December 2010
34 posts
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“A study examining the causes of a dramatic spike in birth defects in the Iraqi...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/faulluja-birth-defects-iraq
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Ohhh La Paz....
Right. People get robbed here. A lot. There is even a market of stolen shoes. And clothes. And shitty old 3 megapixel cameras that are left behind and still sitting around in the street. And there are police officers there. And nothing happens. Which is nice. A german girl I met at my hostel got robbed while she, I, and two others were walking around together, and nobody saw anything. ...
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“A culture war has broken out at the UN over whether gay people should be offered...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/21/gay-rights-row-un-resolution
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An update
I feel like it’s human nature (or at least mine) to introspect and write more when bored or unhappy than when stuff is going well. So, forgive my moderate silence, but it was a good sign.
Things have been pretty awesome for the last few days. After leaving Lima and the complexity that it involved, I took a 21 hour bus (clearly a highlight of my life) to Puno, about 4,000 meters above sea...
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"When the new House is seated in January, it will... →
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“France ultimately supported Bashir’s indictment, but the cables suggest...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/17/wikileaks-sudanese-president-cash-london
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““There is a fear, a real fear that the next conflict will not be...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/16/lebanon-hezbollah-hariri-indictments
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“If Ocampo’s claim about Bashir’s fortune is correct, Sudanese funds...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/17/wikileaks-sudanese-president-cash-london
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Disgruntled...
So, lets talk about Couchsurfing. I generally like it, a lot. It lets me enhance my experience with travelling by getting to know local people, and, frankly, I generally hate travelling in Europe and developed places without it, because hostels in europe tend to be full of idiots puking in the corner with alarming frequency.
So, this is sort of a sad day. Cause (except for the possible...
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Diving in
Well, I have been in peru for about 12 hours. I’ve been asleep for all but three of them. But I think it’s sort of cool to toss up first impressions before they’re biased by further experiences.
First of all, I made a very rookie mistake on my way to Peru. I forgot to call my bank and tell them I would be here. So I am relatively clear that after taking out about 100 dollars...
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Why the hell do I do this?
I am running on fumes. Last night, and the night before, I only slept five hours. My fault on both counts. The first night I went to see a late movie with a friend and then made a meeting in the very early morning with some professors at arcadia. The second I was packing messily, drinking too much wine, and being exceptionally inefficient.
I missed my train today and had to pay 96 dollars (!)...
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“Your car is Japanese. Your pizza is Italian. Your potato is German. Your...”
– STFU, Tea Baggers!:
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Nigeria files bribery charges against Dick Cheney →
Nigeria has filed charges against former US Vice-President Dick Cheney over a scandal involving a former subsidiary of Halliburton energy firm.
The case, brought by the country’s anti-corruption agency, centres on engineering firm KBR, which admitted bribing officials.
Mr Cheney’s lawyer has called the allegations “entirely baseless”.
Mr Cheney was Halliburton’s chief executive before becoming...
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“Yad Vashem, Israel’s esteemed holocaust memorial centre, today harshly...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/09/yad-vashem-against-extremist-rabbis
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“The US told Uganda to let it know when the army was going to commit war crimes...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/08/wikileaks-cables-uganda-war-crimes
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Being home
If I had it with me, I’d be writing this in my journal and not for this blog. But… I my journal out of my bag to save space, and not my computer. So here we are.
Home is weird feeling. Very very weird feeling. Moreso than I think it has felt ever before.
For one thing, I’m not in Philly, I’m in New York. The contrasts between NYC and the rest of the world are pretty...
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“The US was today accused of opening up a dramatic new front against WikiLeaks,...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2010/dec/03/wikileaks-knocked-off-net-dns-everydns
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WikiLeaks cables visualisation pulled after... →
Land of the free, eh?
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Eternally a foreigner, or eternally at home...
I guess it’s an issue of the cup being half full or half empty.
But first of all… Excuse me if this piece sounds totally brainfucked. I slept for three hours, then got on a “four hour” flight from Cairo to Munich. It was seven. Then I got to Munich, literally sprinted across Lufthansa’s massive “Terminal 2,” hopped on my trans-Atlantic hop when I...
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In America, Joe Barton introduced BULB, the Better... →
Now that’s…. logic?
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“MODERATOR 1: Okay. Which designers do you prefer?
SECRETARY CLINTON: What...”
– hillary clinton is asked what designers she wears moments after making point about sexism (via rachelinbrooklyn)
LOVE this so much.
(via apsies)
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China wants Korean reunification, officials... →
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“China reached its goal for wind power 10 years ahead of schedule.”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/29/us-green-technology-energy-investment
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“After elections last month, Kyrgyzstan is attempting to form the first...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/30/explosion-kyrgyzstan-bishkek-clinton-visit
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“Campaigners for gay people to be allowed to serve openly in the US military...”
– http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/30/us-military-gay-reform-poll