Image: aslkingpointsmemo.com
In the spirit of refueling, I downloaded an app with Dutch news from different media. And right away an article in Elsevier caught my eye.
It’s about a Muslim school in the town of Zaandam, that sued four parents of former students for slander and libel. Continue reading
Tagged America, conspiracies, defamation, Europe, Fethullah Gulen, libel, lies, media, Netherlands, Opinion, slander, terrorist schools, terroristenschool, Trump, Zaandam
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It migrated to my other blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism, where it resides under the title:
“Trump is the Republican Candidate: It’s a Bit Late to Face American Fascism”
Posted in Migrate, Society, US Politics
Tagged America, American, authoritarianism opinion, Blank, education, Fascism, militarism, politics, Presidential Election 2016, religion, Trump, writing prompt
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It migrated to my other blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism, where it resides under the title:
“Was Trump Success in the Republican Primary a Surprise? Look at History!”
Posted in Police, US Politics, World War Two
Tagged America, authoritarianism, Donald Trump, education, Elections, Fascism, Government, history, Police, Republican primary 2016
image: theguardian.com
Like the Hot Mess Stephen Marche mentions below, this article feels like at least four separate articles all scrambled into one. But it’s worthwhile as an impression of America and its politics by a (Canadian) outsider.
Posted in Government, Migrate, Society, US Politics
Tagged America, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, election, Opinion, politics, race relations, white privilege
image: pinterest.com
How do you eat a salad? How do you cut your steak?
In Holland, I learned to eat with knife and fork, the European way. Holding your knife in your right hand, in a certain way, and your fork in your left hand, in a certain way. The cutting or folding of leaves happens just so and you keep your knife an fork in your hands the whole time you’re eating. Not just with salads, anything that isn’t finger food. Continue reading
Posted in Eating out, Emigration / Immigration, Food, Holland
Tagged America, culture, eating, etiquette, humor, immigrants, knife and fork, Opinion, table manners, The Netherlands
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It migrated to my other blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism, where it resides under the title:
“What Passes for American History Education is Pathetic, and Now I Know Why”
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It migrated to my other blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism, where it resides under the title:
“White Man Kills Nine Black People in Church Shooting in Charleston S.C.”
Posted in Violence
Tagged America, Charleston, church shooting, church shooting charleston S.C., confederate flag, Gun Rights, Opinion, Racism, shootings, white supremacists
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It migrated to my other blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism,
where it resides under the title:
“Slaveholders, Militant Immediatists and Others on the Abolition Spectrum”
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It migrated to my other blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism,
where it resides under the title:
“Free People of Color: Before Abolition It Was a Freedom with Qualifications”
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It has emigrated to my new blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism,
where it resides under the title:
“What Is Good History Education: Civil War Battles or Why They Were Fought?”
This post doesn’t live here anymore. It migrated to my other blog:
The Big No-No: An Outsider on American Fascism,
where it resides under the title:
“Hey, Real Americans Out There In Real America, What About the Real Issues?”
Dear Mr. Police Chief Mark Kessler of Gilberton, Pennsylvania, Continue reading
Posted in Media, Police, US Politics
Tagged America, DPchallenge, freedom of speech, George Zimmerman, Gilberton PA, god and guns, Gun Rights, gun sense, Gun Violence, humor, letters, obscenity, Open Letters, Opinion, police brutality, police chief Mark Kessler, police intimidation, politie Amerika, religion in America, society, Tea Party, Trayvon Martin, vuurwapens
image kenmore-wa.showmethead.com
(Response to Daily Prompt “There’s No Place Like Home”.)
America is full of nomads, aka retirees. They live in RVs, some moving around from one beautiful spot to another, others staying in one place.
Posted in Healthcare, Housing, Society, Transportation, Travel, Vacations, Writing Prompt Responses
Tagged America, DPchallenge, housing, recreation, retirement, RV's, society, There's No Place Like Home, travel, vacations, writing prompts
Yesterday I just accepted all comments without replying to each one. I was venting, not looking for a conversation with people who have never been emigrants themselves. I thought I’d leave that for after I’d calmed down a bit.
Like Old Faithful, I need to let off steam on a regular basis.
So, fellow immigrants from Western Europe, wherever you are, I have a question for you.
Most of us spend the majority of our time writing expatically correct—and in my case Americally correct—posts, demonstrating how well we are adapting.
I’m no exception. With tongue in cheek, I can write a halfway funny piece about pretty much any random, absolutely unimportant quirky cultural difference. See my The Gap post. Yeah, it’s not hard to make fun of American public toilets.
