ENTERTAINMENT: A 2016 TV Preview

Image via The Atlantic.

Our contributor at Culturetas and confessed TV addict, Ari Basciani, shares with us this list published by The Atlantic of the shows to look forward to in 2016.

"2015 may have spawned the phrase “Peak TV” thanks to an onslaught of shows in every format imaginable, but 2016 isn’t going to offer much respite. In the coming months, terrestrial networks, premium cable, and streaming services will continue to pump out new series and bring back old favorites, no matter how niche their audience. Here’s a look at a fraction of what’s in store for the early months of 2016."

Go to The Atlantic to see the full list. E.T.P. 8'

SCIENCE 6 TECHNOLOGY: How Not to Die of Botulism

Image via The Atlantic.

"Botulinum toxin, a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, could be “the most poisonous poison” there is, as writer Carl Lamanna called it in an article for Science, in 1959. First weaponized by Imperial Japan in the 1930s, and later, Nazi Germany, the United States, the Soviet Union, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, a single gram of toxin could theoretically kill more than a million people if dispersed into the air and inhaled. But before botulinum toxin became a bioweapon and a smoother of crow's feet as the drug Botox, botulism was historically a foodborne malady, and the toxin lurked in sausage and cured meats.

Botulism, the illness caused by toxin exposure, first received scientific attention in rural Germany in the late 18th century. Officials in Stuttgart saw an increase in “sausage poisoning” in the wake of the Napoleonic wars, possibly due to poor sanitation and widespread poverty. In the 1820s, a young German physician named Justinus Kerner was the first scientist to publish an accurate and comprehensive description of the disease. He analyzed more than 200 cases of suspected sausage poisoning. He fed extracts of these “sour” sausages to animals and described the classic symptoms of botulism. Muscle weakness leading to drooped eye lids, difficulty swallowing, and respiratory failure; altered autonomic nerve function leading to vomiting, pupil dilation, and dry mouth. Brazenly, he sampled a few drops of this extract himself—he survived, though it caused a “great drying out of the palate and pharynx,” a harbinger of Botox’s modern application in treating uncontrollable salivation for those with amyotrophic  lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Grateful citizens dubbed the scientist “Wurst-Kerner,” for his pioneering contributions to public health and sausagery. In 1870, another German physician renamed the illness “botulism” after the Latin word “botulus,” or sausage."

Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 8'

NEWS: Why American Cities Are Fighting to Attract Immigrants

Photo via The Atlantic.

"Immigrants take our jobs. They don’t pay taxes. They’re a drain on the economy. They make America less … American.
You’ve probably heard all of these arguments, especially with the country recovering from a financial disaster. Indeed, they’ve been heard for a century or two, as successive waves of immigrants to this nation of immigrants have first been vilified, then grudgingly tolerated, and ultimately venerated for their contributions.
This time, too, there is ample evidence that immigrants are creating businesses and revitalizing the U.S. workforce. From 2006 to 2012, more than two-fifths of the start-up tech companies in Silicon Valley had at least one foreign-born founder, according to the Kauffman Foundation. A report by the Partnership for a New American Economy, which advocates for immigrants in the U.S. workforce, found that they accounted for 28 percent of all new small businesses in 2011." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 8'

NEWS: What ISIS Really Wants

Image via The Atlantic

A long really strong feature wrote by Graeme Wood in The Atlantic offers a detail account on ISIS origins and intentions. Necessary read to start understanding its inexplicable appeal to all the young fighters that keep flying to join its cause. "The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 16'

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION

Photo: Luke MacGregor/Reuters via The Atlantic.

Here a very interesting article on the virtues of working less, which for us of course means worrying less about occupying your time with meaningful procrastination activities like visiting galleries, picnicking outdoors when the sun is shining, exercising or simply clicking on another tab and devoting 5 minutes to reading an inspiring article, instead of engaging into a starting contest with your computer screen just for cultural inertia.

"Even though the amount of time you work tends to match how productive you are as if on a sliding scale, length of work and quality of work at a certain point become inversely related. At some point, in other words, the more you work, the less productive you become. 

For example, working long hours often leads to productivity-killing distractions. Such is an instance of the saying known as Parkinson’s law, which states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Work less, and you’ll tend to work better.

Many people are still stuck on the fundamental importance of work compared to free time: the structure it gives, the purpose it affords, the morality it signifies. But what if we viewed leisure time not as goofing off, but as necessary time for reflecting, for inspiring creativity, and for saving up brainpower and energy for future work?" Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 7'

Illustration via Wired.

Mat Honan liked everything he came across in Facebook for 48 hours, here's what he has to say about his experiment: "The like and the favorite are the new metrics of success—very literally. Not only are they ego-feeders for the stuff we put online as individuals, but advertisers track their campaigns on Facebook by how often they are liked. A recent New York Times story on a krill oil ad campaign lays bare how much the like matters to advertisers. Liking is an economic act.

