Love this photo from NatGeoFound/National Geographic:
Two women in Southeast Asia discuss the day’s news, May 1921.
Photograph by M. Branger and Sons
An interesting viewpoint from humanrightswatch:
US: Protect National Security Whistleblowers
The United States should protect people who use classified or other sensitive government information to expose what appear to be serious human rights violations and other government wrongdoing.
Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who recently drew global attention to US mass surveillance programs, could be subject to extradition if charged by the US. Although the entirety of Snowden’s disclosures and their implications are still unknown, his revelations about NSA mass surveillance reveal overreach that is clearly of high national and international public interest, Human Rights Watch said.
“The uproar following Snowden’s revelations shows the importance of exposing the scope and conduct of the US surveillance program to public view, and that should temper any government response, whatever else Snowden may yet disclose,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “The US urgently needs a better system for protecting people who use classified information to spotlight what could reasonably be seen as serious government misconduct.”
The US government should also refrain from using the US Espionage Act, with its heavy penalties, to punish those who disclose classified information to the media for the purpose of exposing government wrongdoing and unethical policies. To contend that publishing classified information on the Internet proves an intent to “aid the enemy” simply because the “enemy” might read publicly available news, as the government has done in the prosecution of the US soldier Bradley Manning, subverts freedom of speech and the public’s right to information that can be essential to protect human rights and democratic accountability.
Photo: © 2013 Reuters
Snowden’s leak has caused a great deal of important discussion. Opinions subtly evolve on a daily basis.
(thanks/via: HumanRightsWatch)
On Departure (by Eoin Duffy)
“An animation which attempts to express a personal journey centred around the loss of my younger brother Emmet.”
Hesitated watching this at first but glad I did because Eoin Duffy captures, well, how sadness feels. The dull, hood of numbness the animator uses is perfect.
(thanks/via: Eoin Duffy)
Explore has had several recent posts on writing and creativity. This is a favorite:
In response to Kierkegaard’s meditation on the relationship between creativity and anxiety, reader Diego Viarengo sends this perfectly matched Calvin and Hobbes cartoon.
Pair with Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson on the creative life.
(thanks/via: Explore)
Mental health break: To promote summer reading, a group of students teamed up with the Seattle Public Library and built the world’s largest domino chain made of books. It took 2,131 books, 27 volunteers, and 112 slices of pizza.
The loveliest thing since this booktastic stop-motion rainbow.
(thanks/via: explore-blog, thanks also to The Seattle Public Library highlighting the architecture of OMA/Rem Koolhaas)
Ball (by Everynone)
A nearly encyclopedic visual dictionary of the word “ball.”
Listen to this from William Tyler’s Impossible Truth album.
Evil Minion Animation Test (by Illumination Entertainment)
Disclosure - When A Fire Starts To Burn (Official Video) (by THUMP)
Hysterical music video from the British group Disclosure.
This is the Three Wattled Bell Bird, recorded in Costa Rica, Central America.
Because of the secretive behavior of this bird, it is often only detected by the distinctive bell-like call given by the males. At close range, the vocalization of many in Costa Rica is heard as a complex three-part song, the “bonk” giving the bird its name. This hollow, wooden “bonk” is thought to be among the loudest bird calls on Earth, audible to humans from over 0.5 mi (0.80 km) away.
Watch a phenomenal amount of videos with birds, including more that either look or sound quite unusual: the common potoo, the red-capped manakin, the not-to-be-missed birds of paradise, and the kookaburra.
Nothing like a Friday for some birdwatching (without even leaving your desk)! How does that huge sound come from such a tiny creature?! Did it swallow a klaxon?
(thanks/via: jtotheizzoe)
Listen to this….The Portland band Pure Bathing Culture was a recent Guardian New Band of The Day (on OPB, and iTunes).
The JET Bicycle - The most dangerous unsafe bike EVER (by colinfurze)
See what I mean about 20 something guys? This video is hysterical and insane. Watch it! Here’s how Colin Furze describes his creations:
A cross between top gear scrapheap challenge jackass and my brain.
Art: Escif’s wall terrorists have been spotted somersaulting across Spain post on It’s Nice That
More by Escif (interview on Unurth):
Escif: Pirate Utopias. (Albacete, Spain)
Escif: On / Off (Katowice, Poland). Photo by Katowice Street Art Festival
(thanks/via: It’s Nice That)