People love posts like this. Or posts in which we write about the personal growth we experience, thanks to being permanently outside our comfort zone, and how grateful we are for this growth. And we even manage to believe it. We are able to take a step back and look at our environment and ourselves in it from a distance and laugh. Or at least shrug our shoulders.
I do, anyway. Most of the time. Next time.
Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Police, Society
Tagged America, American police, emigrants, emigration, emotional aspects, expats, immigrants, immigration, police state
(Image: charlesdickenspage.com}
Since I’ve been blogging about Victor Hugo’s stories, let me jump over to England and Charles Dickens.
This winter break I had the bad luck to get the flu. For days I could barely get out of bed. But every cloud has a silver lining, and this cloud’s lining was that I got to read Martin Chuzzlewit in a few days. Continue reading
Posted in Books, Education, History, Society, Travel, US Politics
Tagged 19e eeuw, 19th century, America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, books, Charles Dickens, Engelse literatuur, English literature, maatschappij, Martin Chuzzlewit, Opinion, society
(Image from tonic.com)
Disclaimer: I know most of my readers are compassionate people. So this is directed toward–well, you’ll know who you are.
Posted in Austin, Food, homeless
Tagged America, Amerika, Austin, daklozen, DPchallenge, giving money to the homeless, handouts, homeless, Opinion, society, there but for, thuislozen
Tagged America, Amerika, Austin, culture, homeless, maatschappij, society, thuislozen
(Photo: farmwars.info)
One thing I’ve learned is the difference between Dutch politeness and Texan politeness.
To A Texan, being polite is not just a matter of saying please and thank you, holding the door open for the person coming behind you, not belching loudly at the dinner table, etc. It also means avoiding embarrassing someone. Continue reading
Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Language, Society
Tagged America, Cultural Differences, culture, embarrassment, emigration, humor, immigration, language, manners, politeness, society, The Netherlands
Photo: paulcurtis.livejournal.com
Ah! Only seven days and one to go to Halloween, my ravenous readers, so I feel compelled to warn you. I move as though invisible through the streets and alleys and I observe the good citizens of my subdivision decorating their trees and lawns with whimsically carved calabashes and synthetic spiderwebs, comfortably convinced that ghouls are merely a myth, a myth upheld for no other reason that to have a costume party. Continue reading
Posted in Media, Religion, Society, Television, US Politics
Tagged America, American, education, extremism, Halloween, horror, KKK, media, Obama, Opinion, politics, Racism, talk radio, Tea Party, zombies. Amerikaans
Posted in US Politics
Tagged America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, attack ads, Elections, media, Opinion, parlementary politics, politics, politiek, presidential election 2012, reclame, two-party politics, verkiezingen
Photo: allvoices.com
Posted in US Politics
Tagged America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, Dutch, election financing, money, Nederland, Netherlands, politics, politiek, United States, verkiezingen
Photo: Harderwiek
Posted in US Politics
Tagged America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, Dutch, election, Nederland, Opinion, party platforms, politics, politiek, presidential election 2012, United States, Verenigde Staten, verkiezingen
Photo: willysford.com
Should the wing nuts (that’s right-wing nuts and left-wing nuts for you, Dutch readers) have less say in the elections? Or More? How does that work in the Dutch parliamentary system?
Photo: jetmade
This is what I dreamed last night.
I was in a school gym, remembering how we would be made to run laps around a gym just like that in high school in the Netherlands. And I remembered that I could. I’d be tired, and I’d be protesting loudly like any self-respecting un-sporty teenage girl should, but that’s all. And I resented–in this dream–that I can’t run for two minutes now without having a gimpy knee for the next two weeks (this is real; I ran for two minutes last weekend, and now it hurts when I walk down steps). Continue reading
Posted in Dreams, Education, Emigration / Immigration, Healthcare, Holland, Society, Sports, US Politics
Tagged America, American dream, conservatism, construction, dreams, Dutch, education, emigration, health, humor, immigration, Opinion, politics, prudishness, sports
Photo: csmonitor.com
I have always respected most religious beliefs. Sure, I put my foot in my mouth occasionally, but I have no problem with religion in itself. I can see how there’s a human need for spirituality of one kind or another, and that some of us have a bigger need for it than others. However, there’s supposed to be a separation between church and state in this country, and when that idea is so blatantly trampled, when religion interferes with science, education, politics and human rights to the degree it does here, then the respect is clearly not mutual, and I don’t feel as obligated to be religiously correct. Continue reading
Posted in Religion, Science, Society
Tagged America, creationism, education, gays, Global Warming, homoseksualiteit, homosexuals, House Science Committee, Netherlands, onderwijs, Opinion, religion, science, statistics, United States
As I’ve explained in previous posts, we were on vacation when our son B’s appendix ruptured. He had an appendectomy and was in the hospital in Cody, Wyoming for four days. Six days after coming home to Austin, he had pains again, and had to have a follow-up surgery, and he has been in the hospital here in Austin for six days now. And when I say that B has been in the hospital, I really mean our family has been in the hospital. Continue reading
Image: Wikipedia
Another question I got from my funk post was: What do European kids learn about American history. Well, I can only talk about what I learned, but feel free to add to it in the comments, Dutch readers.
