29 July 2013

Monday Reads - Boys & Girls and Death on the Nile

Continuing with this month's Reads only posts, with Monday Reads.
Reuters blog has an infographic on the most deadly train accidents in the last five decades.


21 July 2013

Sunday Reads - Operation Easter & A Father's Sorrow


  • If Detroit were a country, would it be a failed state? (FP Passport) Click on each of the embedded links (below) for greater insight.
Excerpt: The city of Detroit has sorrows to spare. Its government -- officially, as of Thursday -- can't pay its bills. Its police don't arrive in time to stop criminals, and its ambulances don't arrive in time to save lives. Its citizens are fleeing in droves. It's likely the most dysfunctional municipality in the United States. (End of Excerpt)
Also check this Economic Times slideshow on the seven recent and significant municipal bankruptcies in the U.S. 
  • Operation Easter: The Hunt for Illegal Egg Collectors. (The New Yorker)
  • A Father's Sorrow (BBC)


19 July 2013

Hikikomori - In Withdrawal


I think this is an unusual post to restart blogging after a gap of about three weeks. I read a piece on the BBC which talked about how some people retreat into their bedroom for months or years on end. They have a term for this behaviour - Hikikomori in Japanese. 

I suggest you read this insightful piece, which captures the thoughts and feelings of both the people in withdrawal (i.e., committing hikikomori) and their loved ones.

Here's an excerpt.

I shut myself away from society about 12 years ago. I still haven't recovered and spend my time alone. I don't work, I don't go out, and I survive on welfare. I think a major problem with people like me is that we're ultimately afraid of failure. Things have changed in the world. There are no longer secure career slots open for everyone with a little ambition and an education. We're afraid of becoming a part of even worse statistics, such as being homeless. 

Read the complete piece here.