Western Journalism

I came across this article titled "Nationalism at core of China's reaction to Tibet unrest"

which reflects pretty typical attitudes toward China in the West. And this is one of the more balanced articles.

First of all, it is always nationalism when it's China, but patriotism when it's the US. I'm not saying nationalism/patriotism is good, but it's not like there's much of a distinction between the two except it's always nationalism when it's someone you don't like and patriotism when it's someone you like.

Second, "Scholars often describe nationalism as the state religion in China now that the Communist Party has shrugged off socialist ideology and made economic development the country's priority." As if patriotism isn't an American state religion in addition to Christianity? Geez.

Also, "Commentators in Chinese state media have said foreign news reporting has been more sympathetic to Tibetans in Lhasa than to the Chinese who lost their lives and property in the riots. Meanwhile, Chinese from around the world were infuriated when several Western news organizations mislabeled photographs of the police beating pro-Tibet protesters in Nepal as being from China." Yeah, isn't that pretty bad? Chinese people have reason to think that Western media is out to get them.

So much for free speech. Given that everything they write is so twisted, is it really a surprise that the Chinese don't want them in Tibet? I don't think it's necessarily right, and it's obviously non-ideal, but their case - that they're unbiased and therefor should be there - is not very convincing.

Fitna

Muslims are the new Jews

Dutch people suck

Ok ok ok, so a Dutch legislator makes a 15 min movie about how Muslims are violent, and that they're going to take over Europe. And it doesn't get widely condemned. This is the kind of thing that exposes the West's double standards on religious freedoms and human rights.

Condi

wow, i agree with things that condi rice is saying.

She even admits that the UN sanctions on Iraq did a lot of damage. "as a result of them, 'agriculture is virtually dead in Iraq.'"

And she also talks about race.

Kill A Watts

Watt the Hell

It's a device that measures how much power your appliances use.

Hm, you can get them for about $23.

video optical illusions

this one's fun.

Bee Raw Honey

It's so gooood!!!

Black Man's Burden

Huckabee and McCain more gracious than Clinton, not that that's hard

Financial Books

my friend Katie recommended some books on how to manage the copious amounts of money i'm about to have.

Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People

The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need

Veronica Lake

is cool...and hot!
and she was really short!

we watched Sullivan's Travels yesterday, and it's awesome. it is also the inspiration for oh brother where art thou, made 60 years later. sweet

Davis Square Lofts

today, toby and i went to davis square to check out the area and look at some apartments. we stopped by the davis square lofts, which feature sustainable design, and we are hoping to rent from there. they are not done building everything, yet. we also checked out some stores in the area, and we found this really good italian grocery shop and really good quality clothes stores on holland st. whoooo, let's move there already!