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(03/20/13 5:45am)
A French journalist named Jean Hatzfeld has devoted his life to special correspondence and war reporting. Born in Madagascar after his parents fled the Nazis, he went on to cover wars in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Soviet Union, even injuring himself under gunfire while working in Sarajevo. His talent as a journalist is amazing, but beyond that, he has also written the most fascinating book I’ve ever read: “Machete Season.”
(03/06/13 10:58am)
Whether you twang your “ay”s or opt for the posher “ah,” it all comes down to the same thing: We’re lethargic. It’s not just Americans, although we do our part with our TV about TV and our valet parking. Rather, there’s something inherent in human nature that makes us self-possessed and as a result, base decisions mainly on personal exertion. We opt for convenience over cause. There are so many children starving and forests being slashed and burned that it’s hard to invest an appropriate amount of emotional engagement in each new cause, whereas independence and apathy are both incredibly easy.
(02/20/13 10:19am)
About two years ago, Mohammed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, sparking a string of democratic revolutions across the Arab world. The New York Times blew up, with interactive maps and graphics of political incidents in Tunisia, then in Morocco, then Egypt and Yemen and Bahrain and on and on. Only a hermit could have avoided the tweets and Facebook posts that soon dominated social media.
(02/07/13 9:43am)
There’s nothing worse than a sequel. Aside from grossing nearly $150 million, what did “American Pie 2” do for us that “American Pie” didn’t do funnier, sooner and better? We all know that Carmen and Juni were obnoxious pre-tweens by “Spy Kids 2,” and I’m just waiting for somebody to discover Shooters I, the club conveniently located for Duke students that doesn’t make you feel like you’re going to inhale a staph infection. With few exceptions, sequels are cheaper, worse spin-offs of successful projects. The motivation doesn’t come from an artist’s vision but rather from an opportunity for profit. And that’s exactly what Tom Cat’s 2 is.
(01/23/13 10:21am)
People kind of expect those darn kids, the ones who trample lawns and tag underpasses and egg cats, to graduate on to more serious transgressions. Illicit substance abuse has become commonplace in the United States, with drug rehab programs and legalization debates popping up left and right. But beyond the Lindsay Lohans and their drug-induced tabloid appearances, beyond Bob Marley paraphernalia, there’s an increasingly scary and common route for young adults experimenting with drugs: prescription drug abuse.
(01/09/13 8:26am)
2012 has come and gone, and the new year brings a measure of introspection that, if we’re lucky, is bound to last at least a week or two. I have already failed on my resolution not to watch episodes of “30 Rock” that I’ve already seen twice. Maybe next year.
(11/28/12 8:10am)
When I turn in my physics homework, I have to jump. The box is well above an arm’s reach, and when I hold my arm straight up, problem set in hand, the top of my paper just reaches the mouth of the box. Every Monday I have the same concern. Will I accidentally slip up this week and send my work sliding into a different class’s homework box? Will I have to track down my TA and explain what happened, or try and fish out the homework with coat hanger and gum? The majority of my class will probably never think twice, reaching up comfortably from their lofty 5 feet 8 inches or 6 feet 2 inches and then leaving the building without looking back. But sometimes it sucks to be the little guy.
(11/14/12 10:10am)
“Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.”
(10/31/12 5:08am)
The best mechanism for motivation is simple: terror. Even the most distinguished and civilized of individuals can be reduced to primal behavior in the face of fear. Even Duke students with their meticulous four-year plans and those calming pastel color combinations they love so much can be reduced to panicky messes in the face of a deadline. And there is no shortage of opportunities for fear in our society. Beyond midnight paper deadlines or early morning midterms there’s the real world with a whole host of real problems that present themselves furiously and simultaneously: global jihadism, pandemics, budding nuclear weapons programs, market fluctuations—the list is unending.
(10/17/12 7:43am)
Last Saturday morning, I was “that” girl. The one you hate because she was taking up an entire group study room for just herself in the Link during midterms week. I was pretty pleased with myself, sitting there with my quantum book. Yet as one hour passed, then two, then three, I developed a blinding headache. What could be to blame? My money was on the physics.
(10/03/12 5:14am)
When you consider any respectable MRS degree pursuant, there’s a black-gold standard of success: the oil mogul. Whether it’s Eike Batista, the richest man in Brazil, or Mukesh Ambani, his Indian counterpart with a net worth of $22.3 billion, oil, gas and mining magnates dominate the rankings of billionaires on Forbes.
(09/19/12 12:26am)
When people commit crimes, they put an awkward burden on us to figure out what to do with them. This responsibility doesn’t often cross our minds; in fact, the current judicial system was put in place when our forefathers put quill to parchment and shoved an equitable system of litigation in King James’ face. Questioning that tradition would be sacrilege. Still, popular governance requires judicial outcomes to be based upon what we, the current people, think.
(09/05/12 6:00am)
History often repeats itself. Citizens and sovereigns in the global community are given an exorbitant number of chances to improve upon past actions, with human lives and welfare at stake each time. Yet despite this long collective memory, we find ourselves falling into old, ineffective habits. Some faulty trait of human nature makes us cling to actions and thoughts that we believe inherently to be ethically and socially responsible, completely independent of their pragmatism. Nine years ago when the blood diamond trade threatened the stability of sub-Saharan Africa, the international community created the Kimberley Process. Today, a similar tack is attempting to combat “conflict mineral” proliferation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with similarly dissatisfying results.
(08/24/12 5:59am)
“Don’t drink the water!” cautioned my new housemate. Between heavy metals that don’t boil off and runoff from strip mining, our kitchen sink spewed cancer.
(06/07/12 7:54am)
At a time when its neighbors are creating islands out of thin air and opening the first indoor ski resorts, the Republic of Yemen lags behind. Al Qaeda perpetuates extremism in the south, while the Houthi tribe does so in the north. On a national level, food, water and consumer good shortages cripple living standards. Still, the nation recently saw progress. After the expenditure of much civilian blood and effort, Ali Abdullah Saleh, dictator of 22 years, was ousted from office.
