My Test

If my posting becomes less frequent over the next week or the quality decreases drastically (if that's possible) it's because I have a week-long take-home comprehensive final exam.

It's two questions and I don't know the specifics yet. My professor told me that one question is on what we learned this semester. So that probably deals with the evolution and shifting definition of modern Chinese nationalism.

The other question deals with theorizing about rulers' legitimacy pre-nation-state and during the nation-state era. Here I can draw on my studies of Vijayanagara (14th-16th century south Indian kingdom) and the Qing Dynasty of China during the 19th century. There are actually parallels between the two. Both allowed much of their empire to remain autonomous. This limited any drastic uprooting of their subjects' lives.

Both Vijayanagara and the Qing dealt with a precarious multi-ethnic situation. Vijayanagara's rulers were religiously Hindu, but they bordered Muslim kingdoms and had a large Muslim quarter within the capital city. The rulers adopted a hybrid culture with culturally Hindu and culturally Islamic features. They wore clothes that resembled those of sultans and their buildings were a fusion of south Indian stairs-like domes and Islamic arched doorways. Muslims also held prominent positions within the military. The Qing were Manchus ruling over the dominant Han. They tried to preserve their own culture (only imposing the queue hairstyle) while finding legitimacy in orthodox Confucianism, which ironically only pushed a Han cultural dominance.

As far as legitimacy in the nation-state era, I can focus on China. But I can't really theorize about it until I get the actual question, because there have been so many shifts and turns even since 1911.

Maybe I'll use the blog to think things through more, or just blow some steam off. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Understanding Women

In my experience, when a nonwhite shiksa acts like she likes you in a romantic way, it means she does. That's logical enough; it makes sense to me. That's not the case with white shiksas. If they act like they like you romantically, it doesn't mean they do. They're just extraordinarily nice. So it leaves you thinking, 'If anybody else acted like this, it'd be obvious, she likes me.' But if you're a short Jew, she probably doesn't.

I haven't figured out Jewish women yet, but I don't think any of them like me. Maybe if they like you they yell at you, "Hey, you're my boyfriend now, go buy me some flowers!" And you reply defeated, "Ok." Or it means they like you when they scream, "You're a fucking idiot!" at you. If the latter is true, then a whole lot of Jewish women have liked me through the years!

I Make Mistakes- Bulgarian Edition

Back in September, I posted pictures from my trip to Eastern Europe. I put up pictures of Jewishness and of perceived anti-Semitism. I have pictures of two different swastikas in Sofia, Bulgaria. I assumed that the swatikas were signs of anti-Semitism (a big stretch, I know). After learning more about Bulgaria's relationship to Jews and with help from some nice informed people, I learned that Bulgaria was one of only two countries to save their Jewish co-nationalists from the Nazis and that the swastikas were actually expressing anti-fascist sentiment.

Thus, including those pictures in with others that exhibit anti-Semitism was a mistake. I truly apologize. The more I learn about Bulgarian people, the more I like them. They're J-okay in my book.

Here are the comments from the earlier post. As far as I can tell, two different people left anonymous comments. I'll call one awesome anon and the other idiot anon to avoid confusion:

Awesome anon: Dude, The writings on the wall in Sofia mean "death to fascism" and "a big dick to fascism" (this being the Balkans). The Bulgarian far right groups mostly target the Roma minority. Jews have generally been treated well throughout Bulgarian history and no Bulgarian Jews were sent to the death camps. After the Communist takeover almost the entire 50 000 strong community left for Israel, most of them being either professional or business people and as such not overly pleased with the new system. Quite a lot of Israelis of Bulgarian descent have successfully applied for Bulgarian citizenship recently, as joining the EU draws near.

knibilnats: A man who works the security beat for Sofia's synagogue also told me that the relationship between Jews and Bulgarians have historically been good. Bulgaria is 1 of 2 countries to save all of their Jews during the War. Thank you very much for the info and I'll add a little note by the pictures. I'm still going to leave them up there so your comment makes sense. Thanks again.

Idiot anon: It is sickening to present antifascist graffities as antisemitic. This is how the zionist propaganda works. The posting is an offense to the Bulgarian nation.

knibilnats: hahaha, are you serious? C'mon man, I don't speak Bulgarian and I saw swastikas in several places. What am I supposed to think? But I learned more, and also the first nice person above left a very INSIGHTFUL comment. (Imagine that: dialogue instead of accusations). I'm not sure what this has to do with Zionism though. To be honest, I think you have an agenda in writing a comment in this manner. But I'll make things clearer to avoid confusion. peace and love


Idiot anon accessed my site from Budapest, Hungary, not Bulgaria (another point for Bulgaria). I really enjoyed Budapest, it's a lovely city, but unfortunately there were prevalent signs of anti-Semitism. Also, a message to the anti-Semites of the world, please look up the definition of Zionism. Not everything a Jew does relates to Zionism. Please, that's just very sloppy anti-Semitism, clean up your act.

