The Inimitable Tiff

from the latest post by the Very Lost Tribesman

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:19:06 -0700

from the latest post by the Very Lost Tribesman:

Take, for instance, King Leopold of Belgium, who claimed the entire Congo as his own personal fiefdom during the 19th century and along with his successors plundered it remorselessly for rubber and helped condemn both it and its neighbors to a century of misery and whose name has become a byword for European colonial rapaciousness. It turns out (from John Reader’s “Africa: Biography of a Continent”) that before settling on the Congo, Leopold had been shopping all over the globe for a territory to provide some breathing room for his small and densely populated European state. Along the way he negotiated with Turkey to buy Crete and with Spain to buy Cuba, with Denmark over the Faeroe Islands and the French over Vietnam. All fell through. But the deal that perhaps came closest was an offer by the fledgling Republic of Texas to sell two tracts of land to Belgium in return for a $7 million loan. Alas, the United States government worked itself up into a Monroe Doctrine frenzy and protested, and Leopold was told the U.S. planned to annex Texas soon anyway. Thus he turned his attention to the Congo, essentially setting in motion the scramble for Africa among the major European powers.

Just picture, for a moment, if the Texas deal had gone through. For one thing, it might well have turned out — it could hardly have turned out worse. True, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which the European powers don’t eventually end up fighting over and dividing up Africa anyway, and perhaps they would have failed just as miserably as they did in actuality. Still, it was certainly Leopold’s ambitions in the Congo that set things off, and the behavior of the Belgians and their monarchs there in the century that followed was by all accounts, against strong competition, in its own category of horror (See Conrad, Joseph). Consider also how central a role the Congo played in the miseries of many of its now neighbors (notably what is now Rwanda, currently a relative success story, but where the Belgians had the fateful idea to divide the population into the then-barely extant categories of Hutu and Tutsi in order to more effectively control them). Considering those factors, it’s hard to escape the conclusion Africa’s chances would have been marginally better if Leopold had carved out an annex for himself in the Lone Star State and let it go at that.

That prospect, of course, is the more amusing counterfactual to imagine: an enclave of Belgium in the middle of Texas (Reader’s book doesn’t mention where in Texas the tracts were or how big they were, but I’d certainly be curious). It’s not inconceivable the United States would have been forced to honor the agreement when it later absorbed Texas. More far-fetched, perhaps, that enclave could have survived in some form until the present, as a colony or a Quebec-like state (Texas, you may recall, still maintains the right to divide itself into up to five states if it ever so chooses. That will probably never happen for reasons including the negative effect on the University of Texas football team’s recruiting prospects. But if it ever did happen it would certainly be highly propitious for the Republican party’s prospects of retaking the Senate). Or perhaps “Belgian Texas” might even persist, Lesotho-like, as an independent state within the U.S. Imagine a stretch of open country populated by proud immigrant Belgians speaking some form of Flemish-Spanish with a Texan twang, wearing cowbody hats, munching on BBQ and chocolate, and living in towns named after Belgian counterparts but now pronounced with hard consonants (“Bruges“ rhymes with “Tortugas“; “Ypres” rhymes with “diapers”). One constant would be you’d still find a Waffle House at every highway interchange — only the waffles would be much fluffier.

via matttrent Sucker for both childlike how-tos and explorers.

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:26:53 -0700

via matttrent

Sucker for both childlike how-tos and explorers.

Sure, legalizing marijuana is highly unlikely and legalizing...

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:26:33 -0700

Sure, legalizing marijuana is highly unlikely and legalizing cocaine isn’t even on the table in mainstream politics. Still, it’s interesting to know what the numbers would be — particularly when they’re coming from a Harvard economist.

Here’s a table that shows Miron’s estimates for the annual tax revenues each state would get from marijuana and cocaine. (The figures are in millions;…)

Forget Taxing Marijuana; The Real Money’s In Cocaine on NPR’s Planet Money

A Ramp All the Way via How We Drive.

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:30:54 -0700

A Ramp All the Way via How We Drive.

How Many Hours Do We Waste in Traffic in Major U.S. Cities?...

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:25:56 -0700

How Many Hours Do We Waste in Traffic in Major U.S. Cities? [Infrastructurist]

Infographic from Texas Transportation Institute’s 2009 Urban Mobility Report.

Eric Dishman at TEDMED 2009 In case your sense of urgency around...

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:48:06 -0700

Eric Dishman at TEDMED 2009

In case your sense of urgency around the healthcare debate has sunk into apathy, watch a few TEDMED videos.

More theme reversion

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:04:40 -0700

My customizations to my other Tumblr account lost its theme. Anyone else had Tumblr drop your theme? Am I missing a place where they’v mentioned why it is happening?

Instructables.com/ikeahacker: Stolmen and Ekby compression...

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:18:32 -0800

Instructables.com/ikeahacker: Stolmen and Ekby compression bookshelf system
I built something geeky out of ikea parts.

fauxmo: Oscar

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:39:50 -0800

fauxmo:

Oscar

My theme went back in time

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:39:47 -0800

Which I think I prefer, anyway. Interesting feature you have there, Tumblr. A theme-oriented Omega 13(days).

The National - “Terrible Love” 3/10 on...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:55:01 -0800

The National - “Terrible Love” 3/10 on Fallon

I’m still surprised I like this band four albums in, now. I expected to have gone my own way by the second or third album. I like every one, and their live performances, too. (Like this Take Away show bit.)

Why Coder Barbie Is Good for Women in Tech You don’t have to...

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:31:06 -0800

Why Coder Barbie Is Good for Women in Tech

You don’t have to choose between looking feminine and being good at math, science, and engineering. We need all kinds of people, all kinds of minds, and all kinds of geeks to solve our technology problems.

