It's also interesting to me that everyone seemed to buy in to the whole Myanmar thing, and then seemingly switched it off and started calling it Burma again. It's a neat little "fuck you" to the gang in charge.

Both names "Burma" and "Myanmar" are derived from ethnic groupings - the Bamar and Myanma people. Myanmar has been used since the 13thC as the name for various regions within what we know and call Burma (or Myanmar)... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Kerasia at 4:14 AM on August 21, 2008

grocery store, or BevMo, or Trader Joe's, etc

Weed from the corner bottleshop: The weed is all quite potent, but a bit dry. You can buy as little as a $1 spliff or as much as an eighth, but at all levels it's too expensive unless everything else is closed or you don't really want to walk very far. However, finally you can get a Rockstar, a hip flask of vodka, a blunt wrap or pack of papers and and a few nugs all in one purchase.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 3:43 PM on July 1, 2008

I think hipsterdom is particularly interesting because I agree with the author that it's the dead end of Western civ. But he doesn't say anything compelling about the phenomenon at all.

Here's my explanation for hipster self-hatred. All previous countercultures since you could really begin to speak of a counterculture--I would say, since the Romantics--have been fundamentally grounded in an appeal to authenticity. The Romantics prided themselves on their ability to... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nasreddin at 8:45 AM on August 1, 2008

do they mention the white slaves working to relieve unpayable debts from Europe ? or was the play only about black slave purchasing ?

Yes, this five page play put together by 20 fifth-graders found the time to go into indentured servitude and transatlantic debts in pre-Civil War America.
posted to MetaFilter by Falconetti at 12:24 PM on June 16, 2008

I'll try to focus on the most recent question, hoping that it captures all open issues.

Sangermaine -- "Yes, I noticed that about the post as well. I hope mutant is around to answer because his characterization in the post was very strange. He describes Islamic Banking as "ethical investment by definition", yet I fail to see how he arrived at that conclusion. Sure, they can't invest in "alcohol, tobacco, pornography, weapons or pork".... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Mutant at 5:55 AM on June 7, 2008

.

Wow, ZachsMind, you sure are a righteous dude. But since you knew in advance pretty much everyone here agrees with you—war is bad, soldiers are dying pointlessly, etc. etc.—your "We can still tell ourselves we're winning. Insert celebratory hooting and hollering here" is pure posturing, and you are not doing anything but trolling for favorites. Enjoy them.
posted to MetaFilter by languagehat at 9:11 AM on May 10, 2008