I like everything. Or at least I did, for 48 hours. Literally everything Facebook sent my way, I liked—even if I hated it. I decided to embark on a campaign of conscious liking, to see how it would affect what Facebook showed me. I know this sounds like a stunt (and it was) but it was also genuinely just an open-ended experiment." Read full article in Wired. E.T.P. 7'

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Photo: Family Walking by Marc Cohen, 1977.

"Any experienced parent will tell you: You really can't expect your kids to start reading until long after they start talking. If your daughter or son can make out words at 4, jump for joy. And this parent, like many others, learned the hard way that it's a bad idea to try and force your kids to learn before they're ready. But reading to a child is something entirely different. After all, you're the one doing the work, and your son or daughter is sure to enjoy simply being in your presence and listening to the sound of your voice as you tackle, say, the tongue-twisters in some vintage Dr. Seuss. As one reading expert put it to me once: Kids understand that being read to is an act of love. When they get older, they "transfer" that love to the book." Read full article in LA Times. E.T.P. 3'

Too sick to go to work, but not too sick to go out. Super interesting article (that makes all the sense in the world!) by Julie Beck in The Atlantic. "In the face of dragging yourself out of bed for yet another day of expectations and responsibilities, illness on top of it all can seem at times an insurmountable obstacle. How can you be expected to work? You’re sick. It’s not fair.
But if you haven’t shaken off the cold by the time the weekend rolls around, sickness might seem more manageable in the face of a party you were really looking forward to. You suddenly feel like you can power through." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P.

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 15th of June Edition

EDITORIAL

Morning everyone!  Hectic past week building up to a crazier one, but in a good way! And this is why: in our To Do List we invite you to Central Saint Martins Degree Shows' week, and specially to our Conference Night: Exploiting Chaos this next Wednesday night (:

In News, like the rest of the world, we share articles about the World Cup. In our Science & Technology section Anita Hamilton writes in Time an article about this (not-so) new behavior: bedtime procrastination. Larry Clark's US$100 photos and Haruki Murakami's short story "Yesterday" in Culture & Entertainment. And In Dog We Trust by La Guía del Perro share tips to take care of your pet during the summer and introduce us to Koda the puggle.

Happy Sunday happy reading, and follow the Procrastinator in Twitter, #whydontyou? ;)

NEWS

Still of John Oliver's HBO video.

Of course the World Cup is the big news of the week, and if you are having confused feelings about it, because football is fun, but FIFA is the devil and half of Brazil is unhappy about hosting the World Cup, you definitely need to see John Oliver on Fifa, (if miraculously you haven't done so, it's all over the Internet!). "Putting aside its perennial bribery scandals, the way FIFA does business with host countries is appalling. Here, Oliver walks you though the hundreds of millions in tax breaks, the new laws, and the new criminal courts the (nominally) nonprofit organization demands." Have a look in Gawker. E.T.P. 14'

Photo via Vice.

Vice also has been covering the World Cup from an alternative perspective. Have a look at their series of Contra a Copa: the other side of Brazil's World Cup videos here. E.T.P.: 10-12' each.

"The World Cup started in Brazil this week among celebration and protests. The host nation won the game opener in front of 62,100 fans at Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, and masses watched in various positions around the country and world. -Some in protest that a huge amount of funds are directed to this prominent event." See these 27 photos in The Boston Globe's Big Picture. E.T.P. 5'

Image via The Atlantic.

In a lighter note, Uri Friedman in The Atlantic explains why the Americans used the word soccer. "In May, Stefan Szymanski, a sports economist at the University of Michigan, published a paper debunking the notion that "soccer" is a semantically bizarre American invention. In fact, it's a British import. And the Brits used it often—until, that is, it became too much of an Americanism for British English to bear. The story begins, like many good stories do, in a pub." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 5'

Stephen Collins via The Guardian.

Finally "The not giving a toss about the World Cup World Cup final", a cartoon by Stephen Collins in The Guardian.

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION

Photo via Fast Company.

A 3-D printer called the New Matter MOD-t was launched in Indiegogo a couple of days ago. It’s expected to cost $250, making it the most affordable 3-D printer to date. "It’s also being billed as one of the simplest 3-D printers: users buy and download designs for chess pieces or kitchen utensils or whatever they want to make in a storefront that crosses the App Store with Etsy. They can then edit these objects--changing size or adding texture--about as easily as adding an Instagram filter. The printer, engineered by inventor Steve Schell, is expected to be built with a third of the parts of its peers, allowing it to reach that $250 price point. The MOD-t is the first release of Frog Ventures." Read full article in Fast Company. E.T.P. 7'

Photo via The Atlantic.