I had History several times a week, from seventh through eleventh grade, and from Mesopotamia to the Vietnam War, more or less. I seem to remember that we started learning about America in tenth grade, and it would have continued through eleventh grade, whenever America came up in relation to a certain period. This would have been around 1977-1978. I’ll just describe what I remember; trying to be systematic after all those years wouldn’t work.
Posted in Education, Emigration / Immigration, High School, History, Holland, US Politics, World War Two
Tagged America, American history, Amerikaans, culture, Dutch, education, emigration, history, immigration, Netherlands, onderwijs
In my previous post I asked what my readers would like me to write about. I realized later that I would be in big trouble if I got no reply. Would that mean that no one is interested in what I say? Or they don’t care? Or what if I have no readers that day? Would reposting the question be too desperate? This could very well spell the end of my blog. But fortunately someone did reply. Phew, thanks, Hanneke, for averting my existential crisis! Continue reading
Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Holland, Society, Travel
Tagged America, American knowledge of the Netherlands, culture, Dutch immigrants, emigration, immigration, travel
I don’t have inspiration for anything right now, at least not for anything upbeat, which it is time for after a few rants. But here’s an amazing woman in Portland who cycles around six kids in a bakfiets. (Yep, apparently they’ve adopted the Dutch word. So much better than apartheid!)
Most of those kiddos would be cycling on their own by now in Holland, but I wouldn’t let my kid cycle in American traffic either. But to then get a bakfiets instead of a minivan? Wow! That takes guts, and a hell of a lot of muscle!
Posted in Society, Sports, Transportation
Tagged America, Amerika, bakfiets in Amerika, children, culture, cycling, Fietsen, kinderen, minivan vs. bakfiets, people, social, sports
It’s summer vacation again. Schools are closed for about three months. A quarter of the year. No, this is not a post about the ridiculous length of American school vacations. Continue reading
Okay, for those of you who think I’m too negative about America, let me confuse you again.
Do I seem schizophrenic to you? Well, that’s because I am. Not clinically, but being Dutch in America, I can’t help being in a permanent schizophrenic state of mind. Depending on what I’m Continue reading
This is the ninth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.
My mother and my aunt on my aunt’s first birthday
This is the eighth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.
Photo: smith-wessonforum.com
This is the seventh post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.
This is the fifth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions on a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.
This is the fourth post in a series about American high school students’ impressions of a presentation I gave on the Netherlands during World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation. Continue reading
Posted in High School, Holland, World War Two
Tagged America, Bezetting, Dutch, education, German occupation, Headwaters School, history, Khabele School, Nederland, Netherlands, onderwijs, tweede wereldoorlog, United States, World War Two, WWII
Photo: http://www.members.home.nl
This is the third post about impressions of American high school students of a presentation I did on the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.
Posted in High School, Holland, World War Two
Tagged America, Anne Frank, Dutch, education, Headwaters School, history, Jews, jodenvervolging, Khabele School, Netherlands, onderwijs, tweede wereldoorlog, United States, World War Two, WWII
This is the second post in a series about American high school students’ impressions of a presentation about the Netherlands in World War Two. Click here for the introduction to said presentation.
photo: http://www.zazzle.com
Brace yourselves!
I am going to commit one of the biggest faux pas you can commit in America. I’m going to correct your grammar, Americans!
Yes, my Dutch friends, it’s considered impolite at best to correct anyone’s grammar here.When you do, people think you’re pedantic, rude, or a “grammar nazi”.
I will write about the inflation of the word “nazi” some other time.
So back to you, my American readers. Let me explain myself. Continue reading
image from justbathroomsigns.com
The first time I visited America, at age 18, I visited my great aunt and her husband in Bakersfield, California.
