Notes From All Over (8/1/14): Tech Giants, Asian Media, and Japanese History

A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. TOP BILLING “The State of Consumer Technology at the End of 2014“Ben Thompson, Stratechery (16 December 2014). One of the defining characteristics of the three major epochs of consumer computing – PC, Internet, and mobile – is that they have been largely complementary: we didn’t […]

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A Few Thoughts on Environmental History

“You may have horses…. But remember this: if you have horses everything will be changed for you forever.” -Cheyenne Myth quoted in Pekka Hamalainen, “The Rise and Fall of Plains Indian Horse Cultures,”  Journal of American History, vol. 90, no. 3 (December 2003), p.841. “The historian of the early military must first see how a […]

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Notes From All Over (22/06/14): Rise of the West, Island Disputes, & Too Much Stuff About China

A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit.TOP BILLING“The Little Divergence“‘Pseuderoerasmus,’ Pseudoarasmus (12 June 2014) In this blogpost I will argue the following : While very few economic historians now dispute that East Asia had lower living standards than Europe well before 1800, …there is no agreement on whether European economies prior to 1800 were β€œmodern” […]

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Trying to Make Sense of India’s Sexual Violence, State by State

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 […]

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If You Have a Country, Then Brits Fought There

British have invaded nine out of ten countries – so look out Luxembourg Jasper Copping. The Telegraph. 2 November 2012. A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe.  The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the […]

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Geography and Chinese History – The Fractured Land Hypothesis

Occasionally I come across attempts to explain the broad course of Chinese history in reference to China’s geography. These arguments tend to focus on the unified empires of Chinese history. Always contrasting Chinese history with the European experience, they suggest that China’s political unity and Europe’s perpetual disunity are reflections of the unbroken terrain of […]

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Notes From All Over (05/7/2010).

A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. THE REPUBLIC The Polarization of Job Opportunities in the U.S. Labor Market: Implications for Employment and Earnings David Autor. Center for American Progress. April 2010. In Law Schools, Grades Go Up, Just Like That Catherine Rampell. New York Times. 21 June 2010. Financial Revolving Doors: […]

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Words ’bout Yemen Worth Reading

I authored a post earlier this month lamenting the lack of serious discussion concerning Yemen’s deteriorating security situation. Deeming it improper to not point out articles to the contrary on the rare occasions, I draw your attention to an excellent example of how we should be discussing the conflict: Yemen: Geography Matters! “Curzon”. Coming Anarchy. […]

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