Something for everyone’s taste:
“Falling Upwards”: The weird and wonderful history of the hot air balloon: At the beginning of “Falling Upwards: How We Took to the Air,” Richard Holmes announces a literary ambition to match the aerial ambition of his air balloon pilots and pioneers, by offering a lengthy chapter of epigraphs not unlike the long list of quotations that Herman Melville deployed at the beginning of “Moby-Dick.”There is so much pleasure in them that it is worth quoting a few in full:“…Climate denying group compares U.N. talks to the Holocaust: “There simply is no parallel” between the climate negotiations currently taking place in Poland and the horrors that took place at Auschwitz and Birkenau during the Holocaust, David Rothbard, head of the anti-science Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), wrote in a fundraising email unearthed by DeSmogBlog….This incredibly smart domestic violence app could save women’s lives: The Aspire News app looks like any other iPhone or Android news aggregator, but it’s actually a potentially lifesaving domestic violence alert system.While the front page functions like a regular news app, when you go to the “Help” section of the page it provides a list of local domestic violence resources and a “Go Button,” that, once pressed, alerts the user’s chosen contacts…Michael Cera’s bizarre New Yorker piece and the art of dissecting fame: Call it the Franco strategy: As James Franco did in 2008, it’s possible to cement one’s celebrity by alternating movie work with writing intended to subvert one’s public image. Back when James Franco set out on his conceptual-art project of a career, beginning to aggressively collect graduate degrees and directing more films than one can easily recall, he had been slowly rising for years…Wal-mart’s outstanding death fine: Five years ago, when Wal-mart worker Jdimytai Damour was crushed and killed by Black Friday shoppers in Valley Stream, NY (file under “vile semiotics of consumer capitalism”), the retailer was ordered to pay a minimal fine to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. While the $7,000 fine is negligible to Wal-mart’s $466 billion annual sales income, the sum remains unpaid…Law enforcement reportedly told victim of alleged sexual assault her life would be “made miserable” if she pursued rape case: Florida police told the victim of an alleged rape that her life would be “made miserable” if she pursued charges against her alleged rapist, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, according to a statement from the woman’s family.A Tallahassee Police Department detective warned the woman’s attorney that “Tallahassee was a big football town’’ and “the victim needs to think long and hard…Senate votes to curb filibuster: WASHINGTON (AP) — In a victory for Democrats, the Senate has voted to weaken filibusters and make it harder for Republicans to block confirmation of the president’s nominees for judges and other top posts.The mostly party-line vote was 52-48. It came Thursday after a series of procedural moves and angry accusations from both parties’ leaders.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid complains that Republicans…Plastic pollution may be transporting toxic chemicals into our seafood: Plastic pollution is already seen as one of the most serious threats to the oceans — particularly those teeny particles that we can’t normally see, but which fish love to eat. Another serious threat: the man-made chemicals dumped or washed into the waters. And while each is worrisome on its own, they cause even more trouble combined.That’s because plastics, as researchers are beginning to understand…Secret deal let NSA spy on ordinary U.K. citizens: The latest NSA leak from whistle-blower Edward Snowden, published in the Guardian, reveals for the first time that ordinary British citizens had their communications surveilled by the NSA, without any grounds for suspicion.A secret 2007 deal struck between the U.K. and the U.S. — and detailed in an NSA memo — enabled surveillance of citizens previously deemed off-limits….Dudes still upset that women can be raunchy: Variety critic Brian Lowry is worried about Sarah Silverman. In his Wednesday review of her new HBO special “We Are Miracles,” he acknowledges her numerous “career-friendly gifts – from her looks to solid acting chops,” but fears that the famously foul-mouthed comic is sabotaging herself. How? By daring to be “as dirty and distasteful as the boys.” …The National Book Awards get it right: I was surprised to learn that James McBride’s “The Good Lord Bird” was the “surprise” winner of the National Book Award for fiction last night. Then again, it’s hard to begrudge working journalists a decent angle on the prize during any year in which neither Jonathan Franzen nor Philip Roth has published a book that can be “snubbed” by the panel. …Monty Python reunion show will add “modern, topical” twist to classic sketches: Following news of a reunion show, the five surviving members of Monty Python revealed more details of the performance that is to take place on July 1, 2014, in London’s O2 Arena.John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones will perform some of the group’s most iconic sketches with “a modern, topical, Pythonesque twist,” along with some new material as well.“…Rick Perry on changing the GOP’s presidential debate system: “Hell yeah!” Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the man who, during a televised debate, couldn’t remember which federal agencies he’d dissolve, has a simple response to the idea of changing the way the GOP conducts its debates: “Hell yeah!”That’s what Perry reportedly said, to laughter, during a recent meeting of the Republican Governors Association.Ohio Gov. John Kasich set Perry up for the joke when he commented…Watch Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA rapping about the Big Bang: Rapper GZA, of Wu-Tang Clan fame, is releasing a space-themed album called Dark Matter. He’s even been chatting with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about the project. Here, as part of a talk at the University of Toronto, he previewed an a cappella version of one track. It’s about the Big Bang. And it is tremendous.[Mashable] …Will George Zimmerman kill again?: His history and the law pose serious risks… (Salon.com).
