inside me a lunatic sings @mountains-etc-blog - Tumblr Blog

Lawrence Lessig, We the People, and the Republic We Must Reclaim — TED (2013)

In his trademark style, lessig shows how corruption in politics is one of the most pressing issues we face in America and what hope we have to stop it.

mountains-etc-blog

my summer: hours of commuting, hours of drooling over Lessig's arguments

#Larry Lessig #campaign finance #things that matter

newyorker

The Borowitz Report: How to Look Smarter

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – A new study released Tuesday indicates that wearing glasses does not make a person look smarter, but standing next to Texas Governor Rick Perry does.

Continue reading: http://nyr.kr/1mHY8IP

Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty.

Zach asking help remembering lyrics tonight

Zach: uh, what's the first line?

Crowd: LIKE AN ANCIENT DAY!!

Zach: crowd sourcing.

#a very important moment #beirut

femininefreak

“It’s always surprising to me how many young women think they have to be perfect. I rarely meet a young man who doesn’t think he already is.”

Hillary Clinton speaking at Simmons Leadership Conference (via femininefreak)

#too fucking true

thedisreguardian-blog

Boozy Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade

mountains-etc-blog

yes

tiffanypluscompany

#jon stewart #is a wonderful human

theatlantic

Meaningful Activities Protect the Brain From Depression

Our entire lives, when you think about it, are built around rewards — the pursuit of money, fun, love, and tacos.

How we seek and respond to those rewards is part of what determines our overall happiness. Aristotle famously said there were two basic types of joy: hedonia, or that keg-standing, Netflix binge-watching, Nutella-from-the-jar selfish kind of pleasure, and eudaimonia, or the pleasure that comes from helping others, doing meaningful work, and otherwise leading a life well-lived.

Recent psychological research has suggested that this second category is more likely to produce a lasting increase in happiness. Hedonic rewards may generate a short-term burst of glee, but it dissipates more quickly than the surge created by the more selfless eudaimonic rewards.

"Happiness without meaning characterizes a relatively shallow, self-absorbed or even selfish life, in which things go well, needs and desire are easily satisfied, and difficult or taxing entanglements are avoided," a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology found last year.

Read more. [Image: Natesh Ramasamy/flickr/Olga Khazan]

#tru

tartantambourine-deactivated201

So here’s what I told my friend who said he’s giving up on politics: Don’t. If you give in to bullies, their bullying only escalates. If you give in to cynicism about our democracy, our democracy steadily erodes. If you believe the fix is in and the game is rigged, and that a handful of billionaires and their Tea Party puppets are destroying our government, do something about it. Rather than give up, get more involved. Become more active. Make a ruckus. It’s our government, and the most important thing you can do for yourself, your family, your community, and the future, is to make it work for all of us.

Robert Reich in Their Real Goal: To Make Us All So Cynical About Government, We Give Up | NationofChange (via tartantambourine)

we-play-endlessly

"Sometimes I think I have felt everything I’m ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I’m not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I’ve already felt."

#fears