It’s incredible how different we all are . . .

Here's how photographer Timothy Allen sums up his two year trip to the far corners of the world in order to capture images for the BBC series Human Planet:

It's incredible how different we all are, but yet we share roughly the same hopes and dreams for life. We're essentially looking for a roof over our head, looking to find a mate in life and feeding ourselves and looking after our offspring, and that's about it, really.

Allen's quote brings to mind Donald Brown's work on the incredible sameness of all human animals. But, as Allen points out, our cultures are also dramatically different from one another. Now please do yourself the supreme favor of clicking on this link to view a sampling of Allen's exquisite photography for Human Planet. His slide show includes some of the most memorable photos I've ever seen. You can read through the live chat that the show's team had earlier tonight, and please do consider a visit to Allen's own site. And here's a bit of video from the series, a segment dealing with the "last free people on the planet."

Continue ReadingIt’s incredible how different we all are . . .

Who cares about Egypt when we can talk about war?

You won't find headlines regarding Egypt in the American mass media anymore, because the much easier to take gawk-worthy videos and pictures demonstrating conflict and violence in Libya. And further, it would take some real work to produce serious stories regarding Egypt's fledgling democracy. Bonus points for covering Libya instead: Reporters can simultaneously discuss U.S. military intervention. Bring on those retired generals! America's itchy aircraft-bomb-dropping finger is already on the hair trigger! We are indisputably the land of War Made Easy and Conflict Pornography.

Continue ReadingWho cares about Egypt when we can talk about war?

The “news”

Here is a modern FOX interview--the "interviewer" is Megyn Kelly. It's seven minutes long. Can you make it all the way to the end without having your mind wander from the topic of the alleged interview to the state of the media?

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Happy Ponzi Day!

Charles Ponzi was born 129 years ago today, so I guess that makes it Ponzi Day today. The man for whom the pyramid scheme was named though, was a chump. Today's schemers have been many times more successful. By the time Ponzi's scheme peaked in 1920, Wikipedia notes that "he had made $420,000 ($4.59 million in 2008 terms)." See what I mean? $4 and half million isn't even enough for today's ponzi artists to get out of bed. For example, let's look at the currently best-known ponzi artist, Bernie Madoff. The amount missing from Madoff clients' accounts was nearly $65 billion, although that includes fabricated money-- actual losses total about $18 billion. Even at $18 billion though, that's still almost 4,000 times the ponzi scheme than Ponzi himself. Madoff made headlines again this week, saying that “It’s unbelievable, Goldman … no one has any criminal convictions. The whole new regulatory reform is a joke. The whole government is a Ponzi scheme.” And who better to know Ponzi schemes than the man who bested Ponzi?

Continue ReadingHappy Ponzi Day!