How to make sense of radical Islamic terrorism? This violence is barbaric – but it is not senseless. When you understand the society from which savagery has sprung, the cold logic behind these attacks becomes all too apparent. Part II of a series; Part I is here. How do you save a civilization from […]
How to make sense of radical Islamic terrorism? This violence is barbaric – but it is not senseless. When you understand the society from which savagery has sprung, the cold logic behind these attacks becomes all too apparent. Part I in a series; Part II is here. Smoke rises from the Westgate MallSource: Jerome Delay/AP. […]
I will need my readers help on this one. Earlier today Al Jazeera published an interactive feature titled “Violence against India’s women.” The info-graphic summarizes a wide range of data relating to sexual violence in India, including the byzantine process victims of rapes must navigate before charges can be pressed. What caught my eye was […]
Weibo penetration by province.From King-wa and Michael Chau. “Reality Check for the Chinese Microblog Space: A Random Sampling Approach.” PLoS ONE 8(3). 2013. The Chinese government’s ongoing campaign against “online rumors” and the devils who spread them has the blogosphere’s China hands aflutter. A great number of articles and blog posts have explored the topic; […]
In my review of Michael Lotus and James Bennett’s America 3.0 I stated that French anthropologist Emmanuel Todd (whose work is cited extensively in said work) “is the most under-rated “big idea” thinker in the field of world history.” Craig Willy’s most recent blog post explains why: “Emmanuel Todd’s L’invention de l’Europe: A critical summary“Craig Willy. […]
I usually label posts about Iran with the tag ‘Persia.’ This week it occurred to me that this label is a tad inaccurate. Iran is a lot less Persian than you may think.Here is the CIA World Factbook’s [1] break down of the Iranian population by ethnic identity: Persian 61%Azeri 16%Kurd 10%Lur 6%Baloch 2%Arab 2%Turkmen […]
Image Source “When one seeks imperial power, there is no mean between the heights and the abyss.” –Tacitus, The Histories, Book 2.74 The American dream is dead. Matthew O’Brien thinks he knows why: “RIP, American Dream? Why It’s So Hard For the Poor to Get Ahead Today“Matthew O’Brien. The Atlantic. 18 June 2013. It is […]
A protester holds up a Turkish flag with a picture of Kemal Ataturk on it. Image Source: AP Photo/Kostis Sniroris. 3 June 2013. The riots and protests that rocked Istanbul this week have taken many in the West by surprise. I have been astonished at how poorly Western outlets have explained what these riots are about and […]
In an effort to prepare for the release of Iron Man 3 I devoted a several hours over the past few weeks to all of the Marvel Studio blockbusters I missed when serving as a missionary for the LDS Church. These films inspired the following observation: Asians Americans [1] are now an established part of America’s popular culture.The […]
This video is worth your time. It is long. But it is worth your time. Murray & Putnam: Is Class Division Tearing U.S. Apart? from The Aspen Institute 2012e– and The Atlantic on FORA.tv A longer post on similar themes is in the works. Until that post is completed this is an excellent place to […]
