For one thing, he said, Coke is not only using these low-income workers to advertise its product, it is also requiring them to buy soft drinks themselves—at nearly a tenth of their typical daily wages, he pointed out—to use the special phone booth. On top of that, he feels that the ads normalize and even glorify the hardship faced by migrant workers—at least some of whom may be working against their will. “If this was two hundred years ago, would it be appropriate for Coke to do adverts in the plantations of the Deep South, showing slaves holding cans of Coke?” he asked. “It is a normalization of a system of structural violence, of a state-sanctioned trafficking system.”
Coca-Cola’s Happiness Machines
The Oh-So-Fragile Class of 2014 Needs to STFU And Listen to Some New Ideas
The entire point of college is to be exposed to different things: Different types of people, different ideas—and maybe some of those people will hail from organizations that negatively impacted poor countries, or maybe they were partly responsible for a war that ate up the country’s resources and resulted in human rights abuses and lots of needless death. But if, at the end of your time as an undergrad, you haven’t learned that oftentimes you find great wisdom in shitty people, or just that there might be some value in hearing what someone you don’t like or respect might have to say, what on earth have you learned?
via The Oh-So-Fragile Class of 2014 Needs to STFU And Listen to Some New Ideas – The Daily Beast.
Posted in Education
Tagged college, commencement
Comments Off on The Oh-So-Fragile Class of 2014 Needs to STFU And Listen to Some New Ideas
Geithner’s new book rips Kirk on U.S. debt and China
Geithner says Kirk, a Republican, warned the Chinese that U.S. spending “was driving us toward default” and the Federal Reserve Bank was “creating hyperinflation.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” Geithner writes. “Not only were those fears delusional, but he was undermining American interests on foreign soil.
via Geithner’s new book rips Kirk on U.S. debt and China – chicagotribune.com.
Posted in Politics
Tagged china, national debt
Comments Off on Geithner’s new book rips Kirk on U.S. debt and China
Elite Violinists Fail to Distinguish Legendary Violins From Modern Fiddles
The violins were winnowed to six old and six new in a double-blind listening test judged by the soloists. Then, each of them donned dark goggles so they couldn’t distinguish the instruments by sight and tested out these top fiddles in two 75-minute sessions, one in a small room and one in a 300-seat auditorium. Soloists could also play their own instruments for comparison. After each session, the soloists picked his or her four favorites fiddles and rated them on scale of zero to 10 for qualities such as articulation, projection, and playability. Finally, after the second session, each subject had to guess whether instruments in a small selection that included some of their favorites were old or new.
via Elite Violinists Fail to Distinguish Legendary Violins From Modern Fiddles | Science/AAAS | News.
Posted in Interesting
Comments Off on Elite Violinists Fail to Distinguish Legendary Violins From Modern Fiddles
I write for SkyMall
“Knowing your exact driving path helps keep you safe.
The Align-N-Drive “method” – and I am using that term with utmost charity – targets two key groups: geriatrics and the legally blind. So if you’re the kind of driver that needs a helpful reminder of which way is forward, the Align-N-Drive’s window decals will gently guide you ever ahead as you plummet your way through the local farmers’ market.
I admit that I respect the Align-N-Drive’s devil-may-care attitude when it comes to driving anything but a straight shot. Curved roads, turns, impending pedestrians: These are all worries of a bygone era, one that the Align-N-Drive has long since overcome. For the Align-N-Drive is a system for the free and unhinged, the elderly but energetic, and those who no longer pay heed to complicated directions, police barricades, or restricted licenses.
via I write for SkyMall.
