Posted March 1, 2019 The difficulties with French Guiana begin with trying to locate it on a map. Seldom has a place been as easily and as frequently confused with somewhere else: Ghana on the western coast of Africa, Guyana east of Venezuela, Guinea next to Senegal, Equatorial Guinea below Cameroon... In fact, French Guiana (you can't call it a country, for reasons that are about to become clear) is located on the malarial northern coast of South America, between Surinam to the north-west and Brazil to the south. The added twist for this impoverished, malarial land is that it is technically part of France. https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/french-guiana-out-of-this-world-1670291.html Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2019 Bill and Melinda Gates Are Paying Off Nigeria’s $76 Million Debt to Japan As some leaders are increasing their focus on issues solely within their own borders, Bill and Melinda Gates continue to show the importance of looking outward — and they’ve demonstrated this yet again by announcing they will settle Nigeria’s $76 million debt to Japan. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/gates-paying-off-nigeria-debt/ Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 8, 2019 Hundreds of people in Mexico are kidnapped every year. And the problem’s getting worse. It’s part of a trend experts refer to as the “democratization” of kidnapping. https://www.vox.com/2018/5/11/17276638/mexico-kidnappings-crime-cartels-drug-trade Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 9, 2019 https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/22/vandana_shiva_we_must_fight_back Vandana Shiva: We Must Fight Back Against the 1 Percent to Stop the Sixth Mass Extinction Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 10, 2019 Mislim da kad čovek jednom vidi ovu mapu nikad više ne zaboravi ovu Frenč Gijanu Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 10, 2019 Traveling around Africa was once considered unsafe, costly, and lacking in variety. There were the usual places to visit and the usual things to do: safari in Kenya, pyramids in Egypt, and river rafting in Zambia or Zimbabwe (depending on which side of Victoria Falls you live on). But young African innovators and diaspora entrepreneurs are turning people’s desire to see a “different side of Africa” into a business. https://qz.com/africa/1049479/startups-are-using-instagram-to-give-a-fresh-and-african-take-on-tourism-on-the-continent/ Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 15, 2019 A new phenomenon has become a hot topic on Chinese social media these days. ‘Kua kua’ groups (夸夸群) are chat groups where people share some things about themselves – even if they are negative things – and where other people will always tell them how great they are, no matter what. Kua kua groups (夸 ‘kuā‘ literally means ‘praise’) have become all the rage in China. People seem to love them for the mere fact that it makes them feel good about themselves. The format is clear. Person A tells about something that is on their minds, and asks people for positive feedback. Person B, C, and D will then come forward and tell them how good or pretty they are, sometimes based on their profile photo. https://www.whatsonweibo.com/in-chinas-kua-kua-chat-groups-people-pay-to-get-praised Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 18, 2019 Maslenitsa is an ancient ceremony—a farewell to winter celebrated since pagan times in the Slavic regions of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and other countries. Maslenitsa, or Pancake Week, is both a folk and religious holiday tied to Shrovetide, the carnival before Lent. Some traditional festivities include the burning of effigies of “Lady Maslenitsa,” family visits, snowball fights, and the cooking and eating of blini, pancakes, or crepes. Below, some images of Maslenitsa this year from Russia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/03/photos-ancient-ceremony-to-celebrate-the-end-of-winter/584569/ Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 21, 2019 Kazakhstan has given its capital city a brand new name Travellers heading to the capital city of Kazakhstan will no longer be on a plane to Astana. The country made a surprise announcement today that it would rename its capital to Nursultan in honour of its former president. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/2019/03/20/kazakhstan-capital-city-nursultan/ Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 25, 2019 It was only when she got home and replaced her phone that she saw the barrage of messages from even more half siblings. They had found her on Facebook, she realized, after searching for the username linked to her Ancestry.com account. Her husband had given her a DNA test for Christmas because she was interested in genealogy. Her heritage turned out to be exactly what she had thought—Scottish, with English, Irish, and Scandinavian mixed in—and she never bothered to click on the link that would show whether anyone on the site shared her DNA. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/fertility-doctor-donald-cline-secret-children/583249/ Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 29, 2019 Through most of the imperial dynasties until the 20th century, milk was generally shunned as the slightly disgusting food of the barbarian invaders. Foreigners brought cows to the port cities that had been ceded to them by the Chinese in the opium wars of the 19th century, and a few groups such as Mongolian pastoralists used milk that was fermented, but it was not part of the typical Chinese diet. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/29/can-the-world-quench-chinas-bottomless-thirst-for-milk Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 3, 2019 Photos of Life in 'Portugal's Toughest Neighbourhood' Photographer José Ferreira's new project captures a marginalised community as it's torn down. https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/j57aa4/photos-of-life-portugals-toughest-neighbourhood Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 3, 2019 (edited) 46 minutes ago, Lazar said: Photos of Life in 'Portugal's Toughest Neighbourhood' Photographer José Ferreira's new project captures a marginalised community as it's torn down. https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/j57aa4/photos-of-life-portugals-toughest-neighbourhood Nesto slicno se vec desilo u Pnom Penu: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40652014 https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-praises-redevelopment-white-building-model-future Apsolutno najzanimljiviji od ovakvih kvartova ikada je po meni bio Kowloon Walled city. Zao mi je sto nisam imao prilike da to vidim uzivo. Edited April 3, 2019 by noskich Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 5, 2019 Over the past month, the popular short-video app Douyin flooded with videos of the so-called “Vagrant Shanghai Professor” (上海流浪大师), who has conquered the hearts of millions of Chinese netizens. His fans are determined to make the Shanghai drifter more famous, regardless of his own wishes. https://www.whatsonweibo.com/the-vagrant-shanghai-professor Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 9, 2019 Veoma zanimljiva prica o laznim putnicima na madridskom aerodromu koji godinama zive pretvarajuci se da su propustili let: https://elpais.com/elpais/2019/03/28/inenglish/1553770209_459978.html How a group of homeless people found a place to live in Madrid airport Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 11, 2019 Sjajno! Osam godina života na aerodromu. Neverovatna priča, voleo bih da je autor malo više proučio živote tih ljudi, kako se dogodilo da su završili tamo. Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 11, 2019 Eto ideje za putopis, makar ovde na klubu putnika ima gomila ljudi kojima bi bilo veoma lako i povoljno da skoknu do Madrida. Pa nek ostanu par dana na aerodromu i popricaju sa ovim ljudima. Meni je malo daleko za takvu akciju... Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 11, 2019 Eh, prošla su ta vremena, razišla se ekipa odavno Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 12, 2019 Jbg, sve dodje i prodje. Samo moram da izrazim odusevljenje sa stavom spanskih organa: beskucnici nikoga ne ugrozavaju i prema tome sto da ih se dira, drugo - javni prostor mora biti dostupan svima bez izuzetka. BRAVO! U Australiji bi oni davno bili prvo uhapseni, zatim zadrzani u centrima za deportaciju (citaj: zatvorima) nekoliko meseci, i zatim deportovani van zemlje. Citam u USA i UK instaliraju shiljke na mestima gde se okupljaju beskucnici da ne bi mogli da spavaju. Strasno. Spanija je stvarno odlican miks humanog pristupa ljudima i opustenog zivota, a da se ima dovoljno za vecinu. Jasno mi je zasto je @Pretender odabrao da zivi bas tamo iako je mogao bilo gde... Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 12, 2019 Correlating the existence and use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in both Russia and Mexico, Kuryokhin posited that drugs had ultimately inspired the successful propaganda of the Russian revolution. In fact, Lenin had consumed so many mushrooms that their fungal “consciousness” had completely consumed him in return. By the end, Kuryokhin put it plainly, saying, “I have absolutely irrefutable proof that the October Revolution was carried out by people who had been consuming certain mushrooms for many years. And these mushrooms, in the process of being consumed by these people, had displaced their personalities. These people were turning into mushrooms. In other words, I simply want to say that Lenin was a mushroom.” He also made references to mushrooms being made out of radio waves, as if he didn’t already sound crackpot enough. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lenin-mushroom-hoax-russia Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 14, 2019 Other Yugoslav films also did well in China around the same time, though none matched the success of Walter. One reason for their success was that they offered a welcome respite from the cookie-cutter, simplistic revolutionary model operas of the Cultural Revolution period, wrote one Chinese critic in 2016 (in Chinese). In the operas, the critic noted, the good guys all looked the same (handsome, confident, decked in a worker’s uniform), “whereas in Yugoslav films, ‘good guys’ don’t look like ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’ have a positive image. These kinds of non-stereotypical artistic expressions were refreshing to the Chinese people.” https://qz.com/quartzy/1589664/chinas-love-for-old-yugoslav-war-movie-fuels-balkan-tourism-boom/ Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 16, 2019 Huge fire sweeps through Notre Dame Cathedral – in pictures Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral was engulfed in flames on Monday afternoon, causing its main spire to collapse and raising fears for the future of the 850-year-old building and its precious artworks https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2019/apr/15/huge-fire-sweeps-through-notre-dame-cathedral-in-pictures Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 17, 2019 Assange's principal media tormentor, the Guardian, a collaborator with the secret state, displayed its nervousness this week with an editorial that scaled new weasel heights. The Guardian has exploited the work of Assange and WikiLeaks in what its previous editor called "the greatest scoop of the last 30 years". The paper creamed off WikiLeaks' revelations and claimed the accolades and riches that came with them. With not a penny going to Julian Assange or to WikiLeaks, a hyped Guardian book led to a lucrative Hollywood movie. The book's authors, Luke Harding and David Leigh, turned on their source, abused him and disclosed the secret password Assange had given the paper in confidence, which was designed to protect a digital file containing leaked US embassy cables. http://johnpilger.com/articles/the-assange-arrest-is-a-warning-from-history Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 19, 2019 What happened on the first night Holiday performed Strange Fruit at Café Society foreshadowed the response it would get when released as a record. “The first time I sang it I thought it was a mistake … there wasn’t even a patter of applause when I finished. Then a lone person began to nervously. Then suddenly everyone was clapping,” said Holiday in her autobiography. To hear Holiday sing of “the sudden smell of burning flesh” minutes after her jazz ballads was disquieting. http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20190415-strange-fruit-the-most-shocking-song-of-all-time Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted April 20, 2019 Through the 1960s, and more recently, Maslow’s theories were tested in field and lab studies. Under scrutiny, the five needs Maslow had identified and ranked simply didn’t hold up, particularly in other cultures. (Past critics of Maslow’s writing have called his views eurocentric and insensitive to barriers like systemic racism and sexism, which can theoretically prevent some employees from ever “moving up” the hierarchy.) Maslow’s ideas about self-actualized people were also subjective. Though he described the features of a self-actualized person (they’re humble, grateful, concerned with the good of mankind, self-directed rather than mindlessly conformist, etc.) these were essentially subjective measures. Feeding the “subjectivity” critique, he even named a few individuals, including public figures like Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Einstein, whom he considered to be self-actualized. https://qz.com/work/1588491/maslow-didnt-make-the-pyramid-that-changed-management-history/ Reply Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites