Trapped in a Company Town

Why is it so hard for mass media, corporations, and millions of Americans to address the threat of Trumpism?

Traditionally, the interviewer strikes the “reasonable person” pose and treats the interviewee as similarly reasonable—just two reasonable people having a discussion, in which the interviewer tries to get the interviewee to address things they might not be comfortable discussing. But if the person being interviewed is not reasonable and has no barriers to the number or scope of their lies, this dynamic can’t work.

I’m an Undecided Hobbit, Torn Between a Dark Lord Who Promises an Age of Chaos and an Elf Queen Whom I Just Wish I Knew More About – McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

I’m torn. Both Galadriel and Sauron say the other is a threat to Middle-earth. One has to be wrong, so whom am I to trust? Should I trust the Dark Lord who attempted to topple the White City of Gondor, dominate all life, and attempt to stay in power for eternity? Or do I trust the Elf Queen representing the coalition of Men and Elves who defeated Sauron when he tried to enslave the Free Peoples… but could maybe do more meet-and-greets?

Megalopolis: A Movie Review

Ticket sales and critical reception de damned. Megalopolis had me fascinated and engaged in ways unlike other movies, as if watching a new form. It has me excited about unexplored potentials in the medium. And if it captures your heart, the optimism towards humanity its story contains can leave an impression. Cautious positivity about what we are capable of as a species, welcome in times that too often feel doom-laden.

Yes, I see something beautiful and profound in Megalopolis, and think it is likely a masterpiece. Only the test of time can say. For this viewer, the movie’s flaws (which are mostly risks) are blown out the water by its original qualities.

Domus Aurea: The Illustrious Palace of Emperor Nero I SLICE HISTORY – YouTube

Thanks to stunning reconstitutions with computer-generated images, this film takes us on a journey to discover Rome, the greatest and most exceptional city of the ancient world. It unveils the secrets of Roman architecture and reveals the incredible talent of its builders. Using recent film footage of Rome as it is today and the ruins that are still visible, together with significant post-production work, the city’s most iconic monuments come back to life including the Pantheon and its majestic dome, the largest in the world at the time. A model of excellence, innovations, and eternity, here is Rome, as you have never seen it before.

Chernobyl Visually Explained – YouTube

Mooi gevisualeerd.

Chernobyl Accident – the Physics Clearly Explained: a simulation and visualization of the Chernobyl disaster, breaking down the physics behind the accident. It explains nuclear fission, focusing on Uranium-235 and how reactors maintain a controlled chain reaction using control rods and moderators like graphite. The RBMK reactor’s dangerous positive void coefficient is highlighted, showing how overheating increases reactivity.

Cats are (almost) liquid!—Cats selectively rely on body size awareness when negotiating short openings: iScience

Various animal species can make a priori decisions about the passability of openings, based on their own size knowledge. So far no one has tested the ability for self-representation in cats. We hypothesized that cats may rely on their size awareness when they have to negotiate small openings. Companion cats (N = 30) were tested with incrementally decreasing sized openings, which were either the same height, or the same width. Cats approached and entered even the narrowest openings, but they slowed down before reaching, and while passing through the shortest ones. Because of their specific anatomical features and cautious locomotory strategy, cats readily opt for the trial-and-error method to negotiate narrow apertures, but they seemingly rely on their body-size representing capacity in the case of uncomfortably short openings. Ecologically valid methodologies can provide answers in the future as to whether cats would rely on their body awareness in other challenging spatial tasks.

The Rise and Fall of Matchbox’s Toy-Car Empire – Hagerty Media

What Hollywood should do, but probably won’t, is tell the real story of Matchbox, because it’s the tale of the rise and fall of the greatest toy-car empire in the world. It’s a story of postwar resilience, of a company holding out against hard times and fighting off market change. There are plucky East-End Londoners getting away with schemes on the side, a public-transit system sponsored by a toy-car factory, and, at the heart of things, a skilled and slightly rebellious engineer.

Here’s the real story of how Matchbox grew to become the largest toy car maker in the world, yet ended up being owned by its old rival, Mattel.

Supreme Court Rules 6-3 To Open Evil Tomb Of Batibat – The Onion

“Today, a historic wrong has been righted, and the catacomb of the tempestuous Batibat will again be unsealed,” wrote Alito, laying out a scathing repudiation of Pell v. Bangungot, the highly publicized case that originally entombed the grotesque monster’s sulfurous form in a specially made osmium vault. “Contemporaneous accounts provide no evidence the Founding Fathers envisioned a role for the federal government in vanquishing this unholy entity from the face of the earth.”

Untangling biological threads from autism’s phenotypic patchwork reveals four core subtypes | The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives

Despite the huge variation in how autistic people experience the condition, they can be divided into just four subgroups, according to a preprint. The people in these groups—who share similar traits and life outcomes—carry gene variants that implicate distinct biological pathways, the researchers found.

Each group is associated with specific genetic variants that influence gene expression at different stages of development, the investigation revealed. The work includes genetic and phenotypic data from more than 5,000 autistic children.

Constructing A Byzantine Sundial-Calendar – Part 5 (Making The Supporting Bridges) – YouTube

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