What the Death of Homepages Means for the Future of News. Derek Thompson writes in The Atlantic: "Why should the death of homepages give rise to news that's more about readers? Because homepages reflect the values of institutions, and Facebook and Twitter reflect the interest of individual readers. These digital grazers have shown again and again that they aren't interested in hard news, but rather entertainment, self-help, awe, and outrage dressed up news. Digitally native publishers are pretty good at pumping this kind of stuff out. Hence quizzes, hence animals, hence 51 Photos That Show Women Fighting Sexism Awesomely. Even serious publishing companies know that self-help and entertainment often outperform outstanding reporting." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 5'

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

Photo: "Elio At Dusk". Nan Goldin via Dazed Digital.

Talking children, movies and Instagram with the godmother of the snapshot. "At 60, Goldin is still incorrigibly herself: direct, a bit difficult, a bit mischievous, dead smart, dead self-possessed and terribly beautiful. She has those thick golden Goldin curls and wears a crisp dark-blue suit. She has a husky New York-tinged drawl, and regularly uses ‘honey’ as a form of address. She’s back in the room, and she wants to know how old I am. I am 32. She is glad! She makes one of her exasperated proclamations: “I am never talking to another person under 30 again as long as I live.” Phew." Read full article in Dazed Digital. E.T.P. 10'

Photo via The Atlantic.

Elizabeth Segran explores in The Atlantic the work perspectives of graduates from humanities Ph.D.s. "There is a widespread belief that humanities Ph.D.s have limited job prospects. The story goes that since tenure-track professorships are increasingly being replaced by contingent faculty, the vast majority of English and history Ph.D.s now roam the earth as poorly-paid adjuncts or, if they leave academia, as baristas and bookstore cashiers. As English professor William Pannapacker put it in Slate a few years back, “a humanities Ph.D. will place you at a disadvantage competing against 22-year-olds for entry-level jobs that barely require a high-school diploma.” His advice to would-be graduate students was simple: Recognize that a humanities Ph.D is now a worthless degree and avoid getting one at all cost." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 6'

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 20th of April Edition

EDITORIAL

Morning everyone! Hope you are enjoying your Easter holidays. In our news section we have one article about Narcissist in Chief, Valdimir Putin, and a couple of articles about Venezuela, mostly a  little follow-up from last week "dialogue", not very useful responses from the government, but well, that's no surprise. Among the articles though, there is an interesting piece of Moisés Naím, this time in the Financial Times about the under-reported influence/control of Cuba over Venezuela. In our Science section Adrianne Lafrance introduce us to Kepler-186f, Earth's closest cousin, and Maria Konnikova talks about the science of yawning. In our Business section, some accurate descriptions of media jobs, and the darknet of drugs and guns, disturbing! And of course our Culture Section is devote to one of our favorite Latin American writers of all times: Gabriel García Marquez, el Gabo. Finally, in our lovely section In Dog We Trust you get to meet Rio Blue that belongs to one of my favorite breed of dogs: the Boston Terrier!

Happy 04/20 people, good Sunday and good reading!


NEWS

Narcissist in Chief. Joseph Burgo writes in The Atlantic about Vladimir Putin's narcissistic behavior. Some insights obviously can be extended to other more tropical messianic leaders, if you ask me. Here's a fragment of Burgo's piece: "Is it accurate to describe Putin as a narcissist in the clinical sense of the word? Can an understanding of the psychological roots of narcissism help us to gain deeper insight into the man and how we should respond to his aggression, rather than using the label to deride him? Maybe." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 11'

Photo via Voz de América.

Venezuela students add Easter twist to dwindling protests. Venezuelan students are marching barefoot, building crucifixes and planning to burn effigies of President Nicolas Maduro to try and breathe new life into their protest movement over Easter.
The religious-themed demonstrations are the latest tactics in anti-government protests since early February that have convulsed the South American OPEC nation and led to 41 deaths. Read full article in Reuters. E.T.P. 3'


Cuba fed a president's fears and took over Venezuela. The enormous influence that Cuba has gained in Venezuela is one of the most underreported geopolitical developments of recent times. It is also one of the most improbable. Venezuela is nine times bigger than Cuba, three times more populous, and its economy four times larger. The country boasts the world’s largest oil reserves. Yet critical functions of the Venezuelan state are either overseen or directly controlled by Cuban officials.Read full article by Moisés Naín in Financial Times. E.T.P. 6'

Venezuela's military admit excesses during deadly protests. The military in Venezuela has admitted it committed "some excesses" during weeks of political unrest that have left more than 40 people dead. The military's strategic command chief, Vladimir Padrino, said they were investigating 97 officers and police staff for "cruelty and torture". Read full article in BBC. E.T.P. 3'

Venezuela rejects amnesty for jailed protests leaders. The Venezuelan government has dismissed calls by the opposition for an amnesty for jailed protest leaders. Government and opposition representatives met for a second time on Tuesday to try to put an end to two months of anti-government protests.

Following the meeting, Ramon Aveledo of the opposition MUD coalition said his proposal for an amnesty law had been rejected.Read full article in BBC. E.T.P. 5'

SCIENCE

Photo via The New Yorker.

