Watch: Plainfield, Two Years After the Flood [Stuck in Vermont 771]

Tags

, ,

On July 10 and 11, 2024, the village of Plainfield was hit hard by flooding that washed out roads, bridges, houses and apartments, the second major flooding event in as many years. After a deluge of rain, the Great Brook was raging with trees and rocks when it demolished the Mill Street Bridge and two-thirds of a historic apartment building that locals call the “Heartbreak Hotel.” Five cats died, and 12 residents were displaced. Images of the remnants of the battered building were seen around the globe in the news coverage that followed.

Watch: A Philosophical Look at System Dynamics

Tags

,

Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, Spring of 1977. In this lecture, Donella Meadows takes on a more philosophical concept. How can we bring ourselves to be aware of the assumptions we make as systems thinkers? She asserts that models are a set of assumptions. Donella Meadows defines some of these system dynamics assumptions (such as causal relationships and feedback loops) in this video.

Watch: How Millions of Americans Got Tricked Into Using a Bank That Isn’t a Bank

Tags

, ,

$100 million went missing from an online bank.
“Neobanks” promise higher rates and lower fees, but they exist in a regulatory black box created by Andreessen, Thiel, Musk and more.
We investigated an online bank where thousands of Americans’ FDIC-insured savings vanished.
—–
More Perfect Union is an Emmy-winning, nonprofit newsroom whose mission is to build power for working people. Here’s what that means: We report on the real struggles and challenges of the working class from a working-class perspective. We attempt to connect those problems to potential solutions. We report on the abuses and wrongdoing of corporate power. And we seek to hold accountable the ultra-rich who have too much power over America’s political and economic systems.

Watch: Worker Co-ops, ride share that works

Tags

, ,

Worker co-ops could be a solution to the rigged, unequal economy Americans are up against.

We talked to drivers at a rideshare company in Colorado.

They own the company together, and now when they drive a route they make more than 2x what they make driving Uber.

This video features content from Hans Taparia and Bruce Buchanan’s forthcoming book People’s Capitalism.

Watch: AI Was Never About Helping You | Cory Doctorow

Tags

Cory Doctorow has a refrain: “The most important thing about a gadget isn’t what it does; it’s who it does it for and what it does it to.” In this episode of “Galaxy Brain,” he sits down with Charlie Warzel to talk about the AI boom, making the case that the hype, vision, and dreams of endless growth are unsustainable. Doctorow expands on his viral “enshittification” thesis: a critique of AI based around power and whether we are using AI tools or being used by them.

TravelTuesday: Fort at number 4

Tags

, , ,

The Fort at No. 4 is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to creating a greater understanding of the multi-ethnic, multi-layered, messy history of the 18th century. To that end the museum employs static displays, living history and reenactment activities, classes/workshops, tours, presentations, and special events. With a better understanding of past actions, attitudes, and norms of behavior, one is able to make better informed decision about current and future issues:

“You are not judged by the height your have risen, but from the depth you have climbed.”
Frederick Douglass

The Fort at No. 4’s mission is: “To professionally collect, preserve and authentically interpret both physical and intellectual resources which provide an educational understanding and appreciation for the 18th century heritage of the Connecticut River Valley.”