March 2012
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The "Black and White" or "Good and Evil"...
There’s a tendency to believe in “Good Versus Evil” stories out of history. That’s the type of story that skims the surface of, most famously, World War 2, but that’s what an alarming number of people walk away with with a high school degree in the US and the UK.
That story is one in which the forces of good and democratic freedom, the US and UK, fight against the...
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Nuclear Arms and Human Rights:
...
February 2012
“Whether you wanted it or not, you were born, you did the best you could, and...”
– Terry Pratchett, Snuff. (via booksnippets)
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Oh the many days I just want to slap Tumblr for being too American…
But that’s a generalization, isn’t it? Oh dear.
I guess when I write anything anymore I should bitch about white people?
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i-am-hy a réagi à votre billet : There are times I wonder if people really learn to…
oh boy… tumblr drama a brewin’. can’t wait to see what’s next :b.
It just bums me out to be honest. I’m tired of pointless Internet fights.
A debate is fun. A stupid argument isn’t.
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There are times I wonder if people really learn to be intellectually objective.
You have any particular subject which is pretty terrible in content: Slavery, genocide, war… anything like that.
To truly deal with it, one must analyze it. To analyze it, one must distance oneself emotionally from it.
It’s happened twice now, maybe more, that my comments are misunderstood. Maybe...
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fuckyeahlatinamericanhistory a reblogué votre citation : So when the Irish, when Germans, when Italians…
—————————- Whoa, is this real? There was no great initial plan to say “Let’s let everyone come here, but let’s let the…
*sigh* I hate it when people misinterpret me. I apologize if I wasn’t clear with my words for the purposes of brevity because no one reads long posts in...
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How the clash between John Maynard Keynes and...
“The truth isn’t easily pinned to a page. In the bathtub of history the truth is...”
– Terry Pratchett, Discworld, Sourcery (via brain152)
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kileyrae a réagi à votre billet : I’m listening to the lecture I just posted…
going to listen now :)
Let me know what you think. :D
You may or may not want to listen to the whole lecture since it’s all about his concept of what the EU should work towards, but I find it interesting anyway.
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I'm listening to the lecture I just posted...
Right here.
Firstly: kileyrae, we had a discussion regarding American cultural identity. Towards the end of this public lecture there is a question regarding the difference between Europe and America regarding the problems with the concept of a “United States of Europe.” Food for thought.
Secondly: I really want to study at LSE one day so I can go to these awesome public...
why do I keep seeing this "UGH WHITE PEOPLE" crap...
leftist-linguaphile:
Yes. There are some white people that say some horrible crap, but guess what? There are people of EVERY COLOR AND ETHNICITY THAT SAY HORRIBLE THINGS. I just don’t understand why every “social justice” posts has these “ugh white people” comments. Put the information and facts of something that a person or group of people said or did, but don’t destroy the legitimacy of that...
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European Community of Democracies - Towards a New...
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Climate Change and the New Industrial Revolution -... →
Download: Audio, Video
Speaker(s): Professor Lord Stern
Chair: Professor John Van Reenen
Recorded on 23 February 2012 in Old Theatre, Old Building.
Five years on from the Stern Review there have been important changes in the world which are likely to have a profound impact on our response to the two defining challenges of the century; overcoming poverty and managing climate change. Lord...
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Oh God...
cognitivedissonance:
Bill O and Monica Crowley just finished hollering about reverse racism because Barack Obama is encouraging African-American supporters to talk to people at their churches, and if Rick Santorum was to encourage white people to vote and talk to church members, then he’d supposedly be called a bigoted racist for encouraging white people to vote.
Alan Colmes just about shit a...
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National Museums are interesting.
They basically try to tell the story of their country, which is the purpose of course. They start with prehistoric records and go all the way to present day, highlighting important periods.
I went to the Malaysian one in Kuala Lumpur. It was fine and interesting, but got fishy during the rise of the Malacca Sultanate and spreading of Islam to the region. The descriptions are just a little too...
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Discussions with a friend.
I posted earlier about meeting an old friend. We wandered Zurich’s old town, decided on a place for lunch, went to the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum (Swiss National Museum) and got coffee.
Overall it was good to hang out with him. With the life I’ve led, it’s nice to know someone who’s been in my life for that long. It’s honestly rare. He’s known me a long...
I wish fixing a spelling mistake in an original...
Upper classes 'more likely to lie and cheat' -... →
tartantambourine:
John Bingham of Britain’s Daily Telegraph reports:
Members of the upper classes are more likely to lie, cheat and even break the law than people from less privileged backgrounds, a study has found.
In contrast, members of the “lower” classes appeared more likely to display the traditional attributes of a gentleman. …
[P]sychologists at the University of California...
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Meeting one of my oldest friends tomorrow.
He’s like me, in that we grew up internationally. But once we became adults I rather wished I’d followed in his footsteps.
He’s half French, half Chinese-Malaysian. He was born in France, lived in Bangkok for a while… And I met him in Jakarta when I was 7.