Maria Konnikova for The New Yorker: "In 1923, Sir Francis Walshe, a British neurologist, noticed something interesting while testing the reflexes of patients who were paralyzed on one side of their bodies. When they yawned, they would spontaneously regain their motor functions. In case after case, the same thing happened; it was as if, for the six or so seconds the yawn lasted, the patients were no longer paralyzed . . . Walshe concluded that yawning was activated by a primal center of the brain that fell outside conscious control.” Read full article to find out more about the surprising science of yawning in The New Yorker. E.T.P. 8'

Illustration: An artist's concept of Kepler-186f. (NASA Ames/SETI Institute/JPL-Caltech) via The Atlantic.

Adrienne Lafrance introduces us to Kepler-186f, Earth's closest couisin. "Right now, 500 light years away from Earth, there's a planet that looks a lot like our own. It is bathed in dim orangeish light, which at high noon is only as bright as the golden hour before sunset back home.
NASA scientists are calling the planet Kepler-186f, and it's unlike anything they've found. The big news: Kepler-186f is the closest relative to the Earth that researchers have discovered." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 7'

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 13th of April Edition

EDITORIAL

Hello everyone! In our News section there is an interesting article written by Moisés Naím in The Atlantic about why big protests generate so little achievements, another one about the inspiring collective project "Not A Bug Splat!", and we continue with our small coverage of the Venezuelan crisis. Google's robots and nano-organisms in video in our Science section. In our Design, Business & Innovation section we have a interesting article about consumption trends in China and the end of Facebook as we know it (and hate it). Good news in our Culture & Entertainment section: Milan Kundera and Mad Men are back! Finally In Dog We Trust share with us some dog's secrets and the tricks to handle anxiety.

Hope you have a great Sunday and a happy reading!


NEWS

Photo via The Atlantic.

"A new project, initiated by a collective of artists from around the world including the French JR, has tried to reach the people pulling the trigger in America's drone wars—the drone operators themselves.
It’s called “Not A Bug Splat,” and its gets its name from the term drone operators use for a successful “kill,” because—in the pixelated grayscale of the drone camera—ending a human life looks like squashing a bug". Read full article by Robinson Meyer in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 5'

Photo via The Atlantic.

This week Moisés Naím published an article in The Atlantic with some interesting reflections about why street protests don't work or seem to achieve minor -and definitely insufficient- political reforms. "Street protests are in. From Bangkok to Caracas, and Madrid to Moscow, these days not a week goes by without news that a massive crowd has amassed in the streets of another of the world’s big cities. The reasons for the protests vary (bad and too-costly public transport or education, the plan to raze a park, police abuse, etc.). Often, the grievance quickly expands to include a repudiation of the government, or its head, or more general denunciations of corruption and economic inequality.
Aerial photos of the anti-government marches routinely show an intimidating sea of people furiously demanding change. And yet, it is surprising how little these crowds achieve." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 7'

Opposition supporters held a rally late on Thursday as the talks began. Photo Reuters via BBC.

The most important thing that happened in Venezuela this past week was the meeting of some opposition leaders held with President Nicolás Maduro and other members of the Govermenment on Thursday in a possible first step toward ending two months of anti-government protests and street clashes, which have left at least 40 people dead.

The beginning of this 'dialogue' (yes, in inverted commas, removal pending) process between opposition and government, of course, raised a series of critics about the high political cost the opposition is paying by attending the 'dialogue'; the pertinence of some outdated arguments like the past presidential elections; the absence of representatives of the student movement; and more over about the inefficacy and doubtful authenticity of the 'dialogue' mechanism altogether, that for some is just another government charade to keep its (almost invisible) democratic mask.

I agree -we all do I guess- that the opposition's representation should had included students leaders, mostly because is thanks to them, to their determination, their bravery and their strength, that any hope of negotiation/dialogue with the government is possible (this point was addressed by Andrés Velasquez at the beginning of his intervention though). But I also think that the 'dialogue' can have a positive impact in the Venezuelan situation. After all, this is the first time in 10 years or more that something like this happens. Do I think that the Venezuelan government is a repressive and authoritarian dictatorship of some very weird hybrid nature? Yes. But maybe because of that precisely, this 'dialogue' (still in inverted commas) is even more important.

The following 3 points summarize my super personal, prone to change/evolve, humble opinion about the 'dialogue', in case someone cares. If not, you can just check the articles at the end ;)


- At the insistence of the opposition the meeting was broadcasted live on Venezuelan television and radio, and there were mediators from Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and the Vatican. That means that massive audience that usually don't have access to a version different than the official one, had the chance to listen to the opposition's point of view; their arguments, their concerns and their demands. This is relevant internationally of course, as the support of the region to the government allowed government's repression to escalate without consequences; but is also key for Venezuela, as the country is been suffering from a media blackout where most people don't have TV access to anything that the opposition says or do. Ever.

