Giving with the right hand while taking with the left. I'm not sure whether the EC is operating out of ignorance of the realities on the ground, so to speak. If they are, then this falls pretty well in line with "Western" policy initiatives re: the region. If they are aware of the consequence of this partial visa-liberation regime, then shame on ( Read more... )

I applaud the gesture, though there's microscopic hope of the US following suit, I imagine.

via nwhyte:

The Burnout Cycle - This might've been immensely useful four months ago. Hell, it still is.

30 things a would-be politician should do this summer, pt. 1, and pt. 2Elsewhere on the farm, I discovered earlier today the founding of a rap supergroup, consisting of Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I, and Royce Da 5'9. For those at home keeping ( Read more... )

"You sure picked a hell of a time to graduate," says the BBC.

Also,

Coffee is the new bowl of blueberries. At least, for mice.Also, Texts from the Underground, Vol. 2 ( Read more... )

'Cause this is too funny for me to keep to myself ( Read more... )

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. While this energy initiative is indeed admirable, to use it as the basis for discounting previous U.S. involvement in the region strikes me as a bit naive. While it's true the current U.S. administration's concern for the region marks a turning of the page in terms of foreign policy, that doesn't mean the ( Read more... )

Looks like progress. Smells like it, even.

Just read a small article (forwarded by a friend) on the crime-terror linkage, and after having watched Traffik and drowned myself in the literature this semester, I'm reaching a growing consensus that rather than fighting separate Wars (on Drugs and Terror, specifically), the battles are converging or, at least, beginning to on the law enforcement ( Read more... )

Can someone explain to me why the conflict in the Balkans (I'm referring primarily to the Croatian War for Independence and the Bosnian War) has been and is being called ethnic conflict when all the participants to my knowledge were ethnic Slavs and the salient difference was religious affiliation?

Is there something I'm missing here?