Archive for July 2003
[ARTICLE] On The Decomposition of International Law
From The New Republic
Law and Order
by Robert Lane Greene
The normally academic debate over the relevance of international law got a lot of public attention amid the posturing over Iraq this spring. At the time, many analysts and lawyers decried the Iraq war as “illegal” because it violated the U.N. Charter, the signatories of which forswear the use of force except in straightforward self-defense or when authorized by the U.N. Security Council. It was a questionable argument, but the concern over Washington’s evolving concept of when it can legitimately wage war is not misplaced. In fact, the Bush administration’s doctrine of preemption, laid out in the National Security Strategy that was released in September 2002, can be read as renouncing the principles of the Charter that America helped write.
You are a Structural Functionalist. You believe
that conflict is bad for societies. The basic
sociological question for you is, “What
are the consequences of a social pattern?”
Which sociological school of thought do you belong to?
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You’re a CASUAL AIM-ER! Congrats, you’re
normal…or you’re pretending to be.
What kind of AIM-er are you?
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Via Hostelworld.com, I’ve just booked a room at the Hotel/Hostel Inn Tourist, in downtown Montréal for the two nights of my Montréal stay.
This will be fun.
A Poem Translated from the Dutch
Gerrit Komrij, “The Language-Forger”
Language’s consonants and vowels portray
The orset and the flaccid belly’s spread.
A poet’s one who’s able to display
An ease when boning them that seems inbred.
Obese or slim, his word without delay
Unite, in fluid couplets sweetly wed.
His secret’s effortlessness, not to lay
A smoke screen. He takes language off to bed.
His flask is language–A to Z.
And when half-drunk–albeit just in play–
He spawns a child, an epic or quartet,
Or something in-between–a sonnet, say.
His fight with blubber, though, and whalebone stay
The reader never knows is left unsaid.
– Originally from All Poems up to Yesterday (Alle gedichten tot gisteren). Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 1994. Trans. John Irons.
Another Successful Night
22 people came, paying large sums of money for the privilege of seeing MB Productions’ performance of Oscar Wilde’s 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest. All in all, the play went well; I didn’t miss any cues, and my performance again seemed to be popular.
And:
The Eighties.
Which Decade Are You?
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I’ve upgraded …
… to a paid account. Now, let’s see what I can do with this.
Via <a href="GNXP:
A Generation on the Move in Europe
For Continent’s Young, Borders Are No Longer an Obstacle
By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, July 22, 2003; Page A01
MADRID — For a glimpse of Europe’s young generation on the move and the future of the borderless continent, head to the late-partying Spanish capital, drink a strong shot of coffee and try to keep up with Stina Lunden, a 25-year-old Swedish transplant.
Lunden stands out in Spain — she is blonde, blue-eyed, Nordic-looking — but she speaks fluent Spanish, writes in Spanish for Tiempo, a Madrid-based newsweekly, and has thoroughly adopted the young Spanish lifestyle. When she left her desk one night last week, the drill started with beer and tapas at an outdoor restaurant. Next, over to the Plaza de Toros, the open-air bullfighting stadium, for a concert by the Oxford rock band Radiohead. Then, after midnight, over to the trendy La Latina district where the young crowd spilled onto the sidewalk at El Bonanno’s bar.
A Bit More Detail 