- It might not be the right time, the right crowd, or the perfect arguments the ones that are being exposed. But something is happening. As the previous Moisés Naím article points out it is a real danger of massive protests not being able to capitalize real achievements. The government might be, as some say a good old semi-military dictatorship, or a communist regime, or any kind of hybrid you want, but the opposition and a lot more than half the population of Venezuela is democratic and the resolution of this conflict has to be democratic too. Democracy is politics, and politics are slow,  and more often than not, exasperating and frustrating, not only in Venezuela, but everywhere, have a look! You won't find out a country that is not in a political crisis of some sort. But we have to play by the rules that we choose and that we champion... and move forward. If it doesn't work, so be it. We tried it. We will find another way to move on.

- Some people is afraid that the 'dialogue''s objective was to halt pacific protests, but it was said repeatedly that the 'dialogue' won't stop the street protests, that these are two sides of the same strategy. I think is important for the people that categorically rejects the 'dialogue' arguing that is useless under a dictatorial regime to think if that very same argument doesn't invalidate the streets protests. Or do they really think that the admirable, honorable effort of unarmed students alone will end the most corrupt oil-powered regime that controls with every single governmental institution, that counts with the support of every country in the region and of the military and their faithful and outrageously armed paramilitary? If so, they are a lot more optimistic and massively less cynic than me. I honestly don't see that happening, not in isolation at least, and that's why I don't think than any effort made towards improving the country's situation and promoting a national reconciliation (not political, but social), shouldn't be frowned upon, but supported. Even if it goes against what we -political analysts wannabe- believe is the best strategy. We should stand together, period.


If someone wants to share his/her opinion, please do so, I am open to the dialogue (no inverted commas). If you want to write something for the next edition, welcome!

Here (link in Spanish) are the videos of all the interventions made in this the first round of the 'dialogue'. And below a photograph of the setting of the debate, for those of you into semiotics and discourse analysis.

Photo: Santi Donaire / EFE via Prodavinci.

Related articles:

Reuters: Venezuela's Maduro meets opposition as death toll from protests rises
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro cautioned opposition leaders to keep their expectations modest on Thursday as he hosted them for mediated talks intended to stem two months of deadly political unrest.
 
Public Radio International: Venezuela's opposition gets talks with the government — on national TV "It was an interesting journey," says BBC Mundo's Daniel Pardo in Caracas. "It was a six-hour meeting between people who never met, and they used to insult each other almost every day."
While the meeting did not produce any concrete solutions to the South American country's many issues, it did signal the chance for change to come soon.

AlJazeera: Article and video Venezuela's Maduro hold talks with opposition
Business Week: Crime Hobbles Venezuela's Economy Venezuela says the country’s murder rate is 39 per 100,000 people, but the Venezuelan Violence Observatory, a nongovernmental organization, says the official figure is too low; it estimates that 24,763 people were killed last year, or 79 per 100,000 people. Along with kidnappings, thefts, and extortions, that’s earned Venezuela the No. 3 spot, after Honduras and Guatemala, as the economy most damaged by violence, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014. The country is also the worst in the world for attracting talent and second worst after Myanmar for retaining it, according to the survey.

The Wall Street Journal (photos): In Venezuela, Youths Form the Backbone of Protests 

El Universal: On charges of "systematic" violation of the human rights of Venezuelan demonstrators against the Venezuelan government, a group of Latin American lawmakers has requested the International Court of Justice to sue President Nicolás Maduro.

En español:

Prodavinci: ¿Quién ganó el debate del #10A? “El viejo mundo se muere. El nuevo tarda en aparecer.
Y en este claroscuro es cuando surgen los monstruos” Antonio Gramsci --Lectura recomendada.

El Universal: Vargas Llosa: "La resistencia en Venezuela es épica."

El País: La represión cabalga en Venezuela (Galería de fotos).

El Mundo: La Fiscalía del Tribunal Penal Internacional (TPI) tiene en sus manos una denuncia contra el presidente venezolano, Nicolás Maduro, por crímenes de lesa humanidad. Un total de 198 parlamentarios de ocho países de América Latina exigieron esta semana ante la Corte de La Haya la apertura de una investigación sobre "la represión masiva, generalizada y sistemática contra protestantes pacíficos y desarmados" en Venezuela.


On français:

Le Figaro: Venezuela opposition et gouvernement dialoguent

SCIENCE

Photo via The Atlantic.

"Don Quixote famously—infamously—tilted at windmills. Were his story set today, though, Cervantes might have to change things up a bit: the monsters the self-styled knight battles might be set in the sky. Soon, in the airs above Fairbanks, Alaska, a wind turbine will be launched. It will use helium to hover above the ground, obviating the need for poles—and, for that matter, for land. The massive balloon will be, Gizmodo reports, the world's first floating commercial wind turbine." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 5'

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

One of our favorite TV critics Alexis Madrigal writes an intersting article in The Atlantic about one of our favorite TV series, The Sacrifical Landscape of True Detective: "True Detective is a compelling show. People love the acting and are thrilled by the mystery. No arguments there. But two recent interviews with people who worked on it highlight another reason the show works: the petrochemical landscape of Louisiana." Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 8' 

Illustration via The New Yorker.

