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The title is simply Salman Rushdie in context of his 27 second knife attack, speaking about healing both literal, and metaphoric, open wounds.

You know… They never finish Lord Acton’s quote ‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’, he also says ‘Great men are almost always bad men’:

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”

Some more righteous Acton:

“Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality.”

“Authority that does not exist for Liberty is not authority but force.”

“Everybody likes to get as much power as circumstances allow, and nobody will vote for a self-denying ordinance.”

“Absolute power demoralizes.”

Also, a specific line from Herbert’s 2nd Dune book resonates, as I think about all the psychopaths that become a priest, a cop, or politician to use the trust of the institution to wage havoc:

“All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.”

 

Also?

 

TRIP OUT – free hallucinations in 30 seconds or your money back: https://strobe.cool/

 

SPACE

  • Two Voyager stories! This little harmless piece of intelligent spacejunk is just nestled in my heart. Who said there’s no legacy! This little guy will be cruising through an endless universe for some time after the human race ceases to exist. Happy Monday all!

NASA resurrects Voyager 1 interstellar spacecraft’s thrusters after 20 years: ‘These thrusters were considered dead’ https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/nasa-resurrects-voyager-1-interstellar-spacecrafts-thrusters-after-20-years-these-thrusters-were-considered-dead

NASA Powers Down Equipment on Voyager Probes as They Struggle for Life “Every day could be our last.” https://futurism.com/nasa-powers-down-equipment-voyager-probes

 

Related… the message Carl Sagan sent to Chuck Barry:

r/Damnthatsinteresting - Letter Carl Sagan sent to Chuck Berry

 

 

 

 

  • Dark Matter may be talking, and we can tune in.

A ‘cosmic car radio’ could help scientists tune in to dark matter within the next 15 years News By Robert Lea published April 16, 2025 “We don’t know the frequency, so we need to keep tuning and trying different ones, like searching for a good radio station when you arrive in a different country or drive long distances.” https://www.space.com/the-universe/a-cosmic-car-radio-could-help-scientists-tune-in-to-dark-matter-within-the-next-15-years

 

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

 

 

 

  • Vaporware, but Kawasaki rideable robot horse concept:

 

 

World’s First Wireless Bionic Hand Remotely Controlled by Amputee, 3D printed, and open source.

 

 

 

  • The below robot (way down there after this ramble) is the Unitree G1, and it has its very first job like most youngin’s, landscaping and working around lawns, hoping to buy candy and comic books on the weekend when it rides its BMX bike into town to get a burger at the diner counter, and go to the poster shop to see gag gifts and titillating imagery. That’s suspiciously specific. Am I robot?

But, this guy starts at $16K? WOW: https://www.unitree.com/g1
I mean, I like people, but that’s a minimum wage job, right?

Here comes pure (see: unfeeling, lack of empathy) capitalism!

$16.50 = California minimum wage farm job. 40 hour work week, that’s $2640 a month in labor cost.

G1 is $16,000 = which means you pay it off in 6 months, and it appears to have an 8-12 month warranty.

So for a capital cost up front that likely has lesser operating costs or legal liabilities, expenses, etc…
it does become compelling.

However, my family came from farming and now we’re all in hospitality.

That robot is replacing a dude who essentially became family, probably stayed there 30 years, got promoted, maybe even got his own piece of a vineyard or saved enough for his own farm, etc.

So I think a lot of bonds historically created between people of different walks of life, different cultures, and how special they were. Soon to be lost.

Then I think about all the missed chances and less opportunities for younger men and women that are willing to work hard. So much less human interaction, and so many less varied life experiences from all walks, sharing less of the human experience. Where would fusion cooking come from?!?!

What a tragedy. It glued us together as a society, merged and fused cultures. So much goodness came of that, and now for scores of years we’ll just hear the silent hum or clicking of a robot in the corner of a dead quiet farmhouse.

