Why The U.S. Cares About Uninhabited Islands in the East China Sea

Image courtesy of Wikimedia via Creative Commons License, Jackopoid Yesterday, Eric Posner wrote a compelling and helpful article on Slate about the simmering conflict between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands (or Diaoyu Islands from the Chinese perspective). In his analysis Japan has the stronger claim by International Law, but also concedes that such norms men little to China, and...

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Ukraine May Test Limits of U.S. Relationship With Russia

Image courtesy of Wikimedia and United Nations Cartography Division The recent political crisis in Ukraine is likely to test the limits of the U.S.’s relationship with Russia. Signs of mounting tension surfaced when earlier this week CNN reported earlier that Secretary of State Kerry asked the Russians to refrain from using military force in Ukraine. The last time a major political crisis erupted...

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Artemisia Gentileschi, Intellectual Ninja and Forgotten Baroque Master

Artemisia Gentileschi Painter, Women's Right's Advocate Intellectual Ninja Gentileschi painted for royalty and the mighty Medicis, produced emotionally charged work that was, and still is, controversial for its portrayals of sex and violence. Gentileschi is one of the best painters to follow the Great Baroque Master, Caravaggio. She was also ninja enough to be the first woman admitted to the prestigious...

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Scourge of Scoundrels #2: Jefferson “Soapy” Smith, The Greatest Con Man in the West

The Robber Barons of the Gilded Age and the Monopolists of the early 20th Century were not the first ones to build an empire with vertical integration and synergies. No, the true business pioneer who invented these techniques was a bearded con man born Jefferson Randolph Smith II. Many knew him as Soapy Smith Soapy Smith ran Denver, Colorado for almost eight years in the 1880’s. He was no lone...

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Intellectual Ninja Index

Intellectual Ninja is a series of posts about people who are not only brilliant, but also brilliant in previously unheard of ways. These are people that have influenced and shaped our civilization. They are also amazingly cool. Below you will find a gallery of the Intellectual Ninja posts with brief descriptions and links to the full posts. Please feel free to nominate candidates for future...

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Scourge of Scoundrels #1: Ching Shih, She Was the World’s Greatest Pirate

What makes a pirate great? A chest full of gold, a fleet of ships, and a brutal and bloodthirsty crew are a good start. The pirate Ching Shih, or the Widow Ching, had more gold, more power, more ships, and tougher crews than any other pirate ever. She was also one of the very few pirates in the history of the world to retire and die of age related complications. She makes Blackbeard and Captain Kidd...

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Marie Curie: Intellectual Ninja and Pioneer of Science and Medicine

Marie Curie Intellectual Ninja http://www.bubblews.com/news/2356402 This post has been moved to the Preferred Writer's Group new page. Here is a link to the post. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jason McBride is the creator of the Intellectual Ninja and the Scourge of Scoundrels series. He is also the author of Watch Out For...

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How Flash Fiction Has Improved All of My Writing

This post has been moved to the new Preferred Writers Group home. You can find this post by clicking here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jason McBride is the creator of the Intellectual Ninja and the Scourge of Scoundrels series. He is also the author of Watch Out For Sneaker Waves. He is currently hard at work...

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What It’s Like to Have Written a Book Almost Nobody Has Read And Why Am I Still Writing?

Watch Out For Sneaker Waves This post has been moved to the new Preferred Writers Site. You can find this post there. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jason McBride is the creator of the Intellectual Ninja and the Scourge of Scoundrels series. He is also the author of Watch Out For Sneaker Waves. He is currently hard...

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