Ben Yagoda very accurately asserts in The New Yorker that "hack" is the word of the moment. "A psychologist wants to tell us how to “hack the happiness molecule.” The Web site Lifehacker offers tips on “how to install a laundry chute,” “make a DIY rapid-fire mouse button,” and “how to stop giving a f*ck what people think.” Online marketers desperately want to “growth hack.” The venture capitalist Paul Graham constantly talks about how tech entrepreneurs must have “hacker eyes”; his startup incubator, Y Combinator, runs an online news aggregator called Hacker News. A technology company recently recalled “a disastrous hack,” while in recent months Target, Neiman Marcus, Richard Engel, and the University of Maryland have all been “hacked.” Find out how the meaning of the word has evolved in his article: A Short History of 'Hack'. E.T.P. 6'

Finally, also in The Atlantic Uri Friedman decided to go in defense of the selfies from Crimea and Ukraine, and this is what he says: "Putting aside one of the explanations for this stream of selfies—a substantial pro-Moscow, ethnic Russian population on the peninsula—it's actually quite fitting that amateur and professional photographers are experimenting with new technology this week to document Russia's occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula. A century and a half ago, Crimea served as the breeding ground for modern war photography . . . Now, photographers are once again mediating our experience of a conflict in Crimea. And they're choosing Instagram, which launched in 2010, for specific reasons." Quite interesting position. Read full article in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 8'

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 2nd of March Edition

EDITORIAL

In our first March edition, sadly Venezuela and Ukraine remain in our news section as their crisis seem far away of reaching an end. In Venezuela, there was an incomplete/empty "peace conference" while students still were brutally repressed, imprisoned, and government representatives keeps using violent language to refer to the opposition. Extra "festive" carnival days were ordered by President Maduro in the hope of making the street manifestations go away, but the protests along with the ridiculously long queues to buy food, the violence, and the inflation, stand still. In Ukraine, the situation is really delicate as Putin received approval from the Russian Parliament to use force in Crimea, and Ukraine forces are in combat alert.

The rest of our edition includes, among other interesting articles, images from the BioScapes photo competition and a Mini Museum in the Science Section; a helpful guide to understand "Business English" from Britain and the successor of the GIF in our Business Section; Juman Malouf's character sketches for the The Grand Budapest Hotel in our Culture section; one of our favorite Miranda July's video in Our Weekly Procrastination via our friend Carla; in Photoautomat, Andreína share the first post of a March series about the great war photographer Tim Hetherington;  and of course the always lovely In Dog We Trust by La Guía del Perro.

Happy Sunday, happy reading and keep on keeping on!

NEWS

Russian army vehicles in the Crimean town of Balaklava on Saturday. Baz Ratner/Reuters via The New York Times.

The perspectives for Ukraine are really disheartening as Putin's desire to re-build the Soviet Union as a colonial power starts to feel less rhetoric and more real. Putin's biographer Masha Gessen argues in The Observer that now Russians realise he was serious and this will mean Russian aggression abroad and repression at home.

The Guardian has Live Updates of Ukraine's crisis. And these are the articles I found interesting during the week:

The New York Times: Kremlin prepares for military intervention.

The Atlantic: The Crimean Crisis We Should Have Seen Coming.

Foreign Policy: Meet the journalists exposing Yanukovych's deepest wettest secrets.

The New Yorker: Putin Goes to War in Crimea.

Quartz: Here's what's really happening in Ukraine, according to Russian bloggers.


*****UPDATES

The New York Times. Ukraine Crisis in Maps. Added 06 March.

Anti-government demonstrators take cover from a police water cannon in Caracas, Feb. 28, 2014. Photo AP via TIME.

Photo: Reuters via The Economist.

Time magazine publishes some recent photos of the protests in Venezuela and points out that the country "approaches a full month of nationwide instability and violence as protests against the government of Nicolas Maduro continue and anger at the country’s repressive turn and basket-case economy smolders. At least 17 people have died in clashes between security forces and pro- and anti-government demonstrators". Watch the photos here.

The Economist published the 27 of February a good article titled:  Dialogue, not repression, is the way for Nicolás Maduro to save his government and his country. "The echoes are striking: division, a government combining a democratic mandate with thuggery, and an opposition that is increasingly radicalised. The parallels between Venezuela and Ukraine are not exact: the fractures in Venezuela are based largely on class, and those in Ukraine partly on geography. But both are caught in a spiral of protest and violent response." The sad part is that he only cares about his government, about "winning", about their old consignes, about an ideal that just does not fit.

Javier Corrales in The Washington Post writes "The students are inspired and ready to press on. The government shows no signs of ceding ground. Yet in this stalemate, the students have already achieved two significant victories. First, they have delivered a message to the government that the formal opposition has failed to convey. Second, and more important, the protesters have revealed to the world the true nature of Venezuela’s regime." 

