Goran Zec

"In other words, orgies of destruction of capital, such as we are witnessing now, are part and parcel of the “creative destruction” (Schumpeter’s term, very much following Marx’s observations) that is the modus operandi of capitalism. Individual capitalists may suffer (though usually far less than the rest of us do), but these convulsions clear up the system, unclog it, so that new rounds of exploitation and capital accumulation may then take place. Crisis is the mechanism that transforms the abundance which capitalism produces into the condition of scarcity and deprivation which is necessary to its continued functioning." - Goran Zec

"In what could be a first in the world, a fish species known as cichlids has been observed by scientists in the act of splitting into two distinct species in Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake and one of the world’s biggest fresh water bodies. This may be remarkable because what is causing them to diverge are adaptations to their vision as animals and plants try to cope with increased pollution and the effects of climate change. " - Goran Zec

"The Homeland Security apparatus is a recombinant organism, engineered from multiple strands of institutional authoritarianism. The process began in earnest in the late 1960s with the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration; the chimera has grown in power and malignancy because of the generation-long, trillion-dollar exercise in murderous cynicism called the "War on Drugs."" - Goran Zec

" One consequence of this sort of calming lie is that we grow up thinking horrible things are normal. It's hard for us to feel a sense of urgency as adults over something we've literally been trained not to worry about. When I was about 10 I saw a documentary on pollution that put me into a panic. It seemed the planet was being irretrievably ruined. I went to my mother afterward to ask if this was so. I don't remember what she said, but she made me feel better, so I stopped worrying about it. That was probably the best way to handle a frightened 10 year old. But we should understand the price. This sort of lie is one of the main reasons bad things persist: we're all trained to ignore them." - Goran Zec

I can agree wrt boundaries and responsibility (although, personally, I do feel responsibility is overrated and the spirit of unfettered freedom and instilling confidence in child's abilities is underrated) - but it's pretty much tangential to the issue of this article, which (as I see it) is the perpetuation of the culture of lies and how we force it upon our children. Death of tuberculosis is also a worse thing than what the article is about, I don't see how that fact relates to what Graham's saying. - Goran Zec

A good related article: http://nymag.com/news/features... - Goran Zec

The 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been split between the discoverers of two viruses of major pathophysiological importance. Half of the prize goes to German Dr prof Harald zur Hausen for his discovery of human papilloma virus as the cause of cervical cancer while the other half went to the French team that discovered human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Françoise Barr´-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier. - Goran Zec

"Some of our favorite details are the subtle ones. For example, whenever a form is active, the menu shows a count of your total responses. And now it's even easier to insert a formula, switch between number and date formats, or access help content." - Goran Zec via Bookmarklet

"There are two sets of regulations in the United Kingdom. There are those which the big corporations campaign against, and those which they tolerate and even encourage, because they can afford them while their smaller competitors cannot. This is why it is legal to stuff our farm animals with antibiotics, our vegetables with pesticides, our processed food with additives and our water tables with nitrates, but more or less illegal to use any process which does not involve stainless steel, refrigeration and fluorescent lighting. The clampdown on small food businesses, on the grounds that their produce might contain bacteria, has been accompanied by a massive rise in food poisoning cases since the 1970s (4): largescale production and long-distance transport provide far greater opportunities for infection. Tinkers’ Bubble, which has never poisoned anyone, is now forbidden to sell any kind of processed food or drink: its cheese, bacon, juice and cider have been banned." - Goran Zec

"For those contemplating a battle against entropy by building smaller and using less, prepare for resistance from the government-corporate complex - as explained by the famous Leftist George Monbiot (who sounds pretty conservative here in his disgust with disruptive government intervention in localist efforts to prepare for a world with a lot less oil). We see, with each passing day, how the old political alignments are unraveling and the world will soon be divided not between Red and Blue, but grasshoppers and ants." - Goran Zec

“Ironically, this is a painting of a rat painting itself. Self-recognition is considered the highest form of intelligence. anyone else understand this irony?! By Banksy not painting this piece he references the art and the situation. The whole concept can therefore be considered a Banksy art project.” - Goran Zec via Bookmarklet

Ili, Banksy danas može napraviti bilo što, opsesivna analiza konteksta i subteksta osigurava da će biti genijalno. - Goran Zec

"Since the great philosopher and logician Shantarakshita was instrumental in establishing Buddhism in Tibet in its earliest stages in the 8th century, philosophical enquiry and critical analysis have always been important hallmarks of Tibetan Buddhism. The problem with Dolgyal practice is that it presents the spirit Dolgyal (Shugden) as a Dharma protector and what’s more tends to promote the spirit as more important than the Buddha himself. If this trend goes unchecked, and innocent people become seduced by cult-like practices of this kind, the danger is that the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhism may degenerate into the mere propitiation of spirits." - Goran Zec

Narodu trebaju duhovi koje se može zazivati, to je jasno. Ne razumijem kako Dalai Lama čini takvu taktičku grešku - želeći spriječiti rascjepljenje i degeneraciju Budizma u sektarijanstvo, čini upravo ono što će najefikasnije do toga dovesti. Obožavatelje raznih duhova ovog i onog tipa malo progona nikad nije spriječilo. Dapače, imam dojam da će ih samo ojačati. Tužno u što se pretvori genijalni lifehack kad mu dodaš par tisuća godina tradicije i hijerarhiju moći. - Goran Zec

"The third issue is what are the motivations for the ban of the practice? The Dalai Lama says the ban is required to prevent Buddhism from degenerating into spirit worship, to remove obstacles to the emergence of a genuine non-sectarianism and because Dorje Shugden is ‘hostile to the government of the Dalai Lamas’. Dorje Shugden practitioners say the ban is motivated by a political desire to consolidate power to strengthen the Dalai Lama's hand in the negotiations with the Chinese, to provide a scapegoat for the problems faced by the Tibetan government in exile and to distract attention away from painful concessions being made in the negotiations with the Chinese. For these reasons, amongst others, Dorje Shugden practitioners feel that Dharma and politics should not be mixed." - Goran Zec

"I don't even own the console, but this is an awesome theme song: http://rdr.to/w2 - all six versions of it are great." - Goran Zec