board systems (BBSs) for a year or two, after peace activists I worked with started to use computers for communication and organizing. I ended up on a system I’d heard of some years before, The Well, created in 1985 and … Continue reading →

Dreamers

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Look who we are, we are the dreamers We make it happen ’cause we believe it Look who we are, we are the dreamers We make it happen ’cause we can see it Here’s to the ones that keep the passion Respect, oh, yeah Here’s to the ones that can imagine Respect, oh, yeah     Jungkook of BTS opens the FIFA World Cup Ceremony with Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi and a dazzling host of dancers who appeared to be from all over the world. This is the first time a Korean performer has opened the World Cup. The song … Continue reading →

Violence continues

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The violence I worried about in an earlier post is continuing, and escalating, as we move towards this decisive election. I’m sure you heard about this. (gift link, no paywall for a while) Assailant shouted ‘Where is Nancy?’ in break-in at speaker’s home, attack on Paul Pelosi The husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was violently assaulted with a hammer during an early-morning break-in Friday at the couple’s San Francisco home, a chilling escalation in a string of violence and threats directed at political leaders across the country. The suspect, identified by police as 42-year-old David DePape, was searching … Continue reading →

One more thing…

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And then I’ll get back to US politics, I promise. After years of waiting around and negotiating behind the scenes, BTS has decided to go ahead with their mandatory military enlistments. Kim Seokjin, the eldest of the group, could enlist within the month after the release of his latest solo work. I love the way BTS and BigHit are handling this. They’ve been jerked around enough by the SK government trying to profit from them while holding enlistment over their heads. Both BTS and ARMY went through a lot, emotionally, since Festa dinner this year. For the most part fans … Continue reading →

BTS Concert in Busan – free to view tonight

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Over on Twitter, I realized that I have not seen a single mention in western media of the huge, free concert BTS is performing in Busan, South Korea on Oct. 15 at 6 pm KST. That’s tonight at 3 am MDT for those of us in Colorado, so I’m looking at another all-night romp. The concert is free to attend, and the non-transferable tickets ran out in minutes. The effort is in support of the city’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo, to show that what seems like a sleepy seaside city can present a major world event. Fortunately … Continue reading →

Climate heroes

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Including Rosemary Mosco herself. A lot of online climate change talk focuses on villains, and it can be so isolating. But there are many, many amazing people who are taking action. Here are 16 of them. pic.twitter.com/vEivvja20M — Rosemary Mosco (Bird And Moon Comics) (@RosemaryMosco) August 16, 2022

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What patriarchy looks like in everyday life

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Beaten for no reason, dragged off the street for violations of modesty laws, subject to torture in those detention centers, refused school and work choices—this report shows exactly how women in Afghanistan are treated by the Taliban. Women who dare to protest, and some women do dare to, are treated even more harshly.   In the New York Times (gift link, no paywall) another report shows the same brutal situation. Taliban Rewind the Clock: ‘A Woman Is a Helpless and Powerless Creature’ Girls are barred from secondary schools and women from traveling any significant distance without a male relative. Men … Continue reading →