ztraffer

I found this old family picture, and I thought about how the past seems like a foreign country: most things are easily recognizable, but just different enough to make them seem a bit strange, unfamiliar. The infant on my great-grandmother's lap is my Dad.

Chevy Chase, Maryland

Of course they had to be French...

After reading this article , my original intention was to reflect on the irrational fear of change that afflicts so many of our species. A useful survival trait perhaps, in an era of tribal warfare, but no more. At a certain level, I feel that Europeans are avoiding their responsibility to take on their share of leadership in the world. I was reminded of the ancient myth of a Europa in distress, and started searching for an appropriate image to go with my yet to be written post. Aside from finding the great bronze piece above, I became more interested in the details of this mythical woman who lent her name to a continent, and so I -ahem- binged her. Thus I found myself browsing this lost presentation. Intrigued by its, shall we say, uniqueness, I looked into it and found it was put together by a school kid. It was then that it hit me -I always talk about how everybody has something to teach and today I was taught ancient mythology by a 6th grader. This was a completely wasted half-hou...

It's been two months since the election fraud in Iran energized the reformist movement. Since then protests have continued, but the government has gotten better at repressing the opposition, and things seemed a bit quieter in tha past few weeks.  Today's demonstrations -piggybacking the Jerusalem Day ceremonies-, have shown that the opposition is alive and kicking, pulsing just below the surface. I think it is reasonable to wonder if Iran's recent softening nuclear policy isn't at least in part an effort to appease the opposition.

Sport, artform, or too-much-spare-time?