Bloredom

Having been neglected for barely two weeks, my Google Reader has amassed almost 800 articles for me to read — quite a task. Seeing that I kept on top of my subscriptions over the last half a year or so, it seems that Google Reader has been a bigger site of procrastination for me than my newly-acquired addiction to Asian cinema. Time to change my habits just in time for the new (and last) semester in St Andrews, which is beginning this week without me (I am spending another week in Taipei).

But before I change anything, here are some highlights of my skimming through all these posts:

— Singapore beats Hong Kong beats Taipei beats Shanghai in living quality (old news, but nicely presented)

— Usually those criticising NATO’s reliance on aerial bombardments in Afghanistan (Stichword Tornado-Einsatz) dream about friendly peacekeepers and development workers taking over the mission. Perhaps someone should tell them to move in the tanks instead. The Danes are doing it (and, ironically, they use German Leopard models!)

— On a related topic, see this Norwegian critique of “national reservations” in Afghanistan (no mincing of words in this interview) (via Kaufmann on achgut.de)

— Adelaide Calling! (London stinks, why not emigrate?)

— There is a lot of interesting feminst writing out there, but I have mixed feeling about specialist undergraduate degrees in womens studies, to say the least. So this THS article is interesting reading to me. (via Kings of War — see the funny commentaries!)

— And a special hyperlink for Stefan (being a more faithful reader of SPIEGEL online than me, you may have read it before). The policy implication — should smokers get a discount on their pension payments? (again, via Kaufmann on achgut.de)

— Even for those without a special interest in East Asian celebrity news, this is a fascinating oddity — nude and explicit photos of assorted Hong Kong popstars (including bigshots such as Edison Chen and Cecilia Cheung) all over the web, all due to a nosy laptop repairman. Intriguing… I thought that amateur pornography is driven by people’s craving for attention, so why on earth would uber-popstar Chen and his girlfriends feel the need to take such pictures? Gosh the world is such an interesting place.

— Siehe auch: fantastische Reportage ueber Jugendkriminalitaet in der ZEIT

Ganz unpassenderweiser poste ich hier mal einen Link auf “Kings of War”, dem Blog des War Studies Departments des Kings College in London. Theo Farrell ist Ire und singt das Hohelied auf die Vereinigten Nationen, ist also als Kriegstreiber und Imperialist eher unverdächtig. Hier steht, was er zu Afghanistan zu sagen hat. Er spricht mir aus dem Herzen!

Schon länger rechts in meiner Favorit-Linkliste, nun aber auch endlich mal als Beitrag gewürdigt… ;)

http://bibliothek.phoenix.de/

Eine Spitzen-Seite (um nicht zu sagen DIE Seite) für alle Freune von Highlights aus dem Zeitgeschenen der letzten 10 Jahre als Video. Fischer’s Marathon- Untersuchungsausschuss (übrigens mein Favorit, teilweise echt zu hart), Doping-Tränen-Geständis von Erik Zabel, Spendenskandal der CDU, Übergabe von Hong Kong an China, PISA Studie, Euro-Einführung, etc etc. Alles schön sauber eingeordnet und super einfach als Video abrufbar. Und natürlich mit der Phoenix’schen Genauigkeit aufbereitet und berichtet… ;)

“Craigs List meets Wall Street”
An exchange between a “spectacularly beautiful” girl looking for a wealthy husband, and a helpful commentator suggesting that she better not be too optimistic. It’s a bad deal: her beauty will wane, but his money will keep growing. (Not to be taken too seriously, mind you.)

“The Route to Happiness” (includes link to scholarly article)
Empirical evaluation of recent psychological research on happiness. The authors conclude that intentional behaviour changes (i.e. self-improvement, overcoming of obstacles, hard work etc.) can sustain increases in happiness, whereas “circumstancial” changes (e.g. an inheritance) cannot.

“Yellow Fever” [link removed]
Remember the movie “What Women Want”? Well, this one is much better (and not just because Mel Gibson isn’t in it). It’s about the misery of two Asian-American guys on a US campus, and all the complications of interracial romance. Brought to you by “Wong Fu Productions”, it’s hilarious.