Beiträge vom Oktober, 2011

Brazil 1: Sao Paulo, endless city full of, well, everything

Sonntag, 30. Oktober 2011 17:04

Johannesburg should have prepared me for crazy big city, but there’s crazy and crazy. And Sao Paulo is definitely on the top of the scale. Well, my very first contact, at the tourist information in the airport, was actually very nice. Then buying the ticket for the airport shuttle bus into the city brought the immediate realization that even in tourist-heavy places English is no option. And high tolerance for weird bureaucratic procedures, reminding me of Italy, is essential. The first bus on my line was half empty, but I had been sold a ticket for the next one, and wouldn’t be let onto the first one to leave… By the way, I think Sao Paulo has the largest Italian population of any place outside Italy.

Well, the more difficult the official way of things is, the more nice people you always encounter to smooth your way. The entry to the apartment complex of my first host already familiarized me with the security procedures which seem intense even after Johannesburg. I was waiting to be picked up in between two electric fences, a moat-like structure, where the two gates would never be opened at the same time. So this is my first picture:

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Thema: English, Weltreise 2011 | Kommentare deaktiviert | Autor:

small thoughts 2011-10-30 (my week in twitter)

Sonntag, 30. Oktober 2011 7:59

  • Occupy Wall Street seen through a generational lense http://t.co/GUPvyFmx why Gen X has stayed silent with irony, and Millenials get active #
  • #travelinsight 78: With a little practice, a slow old computer’s loading breaks can be wonderful to relax your eyes. Cheap solution… #
  • Philosophic examination of personal freedom and economic freedom http://t.co/lQn8Nay3 are not naturally allies, actually often contradictory #
  • Familienbericht 2011 fordert „Zeitpolitik“, aber zahm http://t.co/Sf4eRh7A SZ kommentiert zu Effekten von Ehegattensplitting & 400-Euro-Jobs #
  • Panne beim Titelfoto für Steinbrück-Schmidt Buch: Schachbrett liegt quer http://t.co/SppcUKSO Darf nicht passieren! #
  • Incredible that science, dedicated to advancing knowledge, is hiding most of it away. Support Open Access! http://t.co/mcoQEZgv #
  • #ZEIT #Stimmts: Wasser sparen in Deutschland unnötig? http://t.co/gfQf87YL Informiertes Ja mit Hinweis auf Warmwasser & indirekten Verbrauch #
  • Gehalt und Urlaub selbst bestimmen und vor Kollegen rechtfertigen http://t.co/Yg8WClj6 interessantes Konzept, sicher mit dunklen Seiten. #
  • Map of worldwide abortion laws. Very good overview http://t.co/mZWUhOYg #
  • Love these minimalist posters of classic children’s stories. As subtly creepy as the originals, too http://t.co/2jhT2tN1 #

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South Africa — Johannesburg: Long history, new constitution, hope and fear

Samstag, 29. Oktober 2011 19:12

This are pictures and stray memories from one amazing week in Johannesburg (South Africa). I got reminded again of how amazing Couchsurfing is, staying with friends in a strange city. And the history of racial and colonial struggles was certainly a suitable end to my time in Africa.

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Thema: English, Weltreise 2011 | Kommentare (1) | Autor:

small thoughts 2011-10-23 (my week in twitter)

Sonntag, 23. Oktober 2011 7:59

  • #travelinsight 77: You can’t live a life worth living without putting yourself in risk of dying sometimes. #
  • Press FAILS: Why US public blames politics instead of banks, presidential coverage bias& #OWS protests „unprecedented“? http://t.co/jhY4Dudf #
  • Camera about to be released where you decide the focus after taking the picture http://t.co/tKWygZw4 Really a 3D picture of course. Amazing! #
  • Charities petitioning in favor of AT&T — T-Mobile merger show how companies abuse „doing good“ for lobby purposes http://t.co/aS1zcG7Z #
  • Consequentialist argument for a quite radical, though flexible, pacifism in both social movements and countries http://t.co/migX5zSh #
  • Respect to #Mankiw for pointer to distributional effects of 9–9-9 tax proposal http://t.co/i6SwcP3X bottom 90% loose, top 1% win big time… #
  • Wie sähe eine Welt ohne Vergewaltigungen aus http://t.co/fdMfqkpn Illustriert gut „male privilege“, siehe auch: http://t.co/2GrtNsFu #
  • Looking at mental disorders from an evolutionary perspective leads to seeing them as caused by social problems http://t.co/wQpfXi6G #
  • European „discovery“ of the Americas contributed to „Little Ice Age“ by wiping out native Americans who burned wood http://t.co/dp7ujyZ8 #

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Tanzania 14 — Driving through with a tourist’s eye

Donnerstag, 20. Oktober 2011 22:20

Before the memories fade too much, and with already a great deal of nostalgia despite the great reception my Johannesburg and Sao Paulo Couchsurfing–hosts and now the „Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza“ have offered me, here my last pictures and impressions from East Africa (Tanzania, mostly). It was interesting to see my perception change from somebody who lived and worked there and took everything as basically what it was back to more a tourist-visitor’s view. The process of saying good-bye, letting go, and becoming somebody new yet once more.

