In the beginning God created ET

Illustration by Priya Kathri
It’s always been a problem for me since I was a child.
At school I started to attend the religion class and the science one at the same time.
What a dilemma: “How did it all begin?!”
Since my teachers were all Sisters, every time I asked them to tell me why the two stories were so different, they just answered: “One day you will understand by yourself”.
Then I decided to study philosophy at the university and things got worse, as I realized that the two conceptions, the creationist and the scientific ones were irreconciliable.
Is it still true?
Filed Under Diversity, History & traditions, Modern Life, Research
Sweet activism

I personally love all forms of activism. I find Banksy work pure genius. The AAA stickers are fun and straight to the point. And even the controversial street graffiti - when done the right way - is something I love.
But there is something about what I’m calling today “sweet activism” that is even more irresistible to me. Like Guerrilha Gardening. Or the recent work of Swedish artist Urika Erdes. Instead of a slap on the face, this kind of activism works as a smile. And I think they are the most efficient way to remind us that public space is our space (and not commercial space as most companies seem to think…).
Filed Under Art, Diversity, Media & Society, Modern Life
Was it good for you?

Illustration by Lars Wannop
It has always been men’s dilemma, and I wonder if there’s ever been a girl not having faked one at least once.
Come on girls, we all know: we can imitate orgasm to please men - or just because we are tired or late! - and this fact drive our partners completely crazy.
Why?
Is it just because they want to know how macho they are? I don’t think so… there’s something deeper in this issue: first of all we are “western girls”; we are lucky because we are supposed to be not just blowup love dolls, but human beings having the right “to feel”.
Not all women in the world are so lucky.
Filed Under Diversity, Human Rights, World Health
Muslim Black Metal fans
A book worth a read, Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam explains that Black Metal - theoretically known as having satanic lyrics, being anti-religious and anti-Christian - is popular amongst young people in the Middle East.
Interestingly, conservative Muslims also believe that any music beside spiritual chanting is un-Islamic.
Read more
Filed Under Art, Diversity, History & traditions, Media & Society, Modern Life, Politics
You don’t need it!
Come on, it’s a 150 dollar pair of shoes! You can’t buy it! Oh, but they would look so great with that dress… No, no. Too much money. Not worth it. Hum, but what if I worked harder this month. I could cover for someone and get extra payment… It’s craziness. I’m not doing it. But they would be perfect with those trousers as well
There is only one thing that might be able to put an end to a self-argument like this one and that is someone looking straight into your eyes and saying it slowly, loud and clear: you do not need this! Read more
Filed Under Art, Diversity, Media & Society
The same world. New visions

Not that long ago, whenever we looked into a map, we could be sure to know exactly where a border started and finished. But the old days of borders that change when the color in the map changes are over. Issues like immigration and, therefore, control, border policy and administration agencies, are modifying the way we can - and should - look into a map. And that’s what the guys from the Dutch collective AnArchitektur have been doing. Their “Drawing Escape Tunnels Through Borders: Cartographic Research Experiments by European Social Movements” (shown above) is just one of their many attempts to look into cartography as a tool “for detecting invisible or unconscious spatial structures, for relating social and political forces to geography and the existing built environment”, as they have said earlier about their work. Read more
Filed Under Art, Diversity, Media & Society, Politics
Jealous lovers, homophobics and religious Jews, Muslims and Christians unite

This unlikely group may just have found common ground in opposition to a recent US court ruling.
In a feat in the war against sex segregation a San Francisco court ruled that a website cannot require users to disclose their sexual orientation.
Filed Under Diversity, Media & Society, Modern Life