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Category: Society Page 6 of 69

Friday Notes: Reclaimed Edition

By

On November 5, 2010

In Distribution, Politics, Society, Taiwan

It’s been some time, no?  So let’s see what’s in the closet:

Taiwan!  I know, surprise.  But still, my head’s still half there, and I keep finding more avenues of interest.  One of the big sources of that is Michael Turton’s blog, which appears to focus on my general areas of interest – cycling, politics, and information control – but in a Taiwanese context.  Check it out.  This great piece on subtle (and not so subtle) creeping censorship is great, as is this photo series on the (often hilarious) political billboards featuring posing candidates.  It does not, unfortunately, include a shot of my favorite: two candidates, thumbs up, over the headline: “Younger and Better!”

Girl tends a fire on WenHua St., near Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan

~

This should be circulated to everyone you know who is considering law school:

The number of people employed in legal services hit an all-time high of 1.196 million in June 2007. It currently stands at 1.103 million. That means the number of law jobs has dwindled by about 7.8 percent. In comparison, the total number of jobs has fallen about 5.4 percent over the same period.

At the same time, the law schools—the supply side of the equation—have not stopped growing. Law schools awarded 43,588 J.D.s last year, up 11.5 percent since 2000, though there was technically negative demand for lawyers. And the American Bar Association’s list of approved law schools now numbers 200, an increase of 9 percent in the last decade. Those newer law schools have a much shakier track record of helping new lawyers get work, but they don’t necessarily cost less than their older, more established counterparts.

~

The US may have had to occasionally compromise on its trumpeted values to combat Terraism., but we still stand strong against obvious things like child soldiers, right?  Well . . .:

The Obama administration quietly waived a key section of the law meant to combat the use of child soldiers for four toubled states on Monday, over the objections the State Department’s democracy and human rights officials. Today, the White House tells The Cable that they intend to give these countries — all of whose armed forces use underage troops — one more year to improve before bringing any penalties to bear.

The NGO community was shocked by the announcement, reported Tuesday by The Cable, that President Obama authorized exemptions from all penalties set to go into effect this year under the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2008. The countries that received waivers were Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Yemen.

Anyway, it’s not like being a kid *really* makes a difference in the US.

~

Bob Gucionne died while I was on my trip, and no one around me knew who he was.  And that made me sad, because I used to love his magazine as a kid.  No, not that one.  The other one.

“I have no enemies”

By

On October 8, 2010

In Society

Foreign Policy posts the last public statement made by Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) – today’s Nobel Peace Prize winner – before his sentencing in 2009.  It’s worth reading in its entirety, but here’s a lesson for all of us:

Hatred can rot away at a person’s intelligence and conscience. Enemy mentality will poison the spirit of a nation, incite cruel mortal struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and hinder a nation’s progress toward freedom and democracy. That is why I hope to be able to transcend my personal experiences as I look upon our nation’s development and social change, to counter the regime’s hostility with utmost goodwill, and to dispel hatred with love.

An Issue of Fundamental Decency

By

On October 1, 2010

In Personal, Society

Ellen talks about our duty to make this world a safer place for teens like Tyler Clementi:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br7nbQSIyhg[/youtube]

(If it doesn’t play, click through)

It wouldn’t really take much to change things.  A little understanding goes a long way.

Mapping European Stereotypes

By

On September 23, 2010

In EU, Society

In the spirit of this map, I present you this.  Brilliant.

Actions Have Consequences

By

On September 9, 2010

In Politics, Society

Over at TPM, Josh Marshall has an excellent post on Taking Responsibility:

Speaking just now on MSNBC James Zogby made a very good point — and pressed Andrea Mitchell on it. His point was that sure, this Pastor Jones fool is one guy, who’s managed to get worldwide attention for his stunt. But you cannot separate him, as I noted below, from the whole climate of hate speech and anti-Muslim agitation from the Newt Gingriches and the Sarah Palins and the rest of them.

At that point, Mitchell jumped in and said, wait, Palin said she disagrees with the Koran burning. To which Zogby replied, something to the effect of ‘C’mon’. ANd that’s just the right reply. This is the standard approach of race haters and demagogues. They keep stirring the pot, churning out demonizing rhetoric and hate speech. Then some marginal figure does something nuts and suddenly … oh, wait, I didn’t mean burn Korans. Where’d you get that idea from?

