SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Photo via Fast Company.

"Fast-forward to 2018. That year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the country will have 1.2 million unfilled jobs in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math, known by that increasingly inescapable acronym STEM.
Look at those positions now and the lack of women—a group who make up more than half of the workforce—isn't a problem just for women. The whole economy feels it. And without question, changing gender stereotypes and breaking down what scientists and engineers should look like is a long overdue transformation. The good news is, it's all happening." Read about the 9 giant leaps women made in science and technology this year in Fast Company. E.T.P. 6'

Photo via Quartz.

Google is heading for the exits in Russia and others are likely to follow. "After president Vladimir Putin called the internet a “CIA project,” this was probably just a matter of time: Google confirmed late Thursday (Dec. 11) that it’s getting its engineers out of Russia. According to tech site The Information, which first reported the news (paywall), its 50 mostly Moscow-based engineers will have the option to leave the company or relocate to other countries. Google will, however, keep marketing and sales teams in Russia, and it’s not shutting down its services; on the contrary, company sources have told both Western and Russian media that it plans to up its investment in Russia next year." Read full article in Quartz. E.T.P. 3'

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 16th of March

EDITORIAL

Two events this week demonstrate how terms like democracy, elections and freedom keep being pushed into becoming a farce. The first one is North Korea elections and the second one Crimea's referendum. To the black and white world that some people like to live in, these two elections held at gun point should serve as two examples to reflect upon, that definitely call for a revision of some distorted, simplistic, reductionist definitions of that wasted term. In North Korea there is a unique candidate and voting against him is considered treason to the Supreme People's Party (Yes. Supreme). In Crimea, pro-Russian forces firmly in control of Crimea politically and militarily; Ukraine opposition has been harassed, called Nazis and fascists and Ukrainian TV stations replaced by Russian ones previous to the elections. But hey! They are voting!

The news section finishes with articles about Venezuela that one month after the protest began is now facing a lot more censorship, repression, torture and death. Alongside the 'normal' problems that still don't go away like the shortages of EVERYTHING and extreme violence. As usual you have a selection of articles in English and Spanish and the very eloquent YouTube videos.

In our Science section a recent study claims fat could cloud your cognitive activities, and psychedelic research continues. In Design, Business and Innovation, now you can 3D-print a life-size version of yourself, it that's what you're into. In Culture & Entertainment, Monoskop share McLuhan correspondence with nice people, how much McLuhan is too much McLuhan anyway? Photoautomat presents the third and last post about Tim Hetherington and In Dog We Trust features the sniffing video everybody wants to see.

Happy Sunday and happy reading!


NEWS

Photo via BBC.

Last week North Korea celebrated elections to approve members of the rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People's Assembly. I appreciated the contextualization added by journalist Lucy Williamson: "The North Korean vote is a ritual, the result of which has already been largely determined. The Supreme People's Assembly meets rarely and has very little power but you would not know it from the official turnout. There is only one candidate for each district, and one name on each ballot paper. The democratic duty for the electorate is simply to write "Yes" beside it. Writing anything else might be seen as treachery, rather than democracy." Because North Korea IS A DEMOCRACY. They vote. Don't you see? Read BBC's article about the latest North Korean elections in BBC. E.T.P. 5'

This week's KAL's cartoon http://econ.st/1iJl8XB via The Economist.

Photo via @GraniTweet

Other wonderful example of democracy (because they are voting) is the referendum that will be held in Crimea today. There are Russian tanks surrounding the city. Ukraine and the West have dismissed the referendum as illegal and one that will be held at gunpoint, but Russia supports it.
"Ukrainian citizens registered in Crimea are "free to discuss the referendum questions" and to campaign in public, according to the rules. But campaigning has been almost entirely pro-Russian, often featuring swastikas to portray the authorities in Kiev as neo-Nazis. Shortly after the referendum was called, Ukrainian TV channels were removed from both terrestrial broadcasts and cable networks in Crimea. Some of them were replaced with Russian stations. There have also been reports of violence against pro-Ukrainian activists." So, as the BBC asks, is Crimea's referendum legal? E.T.P. 7'

AFP: Strongman Putin is playing a 'short game on Ukraine'.

