DDD SUGGESTED READING LIST FOR JAN 30

1. Ever wondered what a 24-course meal at the most prestigious restaurant in the world (which runs you roughly $280 American-ass dollars, without the wine)? Well then, you're in luck, because rapper and food TV show host Action Bronson just posted an Instagram report of a meal he just experienced at Noma, in Copenhagen. The ingredients in these dishes range from "flowers and sea urchin to ants and grasshopper". The dish above is the first course: fresh berries in fresh herbs. You can see and read all about the rest of the dishes at this Sploid article.

2. I have a feeling that most of the people who read the Daily Dirt Diaspora family of blogs are probably big fans of "science" as a catch-all term, and self-declared foes of "anti-science" or quackery, or pseudo-science or whatever other term you might want to use. As such, I imagine that a large percentage of my readers believe that the so-called "Wakefield Study" that raised suspicions about certain vaccines and particular vaccination practices has been well and duly "de-bunked" and exposed as a particularly egregious example of medical and scientific "fraud". The reason you probably believe that is because of a journalistic war apparently waged by a single lone crusader - Brian Deer - whose work serves as the foundation for the massive anti-anti-vaccine movement (a movement far larger, better funded, and far better organized than the so-called anti-vaccine movement ever was). So before you make any final decisions about what's safe to believe in this matter, you might want to read up a little bit about this Deer fellow's background. It ain't pretty, and the fact that this one man's propaganda has played an integral role in shaping the course of medical history for the worse is, quite frankly, terrifying.

3. If you're reading this, then you should already be a huge fan of British filmmaker Adam Curtis' work by now. His documentaries and documentary series - from the in-depth exploration of Sigmund Freud's influence on the 20th century of The Century of the Self, to the parallel examinations of the founding fathers of Islamism (Sayed Qotb) and Neoconservatism (Leo Strauss) of The Power of Nightmares - all of Curtis' films are absolute must-see material for anyone hoping to even aspire to begin grappling with the Big Ideas and World Historic shiftings of the dawning Third Millennium. 

And now, after having premiered on BBC last week, his most recent documentary - Bitter Lake - is up for all to see on Youtube. It's all about the "coalition" failures, mostly in Afghanistan, and, as usual for Curtis, there's footage here that will leave you wondering, "where and how in the name of high holy FUCK did he get this footage?! and why have I never seen it before?!?"

Particularly sly is this one part where we see footage of these art teachers that the British military have flown into the newly "liberated" Afghanistan to teach the locals about "conceptual art". As one of these clueless lassies proudly shows a slide of Marcel Duschamp's "Fountain" (a urinal attached to a gallery wall), explaining how it was "a revolutionary statement" about how "art is whatever I say it is", the looks on the students faces is absolutely priceless. Talk about your misguided efforts.

You can watch it here, below, but I recommend you cruise on over to Youtube and watch it in HD, full-screen, because you're not going to want to miss a single image or moment.