I can't even put forth words after watching this. It's like a horrifying reminder of everything that is wrong and sick with the world right now.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/15/flogging-video-sparks-protest-in-sudan

What a privilege we have here to protest things we disagree with when that very simple action we take for granted is not even accorded to someone else in another part of the world simply because of their gender.

Richard Holbrooke: 1941-2010 | FP Passport

Richard Holbrooke: 1941-2010 | FP Passport

A pivotal figure in US foreign policy has passed away. May he rest in peace.

The Cat's Out of the Bag

Whoo, Wikileaks has now given me new source of information for research! But seriously, what do people expect? International politics is not a saintly game. You can call US foreign policy what you want--deceiving, hypocritical, corrupt--but no country escapes such accusations. This huge leak just confirms what any person with common sense has known all along.

Speak Softly and Share the Big Stick

“We have moved from the cold war era of bipolar reality through the brief bubble of sole superpower unilateral fantasy into a world of a new multipowered system which requires old-fashioned balance-of-power diplomacy,” Mr. Rothkopf said. The result, he said, may be that “all of a sudden, the old cobweb-infested State Department is more important than it’s been in many, many years.”
--David Rothkopf, author of Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power, in a recent New York Times article

I wonder what American society will be like if in our lifetime the authority of the most powerful country in the world dissolves. The what-says-what-goes attitude of the US has fostered a society of people who can afford to not preoccupy themselves with foreign affairs and be educated about global issues. Can we ordinary Americans afford to be ignorant about issues outside of our borders--issues that are integral to our country's welfare--the day we're no longer the hegemon of the pecking order? Two things might happen. One is that there will increasingly be a discord between what the American public wants, i.e. demands made on the domestic level, and what the US needs to do on the international front. It's undeniable that American unilateralism is being increasingly challenged, whether it's from push or pull factors. This could very well make multilateralism the most viable way of conducting diplomacy in the foreseeable future, especially if the US is looking to slow down the ability for unilateral decision-making by a few other unnamed rising powers in the world. So then what? What if the public doesn't enjoy this seemingly compromising way of the US managing international affairs, especially if it may adversely affect the economic and socio-political situation at home?
The other thing that might happen is it may compel a generation of Americans to become interested in international affairs. Maybe we'll start asking questions, become interested in world history, educate ourselves on what past and present US foreign policy has been..we'll start talking about these things and caring...and maybe then the local media won't relegate foreign affairs news to a 2 minute clip or a blurb. It'll be...a revolution! Probably? Maybe? Perhaps?

I'm devastated that the New York Times is going to require a paid subscription for its services next year. Where am I going to turn to for free, informative, unabashedly liberal-slanting news? I don't want to read things outside of my worldview--it's a highly discomfiting feeling.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

I have just discovered the many uses and features of a smartphone. This could be dangerous.

I Don't Like This

There are almost no classes for me to take next semester. In addition USC has canceled my school account because records have indicated I've graduated. What is this blasphemy?

Where am I?

For the past two days I've been waking up at 8 AM, which is good. Unfortunately it goes downhill from there because I'll pass out at 10 PM, wake up at 10 30 in an anxious fit thinking it might be 3 in the morning and I haven't brushed my teeth, and not be able to sleep again until 2 AM. This doesn't make sense, seeing as 10 PM here is 2 PM there.