I’m in Jerusalem with my family right now, and we’ve just returned from the annual extended-family vacation. I used the past days on the seaside to catch up on my feed reader, and I have a bunch of goodness to share which might help tide an eager reader over until I actually write something again.
PEACE: Harry Potter and the Politics and Terror
Dan Nexon over at The Duck of Minerva took two stabs at analyzing the last installments of the Harry Potter series. Both are an amusing and interesting read:
- “Harry Potter and Foreign Policy, or Voldemort is not Osama Bin Laden”
- “Terror, Counter-Terror, and Insurgency in Harry Potter, or Why Harry Won”
The Duck also points to a piece on Foreign Policy about the post-conflict reconstruction that must be done after the fall of Voldemort.
On the lighter side, there’s a trailer for Harry Potter as a teen comedy and the plot of the series in a 99 second song (both on TastefullyOffensive, both via Dubi Kanengisser).
LANGUAGE: Pullum on apes and (possible) racists
Over at Language Log, Geoffrey K. Pullum has two excellent and characteristically sharp posts:
- “Caesar and the power of No” (on the peculiar theory of language evolution in that new Planet of the Apes movie)
- “David Starkey on rioting and Jamaican language” (attacking some racism and misconceptions around non-standard Englishes)
Other fine links
- Charlie Brooker makes some necessary comments regarding the commenting on the Norway right-wing terrorist attacks (Comment is Free, via Dubi)
- John Oliver spreads the word about the Florida couple that foreclosed on Bank of America (Daily Show, via Yuval Pinter)
“Mi na gweng mek piipl kament aaf di tap a dem hed; nat fi nuobadi. Neba, unu onastan? No bada mi.” – It’s not too hard to get the idea, but I really think Pollum should have provided us with a gloss here. I’m having trouble with the second part of the first sentence at least.
And totally unrelated: When are you going to be back?
On the 23rd. Are you going to be around?
Most likely. Just drop me a text/mail/call/whatever once you’re back.
I may need a little help by the way: I should make plans for Israel soon. (And you’ll have to tell me what I shouldn’t miss under any circumstances ;) ) I’ll book the flights in the next few days!