The Atlantic: The view from Kiev: Coping with Ukraine's unfinished revolution. (Added March 19th)

Reuters: Crimeans vote over 90 percent to quit Ukraine for Russia. (Added March 18th).

Euromaidan PR: Over 123% of Sevastopol residents vote to join Russia!. (Added March 18th).

New Republic: Putin just recognize Crimea's independence. The next couple of days will determine what that means. (Added March 18th).

Photo via The Economist.

Finally, The Economist published an article titled: Another day, more bodies. That's Venezuela's new normality. "Thicknclouds of teargas hung in the air over the north gate of the Central University (UCV) in Caracas on March 12th. A police helicopter clattered overhead; on campus, plain-clothes gunmen on motorcycles, some bearing the initials of the national guard, harassed student demonstrators. . . A month after the government crack-down on protesters began, Venezuela’s crisis is deepening. This was the bloodiest single day since three people were killed in Caracas on March 12th. Eighteen injuries were reported at the UCV, after a previously peaceful student march to demand the resignation of the Venezuelan government ombudsman was halted on the orders of President Nicolás Maduro. . .  While he wields a baton in one hand, Mr Maduro releases doves from the other." Read full article in The Economist. E.T.P. 5'

Another article in The New York Times. In Venezuela conciliatory talk but combative tactics. "Acting on the orders of President Nicolás Maduro, riot police officers and soldiers this week blocked a march of thousands of student protesters, doused them with pepper spray, blasted them with water cannons and bombarded them with tear gas.
A few hours later, Mr. Maduro invited the student protest leaders to sit down to peace talks, promising to listen and chat “with respect and affection.”  E.T.P. 6'

In related news Roberto Ferdman describes in Quartz the tense and maybe soon to be over relation between the Venezuelan government and the commercial airlines working in the country asVenezuela is holding $3.7 billion in foreign airlines’ cash hostage "Anything goes when a country is running out of money. The Venezuelan government has received a warning from The International Air Transport Association (link in Spanish) (IATA) which represents over 80% of global air traffic, signaling that a handful of international airlines are considering ending their flights to and from the country. Why the sudden scuffle? Well, foreign airlines have just about had it with Venezuela’s dodgy financial ways." The airlines are not the only ones absolutely fed up with the government dodgy financial ways, as the protests demonstrate, but this is a specific case useful to understand the magnitude of the crisis. Read full article in Quartz. E.T.P 4'

More articles:

FiveThirtyEight: Why only half of Venezuelans are on the streets. (Added March 19th).

The Washington Post: Venezuela president pushes back using bellicose words and brute force. (Added March 19th).

AFP: Venezuelan forces take opposition protest plaza. (Added March 18th).

Quartz: Venezuela just invented the world's creepiest supermarket loyalty card. (Added March 18th).

Sun Sentinel: Photos: The hidden faces of Venezuelan protesters. (Added March 18th).

AFP: Venezuela cracks down as protests rage on.

VICE NEWS: Venezuela Rising. Dispatch 6.

You Tube: Students detained in Altamira Square (watch until the end).

Facebook: Photos: Student protests in photos by Elyxandro Cegarra Gómez.

Spanish:

El Nacional: Colectivos amenazan a los que toman la calle en Catia. Identifican a los manifestantes y los visitan para que se mantengan callados.

El País: Fotos: Violencia en Venezuela.

El País: El régimen venezolano estrecha el cerco sobre Internet.

French:

AFP Blog: Répression à moto au Venezuela. (Added March 18th).


YouTube:

This is how Maduro refers to the opposition leader (spoiler: he calls him a fag), this is basically the tone of every public address, and the he calls for a "peace dialogue". Link in Spanish.


To see the past posts about Venezuela follow the hashtag #SOSVenezuela

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 9th of February Edition

EDITORIAL

This week Sochi Winter Olympics has been a great excuse to put Russia and Vladimir Putin under close scrutiny. From the 'titanic budget' to the Olympic Rings fail in the opening ceremony, the photos of journalists and athletes arriving at half-done facilities, and of course the biggest of all: Russian anti-gay laws.
The Design & Business section highlights articles about Twitter and about Destination Branding. Some J.R.R. Tolkien and antimatter for the Science section. In our Culture & Entertainment we have a must-see list and "selfies" from the Berlinale, and more controversy as the Allen-Farrow neverending story keeps unfolding. Will this issue affect the already highly influenced opinion of the Academy in the upcoming awards ceremony? Finally don't miss out on what Carola and Andreína prepared for their lovely sections In Dog We Trust and Photoautomat.

