So, since I have nothing particular to say right now, here are some pictures instead! I took these at various places and times. See if you can guess where/when! (And yes, I know it seems like everybody's an amateur photography these days, but I never get to post photos!)
Twitter's all over the news. Everybody thinks it's taken off (or hates it) and with pulses and status updates, soundbite phrases are the bee's knees at the moment (how many of you still use that expression, I ask you?)
So I wonder, does the xanga community have an appetite for this microblogging? Sure, we all know some pulses can be popular, but can one actually gain and sustain high levels of traffic through pulsing or microblogging alone?
God I hate gimmicky titles.
Anyway.
I pulsed the other day that I had deleted a number of old subscriptions of mine. I thought that after 2+ years, it seemed most likely they had left the building. In addition, it seems that only 5-10 of my subscriptions have posted anything in the last week at any given time. Even today, only one or two of my subs have posted something! It isn't enough to even keep me entertained during my coffee breaks!
Thus, I'm looking for new and interesting people to sub to. That's where you come in. If you know somebody who is interesting and entertaining to read, tell me about them, and I'll add them to my sub list. They can be big bloggers, but chances are I already know about them, so it'd be nice to have some smaller ones as well. It's a way for you to be nice to two friends at once!
To get the ball rolling I thought I'd list some bloggers I enjoy reading.
(note: I collected a larger list of people I enjoy, and then randomly selected which few I would list here, so don't worry if you don't see your name, you're still my favourite xangan!)
bricker59 - I'm not sure we've ever spoken, but nevertheless I really think he runs a good blog. His stuff is consistently entertaining, and definitely worth a look. His site is a bit larger, so you probably already know about him, though.
Leonidas - In the past few weeks I think he's come back from a bit of a break on xanga. His posts are not only thoughtful, but also bring together a wide variety of sources on a number of current topics (most of which are American, but if that doesn't bother you...)
eminemsrevenge - a bit edgy, he claims to be something of a pariah. You can decide that for yourself, I suppose, but his blog is interesting and consistent, though also very topically American (I'm beginning to see a pattern in that...). Also, his latest book is downloadable for free! (the link's on his blog for a limited time only - hurry!)
celestialteapot - this guy's previous incarnation (the name of which I can't remember right now), it seems to me, was less standoffish, but had fewer graphics. Of course, I could just be imagining things. Anyway, he has more than just cogent points, but also lots of pretty pictures and charts and things!
KyjotheIII - this isn't his first site, but a lot of his old traditions continue still. Who doesn't love the regularity of a weekly diss list! When he does differ from that regularly scheduled material, it's worth reading.
As I said before, there are many others who I didn't have space to name, as well as a number I didn't list because, despite being quite an interesting read, I figured they were either a) big enough that if you liked them you'd have subscribed to them by now or b) are on some kind of break from blogging.
So let's have it - who do you recommend subbing to? They don't have to be clever or witty, intellectual or even always interesting! Just some of that, some of the time! (because, as another one of my subs said the other day, "Of the Xangans who make a try for satire, humor, irony, or something similar, about 99% of them fail miserably 100% of the time.") Anyway, out with it! Don't be shy.
The other day I was browsing Wikipedia, reading about some of the most famous mass murderers in history, and it really got me thinking. Just what exactly, would I do? How would I act, were I in that position? That's right - I've been trying to decide what my last meal would be.
There are many different foods I love. Flavours, tastes, textures, it's difficult to pick just one meal with all my favourites, but after some deep reflection, I think I've come up with an answer: Greek.
My last meal would be Greek food, I think. I can picture it now.
Source
A lovely salad, to begin. Fresh oil, thick slices of cucumber, the sharp taste of feta cheese, all those other vegetables (and perhaps even some lettuce though it isn't supposed to be the primary ingredient.) Of course, this'd have to be accompanied by some warm buttered bread, fresh from the oven.
Then, we'd bring the main course. Some might opt for something extravagant - a whole lamb, perhaps, or at least their seasoned innards - but not me. I'd choose the souvlaki. Chicken, maybe, or pork, I don't really mind which. Some delicious flavoured rice, maybe some fresh green beans, perhaps even some potatoes, if we haven't got too much starch already (but who cares about health! I'm dying anyway, right!). And we can't forget some tzatziki on the side for dipping.
