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mr-damon

Last seen: 3 weeks ago

Mr. Damon is a person from Virgin Islands (U.S.)

Est modus in rebus.

  • http://iht.com/articles/2008/08/30/arts/truman.php

    Rated Aug 29 2008 • 1 review • mental health, psychiatry, psychology, surveillance, society • iht.com

    The Truman Show delusion, or Truman Syndrome, has drawn attention in recent months, in the United States and Britain, as psychiatrists in both countries describe a small but growing number of psychotic patients who describe their lives as mirroring that of the main character in the 1998 film "The Truman Show."

    Played by Jim Carrey, Truman Burbank leads a mundane existence in the suburbs, starting from the time he was in the womb, while being filmed for a documentary television show that he cannot escape.

    Everyone is in on it, including his wife, and no one will believe Truman when he discovers clues that his life is being chronicled all the time by cameras.

    With Internet delusion, patients typically incorporate the Internet into paranoid thoughts, including a fear that the Web is somehow monitoring or controlling their lives, or being used to transmit photographs or other personal information.

    The delusions are fueling a chicken-and-egg debate in psychiatry: Are these merely modern examples of classic paranoia fed by the cultural landscape, or is there something about media like reality television and the Internet that can push people over the sanity line?
    86 views
    http://iht.com/articles/2008/08/30/arts/truman.php

  • Amy Stein | Photography | Domesticated

    Rated Feb 07 2008 • 11 reviews • environment, nature, development, photography, society • amysteinphoto.com

    1,913 views
    Amy Stein | Photography | Domesticated

  • http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/01/asia/stateless.php

    Rated Feb 02 2008 • 1 review • asia, society, refugees • iht.com


    Hidden in the back corners of the world is a scattered population of millions of nobodies, citizens of nowhere, forgotten or neglected by governments, ignored by census takers.

    Many of these stateless people are among the world's poorest; all are the most disenfranchised. Without citizenship, they often have no right to schooling, health care or property ownership. Nor may they vote, or travel outside their countries - even, in some cases, the towns - where they live.

    They are stateless for many reasons - migration, refugee flight, racial or ethnic exclusion, the quirks of history - but taken together, these noncitizens, according to one report, "are among the most vulnerable segments of humanity."
    1 view
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/01/asia/stateless.php

  • Special

    Rated Nov 30 2007 • 1 review • culture, education, sociology, books, society • pinkyshow.org

    The Pinky Show Review of Books
    47 views
    Special

  • INSIDE JoongAng Daily

    Rated Oct 01 2007 • 1 review • asia, korea, north korea, society, news feature • joins.com

    "North Korea's Juche ideology is about self-reliance, but the people of this country long ago lost the ability to stand on their own feet. They blindly hang on to every word and action of their single leader.

    "Back on the plane, two thoughts crossed my mind.

    "First, how long will the North be able to withstand this inefficient regime? Second, if the North is able to maintain its backward-looking society through isolation and propaganda, perhaps it will last longer than anyone imagines. Only the future will tell."
    23 views
    INSIDE JoongAng Daily

  • He's Happier, She's Less So - New York Times

    Rated Sep 26 2007 • 1 review • married life, work, society, marriage, living • nytimes.com

    "There appears to be a growing happiness gap between men and women.

    "Two new research papers, using very different methods, have both come to this conclusion. Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, economists at the University of Pennsylvania (and a couple), have looked at the traditional happiness data, in which people are simply asked how satisfied they are with their overall lives. In the early 1970s, women reported being slightly happier than men. Today, the two have switched places.

    "Mr. Krueger, analyzing time-use studies over the last four decades, has found an even starker pattern. Since the 1960s, men have gradually cut back on activities they find unpleasant. They now work less and relax more.

    "Over the same span, women have replaced housework with paid work -- and, as a result, are spending almost as much time doing things they don't enjoy as in the past. Forty years ago, a typical woman spent about 23 hours a week in an activity considered unpleasant, or 40 more minutes than a typical man. Today, with men working less, the gap is 90 minutes.