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small thoughts 2011-10-16 (my week in twitter)

Sonntag, 16. Oktober 2011 7:59

  • War of %s: 99% blame rich 1% http://t.co/dUujiTRl 53% who pay taxes blame lazy 47% http://t.co/GpPhfVqg 99% strike back http://t.co/p1cGH42x #
  • Psychologists debunk gender differences widely held & often claimed to be evolutionary http://t.co/zL4Y7g3i How study design shapes results! #
  • Neues Militärmuseum Dresden klingt super http://t.co/RjAYbVCR „Kulturgeschichte der Gewalt“, Perspektivwechsel zu entwaffnender Ehrlichkeit #
  • Oh Italia RT @zeitonline #Berlusconi braucht offenbar viel Bestätigung. Zum 51. Mal stellt er nachher im Parlament die Vertrauensfrage. (kh) #
  • Financial Coercion Test http://t.co/HnFcPALl what makes the difference between forced prostitution and empowered women in „the business” #
  • Amazing personal story of growing up working class in a „middle class society“ http://t.co/y3PW5Q0T Also some caution about „we are the 99%“ #
  • Amanda Knox and Troy Davis http://j.mp/qfk43c Your country is seriously messed up if you look up to the Italian legal system. Oh USA! #
  • RT @zeitonline_dig CCC enttarnt Bundestrojaner: Er kann und tut demnach sehr viel mehr, als die Verfassung erlaubt http://j.mp/nOeWF2 (kb) #
  • We are the 99 percent“ http://t.co/9KIwuAm2 USA is reinventing class warfare — well the top 1% did years ago I suppose #
  • Bewegender, vielschichtiger #ZEIT Artikel über das „neue Deutschland“ http://j.mp/p4thFL Einwanderungsland, Zuversichtsland.Wir werden bunt! #
  • #Krugman makes me wonder: has economic „science“ become an epiphenomenon of partisan ideology (aka class warfare?!) http://j.mp/rceKrM wow! #
  • Some markets need *massive* regulation http://j.mp/oSgv6n via #Krugman Air pollution externalities exceed output in some industries … #

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small thoughts 2011-10-09 (my week in twitter)

Sonntag, 9. Oktober 2011 7:59

  • #travelinsight 77: Even an old computer and slow internet can speed up wow! when you switch from IE6 to #Firefox Thank god for nerds. #
  • Sweet erotic calendar of male librarians http://j.mp/pMCSrP Cool! And: Men being sexy is a feminist issue http://j.mp/piygwf #
  • #travelinsight 76: Interesting feeling to have a substantial white population with this defiant „this is my home“ attitude in South Africa. #
  • #travelinsight 75: And not a single mixed group of friends out shopping or anything either. Oh race! East Africa doing much better there. #
  • #travelinsight 74: While „old white man young black beauty“ depresses me, it’s even worse to not see a single mixed couple in a week in Jozi #
  • Gay soldier example of US conservatives‘ discrepancy between political ideals and practical judgements http://j.mp/oYdNDW closet liberals? #
  • Economic rational agent models‘ „two-step of terrific triviality“ http://j.mp/p8Ssz1 oscillating between classic and extended „rationality“ #

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small thoughts 2011-10-02 (my week in twitter)

Sonntag, 2. Oktober 2011 7:59

  • In acting there isn’t job security“ http://j.mp/r6QTH1 Matt Damon ambushed on education by libertarian reporters & kicks their ass. Respect #
  • Developing countries: „What’s missing are motivation and confidence“ http://j.mp/r1fpHh Interesting diagnosis, ambivalent about the solution #
  • Against the wave of „empathy is the answer“: we need moral codes to motivate pro-social acts, and debate them publicly http://j.mp/nqvC0Z #
  • via Google Correlate („automatic logical fallacy generator“ http://j.mp/qYPTvn): power of new-year’s resolutions http://j.mp/patKtp #
  • Remember: you can sell your time, but you cannot buy it back. (Paulo Coelho) http://j.mp/o8kfwO #
  • Ehem. Freiburger Rektor Voßkuhle (jetzt Verfassungsgerichtspräsident), über Europa, Grundgesetz und Euro-Rettungs-Urteil http://j.mp/qDg7nK #
  • Katalonien verbietet ohnehin zunehmend unpopulären Stierkampf, mit Millionenentschädigungen http://j.mp/qPU9Ct Konflikt der Nationalismen #
  • Spannendes #TAZ Streitgespräch Veganer und „Flexitarier“ http://j.mp/nyymq5 Nachhaltige Entwicklung des Gewissens oder bequeme Ausflucht? #

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