The evening I arrived, we went out to dinner at an Elk Lodge and after we had finished our meal, my great aunt asked me if I wanted to join her in the restroom. I replied that I wasn’t really tired, but she insisted.
Time for one of my pet peeves.
Scene in a restaurant: Continue reading
Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Holland, Society
Tagged aDutch heritage, America, Being American, Dutch-Americans, emigration, European, healthcare, immigration, nationaliteit, nationalities, Opinion, Patriotism, safety nets, society, taxes
When I still lived in Holland a Canadian friend came to visit and we went to see my parents, in part because they lived in Enkhuizen, a wonderful tourist destination. At lunchtime my mother set the table with all the different sandwich toppings she had. My parents looked on in horror as my friend first put jam on her sandwich, then chocolate sprinkles, and then pink sprinkles on top of that! Continue reading
Posted in Food
Tagged America, American, Amerika, boterhammen, Cultural Differences, Dutch, eating habits, eetgewoontes, food, humor, Nederland, Netherlands, sandwiches
If I were to call Glenn Beck’s radio talk show, this is how I imagine it would go:
Glenn: And let me go to Barbara in Texas, one of my favorite states. How are you doing, Barbara in Texas?
Me: Hi Glenn, thanks for having me on your show. I’m so excited!
Posted in Emigration / Immigration, Healthcare, Media, US Politics
Tagged America, Amerika, Dutch, Europe, gezondheidszorg, Glenn Beck, Health Insurance, healthcare, humor, media, Obama Care, Opinion, Sicko, universal healthcare
(For my Dutch-English translating and proofreading business, please go to my D-E Translating WordPress site. Thank you.)
Welcome to my blog.
I’m a 57-year-old Dutch immigrant. I didn’t come to America for a better life. My life was just peachy in the Netherlands. I came here for love — no other reason. I met my American husband while on vacation in Scotland. He tried to get a job in the private sector in Holland, but since he could only speak two languages — neither of them was Dutch and English really didn’t count, because everyone in the Netherlands can speak English –that wasn’t going well. So I moved to America. To the Rio Grande Valley first, and after twelve looooong, hot years we moved to Austin, where we’ve now lived for almost twelve years as well.
I love living in Austin but I’m chock-full of criticism of America in general. The Rockies bring me to tears, but so does the health care system. I’ve adopted Thanksgiving, but not the Pledge of Allegiance. If I seem elated and unbearably grouchy in sometimes dizzyingly quick succession, this is why.
I love the usual: my husband, my children, my friends and our pets. I hate heat, willful ignorance, bone spurs, spiders, and walking or cycling in place.
I collect raft books and I’ve developed a weird obsession with the bottoms of bridges.
When I lived in the Netherlands, twenty-three years ago, I loved hot tea, wild camping in Great Britain, gardening, reading for days on end, and I walked and cycled everywhere. Now that I live in a pretty darn hot part of the U.S., with kids who have to be driven everywhere by car, I love reminiscing about hot tea, wild camping in Great Britain, gardening, reading for days on end and walking and cycling everywhere…
My blog is a crazy—some might say completely unhinged–collection of posts about any of the above-mentioned issues and then some. Nothing is sacred. I blatantly ignore all American no-nos. Which means I talk politics, religion, I don’t idolize teachers and I swear (though not that much — well, maybe a bit more than usual since November 2016).
As you read my posts you might laugh, seethe, weep or shrug your shoulders. If you like a post, great. Let me know. If you hate a post, great, let me know. I like to think I’m always right, but don’t let that stop you from telling me if you disagree. We Dutch love a good debate.
If you want to know more about how I got here and an overview of how that’s been, visit my About page.
Otherwise, have at it!
(In my posts, I refer to my husband as T, my 21-year-old son as B, and my 18-year-old daughter as R.)
Posted in Writing
Tagged America, Amerika, Barbara Backer, Barbara Backer-Gray, blogging, Dutch, emigrant, immigrant, kultuurverschillen, Nederland, Netherlands, Opinion, resident alien, United States, Verenigde Staten
If I could go to dinner anywhere in the world tonight, where would I go? And with whom and what would I eat? Well, since I’m in my Dutch immigrant blog mode, I think I’d beam myself up and over to Holland, to the Saturday market in Amersfoort or Utrecht or Amsterdam. Yeah, I know it’s only Thursday, but it’s Saturday there whenever I want it to be. If I can beam myself anywhere, it can also be any time.