And finally Moisés Naim in the Atlantic, writes: "Venezuelans younger than 30 years of age (the majority of the population) have not known any government other than that of Chávez or Maduro. For them, "Chavismo" is the past. As for the promises of a better future: The results are in. The catastrophic consequences of Chávez's 21st Century Socialism are impossible to mask any longer and the government has run out of excuses. Blaming the CIA, the “fascist opposition,” or “dark international forces,” as Maduro and his allies customarily do, has become fodder for parodies flooding YouTube. The concrete effects of 15 years of Chavismo are all too visible in empty shelves and overflowing morgues. The youth who are continuing to protest in almost all of Venezuela’s large cities, risking brutal beatings, savage torture, and death, are convinced that they will not have a better future unless the policies to which this government is strongly committed are changed." Read full article here.

If you haven't heard anything about protest in Venezuela yet, you can have a look at my posts from the past two weeks (16th of February and 23rd of February), there are a lot of articles, links, photos and videos from all sort of sources.

These are another interesting articles and news from this week, and I'll keep updating this post during the week.

English:

AP Big Story: 2 Dead as Venezuelans crash in protests barricades. Added March 07.

Business Insider: Here's What Outsiders Get Completely Wrong About The Crisis In Venezuela. Added March 06. Important reading!

AP: UN experts demand answers about Venezuela violence. Added March 06.

Vice News: Why more people are murdered in Caracas than in Bagdad. Added March 06.

You Tube: The Repression was televised. This video has music, I know, it can be argued that that makes it less "objective" but forget about it for a minute and watch. (Contain strong images / NSFW) Added March 06.

Vice News: Venezuela Rising. Dispatches 1-4. Added 04 March.

Europäische Parlament: Venezuela peaceful and respectfucl dialogue only way out of the crisis, MEPs say.

Esquire: Before and after: Venezuela on Instagram.  30 photographs of how normal life changed in a matter of days when the people stood up to what they feel is an oppressive regime.

The New Yorker: Where Protests End: From Ukraine to Venezuela. "It is an age of protest and volatility. In the face of entrenched authoritarian governments, ineffectual parliaments, and insufficient rule of law, chronic instability is becoming the norm. First it was Egypt and Libya and Syria, and, in the past few days, it has been Ukraine and Venezuela—and Turkey and Thailand, too. In most of these cases, protesters and police do battle as in some extended Kabuki drama, without apparent conclusion. " 

The Huffington Post: White House Eyes Venezuela 'Mediation' As Lawmakers Call For Sanctions. "Kerry acknowledged U.S. lawmakers want a tougher approach, but emphasized the need for "a dialogue," in line with the Obama administration's position that the conflict must be resolved between Maduro and the Venezuelan people."

In related news:

Mashable: Here's Jared Leto's Beyond Perfect Acceptance Speech with mentions to Ukraine, Venezuela, and all the dreamers out there.

Español:

El Universal: Fotos: Muchacho (Alcalde de Chacao) denunció represión "cobarde y violatoria de los Derechos Humanos a vecinos. Agregado 06 Marzo.

You Tube: La represión sí fue televisada. Este video está editado con música, no sé por qué la gente sigue haciendo eso, pero olvídense de eso por un momento y véanlo. (Contiene imágenes fuertes / NSFW) Added March 06.

CNN: Video: Guardia Nacional ingresa ilegalmente a un edificio y detiene a estudiante. Agregado 06 Marzo.

El Nacional: Ex-Presidentes Latinoamericanos se pronuncian sobre la situación en Venezuela. Oscar Arias, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Ricardo Lagos y Alejandro Toledo suscribieron un comunicado donde critican la desproporcionada represión contra manifestaciones estudiantiles y la detención de Leopoldo López. (Agregado 05 Marzo).

El Espectador (Colombia): La buena televisión chavista. Y acá el video mencionado

YouTube: Las declaraciones del chamo de Petare a Fernando del Rincón CNN.

Yahoo Noticias / EFE: La ONU condena la violencia en Venezuela e insta a respetar la libertad de expresión.

El País: La soledad de los estudiantes venezolanos. Mientras el país se encamina hacia una dictadura, en Latinoamérica hay un apoyo al chavismo por parte de la izquierda derivado, en el fondo, del prestigio menguado pero extrañamente vivo de la Revolución cubana.

El Nacional: Casos de torturas hicieron llorar a muchos. Víctimas y familiares contaron a quienes manifestaron ayer (28F) las prácticas inhumanas de los uniformados.

El Nacional. El patrón de la muerte. La reconstrucción de los fallecimientos de Robert Redman, Génesis Carmona, Geraldine Moreno y José Alejandro Márquez revela acciones y omisiones que comprometen a la Guardia Nacional Bolivariana con homicidios de civiles o con perpetradores de esos delitos cometidos a partir del 12 de febrero.  

