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We live at a time that might be appropriately called the age of the disappearing intellectual. In a media scape and public sphere that view criticism, dialog and thoughtfulness as a liability, anti-intellectuals abound, providing commentaries that are nativist, racist, reactionary and morally repugnant. But the premium put on ignorance and the disdain for critical intellectuals is not monopolized by the dominant media, it appears to have become one of the few criteria left for largely wealthy individuals to qualify for public office.

Underlying this drift toward the disappearing critical intellectual and the erasure of substantive critique is a regime of economic Darwinism in which a culture of ignorance serves to both depoliticize the larger public while simultaneously producing individual and collective subjects necessary and willing to participate in their own oppression. The cheerful robot is not simply an opprobrium for ignorance, it is a metaphor for the systemic construction in American society of a new mode of depoliticized and thoughtless form of agency.

Democracy places civic demands upon its citizens. It may be the case that everyday life is increasingly organized around market principles; but confusing a market-determined society with democracy hollows out the legacy of higher education, whose deepest roots are moral, not commercial. This is a particularly important insight in a society where the free circulation of ideas are not only being replaced by ideas managed by the dominant media, but where critical ideas are increasingly viewed or dismissed as banal, if not reactionary.

http://www.truth-out.org/the-disappearing-intellectual-age-economic-darwinism61287?print

Peter Jonason of New Mexico University believes that narcissism and callousness may have an innate, genetic component. Speaking in New Scientist, Dr Jonason describes the "Dark Triad" of traits: the self-obsession of narcissism, the impulsive, thrill-seeking and callous behaviour of psychopaths, and the deceitful and exploitative nature of Machiavellianism. "We have evidence that these traits may represent a successful evolutionary strategy," he says.

While acknowledging that clinical levels of the Dark Triad traits are certainly socially undesirable, Dr Jonason and his colleagues argue that the traits that underlie the Dark Triad, which are partially independent but moderately related to one another, are best viewed as one particular social orientation towards others and may facilitate people's goals, especially when those goals involve an exploitative social strategy and a short-term mating strategy.

Those scoring high on the Dark Triad tended to be more extraverted, open to experience, and have higher self-esteem. They also tended to be less agreeable, neurotic, and conscientious. "The traits reflect a highly selfish social strategy. High level of self-esteem, extraversion, and openness, along with low levels of conscientiousness and anxiety, may be instrumental in enabling an exploiter to persist in the face of potential social rejection and retaliation."

"In a world where individuals want to avoid being taken advantage of, those high on the Dark Triad, like James Bond, who tend to be more agentic than others, have a particularly difficult task at hand. How to get what they want without rousing the suspicions or retaliations of others? The answer is to be extraverted, open, high on self-esteem, and low on conscientiousness and anxiety while being individualistic and competitive," Dr Jonason argues.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201007/james-bonds-psyche

The Canon Wonder Camera concept device has a focal length from macro to 500mm with a single, integrated lens. It boasts massive (unspecified) storage, ultra-high (also unspecified) resolution, multiple facial recognition capabilities, and the ability to keep everything viewable in focus at the same time.

Wonder Camera is, however, actually a camcorder. Rather than take individual stills, Wonder Camera users would pick video frames. It is an inevitable evolution: as storage and sensors evolve to ever-escalating video resolution, we will eventually be able to use video frames as photos suitable for large prints.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/10/switched-on-photography-is-dead-long-live-photos/

A mechanic died violently in police custody in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, shortly after he refused to continue paying bribes. The police reportedly started extorting money from the victim after they seized the auto-rickshaw that he operated and the two men he hired to drive it. The man was delivered dead to a hospital shortly after police picked him up, bearing signs of torture. The hospital has refused to release his medical records. The case shows how Bangladeshi police are able to trade on justice, to arrest persons at will, and to kill with impunity. The wife and nephew of the dead man have been threatened repeatedly by the officers involved in the case.

15-year-old Cennet Doğanay was banned from classes for wearing a headscarf, as it went against the new French law banning religious signs in schools. She was only allowed into school after shaving her head. Cennet's mother said her daughter had tried everything: "a beret, a bandana, but they still refused to let her into class." Cennet told journalists: "I respect the law but the law does not respect me."

Recently-discovered documents reveal that Colombia's Department of Administrative Security (DAS) has conducted spying operations on European soil, largely in Belgium, and even in the halls of the European Parliament. One victim of the intelligence agency's "Operation Europe" believes there is a Washington connection.

According to documents used in Colombian proceedings, Operation Europe's objective was to "neutralize the influence" of the European Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights, the Office of the UNHCR, European NGO workers, and other activists critical of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's human rights record.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/colombia/100630/spy-espionage-eu-colombia-farc