Linkage
A large survey of women rates Germans as the worst lovers (too smelly), Brits next (too lazy) and Swedes third (too quick to finish). Spanish men came first, Brazilians second, Italians third while (the really important bit) Aussies beat Kiwis.
Scott Adams (of Dilbert™ fame) on why China is doomed.
About the T’ang Empire.
Review of a new book in French on how Arabic language contribution to the transmission of Classical texts (especially Aristotle) has been greatly exaggerated.
Review of a new book on “settlerism” in the British Empire.
Review of Henri-Bernard Levy’s The Left in Dark Times.
About Plato, Aristotle and Grand Theft Auto.
Amatya Sen has published a magnum opus on Justice theory.
Simon Schama on the President of Iran’s insult to history via Holocaust denial.
Egypt debates why their candidate failed to become Secretary-General of UNESCO: blaming the Jews is competing with other explanations.
Norman Geras on how the fall of the Soviet bloc has led much of the left to be cut loose from being anchored in universalistic traditions. Part of a wider symposium on 1989, 20 years on
2000 interview with the late Norman Borlaug:
These extremists who are living in great affluence...are saying that poor people shouldn't have roads. I would like to see them not just go out in the bush backpacking for a week but be forced to spend the rest of their lives out there and have their children raised out there. Let's see whether they'd have the same point of view then.
About the alliance of Latin American leftists with Hezbollah, the Iranian regime and other radical Islamists. Protesters in Iran hijack pro-government rallies while Iran’s President declares it a religious duty to confront Israel and calls the Holocaust a lie.
About love for Israel being worn down:
I admit that my exhaustion is exacerbated because, in my social circles, supporting Israel is like supporting segregation, apartheid or worse. I know this is a sign of weakness of will on my part, and I hope that the Times-magazine-sanctioned rise of J Street changes things, but I don’t think advocates of Israel understand exactly how bad the situation is on college campuses, in Europe, and in liberal or leftist social-political circles. Supporting Israel in these contexts is like supporting repression, or the war in Iraq, or George W. Bush. It’s gotten so bad, I don’t mention Israel in certain conversations anymore, and no longer defend it when it’s lumped in with South Africa and China by my friends.
Review of a book against gender apartheid:
Today, now, more than 100 million women are missing. They have vanished. In normal circumstances, women live longer than men-but China has 107 males for every 100 females in its overall population, India has 108, and Pakistan has 111. Where have these women gone? They have been killed or allowed to die. Medical treatment is often reserved for boys, while violence against women is routine. More girls are killed in this "gendercide" each decade than in all the genocides of the 20th century. This year, another 2 million girls will "disappear."
But this isn't considered a story. While we rightly roared at racial apartheid, we act as though gender apartheid is a natural, immutable fact. With absolutely the right Molotov cocktail of on-the-ground reporting and hard social science, Kristof and WuDunn blow up this taboo. They ask: What would we do if we believed women were equal human beings, with as much right to determine their life story as men? How would we view the world differently?
A Muslim women on how human rights should come before religion. Being a bit cross that an Oz report called female genital mutilation “culturally sensitive”:
But Professor Briggs said this attitude was unacceptable. "This is an offence against Australian law and they should throw the book at them - there is no shade of grey in this," she said.
While Robert Fisk apparently thinks we should just accept that things for women in the Middle East will only improve at a pace the men there are comfortable with.
Scott Adams (of Dilbert™ fame) on why China is doomed.
About the T’ang Empire.
Review of a new book in French on how Arabic language contribution to the transmission of Classical texts (especially Aristotle) has been greatly exaggerated.
Review of a new book on “settlerism” in the British Empire.
Review of Henri-Bernard Levy’s The Left in Dark Times.
About Plato, Aristotle and Grand Theft Auto.
Amatya Sen has published a magnum opus on Justice theory.
Simon Schama on the President of Iran’s insult to history via Holocaust denial.
Egypt debates why their candidate failed to become Secretary-General of UNESCO: blaming the Jews is competing with other explanations.
Norman Geras on how the fall of the Soviet bloc has led much of the left to be cut loose from being anchored in universalistic traditions. Part of a wider symposium on 1989, 20 years on
2000 interview with the late Norman Borlaug:
These extremists who are living in great affluence...are saying that poor people shouldn't have roads. I would like to see them not just go out in the bush backpacking for a week but be forced to spend the rest of their lives out there and have their children raised out there. Let's see whether they'd have the same point of view then.
About the alliance of Latin American leftists with Hezbollah, the Iranian regime and other radical Islamists. Protesters in Iran hijack pro-government rallies while Iran’s President declares it a religious duty to confront Israel and calls the Holocaust a lie.
About love for Israel being worn down:
I admit that my exhaustion is exacerbated because, in my social circles, supporting Israel is like supporting segregation, apartheid or worse. I know this is a sign of weakness of will on my part, and I hope that the Times-magazine-sanctioned rise of J Street changes things, but I don’t think advocates of Israel understand exactly how bad the situation is on college campuses, in Europe, and in liberal or leftist social-political circles. Supporting Israel in these contexts is like supporting repression, or the war in Iraq, or George W. Bush. It’s gotten so bad, I don’t mention Israel in certain conversations anymore, and no longer defend it when it’s lumped in with South Africa and China by my friends.
Review of a book against gender apartheid:
Today, now, more than 100 million women are missing. They have vanished. In normal circumstances, women live longer than men-but China has 107 males for every 100 females in its overall population, India has 108, and Pakistan has 111. Where have these women gone? They have been killed or allowed to die. Medical treatment is often reserved for boys, while violence against women is routine. More girls are killed in this "gendercide" each decade than in all the genocides of the 20th century. This year, another 2 million girls will "disappear."
But this isn't considered a story. While we rightly roared at racial apartheid, we act as though gender apartheid is a natural, immutable fact. With absolutely the right Molotov cocktail of on-the-ground reporting and hard social science, Kristof and WuDunn blow up this taboo. They ask: What would we do if we believed women were equal human beings, with as much right to determine their life story as men? How would we view the world differently?
A Muslim women on how human rights should come before religion. Being a bit cross that an Oz report called female genital mutilation “culturally sensitive”:
But Professor Briggs said this attitude was unacceptable. "This is an offence against Australian law and they should throw the book at them - there is no shade of grey in this," she said.
While Robert Fisk apparently thinks we should just accept that things for women in the Middle East will only improve at a pace the men there are comfortable with.