Links - 12th March 2020 (2)

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Lawrence of Arabia - "‘There's the famous 1918 map where Lawrence sort of lays out his vision of what the region would look like. And it involves a Kurdish state, an Armenian state, an Arab state. But this is, I mean, to realize that kind of map would have involved what we now would call ethnic cleansing, right? Because it would necessarily call for the removal of populations into single ethnic states, which of course, the Middle East could never be because all of these regions were multi religious, multilingual, multi ethnic’"
We are told that Africa's problems are because of borders arbitrarily drawn by colonial masters, and the Middle East's are because of similar things (e.g. Sykes-Picot). That suggests that diversity is a bad idea - at a minimum, in the Third World. And given that Africa is also very diverse (if not even more so), those who propagate this hypothesis presumably think massive ethnic cleansing in Africa during decolonisation would've been a good idea

Episode 141: Devil, Satan, Lucifer, the Dev — The Art History Babes - "Satan first appeared in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, but he is not an evil figure in the Old Testament. Rather in the book of Job... Satan is an angel who just argues with God about whether Job is faithful or not. So like the phrase devil's advocate, that's basically what that means. So it's, it's not an evil figure. It's just a figure that is arguing kind of for the sake of having a counter argument... So Satan in Hebrew or Sah Tahn, I believe is how it's pronounced in Hebrew means the opposer. So the opposer is still God's dude, though he's just pointing out the ways in which humankind can betray God. And the snake that tempts Eve in the Garden of Eden is commonly thought of as Satan but a lot of biblical scholars actually think Genesis predates the idea slash character of the devil. But then once we move on towards the New Testament, which was written around like 2000ish years ago, Satan becomes evil. And he's viewed as a corruptor of those who were once faithful to God… there were apparently a faction of Jews who were working with the Romans. And Satan became like, viewed as that was the reason why they were doing it. There was no other kind of logical excuse… And then Lucifer becomes connected to the devil and Lucifer is an angel whose name translates to bearer of light that fell from heaven. And in the book of Luke, Jesus says, quote, I saw Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. So there we go. That's the connection where Satan and Lucifer emerge...
Jesus had the sheep. And Satan had the goats and I thought like that's another prime example because obviously whenever anyone wants to take a shot at someone for just like kind of following the pack and like not thinking for themselves, you call them sheep, right? But the goat figure is kind of the figure of thinking for yourself and being independent. So you have this bigger theme of being like an individual and like that aligns with the devil and images of the devil"

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Sommeliers: Wine waiters uncorked - "People are maybe a little bit surprised how little wine we actually drink. I would say that I have probably a lesser consumption of just enjoying and drinking wine than the normal Swede"

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, Can chocolate be clean? - "In Ghana and Ivory Coast over the years, there's been a lot of education with cocoa growing families about child labor, but it really isn't as simple as that is it? During the cocoa harvest everybody mucks in, it’s a few weeks. For the children in the family not to pull up the machete too, it would be very unusual...
I think 80% of artisan chocolate in the world is bought as gifts...
‘How much chocolate do you actually eat a day?’
‘None… I work in a chocolate factory. Can you imagine, you get sick of it after a while’"

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, Taiwan's Bright Ideas - "Greenland has a quarter of the world's supply of rare earth metals, which makes it something like the Saudi Arabia of the green future. You cannot have wind turbines, electric cars, computers or mobile phones without the minerals which lie in profusion here. In some places, you can shine an ultraviolet torch on a mountainside, and the rocks will glow like cinders, jammed with rare earth metal. President Trump was mocked for his plan to buy Greenland, but it makes economic sense. His offer was actually the third time since 1867 that the United States has considered it"

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, The fragile peace on the frontline in Eastern Ukraine - "The FSB been on to him from the very start. They showed me video footage Mr. Bag [sp?] says and admits he felt very alone and scared. They said: don't lie Freder [sp?]. We know everything. This September Mr Bag’s guards let him out of his cell to a prison office. Inside were the agents who arrested him at the table spread with food. They told him he was due to be freed, they were inviting him to celebrate. At that odd prison feast, the FSB had a copy of a report I'd filmed on his case some months before. It was the first time Freder had seen anything of his wife in almost two years. On the video Anita was crying. That was hard, the big man told me quietly. The agents had also bought two books about him that the prison censors had banned. They wanted him to sign their copies. Thanks for your cooperation he wrote, and he signed off Freder Bag, the fourth of a prison [sp?], then handed the books back to his interrogators. It was another two months before he was finally released, driven to the airport in the middle of the night. The FSB convoy stopped first at McDonald's. They eventually arrived at the Lithuanian border, where Mr Bag and two others were to be exchanged for Russian agents captured in Europe. The FSB read out the message from Putin. The pardon, Mr. Bag recalls. The five spies then approached one another on fought and crossed simultaneously to freedom. As that conversation winds down, I asked Freder Bag whether he feels safe to return to Russia, and he says he asked the FSB that at their farewell party. Of course you can come back, one of his interrogators had replied over shots of cognac. Come whenever you want, so we can arrest you again and swap you for another of our own. He was joking, Freder Bag tells me, but he's not planning to test that."