Hip Hop Favorites

Most Americans don't realize that Hip Hop is a global phenomenon. Just about every place has up-and-coming emcees, working diligently to perfect their craft.

Here's a site I'm working on: http://myspace.com/globalhiphop

And I wanted to share a few of my favorite emcees/groups from outside the US, not only current, but throughout Hip Hop history (which isn't too long considering I study 14th century Indian kingdoms). They also vary in popularity. Essentially, I like quite a few these artists' songs.

Bosnia - Edo Maajka
Britain - Braintax, Lewis Parker, Roots Manuva
Canada - Sweatshop Union, K-OS
France - La Brigade, Manau, Kohndo
Germany - Freundeskreis
India/Britain - Panjabi MC
Ireland - Messiah J & The Expert
Israel/Palestine - TACT Family, Da Arab Emcees (DAM)
Netherlands/Morocco - Raymzter
Poland - Grammatik, O.S.T.R.
Senegal/France - MC Solaar
Somalia/Canada - K'naan
Sweden - Looptroop
Turkey - Sagopa Kajmer

But there are so many great emcees and groups in the world. Much love to everyone.

Bush Isn't Changing

“Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is [in Iraq], sir. I talk to the families [of those who have died]. I also believe we’re going to succeed. I believe we’ll prevail. One way to assure failure is just to quit, is not to adjust, and say it’s just not worth it. If we were to fail, that failed policy will come to hurt generations of Americans in the future.”- George W. Bush

“One way to assure failure is just to quit, is not to adjust, and say it’s just not worth it”? This isn't a football game. It's ok to "quit" killing people.

“I believe we’ll prevail. [About his talk with Tony Blair...] We agree that victory in Iraq is important.”- George W. Bush

What does victory mean here? How many dead people?

Civil War or Anti-Occupation?

With the Baker-Hamilton report coming out today, many people have deemed the situation in Iraq a civil war. I question that conclusion.

The violence in Iraq needs to be investigated. Who is dying? Why are they being targeted? Is it because they have known ties to the American forces? Or is it because they are associated with the new Iraqi army or police force that have both been propped up by America? Perhaps the violence in Iraq is anti-occupation and not the manifestation of severe sectarian strife. This needs to be seriously considered, because if true, it means that American presence in Iraq cannot help the situation, but can only exacerbate it.

To lighten the mood a bit, did you hear the one about the Iraqi comedian who was killed?

He left behind a wife and three kids.

Passing Me By

The Washington Wizards game was televised on Comcast SportsNet, so Kerri Strug's appearance was pushed back several hours. In fact, it just ended.

Kerri Strug was intelligent, witty, and likeable. But she didn't mention my name once. All she could talk about was some sports achievement from 10 years ago. Hey, I once made a great play in little league, but you don't hear me bringing it up now (that's not true, I brag about it all the time).

The point is that Kerri Strug didn't declare her love for me on television. I guess it wasn't meant to be. Love is fleeting my friends. It's here one moment and the next you're laying on the couch in the fetal position watching a replay of the 1993 fight between George Foreman and Tommy Morrison. I think Morrison is ahead on points, but he tends to fade after the sixth round (as of 1993).

First Ann Coulter broke my heart and now Kerri Strug. I thought this was the one. But alas, love may never find my whatever it's supposed to find. Yet another luvincidence that turned out to be just a mirage. In the meantime I'll just reenact Randolph Childress' basketball career. At a summer camp, we had the choice of getting either Childress' autograph or that of Tim Duncan when he was a senior at Wake Forest. I chose Randolph Childress and I'd do it again if I could. That's the type of guy, you're missing Kerri Strug. Goodbye forever.

A Luvincidence

Last Friday, I wrote about my love for former Olympic gold medalist Kerri Strug. I really have no idea why this love surfaced now, 10 years after her courageous vault that gave the Americans the team gold in gymnastics. I guess it stemmed from selecting her in the 16th round of the Jew draft.

Later Friday night I saw a promo for SportsNite on Comcast Sportsnet (midatlantic edition). "On Monday's show, we'll have... Kerri Strug. Join us at 7pm." Holy shit, it's a sign!!!