Source
Finally, when all the dishes of the main meal are cleared away, we can move on to dessert. There are plenty of options, but what could be better than the perennial favourite, baklava? Dripping with honey, and stuffed full of pastry and nuts; so good it's to die for (this is where I hear the boo, hiss, from the audience for that line!)
After this, I think I could die contented.
What would be your last meal?
So I was reading Revelife the other day. The topic at hand was North Korea, the suffering there, and how Christians should appreciate what they have and pray for the conditions of the North Koreans. I started to talk to someone about the general situation there, the reasons behind the suffering, and the role of the United States, Communism, etc. The title for the post, North Korea: A Land of Slavery, Communism, and Starvation, suggests pretty strongly a political opinion on the matter, something I focused on in my discussion, rather than religious aspects of prayer that held no interest for me. Obviously, though, the extent of my conversation diverged somewhat from the pious content preferred there, so people lost interest (basically ending the discussion by an amazing statement that suggested communism was inherently evil because it restricted the liberties of the people, but McCarthy (and McCarthyism) was right and correct and good, though vilified by the left for no real reason). Thus, I thought I’d bring the issue up here.
No government can exist without the tacit or explicit approval of its people.
Who is responsible for the hardship in North Korea?
The American people didn't approve of their government (tacitly or explicitly), and were willing to put forth significant effort to see the situation change to create a government they did approve of. Same thing happened in the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and the Xinhai Revolution.
If the people refuse to allow themselves to be governed by the barrel of a gun, no matter their geographic location across the world, they are capable of throwing off the shackles of oppression, should they so choose.
First of all, I think you [referring directly to a commenter who said
“I don't think the Koreans were in any way prepared to deal with the huge array of forces presented by the communists. That's why the US entered the conflict.
Additionally, cutting Korea in half was a political settlement that condemned the people of the North to enslavement.”
but also to the writer of the post which echoed that general trend, I felt] might be oversimplifying things a little. Condemning the North to enslavement is extremely strong language. For the first several decades after the split, the Northern economy grew considerably faster than that of the South. Now, while a harsh climate, droughts, and economic mismanagement, as well as increased defence spending (in order to attempt to defend against what was seen as a very real threat of invasion from the United States) has caused the economy to decline tremendously since then, painting the entire post-division period as nothing more than a condemnation to enslavement would be unfair. It was the situation that slowly developed after separation as much as separation itself that played a role in the eventual suffering of the Korean people.
In addition to that, suggesting that the North Koreans were unable to deal with the forces of communism is important in two regards.
Firstly, communism (a theoretically economic policy, not a political one) alone is not responsible for the conditions in North Korea, and communism alone was not why the United States entered the war. As you mentioned, it was a political conflict, and a political settlement in which the Koreans were pawns, and the ideologies of Communism and Capitalism only one part in a larger grapple for world influence between two expanding superpowers seeking political, economic and military dominance.
Secondly, and this ties into the first point in regards to foreign interference, while no government can exist without the tacit or explicit approval of its people as I've said, that requires that the government is of the people (based in the region being ruled and/or consisting of native rulers, essentially, though not exclusively). Foreign invasion forces can be much trickier. While the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan prove it is possible to withstand invasion from a vastly more powerful and wealthy nation to a certain degree, it is nevertheless a completely separate thing from withstanding oppression from a single government.
Consider the Ukrainian Holodomor in the 1930s. The Stalinist government began enacting policies that many consider a deliberate attempt to destroy the Ukrainian ethnicity through forced collectivization (which resulted in mass starvation). The Soviet government, however, governed the entire Union, not simply the Ukraine, and so acted more as a conquering force than an indigenous governing body in a specific region inhabited by people who were a minority in the Union. Thus, the people were not lending support to a government, because they were not truly being acted upon by a government. The larger the geographic distance between the government and the people, as well as the ethnic and cultural gulf, the harder it generally is for the people to overthrow or reform the government.
In Korea too this distinction is important. The United States and the Soviet Union were external forces acting upon the North Korean state, which would have made it much more difficult (although perhaps not impossible) to overthrow their influence in the political system there.