Happy Sunday, happy reading and follow us in Twitter!


NEWS

Friday 06 of February Google Doodle. Screenshot.

Sochi 2014 began and happily a lot of important organizations took the opportunity to expressed their opinion about Russia's Anti-Gay laws. Channel 4 changed its logo to a more fully gay-colored one and wished good luck to athletes with its peculiar Gay Mountain video. The influential giant Google decided to used its emblematic Google Doodle and in the name of the Olympic spirit advocate for the right of every individual to practice sports without discrimination of any kind. Soon after other media like The Independent and The Huffington Post joined by changing their Twitter avatars. And finally in Canada, the Toronto-based Canadian Institute for Diversity and Inclusion, an organization that according to its CEO Michael Bash works to create “inclusive work environments … focused on the broad spectrum of diversity”, made a great video hoping the games remained -as they always have been- a little gay. Well done everyone! (If you have some more good examples, please share them with us in the comments section).

Photo: Antonio Pardo, bailando en Sochi via People Magazine.

If you have the Sochi fever, here are some Olympic related news:

Sochi: snow, skis and scandals - an idiot's guide to the Winter Olympic. Read full article in The Guardian. E.T.P.  8'

Journalists at Sochi are live tweeting their hilarious and gross hotel experiences. Read in The Washington Post. E.T.P. 6'

The lighting of the Olympic flame by two of Russia's famous Olympians, Irina Rodnina and Vladislav Tretiak, was also not without controversy — but this time over discrimination of a different variety. Read in The Huffington Post. E.T.P. 3'

Sochi hotel guests complain about topless portraits of Putin in rooms. The Borowitz Report, of course. Read in The New Yorker. E.T.P. 2'

An my personal favorite: Venezuela's lone athlete, alpine skier Antonio Pardo (photo above), who enthusiastically danced his way around the stadium. Read in People. E.T.P. 2' and in the Toronto Star E.T.P. 3'

Photo: Jim Merithew via WIRED

NSA Style. "The latest Snowden-related revelation is that Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) proactively targeted the communications infrastructure used by the online activist collective known as Anonymous. Specifically, they implemented distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on the internet relay chat (IRC) rooms used by Anonymous. They also implanted malware to out the personal identity details of specific participants. . .Whether you agree with the activities of Anonymous or not . . . the salient point is that democratic governments now seem to be using their very tactics against them. The key difference, however, is that while those involved in Anonymous can and have faced their day in court for those tactics, the British government has not. When Anonymous engages in lawbreaking, they are always taking a huge risk in doing so. But with unlimited resources and no oversight, organizations like the GCHQ (and theoretically the NSA) can do as they please. And it’s this power differential that makes all the difference". Read Gabriella Coleman's full article in Wired. E.T.P. 8'

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 19th of January Edition

EDITORIAL

In this edition of the Procrastinator we have interesting articles about writers, the old drunk kind and fictional on-screen writers discovering themselves kind. Obama's announcement of NSA reforms and Putin's campaign agains "gay propaganda" made it to the News section (below). In the Science world a biologist tries to find out if "evolution evolves under pressure", and Maria Konikkova explains the science of sleep. Andreína introduce us to the work of Francesca Woodman in Photoautomat. And finally we welcome back Carola, Obi & and their lovely In Dog We Trust section.

Happy Sunday and happy reading!


NEWS

 

Photo via The New Yorker.

Ryan Lizza reflects upon Obama's N.S.A.'s telephone-metadata program reforms announcement on Friday and points out that is clear these "are simply cosmetic changes meant to short-circuit the pressure for substantive reform. For example, Obama made it clear that he wanted the “capability” of the telephone metadata “preserved.” But Obama’s speech was undoubtedly a victory for the reform side of this debate. He not only adopted the critique of those who are most troubled by the metadata program—he also adopted their central policy recommendation. The N.S.A.’s bulk collection of telephone metadata is dead, or it will be soon". Read full article in The New Yorker. E.T.P. 7'

Image via The Huffington Post.