Wherever, indeed.

You Got a Problem With That, Boy?

By

On September 8, 2010

In Society

Once again, Georgia just makes me shake my head.  The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that:

there were no racial overtones when a white supervisor called an adult black man “boy.”

“The usages were conversational,” the majority explained, repeating what it had told the trial court after the Supreme Court ruled, and “nonracial in context.” Even if “somehow construed as racial,” the unsigned 2-to-1 decision went on, “the comments were ambiguous stray remarks” that were not proof of employment discrimination.

I’m thinking the majority hangs out in the same places that Rep. Lynn Westmoreland does.

Why Is Pakistan Left Begging For Help?

By

On September 7, 2010

In Personal, Society

There’s been some coverage of the remarkable non-response of the world to the flooding and human suffering in Pakistan.  And there are myriad reasons – But Mosharraf Zaidi gets to the most important issue:

The fact that people in other countries don’t like Pakistan very much doesn’t change the humanity of those affected by the floods or their suffering. It is right and proper to take a critical view of Pakistani politicians, of their myopia and greed.

[ . . . ]

Pakistan has suffered from desperately poor moral leadership, but punishing the helpless and homeless millions of the 2010 floods is the worst possible way to express our rejection of the Pakistani elite and their duplicity and corruption. The poor, hungry, and homeless are not an ISI conspiracy to bilk you of your cash. They are a test of your humanity. Do not follow in the footsteps of the Pakistani elite by failing them. That would be immoral and inhumane. This is a time to ask only one question. And that question is: “How can I help?”

Here’s a start.  Take out your phone and SMS “FLOOD” to 27722 to contribute $10 (added to your phone bill) to the Pakistan Relief Fund (which is run by the US State Department).

Eat Meat? Then Why Are You Bothered By Cruelty to Animals?

By

On September 5, 2010

In Society

Hal Herzong’s Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat touches on a subject I’ve long found confounding.

Debating the Surveillance State

By

On August 26, 2010

In Politics, Society

Glenn Greenwald keeps up the good fight in responding to two essays which:

perfectly illustrate the continuous stream of manipulative fear-mongering over the last decade which has reduced much of the American citizenry into a meek and submissive faction for whom no asserted government power is too extreme, provided the scary menace of ‘Terrorism’ is uttered to justify it.

And really, please read the links given via “two essays” above. While this subject sometimes feels like a hobby horse that I’m either riding or beating to death, I continue to believe that it is an issue critical to our society.  And yes, things *have* changed:

Every President until George W. Bush — including Ronald Reagan — was able to keep the country safe while adhering to that surveillance safeguard. But while even the most hawkish Americans in the 1980s — facing the Soviet threat — understood that domestic eavesdropping should be conducted only with judicial warrants, the war cheerleaders of the current decade insist that the far less formidable threat from Muslim extremists means we must vest the Government with the power of warrantless surveillance — even on American citizens, on U.S. soil. That’s how far we’ve descended into the pit of fear-mongering and submission, thanks to the toxic mix of fear-mongers and the authoritarian cowards they exploit.

There’s no excluding of Barack Obama in this paragraph.  Like most presidents, he’s held onto the powers grabbed by the previous one.  This is not a partisan issue.  It’s a fundamental issue.

Why Yes, That *Was* Hotter Than Ever . . .

By

On August 21, 2010

In Policy, Society

The Guardian points to something that everyone living in the DC area (and probably entire Eastern Seaboard) already suspected was the case:

Now scientists have confirmed what’s been pretty obvious: the entire world has just come through the warmest six months, the warmest year, and the warmest decade on record. Following the hottest June ever,AccuWeather.com yesterday said July was the second hottest July recorded – and the warmest ever for land temperatures alone.

And with that comes consequences:

Just in case those feel like abstractions, here’s what they mean in practice: because warmer air holds more water vapour than cold, deluge increases. Hence, Pakistan has seen the worst flooding in its history. Because heat cuts grain yields, Russia has stopped exporting grain, spiking prices. Greenland? Guess what – heat melts ice.

But hey, just regular weather cycles, right?

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