 

 

 

When an adult “immortal jellyfish” is damaged or stressed, instead of dying, it absorbs its own tentacles and becomes a blob that settles to the sea floor, per London’s Natural History Museum. Over the next day and a half, this blob becomes a new polyp, which can then form more medusae. So, though T. dohrnii may succumb to a predator, it can thwart dying of old age.

 

 

Why Square Waves Are So Deadly And What To Do If You Encounter One: https://www.islands.com/1664358/reason-why-square-waves-deadly-dangerous-what-do-encounter/

“Square Waves form a complex wave pattern with unpredictable currents and powerful breaking waves that can reach significant heights, making it difficult for swimmers and boaters to navigate and potentially capsizing vessels or causing serious injuries to those caught in them; essentially, they can pull you in multiple directions at once, making escape challenging,” Giachetti explained to Islands, adding that these waves can surge up to 10 feet (3 meters), which he says is “more than enough to swamp a large boat.”

 

I’ve a future newsletter that is going to talk about the BONKERS SCIENCE behind the Polynesians understanding how to “feel” waves as they would slap at the hull of their boats, such that they could tell if that wave had refracted off land 100 miles away or it was open ocean. I am obsessed, absolutely obsessed.

 

  • I expect AI to figure out fusion, math problems, infrastructure and construction issues, and physics answers.

Google’s AI ‘co-scientist’ cracked 10-year superbug problem in just 2 days: Scientists took 10 years to figure out how one type of superbug gains its ability to infect diverse bacterial species. When prompted, Google’s new AI “co-scientist” gave them the answer in two days. https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/googles-ai-co-scientist-cracked-10-year-superbug-problem-in-just-2-days

 

 

 

  • mRNA for the win… as long as we long jump over Kennedy and Trump. This will cure

Cancer Vaccines Are Suddenly Looking Extremely Promising “It’s like science fiction.” https://futurism.com/neoscope/cancer-vaccines-mrna-future

 

 

 

  • Tech has really ruined a lot, but the next frontier of not ruining things is medical. The nobel prize for the mRNA vaccines is appropriate, because they are going to make us healthy forever. https://www.pennmedicine.org/mrna
Here is a list of the initial vaccines people are working on with the mRNA methodology. This list, from the above website, is LITERALLY WHAT THE VACCINES WILL CURE:

 

 

  • You cannot weaponize Thorium. This is unreal… and China has us to thank for bailing on the research!

China Fires Up World’s First Thorium-Powered Nuclear Reactor “Rabbits sometimes make mistakes or grow lazy. That’s when the tortoise seizes its chance.” https://futurism.com/china-thorium-nuclear-power

 

 

  • This is amazing. You know how you unconsciously mirror someone, or when they do it to you it feels good? They just found neurons that respond to mirroring.

“Mirror neurons: Enigma of the metaphysical modular brain”

Mirror neurons are one of the most important discoveries in the last decade of neuroscience. These are a variety of visuospatial neurons which indicate fundamentally about human social interaction. Essentially, mirror neurons respond to actions that we observe in others. The interesting part is that mirror neurons fire in the same way when we actually recreate that action ourselves. Apart from imitation, they are responsible for myriad of other sophisticated human behavior and thought processes. Defects in the mirror neuron system are being linked to disorders like autism. This review is a brief introduction to the neurons that shaped our civilization. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3510904/

The Neuroscience of Vitality, Tip 2: Mirror Neurons | Psychology Today

 

 

 

 

  • Stay for the 3d printed LIDAR mapped Space Mountain… and stay for the unrelenting and astonishing scientific testing that outs Elon’s grift and lying, but also a legal problem with how the car shuts off self-driving 500ms early so there’s no lawsuits in event of a crash.