To sum up the post: Ada Lovelace rocked classic Victorian gear, so girls might opt to work in technology if they see a role-model-providing *doll* who doesn’t have to dress soberly to be considered a professional in a classically masculine field. Did I read that right?

I know this is well-meaning but WTF. This trend of commentary places the lion’s share of change on women’s shoulders while failing to address the very real issue that male geekery has a reputation* for immature reactions to gender differences. You can’t have women showing up to work in ‘more’ feminine clothing if it goes unchecked that the male contingent can spend time discussing the latest objectified female video game character. Other traditionally masculine fields don’t have cultural currency around a hobby that promotes titillated gender representations, if you’ll forgive the accurate pun.

Stereotyped, extreme generalizations—I know. Measured, even-handed words about the topic fade into the gender imbalance and biases, frankly. But I’m at the end of my coherency on the issue anyway—the rest is just anger. Male geeks are not asked to change much at all to show up in a professional workplace. Meanwhile girls are presumed to be fretting about clothing choices.

* I’d love to say ‘stereotyped’ here but that brings out a second, equally valid argument I’d prefer to address separately. There are many men in the field who buck this trend and I’m proud to know a small handful.

Once inflation started creeping into the economy, interest rates...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:42:10 -0800

Once inflation started creeping into the economy, interest rates soared and earnings multiples took a tumble. However, once Paul “Big Paul” Volcker squeezed inflation from the economy, multiples slowly resumed their climb back to JFK levels. The problem with that analysis, of course, is that you’re adjusting for a heck of a lot of data. So has the normal level for P/E Ratios been around 18 or so for the past 50 years with the inflation era as an aberration? Or are there natural 15 to 20 year periods of multiple expansion and compression? I lean toward the first, but I’m far from certain.

CrossingWallStreet.com: Happy Birthday Mr. Bull!

I like reading places where experts can’t decide what perspective to take and wrestle with their instinctive findings. I also like reading economic/market-factors posts where I think I’ve learned something rare but in fact I barely understand it beyond the fact it is in English and uses proper grammar (mostly). S-M-R-T, smart.

Ugly, But Not Irrelevant

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:13:50 -0800

Ugly, But Not Irrelevant:

Willie’s review of “Coriolanus”:

And yet, is this the Shakespeare play most emblematic of the 2000s? A tragic protagonist, eager for war, sure of the propriety of his ideals and the might of his military, unwilling (or unable?) to examine his own motives, scornful of a populace he’s forced to grovel to if he wants to gain power; a populace, in turn, which gives us very little cause to doubt the protagonist’s assessment of them as a dangerous, disinterested, gullible rabble; a bunch of middle-managing representatives of people and moneyed interests, less interested in the good of the republic than the power to be grabbed and clung to at all costs. No one to root for, really. No one rising above their own desires. Ugly, yes. Irrelevant, no. (Just for fun, and so as not to end on such a down beat, my votes for other representative plays of the last 50 years: 1960s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; 1970s, Troilus and Cressida; 1980s, The Tempest; 1990s, Romeo and Juliet.)

My review of “Coriolanus”, circa 1994:

We were supposed to read that for tomorrow’s quiz? Anyone got a movie or cliff’s notes? I promise to read it later.

Gendercide: Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls...

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:30:01 -0800

Gendercide: Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising on Economist.com.

In China and northern India more than 120 boys are being born for every 100 girls. Nature dictates that slightly more males are born than females to offset boys’ greater susceptibility to infant disease. But nothing on this scale.

Via givemesomethingtoread.

Women & Technology 1999 – 2009 – GirlyGeekdom

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:43:12 -0800

Women & Technology 1999 – 2009 – GirlyGeekdom:

When you start looking through the time line you can see there is a more general positive trend towards women in the technology industry, however despite role models being identified in national and international news papers as well as lots of groups and organizations trying to make a difference there are still comments about the declining numbers entering the profession in 2008. There are many yearly awards given out to those in top senior management slots who are women in the technology industry, however this too doesn’t lead to additional people. Many are arguing that these sort of awards are hindering rather than helping the industry.

Meanwhile there are efforts by large corporates to invest money in their own centres for women in technology which to date haven’t seen any hard and fast results. In the meantime groups like Girl Geek Dinners, Women in Technology and Girls in Tech have been built up by the technology community for the community as a result of members of the community feeling a need for it.

Gender, Interaction and Leadership [pdf on jstor]

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:42:04 -0800

Gender, Interaction and Leadership [pdf on jstor]:

by Walker, Henry A., Ilardi, Barbara C., McMahon, Anne M. and Fennel, Mary L., “Social Psychology Quarterly”, Vol. 59, No. 3 (Sep., 1996), pp. 255-272

I like any interesting blog post and comments that send me off into academic journal reading.

elclon: Coolest and probably one of the loneliest. Not sure...

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:06:51 -0800

elclon:

Coolest and probably one of the loneliest.

Not sure I’d like to be this guy’s downstairs neighbor.

Ascending Coherence: Brooke, WTF?

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:13:51 -0800

Ascending Coherence: Brooke, WTF?:

OK, when I was watching Community last night, and a commercial for the upcoming show Who Do You Think You Are? came on, I almost fell off the couch. No, it wasn’t because learning more about other people’s genealogy is one of the most boring things in the world so WHY would you make a show of it…

Seattle's Mighty-O Donuts makes nation's best donuts list - Seattle- msnbc.com

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:04:04 -0800

Seattle's Mighty-O Donuts makes nation's best donuts list - Seattle- msnbc.com:

For ascendingcoherence. Will send a care-package soon.