More advice from Savage Minds to grad school applicants…

(More) advice on graduate school applications

from Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog by Rex

Deadlines for graduate school applications are coming up again. Last year I wrote some quick pointers on applying to graduate school but since then I’ve developed my boiler-plate for our school even more as additional requests for information have entered my mailbox. So here is the latest iteration of my advices for applying to graduate school. Although it is written for where I teach, most of what I say is applicable to anywhere. Good luck!

Not Just Drones: Militants Can Snoop on Most U.S. Warplanes

from Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin

Yesterday, news broke that insurgents used a $25 application available online to hack into US military drone video feeds, and view, copy, and potentially distribute their contents. Hmmmm… Unauthorized copying of audio and video material? Some on Twitter have suggested that we might just send the MPAA or RIAA after them — then, for sure we’ll at last find Bin Laden. But Wired Danger Room’s Noah Shachtman says,

Herbert Brandl at Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman

from Contemporary Art Daily by Forrest

Artist: Herbert Brandl

Venue: Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck

Exhibition Title: Spektrolith

Date: November 14, 2009 – January 29, 2010

Freedom of Expression posters from Poster4Tomorrow

From the Poster4Tomorrow site:

We’re happy to unveil the 100 best posters from Poster4Tomorrow’s contest. You can see them at any of the 24 openings that are going to take place worldwide today, but if you’re not in the mood for going not, please check our web gallery.

The best 100 posters

Please note that the posters are in no particular order.
Every selected poster is a winner, there are no first or second places.
The content and statements made by the designers in this competition do not necessarily represent the view of our endorsees, sponsors or the organisers.

Freedom of expression
Beril Ates
Ankara, Turkey

If anyone guilty, it should be not Obama but..

… Nobel Peace Prize committee…

This morning, President Obama spoke at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, Norway.
President Obama at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony

Nobel-winner Obama defends war

from BBC News | Europe | World Edition

US President Barack Obama defends the waging of “morally justified” war as he collects the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo.

Obama’s Nobel balancing act

from Mark Mardell | The Reporters by Mark Mardell (the Reporters)

The president of war and peace appears to have pulled off a difficult balancing act, by refusing to bask in the glow of merely being the “anti-Bush”. In Oslo, Obama told his European audience what many Americans will see as some hard truths.

Special Issue on Michel Foucault by Theory, Culture and Society Journal

You need to have subscription to this great journal to read the articles but I am sure all major university libraries are subscribed to. At the end there is also roundup on art/intellectual/academic links…

[update: all articles downloadable here]

Introduction: Thinking after Michel Foucault

Couze Venn and Tiziana Terranova

Theory Culture Society 2009;26 1-11
http://tcs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/6/1

Alternatives to the Prison: Dissemination or Decline of Social Control?

Michel Foucault

Theory Culture Society 2009;26 12-24
http://tcs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/6/12

Foucault’s Untimely Struggle: Toward a Form of Spirituality

Paul Rabinow

Theory Culture Society 2009;26 25-44
http://tcs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/6/25

Identity, Nature, Life: Three Biopolitical Deconstructions

Judith Revel

Theory Culture Society 2009;26 45-54
http://tcs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/26/6/45

The Militarization of Pop Culture and more videos…

Militainment

In tribute to Sophie Lancaster

Produced by creative agency Propaganda, in association with iconic British band, Portishead, Dark Angel is a beautifully haunting rendition of Sophies story.

The Murder of Sophie Lancaster was a murder case in the United Kingdom in 2007. The victim was brutally attacked along with her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, while walking through Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Rossendale in Lancashire. As a result of her severe head injuries she went into a coma, never regained consciousness, and later died. The police said the attack may have been provoked by the couple wearing gothic fashion and being members of the goth subculture….

Political street-art

Political streetartings from various cities of Turkey

The Republic is 86

Instead of self-congratulations here how we stand at our human rights record:

Turkey’s dirty stories on display – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review

Turkey

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

International Religious Freedom Report 2009

October 26, 2009

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion; however, constitutional provisions regarding the integrity and existence of the secular state restrict these rights.
The Government generally respected religious freedom in practice. There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the Government during the reporting period. The Government continued to impose limitations on Islamic and other religious groups and significant restrictions on Islamic religious expression in government offices and state-run institutions, including universities, for the stated reason of preserving the “secular state.” Authorities continued their broad ban on wearing Islamic religious headscarves in government offices as well as public schools. The Government also continued to oppose “Islamic extremism.” Religious minorities said they were effectively blocked from careers in state institutions because of their faith. Minority religious groups also faced difficulties in worshipping, registering with the Government, and training their followers. Although religious speech and persuasion is legal, some Muslims, Christians, and Baha’is faced some restrictions and occasional harassment for alleged proselytizing.

A documentary on Hrant Dink

please check here for the updated links.

A documentary by Ümit Kıvanç. “Justice for Hrant Dink” in Turkish…

Let’s Act for Climate Change! Blog Action Day

Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.