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, Can Afghanistan find peace? - "Something's not right here. I'm having to pinch myself. I’ve just come into the Arrivals Hall at reality King Khalid airport, and I've encountered the unexpected. An immigration officer sitting in his booth has just smiled at me and asked me how my day is going. I know. In case you think I'm being cheeky here, let me give you some context. For the 30 years that I've been coming to Saudi Arabia, these sort of pleasantries would be completely out of character. Ever since the Islamic Revolution swept across Iran in 1979, Saudi Arabia, its great regional rival, went out of its way to prove its adherence to an austere interpretation of Islam. As well as a ban on alcohol, that meant no public entertainment, no shisha cafes, no music. Basically no fun. Well, today, Saudi Arabia is changing. Fast. In the two years since my last visit, just before Prince Mohammed bin Salman known as MBS, became Crown Prince, the power and reach of the religious conservatives here has been radically curtailed. Under his direction, a massive drive for entertainment is underway. With international performers like Mariah Carey, David Guetta, and the Black Eyed Peas playing to packed and mixed audiences. The Crown Prince is on a personal drive to make the public image of Saudi Arabia, a softer, nicer place. But, and you probably guessed there was a but coming. There is a darker side to all this. If I was to characterize the Crown Prince’s approach to social reform, it would be this. It's either my way or the highway. In his determination to drive through much needed change, MBS has also driven a steamroller through human rights and democracy. Arbitrary detensions are rife, with women's rights protesters, Islamic clerics and pro democracy bloggers all put behind bars. Executions, sometimes following opqaue closed trials, are on the rise. I asked a Saudi commentator what he made of this twin edged aspect of MBS’s rule. He's no angel, he replied. But he's not a devil either. And Saudis he said, especially young people, are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Well, the optimism that so many Saudis still feel about this relatively young, charismatic Crown Prince is based in large part on his ability to deliver on the economic front. And this month, something happened that literally shocked the Saudi economy to its core. At 4am, on the morning of September the 14th, 25 cruise missiles and explosive drones, slammed into some of the country's most vital oil installations."

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent Podcast, If we burn you burn with us - "[She] thinks that Russia’s gender imbalance - 79 million women to only 68 million men -  diminishes women's bargaining power in relationships. She says her mother told her to put up with everything if she wanted a husband. We have an expression here she says, *something*. If he beats you He loves you...
Next to becoming a baker, the French want to be hairdressers. It's the second most popular artistsan career choice for school leavers. And hair salons are almost as plentiful as bakeries. About 85,000 of them countrywide, twice the number in the UK for about the same population. But when it comes to training, it's all color and styling. There's very little on actually how to cut hair. The result, bad haircuts, cunningly disguised with artful blow drying and tweaks of the tongs... In the salons, there are 10,000 job vacancies and at least the same number of dissatisfied customers... The style falls apart at the very next hair wash. Outside of Paris, well, I think the women have just given up, they have it all cut off in despair, a very masculine look... Young people, demoralized by apprenticeships spent sweeping the floor are further frustrated by the lack of modern training. Who wants to learn chemical hair coloring when organic is all the rage, so they comb the internet instead, looking for international inspiration and online tutorials. Many clients are so sick of being rushed through the copious big name chain salons, only to be coerced into buying expensive hair products at the till that they're opting for the tranquility of booking a cost effective haircut at home. For French women, keeping one’s figure is a non negotiable duty. One just has to stay slim. It’s hair that's the real obsession, an ever present opportunity for gorgeous reinvention"

The Cycle Of SJW Inclusivity : KotakuInAction - "Step One: We demand you include us in your space.
Step Two: We demand you change your space to accommodate us.
Step Three: We demand you stop harassing us because you don’t like our demands.
Step Four: We demand new laws or rules be enacted to remove “you” from the space “we’ve” created as you don’t fall in line with our vision of what the space should be.
Step Five: Why don’t you go off and create your own space if you don’t like it?
Step Six: We demand you not create your own space after we have kicked you out of “our” space as you having your own space is inherently racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic.
Rinse & Repeat."

Judith on Twitter - The Profane Feminist: "I hate men. And no, I won’t apologize for that statement or make qualifications. If you feel the need to point out the exceptions, you aren’t the exception."
"I'll say it again. The main reason people think feminists hate men is because they say they do. They don't hide it in shame, they are proud of it. And their hate is shared by hundreds of other feminists. Feminist ideologies are imbued with misandry."

Tinder Resistance - Posts - "M*n are tr*sh
Yet, I'm attracted to them. A conundrum, I know
Intersectional feminist & activist
Fuck Trump."

Orwell & Goode - Posts - "Sorry white people, but trying too hard not to be racist is low-key kind of racist"
"nothing is ever good enough"

Orwell & Goode - Posts - "2012: Occupy Wall St - 'Foreclose on banks not people'
2018: J.P.Morgan *Pride float*"
"Woke capital"

Age Of Shitlords - Posts - "If I can't even afford ramen, I'll eat the rich"
*Boots: $112.95-$259.98*
"How do you do, fellow poor people"?
I guess we now know why she can't afford ramen