 

 

  • Great, now with more non-sharing of reality:

“Technology is neither good nor bad nor neutral” -the positive applications also have scary ones:
Scientists Create Sound That Can Curve Through a Crowd and Reach Just One Person “The person standing at that point can hear sound, while anyone standing nearby would not.” https://futurism.com/sound-audible-enclaves

Getty / Futurism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Had zero idea… when the decaffeinate something like coffee or soda… that biproduct is REALLY valuable, and essentially is its own product:

The caffeine obtained from the decaffeination is mainly used by pharmaceutical, cola-type soft drinks and cosmetic industries and although decaf coffee amounts to about 10% of the global coffee market, the need for caffeine by these industries is much bigger than is produced https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fes3.4#:~:text=The%20caffeine%20obtained%20from%20the,much%20bigger%20than%20is%20produced

A Complete Guide To Decaf Coffee – Coffee Hero

 

 

  • Using logic, science, the brain, and strong seals…. flooding your Kentucky restaurant with clean water to keep the muddy floodwater out. Fascinating practical application, and stay for the employee pool party in the back!

 

COMEDY

  • Billie Joe of Green Day simply did the exact speech Dirk Diggler did in Boogie Nights:
@greenday ALTERNATIVE ARTIST OF THE YEAR !!! @iHeartRadio ? original sound – Green Day

 

 

  • Marlon Brando: kicked out of AOL Chat rooms, pranking friends with photoshop:

“Marlon was a closet geek. Well, not even in the closet — he was big into it,” Billups explained. “He was an ace with Photoshop. He would take people’s pictures and put them in places they never were. He’d say, ‘Remember when we were in so-and-so?’ and you’d see people trying to remember that situation.” The trick to successfully confusing his friends, Billups explained, was being subtle about it. “He would maneuver it so wasn’t totally unbelievable; he would create an alternate reality,” Billups remembered. “He’d say, ‘I’ve got a picture of it right here, you’re looking at a picture of you at the Statue of Liberty.’ He would do this to all kinds of people, it was hilarious.” https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/marlon-brando-was-a-secret-tech-geek-and-photoshop-124061824672.html

The hilarious reason Marlon Brando hung around in AOL chat rooms during the 1990s https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/why-marlon-brando-hung-around-aol-chat-rooms-1990s/

 

 

  • Develop something you are good at… and that you love. Nunchuck Tyler is skilled at nunchucks, has his own theme song, and seems dope. Mall Ninja aside, this is great:

Nunchuck Tyler!
byu/CallThatGoing inmallninjashit

 

 

  • Model Train Store Rap! Choo Choo!

This is such a jam, I thought to put it under Music, but it’s so fun… smiles, laughter or both… we’re in comedy land son!

@saxboybilly18 The model train store song #modeltrains #modeltrain #train #hobbyshop #traintok #indianapa #westernpa #pittsburgh #pennsylvania #yinzer #iup ? original sound – saxboybilly18

 

MOVIES & TV

  • Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” is a masterpiece, and will change Hollywood forever.

Long story short: WB made a crazy deal with Coogler that means he will retain and own the rights in 25 years time. It’s freaking out Hollywood Execs, because if it’s the hit (THAT IT IS), it could begin the end of the current studio system. WB gave him this deal in thinking a 1930’s Mississippi Delta Blues Juke Joint Vampire niche horror film might not have a strong audience. In this era of no more star draw power, guess what? COOGLER IS A DRAW. MICHAEL B. JORDAN IS A DRAW. HORROR IS THE BIGGEST DRAW. Talented filmmaking is a draw. This film has about 2 dozen reasons to see it, and word of mouth is pure fire… this film is a VERY VERY BIG DEAL.

‘Sinners’ Is the First Movie to Be Simultaneously Shot on Ultra Panavision 70 and IMAX https://petapixel.com/2025/04/14/sinners-is-the-first-movie-to-be-simultaneously-shot-on-ultra-panavision-70-and-imax/

Here’s Ryan going into aspect ratio… this is a AMAZINGLY SIMPLE crash course on filmmaking, packaged in a “what version do you want to see?” offering for ticket buyers. It’s unreal simplicity.

 

Aspect Ratio conversation with one of the best interviews and film critics ever:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kevin McCarthy (@kevinmccarthytv)

 

And here that is explained quickly with some visual examples:

 

AND, if you’ve seen it or not, this is one of the best critiques and film theory explainers of all that’s going on in the film… from narrative and subtext, to “metatext” and the idea of creation and ownership in context of actually making the film and being able to own your creative output.

