Tourism, privilege, race, development...

Just take a look at this and see what you think:

http://gurlgoestoafrica.tumblr.com/

Manufacturing in the USA making a comeback- searchable map

This from Time magazine:

http://business.time.com/made-in-the-u-s-a/?iid=sl-article-moreontime

Digestive tract and bacteria are surprisingly important

Three recent articles about the role of digestive tract bacteria and their impact on our health.  It seems that what goes on in your guts has a LOT of important ramifications.

Interesting audio series

Here's series of anthropological vignettes produced by some folks at my Alma Mater- the University of New Mexico.  Anton Daughters, Ph.D, was a student in one of the first classes I ever taught, although I can hardly claim any sort of credit for the high quality of these recordings.

Enjoy!

http://www.archaeologychannel.org/audio-guide/the-human-experience

Good advice for college grads (or young workers in general)

Folks, the biggest obstacle to class mobility is... wait for it...  CULTURE!  Poor people don't talk the talk and walk the walk of rich people.  Your education level is pretty easy to discern by the way you speak, dress, and generally act.  Youndg people stumble most often because they can't, or won't, acculturate to the subculture of people who are older than them and wield power over them.  Therefore, they get relegated to menial jobs until they start acting like adults, whereby their supervisors suddenly recognize their potential.

Take this advice to heart:

20 Things 20 Year Olds Don't Understand
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonnazar/2013/07/23/20-things-20-year-olds-dont-get/

Don't get all defensive and angry because this is yet another slam on your generation.  This is good advice. Take it.

Syria- What You Need To Know About The Latest Geographic Hotspot

A primer from the Washington Post explaining the basic information you need to know to understand what is happening is Syria. (Click on map or link below).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/08/29/9-questions-about-syria-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/

Winner Declared in Chimpanzee Art Contest- New York Times

Disappointing that there are no links to their work:


http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/30/its-a-madhouse-winner-declared-in-chimpanzee-art-contest/?src=recg

but here is a resource for some ape artworks:

http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn16090-ape-art

Postscript:  I own an original painting by "Cheeta"  [sic], one of the chimps who played Tarzan's pet in the 30s era Tarzan movies with Johnny Weismuller.  He (Cheeta) is mentioned at the end of the article as having won second place and an honorable mention by Jane Goodall).

Jane Goodall Also owns one, so Cheeta perhaps had an unfair advantage, as he was a sentimental favorite.  Here's a picture of MY Cheeta original:

Note that it is signed at the bottom with a thumbprint.  Cheeta is the oldest living Chimp ever known, and if you want a painting you better act fast.  They are tax deductible, by the way,  and cost about a hundred bucks (maybe a bit more now- I bought mine a few years ago.  Here is the website:

http://cheetathechimp.org/donate.htm

Culture, Children and Their Toys

In my cultural anthropology class this year I wrote my own definition of culture.  I normally use the definition used in whatever textbook we happen to be using, and they are always different.  It's daunting to write a definition of culture, but I settled, for better or worse, on the following:

Culture:  The characteristic ways that people learn to think and behave, using symbols,toys and tools in the context of a social structure and a modified environment.

I've never seen a definition of culture that includes "Toys" before, but I think it fits, and I would confidently say that play is a cultural universal.  Indeed, it is found throughout the mammalian order, if not beyond, although human play, if not qualitatively different, is certainly different by degree at the very least.

I've been a fan of Peter Menzel's work, especially his "Material World" and "Hungry Planet" projects where he photographed families with, respectively, all of their material possessions and a weeks worth of their food.  The contrasts between rich and poor are striking, and the cross-cultural comparisons are often surprising and enlightening.

Here, Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti's "Toy Story" project is described and his photographs featured.  It's much the same idea as Menzel's, but focusing on children and their toys.  Click on the picture below for the story:

Galimberti's site (his name is hotlinked above) is worth checking out in addition to the site above.

Thanks to Sarah Wiese for the reference and link.

Top 10 Mysteries of the First Humans

From Live Science.  Click on the picture to go to the link.

PRI's "The World": Family Choices: Fertility and Infertility in Africa

Public Radio International has a great series about fertility in Africa- three great radio documentaries and a wonderful interactive map-  check it out:

http://www.theworld.org/familychoices/