Author: Christo

“Robert McNamara’s Project 100,000, implemented in 1966, pulled hundreds of thousands of poor men into the war—40% of them African American. By the following year, Black soldiers made up 16.3% of those drafted and 23% of Vietnam combat troops, despite accounting for only roughly 11% of the civilian population.” – Black Vietnam Veterans on Injustices… Continue reading Black Vietnam Veterans on Injustices They Faced: Da 5 Bloods | Time

“Robert McNamara’s Project 100,000, implemented in 1966, pulled hundreds of thousands of poor men into the war—40% of them African American. By the following year, Black soldiers made up 16.3% of those drafted and 23% of Vietnam combat troops, despite accounting for only roughly 11% of the civilian population.” – Black Vietnam Veterans on Injustices… Continue reading Black Vietnam Veterans on Injustices They Faced: Da 5 Bloods | Time

“The problem I have with a lot of investigative journalism, is that they always say: “There should be more investigative journalism” and I think, “When you tell me that a lot of rich people aren’t paying tax, I’m shocked but I’m not surprised because I know that. I don’t want to read another article that… Continue reading The antidote to civilisational collapse

“They’re constantly playing back to you the ghosts of your own behaviour. We live in a modern ghost story. We are haunted by our past behaviour played back to us through the machines in its comparison to millions of other people’s behaviour. We are guided and nudged and shaped by that. It’s benign in a… Continue reading The antidote to civilisational collapse

“The balloon prospect, as the author Jesse Taylor put it, spoke to “the Victorian fantasy of rising above the obscurity of urban experience.”” – On the Poetics of Balloon Music (Part One): Sounding Air, Body, and Latex

“In one poll asking people why they considered themselves Anglican, the three top answers had nothing to do with God: the faith was deemed “integral to English culture”, “an ethical voice in society” and “part of our heritage”.” – The odd connection between Brexit and lukewarm religion – Anglicanism, evangelicalism and Brexit

“Bosworth sent around a remarkable internal memo justifying some of Facebook’s “ugly” physical and social effects as the trade-offs necessary for growth: “Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies. Maybe someone dies in a terrorist attack coordinated on our tools. And still we connect people. The ugly truth is that we believe… Continue reading Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy?

“In 2011, the company asked the Federal Election Commission for an exemption to rules requiring the source of funding for political ads to be disclosed. In filings, a Facebook lawyer argued that the agency “should not stand in the way of innovation.”” – Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy?

“At an event in November, 2017, Sean Parker, Facebook’s first president, called himself a “conscientious objector” to social media, saying, “God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.” A few days later, Chamath Palihapitiya, the former vice-president of user growth, told an audience at Stanford, “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have… Continue reading Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy?