Open Culture: Hear Moby Dick Read in Its Entirety by Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, John Waters, Stephen Fry & More.
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This was posted back in March 2016, but I found out about it today via Audrey.
Mr. President
Are you familiar with the Mr. Men / Little Miss children’s books?
b3ta.com board: Mr. President.
“Mr. President was a funny sort of fellow. Everything he thought was either upside down, or inside out, or back to front – quite a few people agreed and made him their boss.”
The Concept of Reality Itself
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO): Trump vs. Truth. (YouTube, 24min)
“Since taking office around 412 years ago Trump has made it clear that reality is not important to him. Think about it: He’s exaggerated the size of his inauguration crowd. He said the election was marred by mass voter fraud with no real proof of that. He also falsely claimed that compared to Muslims, it was “almost impossible” for Christian refugees from Syria to get into the US. He even lied about the weather during his inauguration.”
Wochenendprogramm
Wanderreporter: Unterwegs im Felsenwald (Pfalz).
“Der Name macht schon neugierig: Felsenwaldtour. Wie sieht wohl ein Wald aus Felsen aus? Die Südpfalz ist ja bekannt für ihre vielen Sandsteinfelsen. Und tatsächlich gibt es im Gebiet östlich von Pirmasens viele schöne Felsen, der bekannteste ist wohl das Felsentor. Die Felsenwaldtour ist ein Ende 2016 markierter Wanderweg und führt auf 13,4 km auf schönen Pfaden und einigen Schotterwegen an vielen dieser Steinformationen vorbei. Erfreulicherweise ist der Asphaltanteil sehr gering, er beschränkt sich auf ein kurzes Stück am Forsthaus Beckenhof. Das Wegzeichen der Runde ist ein stilisiertes rotes Felsentor auf weißem Grund.”
Russia and America?
The Economist: Donald Trump seeks a grand bargain with Vladimir Putin.
“Even as his ambassador to the UN offered “clear and strong condemnation“ of “Russia’s aggressive actions“ in Ukraine, the president’s bromance with Mr Putin was still smouldering. When an interviewer on Fox News put it to Mr Trump this week that Mr Putin is “a killer“ , he retorted: “There are a lot of killers. What, you think our country’s so innocent?“
For an American president to suggest that his own country is as murderous as Russia is unprecedented, wrong and a gift to Moscow’s propagandists. And for Mr Trump to think that Mr Putin has much to offer America is a miscalculation not just of Russian power and interests, but also of the value of what America might have to give up in return.”