Didactic Synapse
hip-hop, politics, education, movies, books, killer robots, and video games
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I know sometimes it seems like this blog is just a list of recent SynCast episodes, but .. well, I can’t think of a way to finish that sentence. I should write more here, but I guess I feel like I need something special when it’s time to write. Also I’m mad busy! Deal with it.
Anyway, in this episode I reflect on Ferguson, the US midterm elections, the TPP trade agreement, and (of course) fracking. Enjoy!
DS#95: Castrating Pigs on a Urine Comet
Top Links + Action
- Afghan Villagers Say NATO Airstrike Killed 7 Civilians
- Lt. Gen. Dan Bolger on DemocracyNow
- The Police Are Still Out of Control. I should know. by Frank Serpico
- Take Action:Â Human Rights in Ferguson!
Current Events
- In Texas, Traffic Deaths Climb Amid Fracking Boom
- Pentagon Confirms Islamic State Got U.S. Arms Drop
- The Truth About The Wars
- FBESP (2008): There is No War in Iraq
- Officer’s Errant Shot Kills Unarmed Brooklyn Man
- Hillary Clinton’s Wall Street problem
- Zephyr Teachout on Bill Moyers
Economics
- Prosecutors suspect repeat offenses on Wall Street
- Lori Wallach: Obama & McConnell Pledge Cooperation; Will Fast-Tracking Secretive TPP Trade Deal Top Their Agenda?
- FTC: AT&T slowed speeds of unlimited data smartphone users
Killer Robots, Etc
Hip-Hop:Â Dem Atlas
http://youtu.be/WkZSmCe_u78
This episode has a gross title, but it’s a real quote from Dark Pools, the book I’m reading right now about high-frequency trading. Also this episode: stabbing people with letter openers, psychotic robots that follow you into the bathroom, killer super weeds, and cinder blocks to the face! Enjoy.
 DS #82: Trading Through The Puke
Top 3 Links of the Week
- Herbicide-resistant “super weeds†increasingly plaguing farmers
- Dying veteran writes to George W Bush and Dick Cheney
- United by loss, Israeli and Palestinian dads call for a joint nonviolent intifada against occupation
- Take Action:Â Tell Obama not to appoint fracking advocate Dr. Ernest Moniz to Dept. of Energy
- Also:Â A Place at the Table
Current Events
- 14 adults “cured†of HIV
- New LBJ tapes: Nixon sabotaged Paris Peace Talks to win election
- Dying Veteran Tomas Young on DemocracyNow
- BBC documentary podcast: After Saddam
- Democracy Now: Iraq is a failed state existing in “utter devastationâ€
- Torture at Guantanamo
- The Geography of defense cuts (infographic)
- After three years, BP is finally headed to court
- Companies, environmentalists agree on new fracking rules
- Windfarm sickness spreads by word of mouth, Australian study finds
- India covering canals with solar panels
- Two boys killed in Afghanistan airstrike
- Wisconsin legislator admits to never having transvaginal ultrasound
- New Pope chooses “Francis†after the saint of the poor
- Pope Francis’ Junta Past
- CPAC’s “Trump the Race Card†forum derailed by an actual segregationist
Economics
- Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson: Let banks go bankrupt
- Ha-Joon Chang on laziness and poverty
- Will robots create economic utopia?
- EU’s financial tax is likely to spur trading exodus
- American University law student: SEC will regulate HFT
- Australia finds HFT fears “overstated†but considers minimum hold time
- Demos Report:Â Cracks in the pipeline part two: HFT
- European officials cap banker bonuses at one year’s salary
- Vandana Shiva on Democracy Now
- Take action against super weeds: JustLabelIt.org
Education
- Value-added teacher evaluation models fail kids and communities
- 100 education experts write to the Independent to protest misguided UK education reform
- Black Agenda Report: Why isn’t closing 129 Chicago public schools news?
- Water into wine? Jeb Bush, Cheapistas, and education reform
- Scott Walker proposes expanding voucher school program in Wisconsin
Killer Robots, Etc
- General Stanley McChrystal on drones
- Pentagon robot hurls concrete blocks
- MarionetteBot fuses Kinect and mannequins
- Tongue computers are just the beginning
- Print your own AR-15
- Dogs understand human perspective: Study
- First came the Russian meteor, now the meteorite deals
- JJ Fad: Supersonic
Hip-Hop
Snoop Lion on Tavis Smiley (Sorry, the PBS embed isn’t working.)
Here it is — bam! And you say “Hurray!”
DS #62: Class Size and Fish Farts
Top 3 Links of the Week
- Is Grover Norquist losing his grip on the GOP?
- In race for better cell service, men who climb towers pay with their lives
- Robot records fish farts
Current Events
- NATO airstrike kills six children in Afghanistan
- Experts Skeptical of Romney’s Defense Budget Plans
- Outside money making the race a rich man’s game
- Elizabeth Warren on Scott Brown and JP Morgan Chase
- Alan Blueford — Another (probably unarmed) black man shot and killed by police
Economics
- CFTC member seeks to rein in HFT “cheetahsâ€
- Keeping conflict minerals out of your cell phone
- Detroit to eliminate half of its streetlights to save money
- Former J.P. Morgan Lobbyist Manages The Banking Committee Expected To Investigate J.P. Morgan’s Trading Loss
- Greece’s Fallacious Four
Education
- Hundreds of thousands protest education cuts in Spain
- 400,000 also protested in Quebec
- Romney defends education policies in Philadelphia
- Experts disagree about importance of class size
Killer Robots, etc
Hip-Hop
Gift of Gab: “Way of the Light”
New show! Lots of stuff — probably my most dense show yet! Enjoy,
Top 3 Links of the Week
- Marissa Alexander faces 25 years in prison
- The Stoner Arms Dealers: How Two American Kids Became Big-Time Weapons Traders
- ‘Stock-Picking Robot’ a Fraud, SEC Says
Current Events
- Kenneth Chamberlain Sr: Officer shouted racial slur before 2nd cop killed black man
- Kony 2012: Ugandans Criticize Popular Video for Backing U.S. Military Intervention in Central Africa
- Gene Sharp – How to Start a Revolution Trailer
- U.S. troops posed with body parts of Afghan bombers
- For cosmetic surgery, chins are the new breasts: ‘Chinplants’ on the rise
Economics
- Latin America v. Obama: U.S. Policy on Cuba, Drug War, Economy Under Fire at Colombian Summit
- Increasingly in Europe, Suicides ‘by Economic Crisis’
- Republican Whipping-Boy Illinois Beats Wisconsin on Jobs
- How to Pay No Taxes: 10 Strategies Used by the Rich
- Why Are McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Intuit Fleeing ALEC?
- High Frequency Trading (HFT): Wall Street’s Latest Scam
- Algorithmic Trading May Spur Volatility, Mispricing, Turner Says
- Optiver, High-Frequency Trading Firm, To Pay $14 Million Over Use Of ‘The Hammer’ To Influence Oil Prices
- SEC Chairman: Markets need to be fair
Education
- Afghan schoolgirls poisoned in anti-education attack
- 6-year-old Georgia girl throws tantrum, gets handcuffed by police
- In Blur of A.D.H.D., Sleep Troubles May Be a Culprit
- PBS Frontline: The Medicated Child
- RSA Animate: Sir Ken Robinson
Killer Robots, et cetera
- DARPA Robotics Challenge Seeks Emergency Response Robots
- Robot Guards Patrolling Prisons in South Korea
- The Pulitzer Prizes | Citation
- Nomophobia
- Sarah Palin Sculpture
Hip-Hop
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