    "These trends are reminiscent of the idea of "the second shift," the name of a 1989 book by the sociologist Arlie Hochschild, arguing that modern women effectively had to hold down two jobs. The first shift was at the office, and the second at home."
    2 views
    He's Happier, She's Less So - New York Times

  • Video Not Found

    Rated Sep 08 2007 • 1 review • women, video, middle east, society, egypt • brightcove.com

    "Islamization in Egypt" -- a short segment about the increased insistence on women wearing the hijab and other coverings in Egypt, and the potential for a more fundamentalist society in the country.
    38 views
    Video Not Found

  • After America By Marshall Moore

    Rated Jun 25 2007 • 1 review • politics, usa, society, expatriate, living overseas • escapeartist.com

    "Many have given their lives to defend the United States. Many would say my departure dishonors that sacrifice. However, being an American means being an individual. It means making use of that freedom of speech we considered important until the Patriot Act was passed. It does not mean switching off one's critical thinking faculties and becoming a happy but brain-dead robot zombie for Jesus while the country spirals deeper into corruption, while the government whores itself out to corporate interests, and while we enrage the world by waging illegal and unwinnable wars. These things are not what America was meant to represent.

    "I've taken stock as best I can and concluded there's little I can do to effect systemic change... We essentially need a Second Republic. Maybe I'm wrong about the net effect of the trends I've discussed, but I don't think I am. I'm convinced I can only build a better life for myself by living abroad and seeking permanent residence elsewhere. Sad but true. I've chosen to start this journey in Korea, because being here enables me to make the career change I spent a couple of years planning... Korea isn't perfect, and at the time of this writing I don't expect to spend more than two more years here; however, it's a great first step away from the US.

    "America isn't over, and neither is San Francisco, but we've seen the last of much that was good about both places. I know I'm not alone in believing it's time to move on."
    285 views
    After America By Marshall Moore

  • http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/21/news/letter.php?pa...

    Rated Jun 22 2007 • 1 review • economics, community, africa, international relations, society • iht.com

    Africans, including many who are nominally elites, tend to be poorly informed about the major currents shaping the world today. Time after time I was asked questions about China, because I was visiting from that country, which revealed only the vaguest and most superficial knowledge about the rise of East Asia, and specifically about China's breathtaking development.

    How does one realistically appraise one's own successes and failures except in the context of what others have done, especially when the others, as with the Chinese, overcame a legacy of similar hardships: foreign domination, decades of violence and instability, deep and near universal poverty and widespread illiteracy?

    How does one pick a way through the thicket of choices to find a path forward in the world, without studying what has worked and failed elsewhere, and without constantly renewed contact with the outside world?

    To paraphrase a nugget from former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, tragedy always follows in the wake of isolation. Africa has been living in extended isolation now for a very long time, and the tragic consequences are there for all to see.
    160 views
    http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/06/21/news/letter.php?page=1

  • http://iht.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/china.php

    Rated Apr 17 2007 • 1 review • asia, olympics, amusing, china, society • iht.com

    The Times has a better headline: "No Spitting on the Road to Olympic Glory, Beijing Says."

    For all the expectations and civic pride that Beijing has attached to being the host of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the event is a source of civic anxiety, too. What if traffic is terrible? What if the weather is bad? These would be worries for any host city, but Beijing also has a few more:

    What if foreign visitors are forced to navigate a minefield of saliva left by local pedestrians spitting on sidewalks? What if lines at Olympic events dissolve into scrums as local residents jump to the head of the pack? What if Chinese fans serenade rival teams with the guttural, unprintable "Beijing curse"?

    China's ruling Communist Party has never been very comfortable with the question "what if?" And while Olympic visitors will undoubtedly be greeted with ecstatic hospitality, local officials are worried about some local habits. So as Beijing is building new sports stadiums, subway lines, futuristic skyscrapers and public parks for the Games, city leaders are also trying to rebuild Beijingers.



    Citywide campaigns are under way to curb public spitting, to discourage public cursing and littering, and to promote lining up. There is even a campaign to rectify the often hilariously bad English translations on signs and restaurant menus. Given that Chinese leaders regard the Olympics as a milestone event to showcase China to the world, they obviously do not want to be embarrassed.

    "Public awareness of manners needs to be improved," said Wang Tao, a soft-spoken, exceedingly polite civil servant who has become a local celebrity for his efforts to curb public spitting.

    Last week, the city commemorated Queuing Day, an event held on the 11th of every month because the date symbolizes an orderly line. Volunteers wearing satin Queuing Day sashes shooed rush-hour commuters into lines at busy subway stations, while hospital administrators and a few city officials handed out long-stemmed roses to patients who stood in line to pay their bills or pick up medicines.
    91 views
    http://iht.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/china.php