Finally, now that the Soviet Union has become defunct, and Korea exists only alongside Cuba as an economically communist system (China having steadily shifted its position over the last several decades), the only outside powerful and ideologically active influence condemning Korea to poverty is the West (the United States).
Therefore, it must either be the native Korean government or the United States that continue to propagate the system of poverty there. If the North Korean government, it should theoretically be overthrowable by native North Koreans, should they truly wish it. If it is the United States, then there would appear to be more concrete solutions for American citizens who wish to remedy the situation than prayer.
Consider that, given enough time, no people have been unable to overthrow or otherwise change an oppressive government (even if this requires hundreds of years, and involves more assimilation than assault. The Balkans got rid of the Turks, Russia pushed out the Mongols, and China removed the Manchu government.)
Do you agree with the statement No government can exist without the tacit or explicit approval of its people? How do you think this relates to the situation in North Korea?
Share this post:
In the age of disposable goods made from
outsourced labour and cheap materials, stores have made great profits
by selling inexpensive goods. Where once an item was expensive, but
expected to last, now our expectations have shifted to prefer yearly
models. A thirty year-old washing machine has the same life expectancy
as a brand new one – 10 years.
However, quantity doesn’t win out over quality all the time.
Consider the following (thanks, Bill):
There are two men who are neighbours. Both live in a cold wet place,
and both need new boots. The first goes to the store, and tries on a
comfortable, warm, waterproof pair of shoes he thinks look great, but
are very expensive expensive, so he goes for another pair that don’t
fit as well, aren’t as waterproof, and don’t feel quite as comfortable,
but are much cheaper.
The other man goes to the store and finds that same pair, warm, well
fitting, water-proof, and well-made. He decides to spend much more
money, and goes with the expensive shoes.
Every year for the next thirty years, the first neighbour has to buy
new shoes, because his cheap pairs have fallen apart on him. What’s
more, during the course of the year his feet are always wet, cold, and
cramped.
The other neighbour lasts the thirty years with the same pair of
shoes, that remain sturdily constructed, have been lovingly maintained,
and keep his feet nice and warm and dry.
By the end of the thirty years, guess who has spent more money? Guess who has the happier feet?
Going cheap is only worth it if you’re willing to have cheap crap.
Do you tend to buy cheap stuff, or do you think it is worth it to buy more expensive but better quality goods?
hmmm. This seems almost like Xanga is asking for advice?
Google tells me this is a social network.
Here's my chance to finally have my say.
If I ran a social networking Web site, it would operate... really badly. I don't like the internet. Not one little bit.
(I'm only kidding Xanga, I'd be great at it! Make sure to give me executive control of my own -ish at your soonest convenience!)
How about you? How (well) would you operate a social network website?
I just answered this Featured Question; you can answer it too!
The other day I asked a friend of mine why she no longer blogged. She looked quite pointedly at me, and then informed me that she thought a person would have to be quite arrogant to believe that anything they had to say would be of any interest to anybody else, on the internet or otherwise.
(she may have been trying to tell me something)
Do you think that bloggers must inherently be somewhat arrogant?
Make sure to take a look at my time-stamping idea here (link) and vote if you agree. As Dan loved to say, rock the vote.
I, like any other red-blooded American, believe in capitalism, the free markets, and most of all, the accumulation of ridiculous amounts of profit. So, when my dentist calls twice annually to schedule a check-up, I don’t argue. As a patriot, I realise it is my duty to help her make the next yacht payment. That’s the system upon which our country was founded. So, I make the arrangements, update my will, and say my goodbyes.
It’s not that I dislike the dentist – she’s the friendliest robber I know, really – but that it seems like she hurts my mouth as much as she does my wallet. No matter how well I brush and floss between visits, every time I drop by she pokes and prods my gums to shreds within minutes. And sure, I realise that bacteria can be hardy little bastards to remove, but surely killing me isn’t the way to do it. Cutting off the nose to spite the face, as my mother might say (had the dentist not killed her off years ago).
