Could I be EVIL? (TED Talks)

Pat Macpherson, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; Guy Raz, TED Radio Hour (NPR.org)

Gunshot to the face or head right through the windshield? (Sascha Burkard/iStockphoto)

 

The Violence Within Us
Violence and brutality are grim realities of life. In one hour, four TED speakers explore the sinister side of our dim human nature -- and ask whether we're all capable of violence.
 
"Pray to the Moon when it's round. Death with you shall then abound..." sings Slayer (from "Hell Awaits"), one of the most popular bands for U.S. militants, along with all things porn, songs serial killers might whistle while engaged in their doings.

(Slayer) See Minute 4:15. Slayer and rap music were PMRC targets

U.S. tanks come equipped with CD players and premium music systems. Why? American soliders like to enjoy some music to kill by. "Driven by the instinct of centuries of horror/ Implanted along the brain of the sickening parasite/ Linked together by one trait/ The hell-filled need to kill, kill, kill, kill, KILL" (Slayer, "At Dawn They Sleep"). But the No. 1 song on the military hit parade is "Bodies" by Drowning Pool: "Let the bodies hit the floor"! What is more "evil" (Pali papa) than industrial-scale killing?

Psychology Prof. Phil Zimbardo on his Stanford Prison Experiment

AUDIO: What does the [brain] of a killer look like? (Jim Fallon)

Why don't domestic violence victims leave? (Leslie Morgan Steiner)

Is the world a [more or] less violent place? (Steven Pinker)

  
TED Censorship?

(RT, June 2014) Graham Hancock breaks the set on TED CENSORSHIP, Lost Civilizations, and War on Consciousness: Abby Martin interviews author Graham Hancock about the mysteries of ancient civilizations, hidden societies of the past, and censorship by TED Talks and the difficulty of getting new ideas accepted by mainstream archaeologists and historians.

 

The Super Full Moon Tonight

Moon over Auckland (TG)

 Supermoon lights up skies around the world – in pictures. The perigee Moon, or Supermoon, rises over Mount Eden in Auckland, New Zealand, on Sunday morning. A dramatic Supermoon is set to accompany this year's Perseid meteor shower, one of the most anticipated events on the skywatcher's calendar. Given a dark, clear sky in a normal year, it is common to see more than 100 of the meteors an hour during the second week in August. But this year the Perseids have a bright shining rival. On Sunday, two days before the meteor shower reaches its peak, the Moon will become full. Coincidentally, it will also have reached the point in its orbit that is closest to the Earth, known as perigee. The Supermoon will be up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons during the year. On one level, this is bad news, according to Dr. Bill Cooke from NASA's meteoroid environment office. "Lunar glare wipes out the black, velvety backdrop required to see faint meteors, and sharply reduces counts." More

• NASA secret adventures in space
• Rosetta set to rendezvous with rubber-duck comet
• Love without locks – selfies are the key to romance in Paris 
• Picture of the week: the Woodland Hills High School Prom, by Mark Neville 
• Incredible journey: one wolf's migration across Europe 
• What We Can Learn from Military Recruiting Tactics (GreenJobInterview) 
• This Oakland Company Is On The Verge Of Revolutionizing The Solar Industry (PV Solar Report) 
• Need a Better Website? See Who PC Magazine Just Ranked #1 (PC Magazine) 
• 7 Proven Ways To Get People To Reply To Your Emails (Yesware) 
• Take A Trip To This Horrifying Mine, One Of The Largest Man-Made Holes In The World (Fast Company)
• TED VIDEO: How do our WORST moments shape us? 
• VIDEO: What does it mean to be a "child of the state"?
• VIDEO: What kids can learn by doing dangerous things

Why does she stay? "Trauma bonding" (TED)

Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; Leslie Morgan Steiner, TEDxRainier, 2013

 

Why domestic violence victims don't leave

Leslie Morgan Steiner was in "crazy love" -- that is, madly in love with a man who routinely abused her, held a gun to her head, and threatened her life. Steiner, who graduated from Harvard and Morton Business School, tells the dark story of her relationship, correcting misconceptions many of us hold about victims of domestic violence. And she explains how we can all help break the silence.

"Every two minutes in the U.S. a woman is sexually assaulted." CODEPINK provides a space for women of all ages and backgrounds to come together to advance the movement for peace and justice. The CODEPINK community encourages creativity, humor, and the arts.

 

TED Talks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment, and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts, medicine, and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at ted.com/translate.

Power of SEDUCTION in daily life (video)

Chen Lizra (TEDx Talks, Vancouver, 2013), CC Liu (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

With nearly a decade of experience in the animation industry -- working on projects for MTV, TVA, Alliance Atlantis, Mainframe Entertainment, and Radical Entertainment -- Chen Lizra's intellect, imagination, and creative thinking evolved her into a branding expert. 

[Think of the mark placed on cattle, slaves, or the shamed.]
 

Boys love to show off. Charming?

In 2009 and 2012 Chen was nominated as one of the "YWCA Women of Distinction in Vancouver" and was recently honored by the Australian government with a Distinguished Talent Permanent Visa for her international achievements in the arts.
 

As the international author of My Seductive Cuba, a UniqueTravel Guide, Chen has won two awards in the US, including the prestigious IPPY Book Award. With a passion for dance and creative movement, Lizra offers students "seduction workshops" and focused lectures and seminars about the art of seduction in our everyday lives.

