My Aim Is True

Things that make me happy this morning:

Spring weather.
Elvis Costello on tour with the Police.
Marine Corps bumper stickers.
Cold Pad Thai.

Thursday Cartoon

Apologies for the sparse posting. The same work overload from last week is continuing this week. Hopefully it will end this weekend (at least some of it has to).

Today's cartoon is for Sean, who's having a bad day.

Beware the Lawyers

From 'Day in Pictures' from the BBC

Caption reads:
A car blazes in the southern port of Karachi, Pakistan, amid clashes between rival groups of lawyers.

[Update 504 pm]: I had meant that as relatively tongue-in-cheek - violence is bad, of course, but rival lawyers?, really?

However, it seems that so far seven people have died due to the resulting violence.

'And Watch Out for the Women'?

One part of the article I don't understand is this remark:

Police say that five people were killed when rioters set fire to lawyers' chambers in a building adjacent to the city court in downtown Karachi.
They say that those burned to death included a woman.

I'm sorry she, and all of the others, are dead, but is her sex really noteworthy? I thought women could be lawyers in Pakistan, since they can be Prime Ministers. Is this some lingering chivalry on the part of the BBC that women shouldn't be harmed by violence (only those nasty, belligerent men)? Did they perhaps mean to imply that she was not a lawyer?

RIP MLK

Remember.
Picture from the article.

Hat Tip: The Plank.

I Will Be Here Tonight

Introducing Cartoon Thursdays

I like cartoons - they're a great way to express an idea quickly, and they often insert much needed humor into a situation. Also, I have quite a few of them saved to my computer.

I've been meaning to start posting them for a while now, but always forgot. Plus, there was the question of making them a regular feature; would I post them whenever, on a certain day of the week, etc.? For the second option, logic would suggest Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, but I either forget, or I don't need the smile. Hence, Thursday; the weekend is almost here, but not close enough (I'm going to completely ignore all those who work for the government and have alternative leave schedules).
So here's the first edition of Cartoon Thursdays, featuring a two-for. My life currently feels like a combination of the two. Yay fun.

Thursday Cartoon

Anthropology in Everything, Violence Edition

Hmm. A new meme?

First Chris Blattman asks if peace can be instilled. He reports from a rural training center in Liberia:

The second day of our stay we woke up to a small riot. Supplies of food and soap had been delayed from the capitol, and the excoms had taken to the yard, yelling angrily with the staff and refusing to attend classes. Johnson stood in the thick of them, surrounded by two dozen angry youth, hashing it out.

Within an hour, the youth had settled back to their quarters, their elected leaders were holding a consultation, and were preparing to present a list of grievances to the school administration. Nothing was broken, few egos were bruised, and the excoms' anger and frustration was being channeled into a peaceful and institutional process. Such an outcome, Johnson tells me, would have been unthinkable just two moths ago. But they have succeeded in creating new norms of behavior and dispute.

Then, Dani Rodrik posts about a paper exploring the intersection of soccer, culture, and violence. He notes:

I must say the cultural explanation leaves me cold, even though I do not have a good alternative explanation in its place. If you have ever spent time in cabs in Manhattan, you know that it is pretty hard to distinguish the Russian drivers from the Pakistani ones, or the Israeli ones from the Koreans. They all drive like NYC cabbies, even though the "driving culture" in these countries are pretty different.

In response, I'd ask, could it just be another example of acculturation? I imagine that being a successfull NYC cabby requires certain traits for success (traversing the city in some sort of meaningful time frame and also getting a spot at high-frequency fare sites). Don't these guys depend on the number of fares + tips to make a living? What I mean to imply is, the geography, politics (or at least laws) and culture of NYC create an environment that requires certain characteristics in order to succeed. Success (money) is an incentive. Thus, there is an incentive for cabbies to adapt (turn into NYC cabbies). Environment -> Incentives (economics) -> Acculturation (anthropology).

Societal, cultural, norms, including those of interaction, can be very powerful, but like all normative teachings, can be overcome and retaught. What I really want to know is what would happen if the soccer players were faced off against the 'ex-coms'?

Breaking News!

A US study published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation proves that 'daily caffeine "protects" brain' against diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Not that I really need another excuse to drink tea, but it's nice to have options.

Overheard at Dinner

At Afterwords Cafe:

'It's capitalism, man! You can have coffee without caffeine, Coke without sugar, and quit cigarettes without pain!'

On a completely incidental and personal note, if I ever decide to give up development studies, I will retire to a small town in New England and open a bookstore/cafe. My main inspirations will be Kramer's & Afterwords and Charlie's from Robin McKinley's Sunshine, but I'll probably aspire to the elegance of Busboys and Poets without the elitism.