One of my friends works in an EU country and describes corruption and the ‘black’ economy there. These are the kinds of stories which inspire my fantasies of studying Economics. According to my sources, friends high up at the large security company which packages and ships all of the cash for the National Bank, the … More Cloak and Dagger Economies in the EU
Nicolas Sarkozy has been elected President of the Republic of France, and he has a triumphalist video. The White House is of course pleased and I, of course, am not. A year or so ago this blog was being attacked by French people opposed to the Iraq war. They said that as an American, I … More Travail, famille, patrie
The Washington Post recently published an interesting article about the U.S. refusal of foreign aid to help offset the effects of Hurricane Katrina. I quote from the complete text: [W]hile television sets worldwide showed images of New Orleans residents begging to be rescued from rooftops as floodwaters rose, U.S. officials turned down countless offers of … More Our Government, Ourselves
On May Day, 2007, the LAPD assaulted immigration reform demonstrators in McArthur Park. For Cinco de Mayo I am channeling Benito Juárez. Axé.
I thought encyclopedias were a comparatively modern invention, but there is the Suda: (Σοῦδα or alternatively Suidas Σουΐδας) is a massive 10th century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopædia of the ancient Mediterranean world. It is an encyclopædic lexicon with 30,000 entries, many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost. The derivation is from the … More Esoterica
Now I am watching this 1940’s propaganda film for the internment camps in which we placed Japanese-Americans. I recommend it, as contains a great deal of information about camp conditions, which are quite gulag-esque despite all attempts at positive spin. It seems that the modern concentration camp was invented in the 1890’s. Spain had them … More Detention Camps
1. This is the Whoppin’ Blues with band leader Dr. Michael white on clarinet, Bob Wilder on sax, Mark Braud on trumpet, Fred Lonzo on trombone, Steve Blaylock on guitar, Steve Pistorius on bass, and Shannon Powell on drums. Dr. Michael White is a professor at Xavier University in New Orleans. It is my understanding … More Dr. Michael White New Orleans Jazzband
I saw this excellent photograph, of an audience member at Alberto Gonzales’ testimony last Thursday, chez Life’s Journey. Meanwhile at Nezua’s, we can actually watch Gonzales equivocate. William Rivers Pitt says [t]here can be little doubt […] that Alberto Gonzales was elevated to his position by Bush to effect a political takeover of the Justice … More Our Continuous Coup d’état
The Kingdom of Denmark still includes Greenland and the Faroes. Føroyar were originally settled by Norsemen, but they identify strongly with the Shetlands and the Hebrides. Many of the women have Scottish DNA. The Danes had colonies in the West Indies, India, and Africa as well, but its Arctic zone is the largest. Iceland won … More Island, Grønland, Norge, Føroyar
One of the reasons I loathe grading in intermediate courses, and my mood is bleak, is that I have to read too many texts like this: The adoptive mother discovers that her son’s birth parents may still be alive, and may not have given their child up willingly. She makes a great effort to contact … More Things I Would Rather Not Know
coldhearted scientist وداد 