We met at a Chinese New Year celebration. They were low key because they were banned under Suharto, and only really...
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leftist-linguaphile a réagi à votre billet : So I’m watching Season 3 of “Chuck” with my dad…
hahahaha how cute! Spending time with the dad. I approve!
Haha I’m not good at spending time with my dad. Our time is typically spent watching movies, talking history and talking politics. It gets kind of awkward when we try to talk about life. It really gets awkward when...
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So I'm watching Season 3 of "Chuck" with my dad......
And it’s nice to see that he was just as horrified as I was when Chuck dumped Hannah, especially the manner in which he did it. His motivation was also screwy. Understandable, but annoying.
I never really got over the fact that he did that. Honestly, I liked him rather less. Actually, I even stopped watching before that the first time because her character was so likeable that something...
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“The following day, I attended a workshop about preventing gender violence,...”
– Why I Am A Male Feminist (via meggannn)
I’ve been aware of these… but I was interested in trying to judge how this works outside of America, because America has this huge rape awareness program and activists and everything. Other countries generally have less of that.
And the...
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lord-kitschener a réagi à votre billet : Anyone else have photo posts…
I almost punch the computer when that happens. Especially because the commentary is where I usually credit the source of the picture.
Quotes sometimes too. Maybe I’ll write a quote and I’ll add a lot of commentary beneath it…
And it might get reblogged… sans commentary.
I get that sometimes...
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Anyone else have photo posts...
Where you write some accompanying text, and you put a little effort into it, and then it gets reblogged…
At first you’re like “Yay! Someone liked it enough to reblog it!”
And then you’re like “This person might be cool, let’s check out their blog.”
And then you see they just kept the picture and deleted the text, which is what you probably...
“So when the Irish, when Germans, when Italians were coming, and they didn’t...”
– Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Race-The Power of an Illusion (via lati-negros)
To read more of.
(via mimitakestheleftturn)
I think it’s important to note that the first wave of Irish immigrants were treated like rodents.
I think it’s also important to note that the identity of being...
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stupidiamaxima a réagi à votre billet : The benefit of having Muslim citizens.
There are always benefits of diversity, sadly that rarely gets acknowledged or used.
In a way it just stuns me that no one really thought of that before.
What if the German contingent of the ISAF were mostly made up of Turkish immigrants who were still Muslim? It would send exactly the right message that the problem...
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The benefit of having Muslim citizens.
There are protests happening in Afghanistan right now. These are sparked by the rumours that American soldiers burned the holy book, the Koran.
It’s not clear whether it’s true or not, but it seems not to matter. There’s enough distrust of the ISAF soldiers that it appears all too easy for the locals to believe a rumour as silly as that.
So it occurs to me that countries with...
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“Republicans being against sex is not good. Sex is popular.”
– GOP strategist Alex Castellanos (via think-progress)
Anonymous asked: Until the second half of WWII, soldier audiences were generally unwilling to form any ideological links between cross-dressing and homosexuality. Female impersonators were the key cast members in troop shows during the Great War, but eventually fell out of favor in the last years of WWII after women were recruited in large numbers into the military and thus its entertainment infrastructure.
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Walk around town. Think of something you want to...
*sigh*
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1914to1919:
And now - French soldiers in drag 1915.
On a French postcard dated 1915, eight soldiers pose for the camera in a theatrical presentation. Three are in female drag, the center one sporting a mustache. Two standing figures on the far right and left read from their scripts. The card’s translated caption reads: Our soldiers entertain themselves without care for tomorrow.
...
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drvy a réagi à votre billet : I never got into Vietnamese music
viet-americans pbly. viet youth in vn are definitely in a different genre. it’s pbly coz our main sources are Paris by Night and Asia, which recycles constantly
That’s true. There’s a lot of freaking Paris By Night.
And someone else introduced me to popular Vietnamese hip hop. So yeah, it’s moving on.
But all...
Watchryking:
As violence rages, Syria holds referendum
Syria holds a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution, dismissed by the opposition as a charade amid an intensifying crackdown on the 11-month-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad.
Yeah what do you want to bet that the numbers will be rigged?
I never got into Vietnamese music
It’s just not my thing. But this is what my parents put on for atmosphere.
What’s funny is that it doesn’t seem to have changed much from generation to generation. Young Vietnamese seem to appreciate the same stuff that my parents do.
My parents are inviting a bunch of people over for a night full of Indonesian and Malay cuisine. The whole house has smelled like home. Pictures later!
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One of the most common fights between my parents, and this has gone on for years, is regarding shopping.
In Indonesia my mom had control of it so it wasn’t a problem, but since they moved to Switzerland my dad has helped out.
The thing is that my dad is addicted to sales. In the old days he’d splurge on gadgets, since that’s his job, more or less. Somewhere in storage we...
“…the very second after he is nominated — Mitt Romney instantly charges for the...”
– David Brin (via azspot)
I always think: don’t trust what they say now. It’s primary season. That tune will change for the general election and if one of them gets into office.
Never trust politicians.