"38 Maps You Never Knew You Needed"

These are really interesting, especially for geography and politics nerds such as myself

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/maps-you-never-knew-you-needed?sub=2043479_915092%3Fsub%3D2043479_914903

Woah. Afghanistan.

stunning photos

The best birth control in the world is for men.

Link: The best birth control in the world is for men.

I’m surprised I never new about this until a couple weeks ago. Seems like this should be more commonly known about and utilized

I don’t think that it is radical to say that there a cultural stigma which presupposes that women will be the ones to think about birth control. The woman is supposed to get an IUD, or go on birth control pills, or whatever. Then Mr. doofus McMan shows up decides its time to party— totally detached from such concerns.  Generally speaking there seems to be less responsibility assigned to men when it comes to the issue of birth control, as if it mattered less, and the woman’s body is of none of his concern. Men aren’t expected to care about birth control, even though with this method it could not be simpler…

Suffice to say I am glad this exists. 

Before beer, it was gruit

Link: Before beer, it was gruit

Beer has not always been beer. That is to say, what “us moderns” call beer is but one of many combinations of barley and herbs that were brewed for milleniums. This stuff is called gruit, which essentially covers beer before hops became the sole preservative agent.

 The choice of hops as the only acceptable preservative agent in beer may seem obvious, but in fact is the product of specific political economic developments.

I brewed a mugwort gruit last weekend. The wort (before fermentation) tasted good, its an interesting experiment. 

Crazy interesting article about a family that lived, totally isolated, in Siberia for 40 years.

Link: Crazy interesting article about a family that lived, totally isolated, in Siberia for 40 years.

I think one of the most interesting thing here is the description of persistence hunting taking place in the snow. 

US Military Considering Setting up Drone Basess in North Africa

Link: US Military Considering Setting up Drone Basess in North Africa

"For now, officials say they envision flying only unarmed surveillance drones from the base, though they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens."

3 things occur to me reading this article. 

1. If its not already obvious, we have entered the age of drone warfare. This represents a fundamentally new military age, and it is becoming normalized silently, under our noses, with very limited discussion. 

Second, the considerations amongst the US military seem to focus solely on whether or not drones will be tacticall effective, and whether or not the presence of a few hundred US soldiers might anger the inhabitants of the area.

At no point does it seem as though ethics enters the questions, although with developements such as the UN announcing that it will investigate the legality of drone strikes and the associated civilian casualties, one must imagine that such calculations are taking place somewhere.

Third, is the consideration of what this means for military geopolitics going into the future. The way that the US asserts its power is changing. Historical context:

The Vietnam war was a disaster for the US military. By the end of the war the US public and political establishment were strongly opposed to sending more US troops into harms way for any reason. However, during this war, in neighboring Laos, the US discovered an alternative way to fight Cold War era “wars of containment.” Due to treaties with the Soviets, the US military ground troops could not enter Laos, so alternative tactics were necessary. In order to “contain the communists,” the CIA coordinated the organization, funding and tactical support of proxy groups, and the Military unleashed a massive bombing campaign. (In fact, the US dropped more bombs  on Laos between 1964 and 1973 than on Japan and Germany combined during WW2. Its true.)

This state of affairs was known as the “Nixon Doctrine.” It was best summed up by Nixon himself when he proclaimed that “Asian boys must fight Asian wars.” From this point on the US military sought to advance its influence through proxies. Despite congress passing the Clark Amendment in 1976 and the Boland Amendment in 1984 which both banned US support of proxy forces, such tactics were the primary way through which the US military exercised its will upon global affairs during the last quarter of the 20th century. Similar tactics were used in Angola, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan. 

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 represented the end of the use of proxy wars   as the primary tool of US unilateralism. However, after almost 10 years of an ugly ground war, drones are increasingly embraced by the military. 

So if the invasion of Iraq in 2003 ended the era of US proxy wars, then the widespread and generally accepted application of drones certainly represents a new era of US military affairs.

The potential establishment of drone bases across North Africa represents a new way for the military establishment to extend its hegemony. Drone bases do not require large amounts of proxy forces, and do not put skilled American military personel into great risk. Thus they will probably not provoke any great public outrage. Most of the civilan deaths are under-reported, and the questionable legal status ignored.

If this base proves successful, the model will probably be replicated. It is also, in the words of Dashiell Bennett in The Atlantic, easy to imagine “other uses for such an outpost or the planes that are based there.” 

Drones, along with increased privatization are changing the way that the US applies military force across the world.

In the age drone wars and increased privatization the US military has taken on a faceless, potentially ubiquitous, and highly decentralized form. In a word, postmodern. 

Excellent essay on Epistemological Hegemony and Coloniality

Link: Excellent essay on Epistemological Hegemony and Coloniality

EH is a concept that I continually grapple with. It can be almost impossible to recognize from within. 

"Castro (2007) insists that Western knowledge is characterised by what he describes as a zero point view, a perspective that hides itself and implies that it’s not particular."

EH operates on multiple levels.

This is a good read.

Highly relevant/complimentary article:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/01/2013114142638797542.html