“
What if elected Islamist parties impose laws that curb individual freedoms — like banning alcohol or executing converts — all with popular support? What if democracy does not serve liberty?
This question is seldom asked in the West, where democracy is often seen as synonymous with liberalism. However, as Fareed Zakaria warned in his 2003 book “The Future of Freedom,” there are illiberal democracies, too, where the majority’s power isn’t checked by constitutional liberalism, and the rights and freedoms of all citizens are not secured. This is a risk for the post-Arab Spring countries, and even for post-Kemalist Turkey. The real debate, therefore, is whether Islam is compatible with liberalism.
” — Mustafa Akyol, Can Islamists Be Liberals? via NYTimes.com
Stop City
(via Dogma)
(via void())
The practice of freezing eggs by women nearing the end of their reproductive years is growing, thanks to the grandparents-to-be:
Elissa Gootman via NY Times
At the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine, a popular destination for women hoping to preserve their fertility by freezing their eggs, Dr. William Schoolcraft, the founder and medical director, has started to notice something different: more of the women are arriving with company.
“I see these patients come in, and they’re with two elderly people, and I’m like, ‘What the hey?’ ” Dr. Schoolcraft said.
The gray-haired entourages, it turns out, are the parents, tagging along to lend support — emotional and often financial — as their daughters turn to the fledgling field of egg freezing to improve their chances of having children later on, when they are ready to start a family.
The technology to freeze a woman’s delicate eggs to be used later, when the eggs being released by her ovaries may no longer be viable, has improved sharply over the past decade. There currently is no single source of data on the number of women who are choosing to freeze their eggs, but doctors in the United States say the practice is slowly growing.
The procedure remains expensive, generally costing between $8,000 and $18,000. And because it offers no guarantees and is still considered experimental by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a professional association, it can seem to some like an extravagant gamble.
But it is a gamble that many would-be grandparents are willing to take with their daughters, even if it means navigating a potentially uncomfortable conversation.
“By the time Allison was 35, I felt the clock was tick-tick-ticking,” said Candace Kramer, 61, whose daughter took her up on the suggestion to freeze her eggs — and her offer to pay half the bill. “I viewed it as opening up an opportunity for her.”
Such arrangements are not unusual, said Dr. Daniel Shapiro, the medical director of Reproductive Biology Associates of Atlanta. He estimated that at least three quarters of his center’s egg-freezing patients — more than 100 over the past two years — have parents who paid part or all of the bill.
“I was surprised at first about the parental involvement, but now I expect it to be the case,” said Dr. Shapiro, adding that many patients tell him, “My parents want me to have this as a gift.”
After the money spent on college and braces, this might be small potatoes.
Kogi Los Angeles
In 2008, Roy Choi, a classically trained chef who once worked at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, took his Korean-Mexican fusion food to the streets. There, his beef short rib taco with a special, 21-ingredient sauce quickly emerged as his signature dish. From one truck, which Newsweek declared “America’s first viral eatery,” Kogi has expanded into an empire, with five trucks, whose locations on any given day are tweeted to over 96,000 followers, and four brick-and-mortar establishments. Many, including Smithsonian magazine’s very own food columnist Jonathan Gold, feel like food truck culture is indebted to Kogi, which proved that delivering “high-end food at street level prices,” as its website says, is possible. – Megan Gambino Website: http://kogibbq.com/ Twitter: @kogibbq Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KogiBBQTacos (via The 20 Best Food Trucks in the United States | Travel | Smithsonian Magazine)
Fairfield Porter
(via journalofanobody)
Daryl Zang, Ferocious
Culture3/Sheet72/Frame3, People in Trouble, C-type print, 150 x 190 cm, 2011 (via People in Trouble (Contacts) : ADAM BROOMBERG & OLIVER CHANARIN)
In union and in left, we turn the impossible to possible
Date August 2007
Source Coalition of Radical Left (SYRIZA)
Trued and cemented (Taken with Instagram at 17 south cedar, beacon ny)
We trenched for the fence that will border our vegetable garden, and put in the corner posts. Saturday I will hang the gate, and put in the other gate post. We have to wait a week for the fencing: a special order.
Posts up (Taken with Instagram at 17 south cedar, beacon ny)
HopBack amber (Taken with instagram)
Trenching (Taken with Instagram at 17 south cedar, beacon ny)
Trenching for garden fence (Taken with Instagram at 17 south cedar, beacon ny)