January 2012
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President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address again rated at an 8th grade comprehension level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test — the third lowest score of any State of the Union address since 1934.
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“In a development typical of Arizona, the students who walked out on Thursday,...”
– Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, Arizona’s ‘banned’ Mexican American books
(via mohandasgandhi)
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The multiple registers Bolaño can manage in a single story—in a single paragraph (wickedly funny, terrifying, morose, tender)—have always amazed me. Other qualities that particularly engage me are his love of the underdog and the marginalized (drifters; people working menial, makeshift jobs; porn stars) and his obsession with courage. While he touches on bravery in every book he ever wrote, he...
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Iran to give U.S. a toy model of downed American...
A toy model of the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone will be sent to the White House in response to a formal request from Washington asking Iran to return the aircraft.
somehow, i don’t think this is what the administration had in mind.
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One of the most terrifying things about the internet is the way in which it draws you inexorably towards what you really, secretly, actually want, offering somewhere in its great boiling unfenced farrago an absolute match for whatever half-realised desire might flicker across your networked lobes. You cannot escape. The allure of endless choice will find you out, whether it is the simple urge to...
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michael kiwanuka - tell me a tale
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south detroit is really just canada...
There’s no denying the staying power of the 1981 Journey hit “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” which includes the line (everyone together now): “Just a city boy born and raised in South Detroit.”
Motor City residents have griped that the whole “South Detroit” thing isn’t quite accurate. Now, thanks to New York Magazine, we know what former Journey front man Steve Perry was thinking when he wrote the...
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el iqaa - ya deeb
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the fbi's file on odb...
some guy filed a freedom of information act request and managed to liberate this incredible 94 page fbi file on ol’ dirty bastard and the wu-tang clan. here are some of my favorite quotes from it…
‘the wu-tang clan is a well known musical group from the staten island, new york area that specializes in rap type music.’
‘the wtc is heavily involved in the sale of...
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“Emil Krebs, an early-20th-century German diplomat who was also credited with...”
– Hyperpolyglots (those who speak very many languages) can be tricky characters. Some seem near-autistic. What drives people to learn 20, 30 or 40 languages, and what kind of extreme intelligence is required? (via theeconomist)
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Covering African Elections: A Crib Sheet
These days, nowhere are crises more predictable than in __________ (poor/recently violent country). And yet, when they unfold as anticipated, Western policymakers and diplomats always seem caught off guard — raising questions about the competence, willingness, and commitment of the ________(captial city)-based diplomatic corps and the United Nations mission to discharge their...
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December 2011
33 posts
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Young, Black and Frisked by the N.Y.P.D. -... →
rubenfeld:
The must-read of the weekend:
WHEN I was 14, my mother told me not to panic if a police officer stopped me. And she cautioned me to carry ID and never run away from the police or I could be shot. In the nine years since my mother gave me this advice, I have had numerous occasions to consider her wisdom.
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“I mean look at us - Syrian, Palestinian, Iraqi - with hip-hop we finally have an opportunity to let go of that socio-political baggage that our parents’ generations had to deal with and look to something new, a pan-Arabic identity that is not the nationalism, which may have been put out in the 1950s, but something new.”
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aceptado...
i just found out i got into my first choice international relations masters program in the city and they are offering me a fairly generous “merit based scholarship,” surely attributed to my amazing grades at columbia* and unlikely success in transitioning from writing about hip-hop professionally to writing policy speeches for ambassadors at the un.**
things i want to study more/write...
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Top Baker’s Dozen Albums of 2011…
these are the albums i liked the most in 2011… the year new york city saw an earthquake and a hurricane in the same week, i came down with some sort of mystery malaria lite panamanian pneumonia dengue jungle fever in s. america, qaddafi finally met his demise, none of my bones broke playing soccer, pepper spray became ubiquitous, and i fell in love with a hot brazilian girl from são paulo...
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the CIA team in Lebanon consisted of 10 officers and all used diplomatic cover.
ah yes, diplomatic cover for intelligence activities. still widely used by many different countries all over the world, including at the un.
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“remembrance is a form of meeting, forgetfulness is a form of freedom.”
– khalil gibran, sand and foam
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