My interests: Journalism, Politics, International Relations.
-
The New Yorker is the best magazine in the English-speaking world.
-
Without The Guardian, British democracy is utterly fucked. The Brits just don’t know it. The Guardian has a non-profit structure that gives it more independence that most UK papers. They covere stories the rest of the UK press wouldn’t touch.
-
The two best newspapers in France are Le Monde and Mediapart, hands down. Les Echos and Libération are also quiet good.
-
The Financial Times is the favorite newspaper of elites worldwide. CEOs. Billionaires. Millionaires. Presidents. Prime Ministers. Everyone reads it. And it’s pretty damn good. The information is always reliable. The FT is also the most expensive newspaper on the planet.
-
The editorial section of the Wall Street Journal is directly controlled by Rupert Murdoch. The WSJ is the jewel of his empire. Fox News and the New York Post are for influencing the masses. WSJ editorials allow him to have influence over US elites.
-
Many talented reporters work for the Wall Street Journal and end up deeply ashamed of it. They would much rather work for The New York Times or ProPublica. Rupert Murdoch employs great journalists at the Wall Street Journal simply because he wants to give the editorial section some credibility.
-
AIPAC is powerful. But there is limit to their power. There was an intense AIPAC campaign to stop the President Obama from signing a nuclear agreement with Iran. He defeated them
-
Most Trump tweets aren’t written by Donald Trump. They are written by a dude named Dan Scavino. Most americans have no clue who Dan Scavino is.
-
Having a lot of resources is a curse. Countries that have natural ressources (Iran, Algeria, Nigeria, Russia) tend to be highly corrupt and exploited by a small elite. It’s simple. The elite can take control of the oil fields, the gas fields, the mines. Just sell ressources. Shoot protesters. No need to invest in anything else. It’s much better to live a country with limited resources (Taiwan, Japan, Switzerland). Lack of resources force the elites to invest in science and education. The most unlucky country in Africa is Congo. It’s full of diamonds, forests, oil, gas, lithium, cobalt, rare earth. So Congo has suffered horribly because of that. In fact, it’s still being looted.
-
If you want to transform an authoritarian regime into a democracy from within, the number tool you need are powerful labor unions. Powerful unions can basically go on a general strike and shut down an economy.
-
Everything Barack Obama predicted would happen if the US didn’t sign the nuclear agreement with Iran actually happened. Trump left the agreement. Iran started enriching nuclear fuel. Then a major war happened.
-
Many Middle Easterners are very tribal. Most Israelis see themselves as Jewish first, Israeli second. Syrian druzes think of themselves as Druze first, Syrian second. Many lebanese Shias see themselves as Shia first, Lebanese a distant second. And so on. Their loyalty often lies more to their tribe than to the state they live in.
-
Imperialism was bad. But imperialism didn’t actually cause instability in the Middle East. The most stable period was actually Ottoman Imperialism. For 5 centuries there was commerce and peace. Then, there was the British/French empire. Apart from some episodes of violence, it was stable. But when imperialism ended, it was basically a mess. Jews vs Arabs. Christians vs Sunnis. Arabs vs Persians. Jews vs Shias. Arabs vs Kurds. Alawis vs Sunnis. To this day, many of them have this tribal mindset.
-
Saying “we don’t speak with terrorists” is completely dumb. Many terrorist organizations later became peaceful. Many terrorist leaders later became statesmen. It’s wrong to say “We can’t make any peace with those who hands are stained with blood”. Get out of here with that non-sense. If you truly want peace, seeking only decent leaders means you aren’t going to find anyone at all. Criminals make peace. This isn’t Scandinavia.
What are things you know because of your personal interests that most people have no idea about ?
Depending on the era and genre, the most ubiquitous drum machine would be a Linn Drum (late 70s & early 80s pop, e.g. ABBA), Roland TR-808 (80s soft pop, e.g. Phil Collins), or Roland TR-909 (90s House/Dance/Trance, e.g. Scooter).
There are many others, of course, and even if the actual machine wasn’t used, these sounds have been sampled and reused countless times, e.g. using a Fairlight CMI.
Interestingly, the 808 is the only one of the three that does NOT use samples itself but synthesizes all of its percussion sounds, which gives it a rather distinct character. Perhaps that is what led you to believe that it is the most ubiquitous drum machine - it’s easier to recognize than the others, even in a crowded mix.
Totally fair point, I suppose I just listen to more genres that incorporate 808s than the others. I’ve always loved the simplicity of the sine based synthesis of the 808, so much can be done with it.