By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the… Read More For Palestine
Last post, I wrote about the decades or even centuries-old dispute between Russia and China over their shared border in the east up to the Pacific. But there’s another prominent territorial dispute that may end up breaking against Russia, this time over the Kuril Islands as they’re known here. These islands are under Russian administration… Read More The Kuril Islands dispute
Russia’s newly solidifying status as a pariah state following its invasion of Ukraine and brutal occupation of parts of that country raises some interesting questions about its future. The land and sea borders in the far eastern area of Russia have shifted significantly over the last few centuries, and there’s no reason to believe they… Read More The Vladivostok dispute
A few posts ago, I brought up Vladimir Putin’s denial of the Ukrainian national identity and how it’s not a new concept, but rather an old one that he’s revived. When President Biden a few days ago called Mr. Putin out during his Warsaw speech (and seemingly called for his ouster, which I have absolutely… Read More Ukraine, Palestine, and the denial of national identity
Anyone who’s studied interwar Europe at all can tell you that the face of the continent was changed by the fall of empires during and after World War I: the Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Turkish empires all fell and were replaced by republics, sometimes broken into several pieces based on the national aspirations of… Read More The end of appeasement
As an American, I know well enough how we tend to think of ourselves and our country. We’re special, we’re an exception, we’re separate from the rest of the world — nothing bad that happens outside our borders should touch us. Of course, this is all utter bullshit. We’re just humans like anyone else, our… Read More Ukraine and the American political chasm
One of the most interesting points to me about the current war in Ukraine is the fact that so many people didn’t anticipate it. I sure as hell didn’t, I know that. But we all knew that Russia was leaning hard on Ukraine — naturally, that was clear with the Euromaidan protests of 2013-14 and… Read More A historical precedent for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
Back again after another long break. Sorry, but as usual all my writing goes towards my main site, which is generally meant for reviews of and talk about anime, games, and music. But of course, recent events in the world brought me back to this secondary blog that nobody reads. I briefly touched on my… Read More Back again (for a while)
Yeah, Antarctica. It’s an Antarctic dollar. Never heard of it? Neither had I before buying this thing. Of course, Antarctica isn’t a sovereign state, nor is it controlled by any one state — it’s rather subject to the Antarctic Treaty System of 1959, an arcane, complicated agreement between twelve countries that divides its administration, slicing… Read More Money talks: 1 dollar note (Antarctica, 2007)
Okay, this title is a bit misleading. Because look at the front of this note: See, nothing at all about Malaya. Yet this hundred dollar note was produced for use in Malaya by the Japanese government, as the note indicates. This is one of many varieties of occupation currency produced by imperial Japan during World… Read More Money talks: 100 dollar note (Malaya, 1944)
Alpha Centauri Vacations 