Morning Ed: World {2018.06.04.M}
[Wo1] In case you were wondering Korean slang for video game consoles, here you go.
[Wo2] Natalie Oliveri argues that the world would improve by becoming more Japanese. I’m just old enough to remember when the US was just going to have to be graceful in turning world leadership over to our Japanese brethren.
[Wo3] An old map of how India might have been divided.
[Wo4] The European country that isn’t..
[Wo5] Asian-Americans, always white and not white depending on which is most disadvantageous.
[Wo6] The interesting story of Varosha, Cyprus, and how it went from a booming tourist town to a ghost town due to domestic conflict.
[Wo7] There’s nothing more intriguing and more creepy than a deserted island. I still don’t know how any would exist in proximity to NYC.
[Wo8] Tanzania’s most famous cojoined twins have died.
[Wo9] Not Flat Earth! More like a bowl…
Wo2: The world can’t become more Japanese though. Many people might be impressed by Japanese politeness. Few are going to be able to do it in real life. Japanese level politeness tends to come across as off-putting in non-Japanese people or outside of Japan.
Wo5: Like the Jews than.
Wo6: Beirut is another one of those international destinations that was hurt by conflict.Report
Wo2: Besides what Lee says, this also reads like someone wrote a quick essay after vacation and without doing any further research. There is a lot of surface politeness in Japanese culture but they are still not very immigrant friendly. From what I heard from long-term expats is that you will always feel like a guest at a very nice hotel. I.e. never be fully welcome and there is always an expectation that you will leave eventually. Plus a lot of the politeness is indirect ways of saying other things. A few months ago the Times ran an article about the first non-Japanese person promoted to President of a Japanese university (it was an arts university). He told an anecdote about how his neighbors committed on his lively parties. The man invited his neighbors to join. Instead the police showed up. The neighbors were saying he should turn down the volume.Report
Wo7: If we are allowing islands in rivers, then this is too easy. This is true even if we limit the discussion to islands that were formerly inhabited. I am more impressed by large islands where you could plausibly have a thriving community. The Channel Islands of California are an example. Other than Catalina, they are uninhabited, in the “permanent residents” sense, due either to being a Naval weapons range or a National Park.
Then there are those islands off (take your pick) Nova Scotia or Maine, whose sovereignty has never quite been worked out. Canada has maintained a lighthouse on Machias Seal Island since 1832. Most of these lighthouses were automated years ago, but the Department of Foreign Affairs foots the bill to keep it manned, specifically so that the US can’t sneak in when no one is looking. So this is the reverse of a deserted island: an island inhabited for political purposes.Report
WO3: That kind of looks like a map of what actually happened: territory assigned to either Hindustan and Pakistan, with some some territories getting to choose. The only thing stands out is that the Princes’ states still have the option of sovereignty?Report
My cousin owns an island in one of the lakes in Wisconsin, though I think there is a tree house on it and occasional slumber parties.
I suspect there are thousands of islands in the U.S. that are uninhabited, particularly along river deltas and coastal barrier islands. The East River island is interesting because of its proximity to NY, but I’m not sure why Fort Carroll was singled out, when presumably Fort Sumter is more interesting. Or is that we can be more certain Fort Carroll is uninhabited?Report
For that matter, if we are going with the category of small islands with obsolete fortifications, there is this place: https://www.google.com/maps/@39.5909344,-75.5728812,3098m/data=!3m1!1e3Report
The NYC island is right next to Rikers and had a siginificant heroin habit.
Edit – sorry, significant “heron habitat.”
Which is something completely different.
Nevermind.Report