Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Stephen Colbert at the White House dinner
I remember this video as being one of the first times I was ever exposed to politics in a meaningful sense. While its probably an odd thing to say, this was one of the first times that politics became ‘real’ for me and remains one of the best ‘take-downs’ of the Bush Administration I have seen. What’s impressive (and kind of horrifying) is that a large number of the comments made by Colbert still apply…
At one stage there were only 2000 human beings on the planet?
I guess logic suggests that it has to be the case but I was still rather surprised to read this:
This suggests the early human population was tiny (so the opportunities for new matrilines to evolve in the first place were limited) and reinforces the idea that Homo sapiens may have come close to extinction (eliminating some matrilines that did previously exist). Indeed, there may, at one point, have been as few as 2,000 people left to carry humanity forward.
The BBC has an article covering a lot of the same things but lacks that rather entertaining statistic. Still though, that’s an idea that will probably keep me entertained for a while to come…
Update: Here’s another BBC article
Man, I really want to see Mike Gravel as U.S. President
This video is absolutely insane but is quite entertaining - love the ‘military-industrial complex’ speech bit at the end too.. It seems to be quite legit given that Gravel has it on his webpage:
George Bush don’t like black people
Man, I hadn’t heard this before but it’s great… A remix of the Kanye West’s ‘Gold Digger’ …
‘The Word’ on Obama’s ‘Race Speech’
Cian’s already talked about this, but Obama does it funnier (sorry Cian) (Also, I apologise for the fact that ‘funnier’ isn’t correct English)
Does Snuff Exist?
Surprisingly good documentary on horror movies and supposed ’snuff’ movies. Granted, at the start it’s more of a history of certain types of ‘video nasties’ than about snuff itself but as it goes along it shows how there have been ‘possible examples’ of snuff. Interesting also is the ‘chicken or egg’ question. Does demand creaty supply or supply demand? The moors murders example was one I hadn’t heard before.
Just some quick thoughts on the BBC interview with George W. Bush
It’s a pretty good interview and you can see the whole thing here.
Just a few things that I found interesting -Bush has a very utilitarian ‘end’s justify the means’ view of a lot of his policies. It just comes across in a lot of the things he says and the language he uses, especially relating to Iraq but also to Africa. There’s also the oddest echoes of Jimmy Carter in terms of how he talks about the ‘higher realism of helping Africa’ in the sense that securing African well-being safeguards America’s national interest. What’s also interesting to see is how surprisingly affable Bush is. Nearly too much at times such as when he off-handedly refers to the ‘Dali Lama crowd’ & uses the word ’suicider’ which is just .. awkward. Anyway, I still think he’s a horrible excuse for a President but it’s worth a look.
The Dissertation Two
1,997 words. Currently starting into Kermit Roosevelt’s ‘counter-coup’ a rather interesting adventure romp and one of my major primary sources so far. On the other hand its an awfully limited book given the nature of the person who is writing it. I mean he’s hardly going to give an unflattering account of the whole thing and the people involved is he?