Eupraxsophy
Secular humanist, freethinker, progressive, and bibliophile. I love living life, learning things, and meeting people.
Video: Syria's Wounded Generation
At an after-care center near Turkey’s border with Syria, civilians and combatants recover from life-altering injuries. The Times’s Mac William Bishop speaks to casualties of Syria’s brutal civil war.
An entire generation is being killed, maimed, and traumatized. However the conflict turns out, this can’t bode well for the country’s future.
Chinaâs Great Uprooting: Moving 250 Million Into Cities
A 12-year plan to move hundreds of millions of rural residents into cities is intended to spur economic growth, but could have unintended consequences, skeptics warn.
The Pew Research Center asked people in 39 different countries the following question — “Should society accept homosexuality?” — to which they could answer yes, no, or decline the question.
The “yes” answers are mapped: in red countries,less than 45% of respondents said homosexuality should be accepted by society; in blue countries, more than 55% said it should be accepted; while purple countries fall in that middle range of about half.
However, there are some caveats to keep in mind, as noted in the Washington Post:
The first and most obvious is, as we’ve mentioned before, a phenomenon we might call the political correctness effect. It’s possible, for example, that while 80 percent of Canadians say that society should accept homosexuality, maybe some proportion of those people don’t actually believe it but simply feel that they shouldn’t admit their true feelings out loud. Of course, this is still a kind of tolerance, but it’s not the same as earnest acceptance. Another caveat is that definitions of who counts as homosexual are not necessarily the same in all countries; sexuality, like race, is a social construct, which means that it can vary across countries. So a Ugandan and a Chilean might be thinking of different sorts of people when they answer this question.
Perhaps most importantly, there’s no definition of what the question means when it asks if society “should accept” homosexuality; respondents are left to decide for themselves what constitutes acceptance. It’s entirely plausible, for example, that respondents in France were polled during their country’s debate over gay marriage, and so may have naturally considered marriage rates to be the metric for accepting homosexuality. Or maybe Ugandans assumed “accepting homosexuality” would mean rejecting a controversial bill in the country that, if passed, would prescribe harsh penalties up to and including the death penalty for homosexuality. The point is that Ugandans and French would have approached the question differently and so their answers are not perfectly comparable. Still, whatever self-defined metric the respondents used for accepting or rejecting homosexuality, perhaps just as important as that metric is whether or not the individual respondents thought that they themselves met that definition. If someone says they accept or reject homosexuality, that decision is as potentially important as the way that measure it.
Syrian Death Toll Approaches 93,000, U.N. Says
Ms. Pillay said the killings of “at least 6,561 minors, including at least 1,729 children under 10 years old” were documented, and that there were “well-documented cases of individual children being tortured and executed, and entire families, including babies, being massacred — which, along with this devastatingly high death toll, is a terrible reminder of just how vicious this conflict has become.”
And to think that sources suggest these figures are probably understated.
Tallinn: The Former Soviet City That Gave Birth To Skype : NPR
The Estonian capital is a blend of medieval towers and Soviet architecture that belies its status as one of the world’s most technologically advanced cities. Residents use a smart card to ride the bus. They mail packages and pay for parking with their phones.
Estonia has been on my travel list for some time. I can’t wait.
Honduras Claims Unwanted Title Of World's Murder Capital
When visiting San Pedro Sula, the bloodiest town in Honduras, it’s advisable to arrive early in the morning, when the drug gangs are still asleep.
Depiction of Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire, from a 1375 Catalan Atlas drawn by Abraham Cresques. Musa, who was the tenth mansa or “King of Kings” of Mali, is shown holding a gold nugget and wearing a European-style crown, signifying his status as one of the richest and most powerful rulers in the world.
The Mali Empire, which covered much of West Africa, once produced half of the world’s gold and salt, becoming a major economic and trading power in and beyond the continent (that’s why the Malian city of Timbuktu, which was a major center in the empire, remains prominent in our vernacular to this day).
By some accounts, Emperor Musa — also known as the Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata, Futa-Jallon, and at least another dozen titles — amassed around $400 billion during his reign from 1312 to 1337, which would make him the richest man in human history.
A devout Muslim, he built mosques, universities, observatories, and other public works throughout his empire, often hiring Europeans and Arabs as architects. At its height, the empire encompassed 400 sophisticated cities which drew in visitors and students from Africa, Europe, and the Middle-East.
During his famous pilgrimage to Mecca, the pious Musa donated his money freely to the poor, and reportedly built mosques every Friday wherever he went. In fact, he spent and gave away so much gold that he reportedly (and inadvertently) triggered economic inflation in the region. This is the only time in recorded history that one man directly controlled the price of gold in the region. His gold even indirectly financed the Italian Renaissance.
17 of the Oldest Man-Made Structures On Earth Still In Use
The enduring legacy of ancient human ingenuity.
The amount of things to see and do in the world can be overwhelming at times. Even within my hometown of Miami, Florida, USA, there is still much left for me to explore. Then there’s the state of Florida and all its varied offerings, then the entirety of the US and all its cultural and geographic diversity, and then the wider world of over 200 other countries and territories.
Even the smallest cities have so much to take in and see, let alone entire countries, continents, and the world. I’m lucky to even be able to learn about these places, given how much is out there. Every photo, article, video, or personal account only whets my appetite for more personal exploration. If only traveling and studying was a paying job.
In any case, this wanderlust will certainly spur me to get to work on pursuing my career in diplomacy and international public administration, the closest I’ll come to making the world a part of my everyday life.
Pakistan's New Lawmakers Sworn in, Face Many Tests
Newly elected members of Pakistan’s National Assembly were sworn in Saturday, officially marking the first transition of power between democratically elected civilian governments in the nearly 66-year history of this coup-prone country.
Among the steep challenges the legislators will face: massive energy shortages that leave some Pakistanis without power for up to 20 hours a day; a badly ailing economy that might force the Muslim-majority nation to seek an international bailout; and ongoing militant activity by Taliban and other extremists whose violence has killed thousands in the past decade and badly strained Pakistan’s alliance with the United States.
A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live
According to a 2012 poll, almost half of Chinese consider themselves “convinced atheists.”
Keep on Truckin' -- The psychedelic cargo haulers of Pakistan's highways.
The creaking trucks that ply Pakistan’s treacherous highways form a vibrant tapestry in the country’s often bleak and rugged landscape. Showcasing the Pakistani tradition of painting vehicles elaborately, the trucks are covered with everything from detailed arabesques and Urdu calligraphy to portraits of Pakistani pop icons — or some combination of all three. Often, drivers hang chains of bells from their vehicles’ bumpers, giving them their common English name: “jingle trucks.”