  

• Secret History: How Cuba helped end S. Africa's apartheid 
• WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange calls on computer hackers to unite against NSA surveillance 
• Mayor takes aim at NYC’s iequality in inaugural address
• Civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart free out of compassion
• Colorado retailers begin legal recreational marijuana sales 
• Judge strikes down welfare drug tests in Florida
• Federal judge upholds electronics searches at U.S. border

TEDx: In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

TED: Doubt versus Belief (audio)

Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; NPR/TED Staff (NPR.org, 11-24-13); SCPR.org

Believers and Doubters

Why do some of us believe in something greater than ourselves, while others of us do not? Can our doubts bring our beliefs into sharper focus? Or what is the difference between belief and faith? TED speakers, courtesy of Guy Raz and National Public Radio, offer personal perspectives on belief from all ends of the spectrum, from ardent atheists to the devout faithful.

Devil vs. Super Devil ("Family Guy")

First, the daughter of the Christian televangelist Billy Graham, Anne Graham Lotz, speaking for her elderly father on the difference between (rational) belief and (emotional) faith. Lesley Hazleton asks, Is doubt essential to faith? Former Catholic and SNL comedienne Julia Sweeny explores the journey, How does a person go from believer to atheist? Then Alain de Botton asks, What can atheism learn from religion? Finally, Indian Hindu intellectual Devdutt Pattanaik wants to know, Are there any universal beliefs and truths? LISTEN

• Contribute your story to The Moth radio hour (PRX)

Kimberly Reed (themoth.org, 11-12-13)

A high school quarterback leaves Montana as a promising son and returns years later to reveal a shocking secret; a boy from Sierra Leone describes his transformation from innocent child to cold-hearted soldier; a teenage girl discovers how to control her errant parrot; and a construction worker discovers the up-side of his girlfriend’s one-year prison sentence. LISTEN

Storytelling with a Beat

(SnapJudgment.org) American life is much richer and diverse than we usually get to hear on NPR. Host Glynn Washington is doing something, bringing us Snap Judgment's amazing array of stories with extras only available to the podcast audience and the story-behind-the-stories on Facebook.

 

This American Life

(512: House Rules, 11-22-13) Where we live is important. It can dictate the quality of the schools and hospitals we have access to, as well as things we will experience -- like cancer rates, unemployment statistics, or whether the city repairs roads in our neighborhood. On this week's show, stories about "destiny by geography." Much of this story is told to Nancy Updike by ProPublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose series on the Fair Housing laws in modern America -- with more stories, research, and interviews — is here.

 

More comedy, more stories:

• WITS: Margaret Cho with Josh Ritter
• RadioLab (startling stories)
• Science Friday (top science news)
• BBC Newshour (a UK look at America)
• BBC World Service (a UK look at the world)
• The World (a BBC-American look)
  
• The Story
• Fresh Air (interviews by Terry Gross)
• Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! (news as comedy)
• Ask Me Another (northern comedy)
• Car Talk (Harvard and MIT car fixers)
• Off-Ramp (local Los Angeles stories)
• A Prairie Home Companion (Garrison Keillor)
• The Splendid Table (foodie gluttony)
• On the Media (incisive look into the medium)
• Latino USA (news with a Latin twist)
• On Being (formerly "Speaking of Faith")
• Take Two Evenings (California stories)
• Bullseye

The Habits of Happiness (Matthieu Ricard)

Ashley Wells, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Matthieu "Happiest Man in the World" Ricard, Ph.D., TEDtalks (innovations in Technology, Engineering, Design)

(TED.com) What is happiness, and how can we ALL get some? Vajrayana Buddhist monk, renowned French scientist, photographer, Tibetan translator, and author Matthieu Ricard has devoted his life to these questions. And his answer is influenced by his conviction as well as by his scientific turn of mind: We can train our minds in habits of happiness. Interwoven with his talk are stunning photographs of the Himalayas and of his spiritual community.

• Aung San Suu Kyi to launch AIDS 2014 in Australia Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Lady (Daw), will be keynote speaker at this year’s World AIDS Day reception to be hosted by the Pacific Friends of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in Melbourne on Dec. 1st.

• 

  Bhumi-devi (doyletics.com)

  ANASTASIA (Ringing Cedars of Russia), tells the story of Vladimir Megre's trip to the Siberian taiga in 1995, where he witnessed incredible spiritual phenomena (human or ET?) connected with sacred "ringing cedar" trees. He spent three days with a woman named Anastasia, who shared with him her unique outlook on subjects as diverse as gardening, child-rearing, healing, Nature, sexuality, religion, and more. This wilderness experience transformed Vladimir so deeply that he abandoned his commercial plans and, penniless, went to Moscow to fulfill Anastasia's request and write a book about the spiritual insights she so generously shared with him. True to her promise this life-changing book, once written, has become an international bestseller and has touched hearts of millions of people worldwide.
• UFO intrigue flies high (Newcastle Herald)

森の木琴,   ドコモのサイトでステキな映像発見。 (Touchwood) 

Go to the woods of Kyushu (Japan), engineer a massive xylophone down the slope of a forested hill. Take a wooden ball, place it at the top, and push it. What do you get? Bach's treatment of a traditional church hymn! All this for a Japanese commercial for a curved smartphone with the tagline, "Touch Wood" (onbeing.org).