‘Sinners’, Coogler and Questions of Ownership There was a time when Black creatives could simply be grateful for the opportunity to make something, but that wasn’t true freedom. True freedom is to make it, own it, and build a legacy from it, writes The Hollywood Reporter contributor Richard Newby. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/sinners-meaning-behind-ryan-coogler-movie-1236197916/

 

 

  • Fury Road is a also masterpiece. Frankly.

But how did no one die?

The making of the film is worth a watch.

There’s a great anecdote where the stunt crew figured out the practical polecat effect, and Miller allowed it only if they went really slow, and they speed up the cars in post.  The stunt team did it at full speed anyway. LOL Australian maybe?

But Miller might need to teach a seminar, because he confounds other directors! A few quotes:

When Miller screened a couple scenes at Cannes, Robert Rodriguez jumped up and shouted, “How the fuck did you film that?!”

The ability to stage well is a skill and a talent that I value above almost everything else. And I say that because there are people who do it better than I’ll ever be able to do it after 40 years of active study. I just watched Mad Max: Fury Road again last week, and I tell you I couldn’t direct 30 seconds of that. I’d put a gun in my mouth. I don’t understand how [George Miller] does that, I really don’t, and it’s my job to understand it. I don’t understand two things: I don’t understand how they’re not still shooting that film and I don’t understand how hundreds of people aren’t dead. -Steven Soderbergh

 

 

  • Really perfect advice from Vincent D’Onofrio, and regardless of acting…

just GET… THAT… CULTURE.

@jrbtpup @GalaxyCon #vincentdonofrio #daredevilbornagain #daredevil #kingpin #comicon #galaxycon #artist #advice #celebrity #actingadvice #actor #comicbook #disney+ #disneyplus ? original sound – Wanderlust Escapes

 

 

  • Absolutely upset about Ridley Scott’s I AM LEGEND with Arnold Schwarzenegger – and practical effects of the vampires vs CGI:

 

MUSIC

 

  • Hania Rani being in the New York Times means I live under a rock, but she’s an absolute master of classical minimalism or neoclassical or whatever you want to call it… she saved my hide during the pandemic with the Invalides Cercle broadcast!
    https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/arts/music/hania-rani.html

Hania Rani's Music Is Tranquil. Please Don't Call It 'Soothing.' - The New York Times

 

 

  • Stunning and out of nowhere collaboration between a favorite film score and classical minimalist from Iceland, and Loreen! =)

 

 

  • This is a heartbreaking work of staggering insight and artistry:

The Caretaker’s “Everywhere At The End of Time” is a horrifying musical portrayal for what it is like to undergo dementia.

The Caretaker’s Bandcamp: https://thecaretaker.bandcamp.com/album/everywhere-at-the-end-of-time

Wiki on the project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everywhere_at_the_End_of_Time

This album’s purpose is to tell the listener through music on what it’s like to be undergoing dementia. It portrays a gradual, but terrifying deterioration of the human mind consisting in confusion, failed remembrance, terror, and eventually the complete loss of self. It is a six and a half hours mega album with six parts, each of which represents a separate stage of dementia. Each part has the following descriptions described nicely by The Creator:

Stage 1: Here we experience the first signs of memory loss. This stage is most like a beautiful daydream. The glory of old age and recollection. The last of the great days.

Stage 2: The second stage is the self realization and awareness that something is wrong with a refusal to accept that. More effort is made to remember so memories can be more long form with a little more deterioration in quality. The overall personal mood is generally lower than the first stage and at a point before confusion starts setting in.

Stage 3: Here we are presented with some of the last coherent memories before confusion fully rolls in and the grey mists form and fade away. Finest moments have been remembered, the musical flow in places is more confused and tangled. As we progress some singular memories become more disturbed, isolated, broken and distant. These are the last embers of awareness before we enter the post awareness stages.