So I sit there, listening idly to the whizzing, whirring, and, god-forbid, grinding, of the dentist’s tools, wondering just how close she got to my brain with that last pass at the roof of my mouth. There’s precious little skull between there and all my accumulated knowledge (scare though it may be, it’s all I have, I assure you) and I wish she’d be a little gentler. How come when I brush my teeth at home I never swear and brace myself on the chair for another go at the tooth surface?
Then, there’s the complimentary cheap toothbrush with her phone number (why give these out any more when five minutes beforehand she tells me electric toothbrushes are the way to go?) and a kiss at the door, followed by a promise to call in again soon. Of course, I promise to see her just as often as the insurance will pay for it (naturally, as a red-blooded American I thank god it isn’t some socialist government paying instead. Then who knows what might happen to my teeth?!).
It isn’t my place to say no – after all, she does have that yacht payment due.
By Balazar! Brained! Bloody ball! Barbarism beyond belief! Battered by blows, blogger believes bias behind beating.
Dear friends, readers, and other fellow xangans! Glad I am to be in your midst once more! For only yesterday I felt as if I might never again have that chance! Never again to read rumours of drama. Never again to complain of the content on Top Blogs. Never again to beg for rec’s.
You see, yesterday I was brutally attacked!
It all started when I decided to play a round of golf with two acquaintances. I don’t like to brag, but few would argue at my skill with a large stick and a little ball, and the game was going well. My score was properly low, and that of my companions, properly high, matched generally by our spirits. However, it was not to last.
It was on the tenth hole that tragedy struck. I hit a solid drive that flew clear to the edge of the fairway. After my companions also hit their balls a few times, I gave my ball a good whack with a mid-level iron (I think it might have been six) and it soared across the stream to the green up ahead.
Unfortunately, one of my companions was not so lucky. His ball landed soundly in the river. Ever the accommodating assistant, I proceeded to close the distance. No group was behind us, so we had a few minutes at least to poke through the bushes on the bank idly. The sun was bright and high, the wind warm, and the sky blue. A lark trilled happily overhead.
I crossed the bank with one partner, while the other went to explore the near bank. Suddenly, lo! Lucky day! I found a ball in the long reeds. Sadly, it was not the ball my partner lost, so it was picked up and I moved in one direction, examining the ground closely, while my partner followed another path.
Onward, past an outcropping of plant-life, I travelled, invested momentarily in my work. Suddenly, I spotted something white in the bushes! I leaned over to examine it more closely, only to find it was but a leaf. Oh, well. Time to move on, I hoped, and up I straightened myself, looking across the river to my partner.
It was then that I once again spotted a flash of white, but this time it was no leaf! For a millisecond, I saw it approach, frozen though I was. Apparently my punctilious companion had felt it was past time to hit another ball.
Thwack!
I immediately felt a sharp blow to my face near my eye. My vision flashed and my ears rang. The world swayed dangerously, and I felt something drip onto my cheek. Oh, the pain!
Naturally, my first instinct was to shake off the hit and continue the game, but I decided instead to follow a baser instinct that suggested I drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes. I promptly did this, swearing like a sailor all the way down.
The world faded somewhat. The sharp prick of grass blades against my cheek contrasted with the dull and ethereal worlds of noise and sight. Hazily, through my one open eye I saw blood drip lazily onto the brim of my hat, rolling slowly off the edge of my nose.
Naturally, the most immediate response of my companion was also swearing (what the hell are you doing?!) Luckily for me, the second most immediate response was slightly more medical, and I was off to the hospital in no time (though not before I mentioned to a wide-eyed little boy that I had been mauled by a bear who was now proceeding to the driving range).
I won’t trouble you with the details that followed, both in the medical field and the long period of healing that is sure to follow, much of which continues to involve much swearing (any mention of the heathen, socialist medical practitioners that fixed me up without asking for a dime in fine time might be interpreted as some kind of political agenda, I’m sure). Suffice it to say, much blood, many stitches, and a now very red golf glove were involved (I know it was a borrowed glove, but I had to grasp feebly at my wound with something, damn you!)
Luckily, my eye avoided direct contact, and I can still see well enough to hammer out this poor rendition of events, though it was a close call, I tell you! From now on, I’ll try to be more careful what kind of dangerous activities I get myself involved in. And, I tell this much, I’m never helping anybody look for their ball again.
Recent Comments