Behind the Doodle: Celebrating Johann Sebastian Bach

Google celebrated the renowned German composer and musician Johann Sebastian Bach with their first ever AI-powered Doodle. The Doodle is an interactive experience that encourages players to compose a two measure melody of their choice. The Doodle then uses machine learning to harmonize the custom melody into Bach’s signature music style. More on the promise and risks of AI.

Faces Places | Movie

Agnès Varda's recent academy award nominated film Faces Places, starring Jean-Luc Godard, JR, and Laurent Levesque. For an obituary of the influential New Wave filmaker, who died last week, see here. Her 1968 short on Huey Newton and the Black Panthers can be viewed here.

Attorney General Barr Is Caught in a Double Mueller Bind

New reporting reveals the first public splintering of the Justice Department and Mueller’s team, with sources telling NBC News and other outlets that members of Mueller’s staff disagree with Trump Attorney General Bill Barr’s public characterizations of the Russia probe.

Talk in the Town Barbershop

Joseph Zaccardi Poetry of Joseph Zaccardi
Poet Joseph Zaccardi, Laureate of Marin County, explores the local chit-chat, reminding us it’s also about what folks don’t want to say or hear.

Here’s How the 2020 Candidates Stack Up on War and Peace

Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Independent Media Institute
What hope is there that one of the Democrats seeking the presidency in 2020 could be a real peace candidate? Could one of them bring an end to these wars and prevent new ones? Walk back the brewing Cold War and arms race with Russia and China?

15 Years After the Iraq Invasion, What Are the Costs?

Stephanie Savell OtherWords.org
We spend $32 million per hour on wars started during the Bush administration. The economic costs of the war on terror has cost Americans a staggering $5.6 trillion since 2001, when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan.