Realpolitiks

The Flavor of Old Books

Tue, 21 May 2013 01:38:03 -0700

If ever there is a flavor in the world that hasn’t been made, it is probably the flavor of old books. That scent, that aroma, that awkward feeling of thinking about the smell, it’s all good.
If any of you come across old-book flavored anything (tobacco, juices, cakes, shoes, whatever) then please shoot a message my way. I’m willing to try anything but old books.

I am keeping my copy of Atlas Shrugged

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:57:22 -0700

I was never able to finish this terrible book.

I oftentimes donate the books that I don’t want under my possession to my local library.

I think I hate this book so much that I don’t want anyone else to read it so I’m keeping it from harming others safely in my personal library.

May it never be opened again.

As in chess

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:54:28 -0700

We are pawns knowing only forward

History written down to see and never repeat

Not able to see up or down, left or right

Unable to see what we will become at the end.

Ted Kaczynski - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sun, 12 May 2013 19:22:12 -0700

Ted Kaczynski - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

He also participated in a CIA run behavioral engineering study, known as MKUltra, conducted by Dr. Henry Murray, an expert on stress interviews.[12] Students in Murray’s study were told they would be debating personal philosophy with a fellow student.[13] Instead, they were subjected to a “purposely brutalizing psychological experiment”[13] stress test, which was an extremely stressful, personal, and prolonged psychological attack. During the test, students were taken into a room and connected to electrodes that monitored their physiological reactions, while facing bright lights and a one-way mirror. Each student had previously written an essay detailing their personal beliefs and aspirations: the essays were turned over to an anonymous attorney, who would enter the room and individually belittle each student based in part on the disclosures they had made. This was filmed, and students’ expressions of impotent rage were played back to them several times later in the study. According to author Alston Chase, Kaczynski’s records from that period suggest he was emotionally stable when the study began. Kaczynski’s lawyers attributed some of his emotional instability and dislike of mind control to his participation in this study.[13][14] Indeed, some have suggested that this experience may have been instrumental in Kaczynski’s future actions.[15]

CIA… Oh you ~

Finals really screw people over

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:46:24 -0700

I think I got back into pipe smoking and became a nihilist during finals time.

BItches ain’t shit but non-objective existences.

Daily Comic Book

Wed, 08 May 2013 17:35:41 -0700

Daily Comic Book:

A comic a day keeps the boredom away. I love Jim Starlin’s work.

Alright guys. Time to get into comic books with me. Summer is starting and you need a hobby. Get your reading on with my secondary blog “Daily Comic Book.”

I have a hard time writing short reviews of stuff that I read but I put in some quality time towards these lovely stories and I would love it if at least one of you can read any one of these comics someday. They’re usually great, some not-so-much.

Have a terrible day.

A funny joke I heard on an audiobook regarding John Maynard Keynes.

Tue, 07 May 2013 01:36:18 -0700

If you put two economists in one room to discuss a problem, you’ll get two opinions, unless one of them is Lord Keynes in which case you’ll get three.

My source: Keynes Hayek

Robodiptera

Sun, 05 May 2013 23:56:00 -0700

Robodiptera:

Authoritative weekly newspaper focusing on international politics and business news and opinion.

So apparently we have mechanical flies now that can potentially be used for military operations or search and rescue operations. They’re cool looking for re-enacting the Wizard of Oz on a smaller scale.

"Back in my day, we called shitty music ‘dubstep.’"

Sun, 05 May 2013 23:48:00 -0700

“Back in my day, we called shitty music ‘dubstep.’”

- I’m practicing this for when I’m older.

Daily Comic Book

Sun, 05 May 2013 04:11:16 -0700

Daily Comic Book:

A comic a day keeps the boredom away. I read one comic every day and post about it on this blog…

I started a secondary blog a few minutes ago. If you’re interested in comics, pretty pictures, or seeing Thanos as an avatar for a blog, then you should follow Daily Comic Book.

So is it okay if I waste my life reading comics?

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:34:28 -0700

I feel like I’m not learning anything, but … that’s okay right? I don’t know man… it’s a dangerous road to being a comic book geek. At least I know not to visit any comic shops. I don’t have the wallet for that kind of hobby. Digital comics work so far, and Amazon for the good stuff if I want them on my shelf.

Thus far I feel a need to tell you guys that I may be in a comic coma for a good portion of the summer. Hopefully I will read nonfiction on the side, but it’s hard to get out of the awesome mindset of “ooh pretty pictures.”

Econ Summer Studies

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:03:00 -0700

Ideally I would read one paper from an academic journal from the EconLit database every day during my summer break. I can do this, right?

This is on top of my reading schedule of one book a week.

History is denser at the cross-sections of time when studying higher populations.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:25:00 -0700

Poor Chinese kids are gonna hate history class.

I have used my capitalist means of exchange to acquire new...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 02:06:46 -0700

I have used my capitalist means of exchange to acquire new worlds.

Amazing classes for Fall 2013 at my university which I hope to take.

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:33:26 -0700

History [“and methods” I think?] of Economic Thought which covers Adam Smith - Walras/Keynes.

History of the World Since 1945 which includes revolutions, deeper studies into the cold war, economic trends during the time, and overall havoc that can be put into words and told to students in a classroom setting.

I have been waiting to take these classes for a year now. This is gonna be fucking awesome since the history of economic thought and the cold war period are my specific interests in reading material, AND they count towards graduation credits.

Fuck yeah higher education and non-pleb status.

In other news, I’m a white college student who has ramen for dinner sometimes.

I will be seeing Donald Rumsfeld on May 20th

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:37:18 -0700

I will also be receiving an autographed copy of his new book Rumsfeld’s Rules

While listening to the audiobook of "Keynes Hayek" ...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:24:26 -0700

It just hit me today that Keynes was gay.

"Wearing a hijab isn’t inherently liberating – but neither is baring one’s breasts. What is..."

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:40:52 -0700

“Wearing a hijab isn’t inherently liberating – but neither is baring one’s breasts. What is liberating is being able to choose either of these things. It’s pretty ludicrous to think that oppression is somehow proportional to how covered or uncovered someone’s body is. Both sides of this argument present a shallow understanding of women’s empowerment, which only drowns out the substantive challenges facing all women – issues that cannot be encapsulated in a debate about a piece of fabric.”

- Sara Yasin, Is the Hijab Worth Fighting Over?

(via rcabbasi)

U.S. Says It Suspects Assad Used Chemical Weapons

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:54:17 -0700

U.S. Says It Suspects Assad Used Chemical Weapons:

The assessment could test President Obama’s repeated warnings that the use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad might precipitate American intervention in Syria.

Aw shit. I hope this isn’t true and I hope we can just keep a safe distance, but I also wish the Obama administration would take the sides of the rebels and engage this situation like how we engaged the Libyan conflict.

I’m on chapter 4. What a piece of shit this has turned out...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:10:22 -0700

I’m on chapter 4. What a piece of shit this has turned out to be…