Capitalism - Feudalism without the Kings

Tax the Rich 

Website Wednesday

So the best-Supreme-Court-capitalist-money-can-buy gutted the section of the Voting Rights Act which regulates gerrymandering.  But then what do you expect from a bunch of white American capitalists (and wacky Clarence Thomas) facing minority race status in the US in just a few decades. Only the naivest idealist believes human history plays out for the betterment of the species. We're mammals, for crying out loud, and most often nasty, feral ones. Only once and while do the good guys get a victory as with Wendy Davis' filibustering in TX so that a draconian anti-abortion bill could not be voted on until after the deadline.  But this is just a fleeting victory; we're dealing with TX after all. Of which little Phil Sheridan (Union general whose Civil War marches devastated the South) said: If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent Texas and live in Hell. Next time, when they present their anti-abortion bill (and be sure they will) these Yahoos will get enough smarts to turn the clock ahead.

My first pick concerns radios which, while not my first love, are a passion for Phil Nelson and I think we should commend people who have such passions:

http://antiqueradio.org/welcome.htm

Congrats are due Phil just for his 17 years of postings. Great job! And he's current also (last posting for May 2013.) He has pictures of all types of old radios and the early TVs. He has information on how he restores and builds them. He even has directions of making an iPod adapter for antique radios. It's a history lesson for early communications from the last century. Take a look.

Next is a short "upbeat" one-pager: 

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07/how-and-when-will-the-world-end/309400/ 

The Atlantic asked famous people how and when the world will end. A lot of short answers, most saying that it will be a long time coming, and Joyce Carol Oates even answered with a poem, which is not bad.

More light summer reading with: 

http://www.popcrunch.com/the-14-best-classic-twilight-zone-episodes/ 

You get the 14 best Twilight Zone episodes. from Pop Crunch. Although I posted Pop Crunch in February, I thought this page was worth a repeat. Since TZ will probably be TV somewhere till the end of time, I can say that I've seen all these episodes and they were among the best. In fact, I still quote that famous line (I won't give it away) in To Serve Man. It's surprising how it fits into a lot of conversations.

If you're looking for "out of the way" books for summer and beyond reading, Book Forum has good reviews for you: 

http://www.bookforum.com/review/ 

You get a blurb and a link to the full review from places like NYT, Slate, London Review of Books, etc. They also post their current issue online with a lot of the articles hyperlinked.

And finally, some pictures: 

http://inktank.fi/28-of-historys-most-fascinating-photos/

I don't know if these pics are really history's most fascinating but they are certainly interesting and worth the scroll. You get the picture and then a click at the bottom will bring to you to the story behind it. And, don't forget to click "Blog" on the top right. There you could get lost for quite some time. 

That's it for this week. See you next Wednesday.