I've had another "luvincidence" before. In the spring of 2005, I took a break from studying to watch Ann Coulter berate liberal professor Ward Churchill. I looked down and to my surprise, the book I was reading was Agents of Repression by Ward Churchill. Annn Coulter has since broken my heart. I never thought I'd recover, but I've since pulled it together. I'm able to love again.

I'm so excited. Maybe Kerri Strug will declare her love for me on nat- well, local television. I think that's almost a certainty. That just goes to show ya, in life, one moment you think you're out and the next, things are looking bright.

Sports Update: Race, Rematch, and Redemption

Race
I've been shocked at the hypocrisy of sports writers when talking about NFL quarterbacks. Everyone agrees that Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are the current cream of the crop at position. I agree. But, you have to put Donovan McNabb in that class too. Manning is the great passer (the Marino- I hate Marino with a passion), Brady is the winner (the Montana), and McNabb is the guy who can make the impossible happen (the Elway). McNabb is a better winner than Peyton Manning has been and is probably a better passer than Brady, but he gets such little comparative credit, it's astounding. Sports writers are just not used to talking about "the black quarterback." McNabb is really the head of the first wave of black people at that position. Black men weren't considered to have the mental capacity to play quarterback in the NFL until 10 years ago. A lot of sports writers are clouded by this type of racism.

Michael Vick is a victim of the same unfair criticism. He's not a great quarterback, but he's a damn good one. However, he's treated like a little child with questions like, "Can he ever be a true NFL quarterback?" Sure he can run fast, but he can also throw a fucking football, and read a damn defense. White quarterbacks have run with the ball since the game began and have never had to put up with this bullshit. How about getting Vick some wide receivers who can catch the ball and we'll see how good he can be.

The only white quarterback that I've ever seen receive the same amount of unnecessary criticism is Jake Plummer. I really have no idea why every sports writer in America has a vendetta against him. He has brought his team from behind so many times. Yes, he's inconsistent, but that's not a reason to hate him. Plummer has never gotten the credit that he deserved throughout his NFL career.
___________________________________________
Rematch
Michigan is the second best college football team in America. They have one loss to the best team in the country AT Ohio State by 3 points. They deserve to play Ohio State again for the national championship. And that's the game I want to see! I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to see a rematch of a game that was great the first time around. And this go-round it's at a neutral site for all the marbles.

And can we have a playoffs in college football already? I don't follow the sport because of this type of corruption.
____________________________________________
Redemption
This is the 7th year that my undergrad school, Goucher College, and the men's basketball team, traveled to the gym of our rival Catholic. We’ve never won in their place in that time. Catholic, again, got off to a 5-0 start, we were 2-3. As usual, we hung in the game during the first half. Down 7 with time running out, we missed a long three pointer. Catholic got the ball and threw it up from behind the half court stripe with time running out. The ball went in. The Goucher players simply stood there in astonishment. The jaws of the Goucher faithful fell to the floor. All that scrappy play in the first half, wiped away; we were down 10 at the half.

We tried to charge up the team at the outset of the second half, but the guys came out flat. The lead ballooned up to 16. Things looked bleak for the first road win against those fuckers at Catholic. We made a bit of a run, thanks to a propeller-style defense. The points began to come slowly. Then, our best player Pierre, fouled out. He had been having a nightmarish game to that point. He was out of the game, but led the cheers, and the team didn't miss a beat. We soared passed Catholic and their douchebag fans. Damn, they're so douchebaggy and arrogant. And there was nothing Catholic could do about it. Our players celebrated on the floor and the loyal Goucher supporters, filled with elation, felt the desire to piss all over their fucking logo at center court.

The Pain of Love

A few months ago, I wrote an open love letter to Kerri Strug (who is on my Jew team) . I have yet to hear from her.

It's painful indeed. Every day is filled with sadness. I was hoping that by this point she would be using my body like a hirsute balance beam (or more accurately: like a hirsute pair of uneven bars- Wait, what? What the fuck does that mean?), but alas nothing.

I'm not sure why she hasn't answered my declaration of love? Is it because I'm too attractive? Or maybe, too intelligent? Do women not like guys with a great sense of humor? Is it because she doesn't read the blog? I thought everyone read the blog, especially Kerri Strug.

Right now I'm reeling. There are more questions than answers. I feel like Mark Foley, down, out, humiliated, and very turned on by young boys. Ok, so I don't feel entirely like Mark Foley, but you get the picture; shit is bleak.

Kerri, honey, sweetie, my love, my world, how 'bout giving me a call and maybe we'll catch a movie or something. Sound good?

No? Well I tried.