Author Archives: cliff arroyo
The New Counterculture (yeah, really) and its Chief Guru
What used to be mainstream progressive values are now enshrined establishment values. This means that rebellion (always of interest to the young) cannot really be productively pursued by advocating for ever more progressive values. That way madness lies. This means … Continue reading
Why does the BBC Want to Normalize Burkas?
Who knows? But they sure do. What’s interesting is the phrasing, burkas are re-imagined as perfectly normal and those who find them alien or offputting are wrong and half to follow a specific etiquette in speaking of them. How on … Continue reading
I Have Friends
The songs on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend are a mixed bag. I sometimes appreciate the idea more than the execution (like the Sexy Getting Ready Song), but at it’s best it’s freaking brilliant. This is one of my favorites which should be … Continue reading
It’s Whose Party?
More on background of the PRL (Communist Poland) that influences the current political situation. I don’t know how much of this is shared with other post WWII European communist countries. Comparative info would be appreciated. I should also mention that … Continue reading
Here on Beautiful Ethnic-slur Island!
I often like to listen to languages I sort of know and/or am learning as background noise. Youtube is great for this because they have whole audiobooks in dozens of different languages. Anyhoo, I decided to listen to this Italian … Continue reading
Stuck on the Night Shift
Here’s an abbreviated version on the real source of the current problems with judicial reform in Poland. First two bits of background. A parting gift of the communists was an unwieldy electoral system with no practical electoral threshhold. This meant … Continue reading
Not Making the Connections
I find it perversely funny when someone has put the pieces together and still doesn’t see the picture. Bulgarian women have the same traditional male pleasing qualities of Ukrainian women. Bulgaria has the same type of problems of corruption and … Continue reading
