Author: stencel123

This last week major elections happened in the country of Iraq for their new Prime Minister and parliament. The election was key for multiple reasons. It was a rushed election due to youth protests in the countries south. The election also tested the influence of Iran and their Shia backed paramilitary groups. Iran since the… Continue reading What the recent elections mean for the future of Iraq

After a week break due to the weather cancelling last Sunday’s drum circle, I went back to it this past Sunday with a lot of hope for what it could bring. While I did enjoy the dancing last time, I wanted to prefer doing the drumming instead. The event itself always brings in an energetic… Continue reading My Second Experience in the Drum Circle

This morning a shocking report came from the Wall Street Journal titled, “US troops have been deployed in Taiwan for the last year.” This news was suprising considering the policy the US has had since Nixon’s visit to China of a One-China policy which meant that the US only diplomatically recognizes the PRC as the… Continue reading What it means that US soldiers are training the ROC

Reading about the PLA and how it works something very important to me stuck out. It was the idea that instead of being by itself, it is another wing of the political establishment of the PRC. A military run by a political party sounds crazy in theory but it also shows the idea of how… Continue reading Military under party

Going into it, I had no idea what to expect from my drum circle. I will say it sounded cool because I like music so that is why I did it. When we got there it seemed like it was just like my middle school music class. We set up chairs, moved drums out, and… Continue reading My first drum circle experience for my ICR

When I was reading Flame yesterday, the story really got me with a Disney-esque feel. A woman who was forced into a marriage to support her family instead of marrying the man of his dreams. She gets a letter from that man and and many times throughout the story I was under the impression that… Continue reading Flame and the Disney movie that never happened

Mencius writes, “I love life, but I also love righteousness and if I can not have both at the same time, I will sacrifice life to have righteousness.” There are few ideas that many would consider being worth sacrificing for and the moral ambiguity from Mencius shows here. I will say personally I can only… Continue reading Mencius and his quote on life

He writes in 2:15, “To study and not think is a waste. To think and not study is dangerous.” When you look at that from a practical angle it makes clear sense but when you dig even deeper into what he was saying he really makes you think. What if you not only think but… Continue reading What Confucius 2:15 tells us about our society

With Marvel’s first Asian lead superhero coming to theatres this week, I think it was important to point out the connection between this movie and Tiger Fighter considering class was centered around the idea of what is a superhero. Shang Chi tells the story of early Chinese tradition and a place shrouded by his father… Continue reading What Tiger Fighter tells us about Marvel’s new hero movie; Shang Chi

When Americans think about themselves in comparison to the rest of the world, the common thought is that people adapt to our customs and culture. In sports we see basketball growing in popularity throughout the world, food places like Subway and McDonalds growing in overseas numbers like never before, and American singers and bands going… Continue reading Why Cowboy Chicken is an indication of how people in America are more isolated culturally then they think