Notes From a University Student 11
Pieter Breugel The Tower of Babel
Not everything related to education here can be easily translated into Dutch. To American standards I’m studying at a university, but to Dutch standards that’s a rather big word.
Notes From a University Student 7
Notes From a University Student 6
Illustration Kate Greenaway
One of the first days on my job as librarian at that small high school, I was sitting behind my desk, sorting catalog cards – yes, cards in 1995!—and some students were sitting at a table near me, showing each other pictures.
One girl who couldn’t have been more than fifteen asked me if I wanted to see pictures of her son. I started to laugh, and then remembered that America has a problem with teen pregnancies. I quickly turned it into a cough. She wasn’t joking.
Posted in Society, University
Tagged America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, Dutch, education, Netherlands, opleiding, sex education, teen pregnancies, universiteit, university, Verenigde Staten
Notes From a University Student 4
The registrar, after telling me that the courses I took in middle and high school in Holland didn’t count, had then turned around and given me credit for a few, so in the second summer session I took two history courses, all the courses I needed to have a minor in history.
I couldn’t be a librarian, but after these two five-week courses I could conceivably teach history in high school.
The first course was World History, for 90 minutes a day. World History is also taught in high school here, but you can get around it, and anyway, in high school it’s usually also just one semester.
Since history isn’t taught properly in high school, you have to take it again in college, where it also isn’t taught properly, because how on earth can you teach world history from Mesopotamia to the present in one semester or in a five-week summer course?
Notes From a University Student 3
The second summer course was Survey of English Literature from the Romantics to the Present.
That was a great course. It was largely a survey of poets and poetry, but since I hadn’t had much poetry in high school, most of this was new to me.
Apparently having good company for your birthday is not enough when you go out to eat. In many restaurants the personnel sings a song for the celebrant. And everyone in the restaurant will know about it. The waiters meet near the kitchen and start clapping as they walk to the birthday person’s table. Often they sing and clap their very own house-birthday song: Continue reading
High School Report 6
High School Report 5
Posted in High School
Tagged achievement tests, America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, education, exams, high school, kwaliteit, middelbare school, onderwijs, quality, testen, United States, Verenigde Staten
High School Report 4
There is often a change in the daily planning at the school because of “activities”. During football season there’s a game against another school every Friday night. The South Texas schools are divided by size. Since our school is tiny, we play against other tiny schools. Sometimes these are very far away.
High School Report 3
Posted in High School
Tagged America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, curriculum, education, Football, high school, middelbare school, onderwijs, sport, sports, United States, vakken, Verenigde Staten
High School Report 2
Posted in High School
Tagged America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, education, kwaliteit, onderwijs, quality, United States, Verenigde Staten
High School Report 1
For the students the school year begins on Wednesday (sic), August 16. It ends on Tuesday (sic again), May 28. The Christmas vacation began on Thursday, December 21 and ended on Monday, January 8. More than two and a half weeks. Instead of autumn break there’s Thanksgiving in November, which means three days off, and sometimes a whole week. At Easter only Good Friday is a holiday. Instead of Easter break there’s Spring Break in March. For the rest there’s a long weekend in September for Labor Day.
Posted in High School
Tagged America, American, Amerika, Amerikaans, education, hours, kwaliteit, onderwijs, onderwijs uren, quality, school jaar, school year, United States, Verenigde Staten
In the late 60s Richard Proenneke built his own cabin in the Alaskan wilderness with only a few simple tools. He spent most of the rest of his life there. Sam Keith fleshed out Proenneke's diary of his first 16 months, when he was making his home by a lake. I love these kinds of books!
An old Oji-Cree healer and her nephew canoe down a river in Canada, away from the world of white people. They both have to come to terms with their past. The woman has lost most of her tribe and the young man is traumatized from his recent experience in the Belgian trenches of World War One. My second book by Boyden. Can't say enough about him.
An incredibly comprehensive history of everything related to slavery in the Southern United States, from the beginning of the colonies to the end of the Civil War. Over 700 pages and I took over 30 pages of notes. I will be sharing over many posts to come!
Hamid's debut novel. I love this author. A young man in Lahore, Pakistan, is the victim of love, drugs, obsession, the class system and his complete lack of self-awareness.
A golem, created in Poland and brought to life on a ship to America, and a jinni who was trapped in a flask a thousand years ago and released in New York -- the most unusual immigrants you'll ever meet.
The only part of her life a Korean woman can control is her body, so she withdraws into it. Harrowing.
