Monthly Archives: November 2015

LITERARY HISTORY: “No, Oscar Wilde Probably Didn’t Die of Syphilis” / PBS NewsHour / Dr. Howard Markel ☮

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Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900)
Irish Writer, Poet, Classicist, Spokesman for Aestheticism, and Atheist.
Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress, and glittering conversation.

Oscar Wilde uttered his last words in Room 16 of the Hôtel d’Alsace in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris. The wittiest man of his epoch was said to have quipped, “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us must go.”

True or false, the great playwright, poet, novelist and essayist went first. Oscar Wilde drew his last, labored breath on Nov. 30, 1900. He was only 46 years old.

Ever since that moment, literary scholars, doctors and Wilde fans have argued about the precise cause of his death.

Continue reading . . .

WESTERN PHILOSOPHY – EXISTENTIALISM: “Why you Should be Watching Fargo Already” / Albert Camus ☮

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https://youtu.be/ig_qH8-5Ap4
Every episode of Fargo to date has been titled after a piece of literature, and characters have quoted everyone from Lewis Carroll to Albert Camus. The literary choices never seem random, thematically commenting on the action of the show. Episode three is named after Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus and feels like a major inspiration for the entire season, given Noreen’s extended philosophical discussion of it with Ed and Charlie in episode five (and Ed’s subsequent misinterpretation of it in episode six). How many TV shows in 2015 can introduce you to the works of Kafka, Camus, and Ionesco?
h/t: Vulture

NEOLIBERAL HEALTH CARE: “Pap Attack: Big Pharma has Turned us into Hypochondriacs” / The Ring of Fire / Mike Papantonio ☮

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The United States is one of only two countries in the world that allows drug companies to market their products directly to consumers.

For the last 18 years, our TV airwaves have been dominated by commercials telling us that if we feel sad, if we feel sick, if we feel anything at all – then we need to take a magic pill from Big Pharma to make all of our worries melt away. A magic, by the way, pill that has been marked up by as much as twenty thousand percent.

Direct to consumer advertising has been a huge cash cow for the drug industry. Drug companies in the U.S. are now pulling in around $300 billion dollars every year, and this massive haul is all thanks to their marketing. Twenty percent of the country now takes at least five prescription drugs per month.

CORPORATE MEDIA: “Corporate Media Wants You to Be Stupid: Let’s Fight Back” / The Ring of Fire / Mike Papantonio ☮

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According to the most recent polling data, 65 percent of the public says that the corporate-controlled media has a negative effect on America, and 60 percent say that they don’t trust the media.

And here’s why – Americans now understand that the media doesn’t have their best interests in mind. They know that programming decisions are based on ad revenues, not about the news. If a story can’t sell ad time – or if it shows an advertiser in a negative light – it will never make it onto the air.