Charlotte Meredith shares in The Huffington Post the details of the new Russian attack against the EU for promoting an “alien view of homosexuality and same-sex marriages as a norm of life.” Criticism of “the aggressive propaganda of homosexual love” is found in the new report on human rights in the EU published last Tuesday by the Russian Foreign Ministry. Additionally, a law signed by President Vladimir Putin gives the Russian government the right to detain gay or “pro-gay” foreigners up to 14 days before facing expulsion from the country, which of course is a major concern for gay athletes and supporters at Russia’s 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. Read full article in The Huffington Post. E.T.P 4'

Barbara Ellen also discuss the topic in The Guardian, read her article Putin, the Winter Olympics and why there is two kinds of homophobia here. E.T.P. 7'

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

 Photo via The Guardian.

“Never underestimate the meanness in people's souls... Even when they're being kind... especially when they're being kind.” Alice Munro has been awarded the Nobel prize in literature. The writer known as "the Canadian Chekhov" is the 110th winner of the prize and the 13th woman to receive it. Read the news in The Guardian and a interview about "Dear Life" her newest collection of short stories that came out in November 2012, in The New Yorker. E. T. P.: 5'26''.

Image: Lidia Popova, illustrations for Toys by A Olsufieva, 1928. Photograph: Redstone Press via The Guardian.

This very interesting article in The Guardian starts like this: "At the trial of the three Pussy Riot performers in August 2012, one of the accused, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, made a closing statement in their defence. She spoke of Pussy Riot's admiration for those writers and artists who had suffered under Stalin's purges, and in particular for a group of avant garde poets and writers known as Oberiu. Two of the most prominent Oberiu members were Alexander Vvedensky and Daniil Kharms, both of whom were arrested, and died, during the Great Terror." Russia, along with some other countries,  seem to be bringing back into their policies that "sense of threat in the background", that is why we found this article so pertinent. Read it in The Guardian. E. T. P.: 4'35''. 

Lars Von Trier latest movie Nymphomaniac, that will be released in UK movie theaters the next 25th of December have a really orgasmic collection of character posters. Of course. Have a look here. E.T.P.: 23''.

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

 

 'From Petersburg With Love' by Colta Photographer - Alexei Tikhonov & Producer - Olga Shilyaeva (http://www.colta.ru/docs/5839)


In response to Russia's horrific anti-gay laws, Dazed Magazine, has been publishing a series of articles, this is the latest one. Find out about Russia's first LGBT school, The Moscow Experimental School for Gender Studies, which opened on August 2 ready to fight back Putin's anti-homosexual propaganda introducing tabu subjects as queer art, pornography, sex work, feminism to the contemporary Russian society.  Read full article here.

 Photo: Screenshot of 'Defined Lines' video.

A feminist parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” created by a bunch of University of Auckland law students was briefly removed from YouTube earlier this week. Olivia Lubbock, one of the creators of the "Defined Lines" speaking of the YouTube ban, said: “It’s been flagged by users as inappropriate because of sexual content and stuff like that, but the fact it’s been taken down is a massive double standard". Read full article in The Independent.

  

Photo: Hedi Slimane via Dazed Digital

A less controversial video is Hedi Slimane's first film for Saint Laurent ballerina line. "Trick or Treat" the soundtrack of the film is composed and performed by LA-based Clementine Creevy from Cherry Glazeer.  The model Lida Fox is captured dancing in classic black and white but in a open new york style loft  wearing leather and flannel. Fresh air is being blown by Slimane into the Saint Laurent brand and the concept of a ballerina while, as Dazed point out 'Cali grunge becomes timeless'. Have a look at the video here.

"The fact that people doesn’t read poetry, does not mean they don’t need it." It means a lot to discover the poetic/subversive work of a Mexican writer through Lost at E Minor, a Sydney, Newcastle, Austin (TX) based blog. It means that his words, his walls and his idea had travel and keeps traveling around the world. If you speak Spanish you will enjoy this Ted x Ibero presentation of Armando Alanis and his Acción Poética. Have a look here.