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Hathi: a token gift from India of a baby elephant for the Kabul Zoo "It was the latest expression of the centuries-old cultural and historical ties between the two nations... The diplomatic relationship was built on a bedrock of shared culture, and the gift of Hathi was an act in which history, regional bonhomie, pop culture and diplomacy merrily coalesced."
posted by dhruva at 6:08 PM PST - 2 comments

How Cold Water Swimming Cured my Broken Heart. "When I am in the sea I am a mystery to myself. I have no idea how I got here, or why or what I am doing. I am only swimming and I am amazed." After a breakup and the death of her father a writer ended up living on the coast of Brittany in winter where she went for a daily swim in the icy sea.
posted by storybored at 6:04 PM PST - 26 comments

Biden keeps Trump’s record-low cap on refugees — President Joe Biden on Friday stuck with his predecessor’s historically low cap of 15,000 refugees for this year and instead moved to accelerate admissions, triggering an outcry from resettlement agencies and even Biden allies that he was backpedaling on a key promise. [more inside]
posted by tonycpsu at 2:10 PM PST - 45 comments

Conservative commentator David Brooks is the latest to make this declaration. He was proceeded in recent times by people like Howard Jacobson and Schmuley Boteach. Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler have even published The Jewish Annotated New Testament. The roots of this discussion are, however, fraught. [more inside]
posted by No Robots at 12:30 PM PST - 151 comments

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a contemporary visual artist that bridges Haida, Asian, and Canadian cultures and identities with his art. In this video interview [YT] he discusses his mural, Orcinus Orca SKAAnaa. The mural is part of a new exhibition from the Royal BC Museum called Orcas: Our Shared Future. [more inside]
posted by forbiddencabinet at 12:08 PM PST - 3 comments

Mind the Gap, a handbook of clinical signs and symptoms in black and brown skin, is available to be downloaded online at no cost. [more inside]
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:50 AM PST - 6 comments

The “Red Ibérica en Defensa del Patrimonio Gráfico” is a Spanish/Portuguese collective that collects images of commercial signs as well as physical examples. Their site has a treasure trove of links to related Instagram accounts. [more inside]
posted by chavenet at 11:31 AM PST - 4 comments

Just posting some blue on the blue, as you do "That's the surreal hue of Indonesia's Kawah Ijen Volcano, which glows with an otherworldly 'blue lava' at night. The mountain contains large amounts of pure sulfur, which emits an icy violet color as it burns, turning the rocky slopes into a hot (at least 239 degrees Fahrenheit), highly toxic environment." Some pretty stunning photos here!
posted by CarrotAdventure at 9:30 AM PST - 24 comments

Julia Evans (previously) is making interactive in-browser text puzzles to help people learn how to debug computer networking issues, and asking for feedback as she tries stuff out. "The Case of the Slow Websites" and "The Case of the Connection Timeout" are already up (source code using Twine), and she's thinking of making several more. "I'd love to know what folks think of this approach to learning debugging! One of my favourite ways to learn is by debugging weird problems, so my idea with this style of game is to sort of share the experience of past bugs I've run into so that other people can learn from them too." [more inside]
posted by brainwane at 8:53 AM PST - 24 comments

Craig Murray ex British Ambassador to Uzbekistan 2002 - 2004 : The real story of the occupation of Afghanistan has hardly been aired in the mainstream media.
Caitlin Johnstone: US Intelligence Warns Withdrawal Could Lead To Afghanistan Being Controlled By Afghans.
Juan Cole: No, Biden ending the Afghanistan War isn’t a Disaster: The disaster was Dropping 7,400 Bombs on the Country Annually and Biden: ''Our reasons for remaining in Afghanistan have become increasingly unclear.'' As the US plans its Afghan troop withdrawal, what was it all for?
A view from the India and from Pakistan.
The withdrawal is only the solution to America's problem. The Taliban have different ideas.
With 18,000 contractors currently in the country is this just moving from Endless War to Endless Operations?
China sees an opportunity. Afghanistan previously on Metafilter.
posted by adamvasco at 6:49 AM PST - 87 comments

Mystery tree beast turns out to be croissant. BBC News has the story from the Krakow Animal Welfare Society: "People aren't opening their windows because they're afraid it will go into their house," the woman reportedly said. [more inside]
posted by RobinofFrocksley at 6:02 AM PST - 22 comments

In her quest to master a quintessential cool-kid trick, Outside contributor Kim Cross found the sweet spot at the crossroads of work and play. A wheelie is the bicycling equivalent of hanging ten on a surfboard or spinning a basketball on your finger—a skill as profoundly cool as it is functionally irrelevant. [Outside Online]
posted by ellieBOA at 3:29 AM PST - 24 comments

The Penobscot language was spoken by almost no one when Frank Siebert set about trying to preserve it. The people of Indian Island are still reckoning with his legacy (Alice Gregory, The New Yorker)
posted by adrianhon at 2:00 AM PST - 10 comments

The violence is occurring daily while Derek Chauvin’s trial tries to convince us that we did not see what we saw. Veterans of color say video of police pepper-spraying a Black Army officer shows that not even a military uniform is protection from police violence. Meanwhile, mass shootings are happening as frequently as ever. [more inside]
posted by ichomp at 12:51 AM PST - 73 comments