Autobiography lightly disguised as a novel about the son of Southern migrants growing up on the streets of Harlem, New York City, in the 1940s and 50s. Written like you're hearing the whole story in a bar. Quite a feat.
The story of a man struggling to make a living in Morocco. No plot, no clearly defined characters, but fascinating in its authenticity.
Pakistani man tells an American about his experience as a college student and employee of an assessment firm in America years ago. Smart, nuanced and pretty darn honest considering the unreliable narrator.
Wow! The answer to the inane platitudes about how all parents love their children and how children should always respect their parents. The protagonist must come to terms with his deeply flawed immigrant parents in order to change himself.
Seven short stories about life during the Kim Il-sung regime, by a writer who still lives and works in North Korea, were smuggled out of the country and translated. Mind-boggling stuff.
A 15-year-old autistic narrator wants to know who killed a neighbor's dog, and ends up much further out of his comfort zone than he planned. Wonderful read!
In politics, education, religion, agriculture, business--it turns out that dumbing down has been here from the start.
Fifty years of Istanbul seen through the eyes of a street vendor who migrates to the city as a young boy. It's also a window into the complicated dance between men and women in Turkey.
Hey, don't laugh, at least I'm trying.
A Norwegian immigrant is cooped up with six other people on a tiny island off the coast of Maine all winter in 1873. A woman in the present researching the Norwegian immigrant is cooped up with three other people on a tiny sailboat. What could possibly go wrong?
A man stuck between two worlds in more ways than one. Fascinating!
Historical novel about early contacts between first nations and the French in Canada. Beautifully written story that doesn't pull any punches. I bought his other two novels right away.
Beautifully written. By my children's favorite English and Creative Writing teacher! It's got rave reviews and we're all very proud of her.
Suki Kim is a Korean-American journalist. She poses as an evangelical Christian posing as an English teacher at a school for the sons of North Korea's elite. Her experience and the information she manages to get via writing assignments are incredible. Definitely a lot more eye-opening that any CNN special.
This. Explains. Everything!!!
Why has Islam not undergone a reformation like Christianity? Why is it so easy for Islamic extremist groups like IS to recruit young muslims? What would it take for Islam in fundamentalist Islamic countries to enter modernity? Does the West have a role to play?
Amazing! A man wanders endlessly through a dreamscape, becoming other people, himself in the past, everything is fluid. Kafkaesque disconnect between people and their different needs.
A multi-layered novel about the history of Libya. A fast read, but one you can repeat and find something new each time.
Twelve Americans go missing in Burma/Myanmar during a tour. Touching and hilarious, but mostly hilarious.
The most unusual murder mystery I've ever read. Incredible writing. It haunted me for days.
The quote on the front mentions that these stories are exhilerating. I couldn't disagree more. They are almost unbearably painful to read, and yet I couldn't put them down. Very well done, apart from the third story, which is written in the second tense. Please let me know if you know of ONE story that works in second tense.
Rants, essays, and diatribes.
Fascism, Nationalism and Authoritarianism in U.S. History
He was in India. I was in Ireland. Now we're in Paris. New posts every week.
Making Sense of a Vexing and Perplexing World
Cogito Ergo Sum
daily gadfly
Understanding the psychology that drives our politics
A daily selection of the best content published on WordPress, collected for you by humans who love to read.
Longreads : The best longform stories on the web
making sense of the news one week at a time
The Art and Craft of Blogging
Words by RRN
The journey of a Graphic Design graduate
Explore Scotland through my stories, photos and videos. She's a beauty!
Wanderers on two wheels!
Quintin Lake's photographic Journey walking around Britain's Coast
Adventures in the world of history
Amsterdam days and nights
196 countries, countless stories...
Postcards from afar: Immersion Travel, Cultural Travel. Currently in... Singapore!
Adventures in absurdity
navigating a world of noise as a quiet soul
Art + Photo + Words
art design & oddities
Historian, Folklorist, Writer, Re-enactor, Museum Professional. Follow me on Twitter: @stuartorme
“I have tried my best to keep my country alive by writing about it.” - Nuruddin Farah
Trimming the bush of life...
een amerikaanse schrijft over liefde, ouderschap & volwassen worden in nederland
I write books--cuz I love words. Sometimes they love me back.
the past in pop culture
a place to showcase
When will we ever learn?: Common sense and nonsense about today's public schools in America.
Rising from the ashes of domestic violence
a chronicle of recollections
There are 5 sisters. She's the middlest.
Visual Arts from Canada & Around the World
Resident Alien -- Being Dutch in America 