Y en noticias relacionadas:

La Nación: Rusia planea expandir su presencia militar en Nicaragua, Venezuela y Cuba. ¿Quién dijo que la Guerra Fría había terminado?


Français:

Les Echos: Au Venezuela, le bilan des manifestations s’alourdit.  + VIDEO Après trois semaines d’une répression sanglante, les manifestations faiblissent en cette période de carnaval. La « conférence pour la paix » de Nicolas Maduro n’a toutefois pas apaisé la contestation à l’encontre de sa politique.

Le Figaro: Le Venezuela c'est l'Ukranie de l'Amerique Latine.

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

Photo House of Cards via The Atlantic.

And one of the most awaited shows on this new sort of TV that is not aired on TV, House of Cards just started last Friday on Netflix. Spencer Hornhaber in The Atlantic is watching and reviewing all episodes. At the moment of writing this he's already in episode 08. Have a look at his reflexions in The Atlantic. E.T.P. unknown as the article is still being updated. Christopher Hooton also talks about HoC "ferocious return" and its "malignant first episode" in The Independent. E.T.P. 4' (Major spoilers in both articles, of course).

Photo: Ellen Page via The Guardian.

Lovely Ellen Page, has announced that she is gay. "Speaking in Las Vegas on Friday, at a Human Rights Campaign-organised Time to Thrive conference of counsellors who work with teenagers who identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual or queer, she said: “I’m here today because I’m gay, and because maybe I can make a difference.” Read full article in The Guardian. E.T.P. (with video) 12'

Stranger by the Lake still via BFI.

10 great French gay films. As acclaimed thriller Stranger by the Lake is released in cinemas nationwide and on the BFI Player, we look back at the best of French gay cinema. See the list in the BFI website. E.T.P. 6'

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 26th of January Edition

EDITORIAL

There are some themes that we shouldn't stop talking about like repression in Putin's Russia, and others that I'm not quite sure if we should talk at all, like French presidents love affairs. This edition of the Procrastinator have them both, feel free to let us know what you think about it. The Mac is now 30 years old, but still an icon of innovation, you can read about it in our Design section. We share some photos of our latest outing around the Capital Ring in Our Weekly Procrastination, and La Guía del Perro's In Dog We Trust share with us an awesome DIY special edition.

Hope you enjoy this edition and make sure you find time for some meaningful procrastination as is the last Sunday of January ;)

Happy Sunday and happy reading!

NEWS

Photo via The Independent.

The latest news in the whole Hollande-Trierweiler-Gayet issue is that Valérie Trierweiler lost her First Lady status as President Holland confirms the separation. Is not that as if I've been closely following the news, quite the opposite perhaps, but since every update keeps appearing everywhere I am quite intrigued about your opinion in this whole love/political affair. I mean, do you care at all? I'll give you a topic: Should private lives of big political leaders shadow the 'real' news. Please dicusss. And if you want to read The Independent article, here it is. Warning: no meaningful procrastination guaranteed.  

A little bit more interesting is in Anne Penketh and Kim Willsher in The Guardian. As rumours about François Hollande's alleged affair swirl, they argue the women of France admit they don't live up to their chic image. "Shock news from across the Channel: French women do get fat, they have brattish, fussy-eater children, chipped nails, they sometimes sleep on their own wearing big cotton knickers and they do mind if their husband is enjoying cinq-à-sept trysts with his mistress". Read full article here. E.T.P 8'

Via The Atlantic.

In the spring of 2002, US government's researchers began tracking a group of roughly 15,000 high school sophomores—most of whom would be roughly age 27 today—with the intention of following them through early adulthood. Like Jordan Weissmann, who writes this article for The Atlantic, many of those students graduated college in 2008, just in time to grab a front-row seat for the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the economic gore fest that ensued. Two years ago, the government’s researchers handed their subjects an enormous survey about their lives in the real world and the main insights are that this group of 27 year olds are as highly educated as they are highly indebted. See more interesting charts illustrating the life of young-adults in the wake of the Great Recession in The Atlantic. E.T.P. 8'

Photo: The Procrastinator (some) Times.

Finally, our friend Luis sent us this article published in Nautilus called "Why we procrastinate?", is not recent, but it's quite interesting, in it Alisa Opar analyzes the research of the British philosopher Derek Parfit espoused in his seminal book, Reasons and Persons. "We humans, Parfit argued, are not a consistent identity moving through time, but a chain of successive selves, each tangentially linked to, and yet distinct from, the previous and subsequent ones. The boy who begins to smoke despite knowing that he may suffer from the habit decades later should not be judged harshly: “This boy does not identify with his future self,” Parfit wrote. It is a weird notion, but Emily Bronin, reach more or less the same conclusion back in 2008. We think of our future selves, says Pronin, like we think of others: in the third person. Read full article in Nautilus. E.T.P. 6'