Stage 4: Post-Awareness Stage 4 is where serenity and the ability to recall singular memories gives way to confusions and horror. It’s the beginning of an eventual process where all memories begin to become more fluid through entanglements, repetition and rupture.

Stage 5: Post-Awareness Stage 5 confusions and horror. More extreme entanglements, repetition and rupture can give way to calmer moments. The unfamiliar may sound and feel familiar. Time is often spent only in the moment leading to isolation.

Stage 6: Post-Awareness Stage 6 is without description.

I’m not going to spoil too much of the details of the composition of the album as it’s better to go in this album somewhat blind, but it initially starts with old time inspired ambience (made entirely digitally impressively) and that same music goes through a gradually, but dramatic change and it gets more scattered and loose as the album drags on. This is the Caretaker’s (James Leyland Kirby’s) final piece before he retired, that was split into four separate releases: Stage 1 in 2016, Stages 2 & 3 in 2017, Stages 4 & 5 in 2018, and Stage 6 in 2019 as well as a separate album Everywhere, an Empty Bliss in 2019 which consisted of the unused pieces in the 6-staged album. This album for me was a very long and intense, but interesting listen and I would personally recommend to listen to it in one sitting as it was meant to be listened whenever you make yourself the time to do so as it’s one of my favorites of the decade. Feel free to discuss.

 

 

PEOPLE CULTURE AND SOCIETY

 

Inappropriate Popsicle Eating! - YouTube

 

 

  • Alec Baldwin And Garry Shandling Star In The Most Awkward Boxing Match Ever:

Hidden deep inside of the extras of the “Not Just The Best Of Larry Sanders” DVD resides this video of Alec Baldwin and Garry Shandling engaging in a not-so-friendly boxing match. An oldie but a goodie, we thought it worth discussing on with Alec Baldwin’s recent spat with American Airlines still in the headlines (older read) https://www.buzzfeed.com/whitneyjefferson/alec-baldwin-and-garry-shandling-star-in-the-most

 

 

Peter Berg talks about boxing, owning a gym with Shandling, and the wild times… which mentions the above. GREAT listen:

 

 

 

 

I LOVE BRUTALISM! I ADMIT IT! I made a gallery:

Just brutal.

 

 

 

Wojtek: The bear who was a private in the Polish army

 

 

 

It will be seen that the formula - 'Do what thou wilt shall ...

 

 

 

  • In various geographies and cultures, people relate to life and living in many different ways. Example #1:

Is it OK to honnold in the rain?
byu/V-chalk inClimbingCircleJerk

 

 

  • Safe Playgrounds reduce the need for risk assessment in children… so they’re less critical of surveying probabilities in situations, and modern playgrounds just hurt more kids because as safe as they are meant to be… the children are not great at it.

 

BUT… this is what our playgrounds used to be like:

Dangerous Playgrounds of the 1970s: Photos That Prove Safety Wasn’t a Priority https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/unsafe-playgrounds-from-the-1970s/

Dangerous Playgrounds of the 1970s

Dangerous Playgrounds of the 1970s

 

 

  • Cops need better training. Saying “we’re here to save and help you” while tasing a harmless dude in a chicken outfit is just wild.

The best freakout i’ve seen in ages ? ?
byu/Rude_Signal1614 inActualPublicFreakouts

 

VEHICLES

  • I cannot, will not, will NEVER get over this trip:
@joshuavidesThank you LA ?? What city next ?? luther – Kendrick Lamar & SZA

 

 

  • Kia x SEMA 2024 – PV5 WKNDR Concept

 

 

 

 

  • Might not want that charger in the garage… but 250 miles in 5 minutes is essentially as quick as filling up: BYD Is Suddenly Crushing Tesla The Chinese automaker is eating Musk’s lunch. https://futurism.com/byd-crushing-tesla

 

 

  • Completed in 2011 by West Coast Customs for Will.I.Am, this custom Delorean was completely re-constructed from the ground up to look like it was built in the year 2020; it has a widened aluminum body and fitted with corvette engine

CDN media

CDN media

By Uncle FishbitsCategories: Newsletter