Yesterday, Transterrestrial Musings contributed to the venerable April 1 tradition with the headline Pro-German Protesters Demand Ceasefire. That brought to mind something I’ve pondered recently: does the Third Reich seem so unique at least in part because we never had a chance to see what the Aztecs, Moghuls, ancient Mesopotamian civilizations, and other pre-industrial empires would do if they had mid-20th Century technology? I can imagine boxcars unloading people at Tenochtitlan…
“Comedian Jon Stewart says Apple asked him not to interview FTC Chair Lina Khan”
CNBC:
Stewart asked Khan why the company might be “afraid” to have certain conversations out in public. Khan said it “shows one of the dangers of what happens when you concentrate so much power and so much decision-making in a small number of companies.”
An alternative explanation might be that it shows what happens when you concentrate so much power and so much decision-making in a small number of government officials.
Surprising and Important
Harvard University has announced a new focus on the discovery of truth and the stimulation of scientific and technological progress. Consistent with this initiative, Michael Gibson and Danielle Strachman of 1517 Fund will serve as co-presidents. Peter Thiel will join the board.
Thiel is well-known for, among many other things, the Thiel Fund, which provides funding to creative people who choose a career path not including college. The 1517 Fund is a venture capital fund focused on non-traditional founders.
This date–April 1, 2024–will be long remembered for this very significant announcement.
Fever
A fever, so the doctors and medical experts tell us, is a symptom of a deeper issue; an illness which most often is a mild and fleeting thing. And then, there is the serious and life-threatening fever in either case, a fever is a way of telling us that something is wrong, and we’d best pay attention.
Just such an indication in the body politic is the occurrence of vigilante groups a kind of civic fever, an indication that civic adjudication the administration of justice in the case of offenses against law and order to the satisfaction of those offended by crime has become seriously out of whack. It is a purely human drive; if one has been harmed by the unlawful actions of another, one would prefer to be assured that justice has been served and if not made whole again, at the very least satisfied that the offender has been properly chastised for their offense.
Heartsignals (updated)
Various types of communications media…letters, telegrams, telephone calls…have long played a role in popular music. Just for some weekend fun, here are some songs, ranging from the light-hearted to the very sad, in which various forms of communication make an appearance.
Conventional Mail:
Please Mr Postman, The Marvelettes (1961)
Return to Sender, Elvis Presley (1962)
Unconventional Mail:
The Carrier Dove, (1836)
Telegraph:
Western Union, The Five Americans, 1967
Telephone:
Sylvia’s Mother, Dr Hook (1972) (also recorded by Bon Jovi in 2003)
Memphis, Tennessee, Chuck Berry/Johnny Rivers (1963/1964)
Operator, Jim Croce (1972)
Missing You, John Waite (1984)(also recorded with Alison Krauss in 2007)
Why Haven’t I Heard from You?, Reba McIntire (1994)
Telephone: Lady Gaga (2009)
Telephone Line: Electric Light Orchestra
Broadcast Radio:
Border Radio, Dave Alvin (also this version)
Marine Radio:
Ship to Shore, Chris De Burgh
Newspapers and Magazines:
Escape (The Pina Colada Song), Rupert Holmes
My True Confession, Brook Benton
How about e-mail and text messaging?…are there any good songs featuring these media?
Here is a collection of songs featuring e-mail that I found…haven’t listened to them all. There are quite a few songs referring to text messaging, haven’t found any particularly impressive ones so far.
This post is an updated version of my earlier post on the same theme: fixed some broken links and added some communications types.