Is wearing surma in modern-day India a particularly Muslim practice? Or is it anything-goes?
Ranveer Singh in his upcoming Gulleyboy
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nikobakos@gmail.com
“I DEMAND EITHER CITY-STATES OR A UNIVERSAL IMPERIUM OF HUMANITY”
-- Murtaza Muhammad Hussein (quoted above) is a journalist I respect immensely whose work focuses on national security, foreign policy, and human rights. His work has previously been featured in the New York Times, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera English.
(See more of M.M. Hussein @theintercept)
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FROM BOSNIA TO BENGAL -- The purpose of this blog
Me, I'm Nicholas Bakos, a.k.a. "NikoBako." I'm Greek (Roman really, but when I say that in English some five people in the world today understand what I'm talking about, so I use "Greek" for shorthand). I'm from New York. I live all over the place these days. The rest should become obvious from the blog.
See "JADDE: THE MISSION AND STARTING OFF, the blog's first entry below, and JADDE: THE NAME OF THIS BLOG for my general agenda:
"What I hope this blog accomplishes is to create even the tiniest amount of common consciousness among readers from the parts of the world in question."
Please contact me with comments, questions, complaints or -- please -- corrections at: nikobakos@gmail.com
Afghanistan
AKP
Albania
Albanians
Alexandria
Anatolia
Arab Christians
Arabs
Armenians
Athens
Balkans
Barcelona
Belgrade
Bosnia
Byzantines
Catalans
Catalonia
Christianity
Constantinople
Croatia
Croats
Easter
Egypt
Epiros
Erdogan
Erdoğan
European Union
France
Germany
Greece
Greeks
Hinduism
India
Indian Islam
Indian Muslims
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
ISIS
Islam
Israel
Istanbul
Italy
Jews
Jiannena
Kosovo
Kurds
Lebanon
Macedonia
Madrid
Montenegro
muslims
Nationalism
Nazis
Neo-Greek
Neo-Greeks
New York
Novak Djokovic
Ottoman Empire
Ottomans
Pakistan
Palestine
Palestinians
Paris
Pera
Russia
Serbia
Serbs
Spain
Syria
Turkey
Turks
Ukraine
United States
Yugoslavia
Recent Posts
- Lies, lies, lies….the olympus view again January 20, 2021
- St. Nick’s, my parish church when in Peter January 18, 2021
- Top Withens, a ruined farmhouse located on the Pennine moors, is thought to have inspired Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights (1847). January 18, 2021
- Scumbags…forgive my French… When does Russia fucking grow up??? January 18, 2021
- Photo: Bosporus, winter 1954 January 16, 2021
- French imperialism, still rearing its ugly head, fomenting sectarianism and Islamophobia, promoting “elite minority supremacism”, and teaching French… January 16, 2021
- New home page image: Zinaida Serebryakova’s portrait of husband Boris January 16, 2021
- Neveska: protected from everything except the erasure of its historic name by the Hellenic Ministry of Hellenism January 16, 2021
- John Singer Sargent, Palazzo Grimani, Venice 1907 January 15, 2021
- Kiev and Kievans, decked out in gold and sun and honey — summer 2010 January 15, 2021
- My friend P’s sardonic Serbian humor: terrible government January 15, 2021
- My friend P’s sardonic Serbian humor: Peace on Earth January 15, 2021
- “Ok, Salman, where was the Prophet (PBUH) born?” January 15, 2021
- Cute Kitty Twitters: your cats are stupid. January 15, 2021
- Women from villages in the region of Ikonio (Konya) in the 1910s January 15, 2021
- Two of Edward Lear’s least striking and interesting drawings of 19th century Jiannena — just can’t find the others anywhere. January 15, 2021
- Photo: Selfie in Jiannena January 15, 2021
- Trapezounda Opera House, 1912 — 1958 January 15, 2021
- Smyrna waterfront: drawing and photograph, 1910s January 15, 2021
- The Acropolis, 1820 January 15, 2021
- Photo: Sarajevo 1938 January 15, 2021
- Ussama Makdisi: not a dude I’m often that kind to, comes up with a slightly chewed-edged but legit position January 15, 2021
- Tito: whatever fun you had this new year, Tito had more. January 15, 2021
- Doors of Toulouse January 15, 2021
- Our view of Bahçeli January 13, 2021
- Μαλάκα, Greeks were always really funny… Here is Aristophanes, complaining to a friend for his totally inappropriate behavior towards his son: January 13, 2021
- Frequency of Italian family names Greco and Spagnuolo by region — And Greeks and Albanians in Italy January 13, 2021
- My friend Pelagia in Belgrade: some great serbo-funny tweets in the great tradition of that people’s black and acerbic humor. January 13, 2021
- Have a VERY Happy New Year, Julian friends — love you all January 13, 2021
- Photo: Epiphany in Derviçani and naughty altar boys January 12, 2021
- Madrid: not to make light of the hardship caused… January 12, 2021
- Jordan Peterson calls out West’s ignorance of Stalinist/Communist repression: “…the fact that we don’t know that deep inside our bones is a testament to the absolute rot of our education system.” January 12, 2021
- I have a black and yellow Fred Perry polo shirt and I’m pissed January 12, 2021
- January 6th: Epiphany January 6, 2021
- A genuinely happy 2021 to everybody: Κωνσταντίνος Καβάφης «Κεριά» — Cavafy’s “Candles” — Greek, English, Russian, Spanish, Italian — and sung by Eirene Pappa January 1, 2021
- And a 2021 Happy New Year message to that special group of family and friends — you all know who you are… December 31, 2020
- Russia: the Pussy Riot’s 2021 New Year message on LGBTQ rights December 31, 2020
- Also lost to Covid in 2020: Soumitra Chatterjee December 31, 2020
- Therapy: This was really funny. Dunno if I agree but I laughed. December 31, 2020
- “We would lose WWII today.” December 31, 2020
- My favorite Serbian pop music videos from 2020 (not necessarily when they came out, but when I discovered them) December 31, 2020
- Luke Ranieri: “Christmas Eve with ScorpioMartianus 🎄 Latin & Greek Lesson · Christmas story from the Bible” — a live chat video everyone should watch December 31, 2020
- Wine, Baudelaire: “…a song full of joy, light and hope.” December 31, 2020
- FRANCE: “And the first thing you need to understand about that place is that it’s a hell of a lot more than a romantic little country from the past.” December 30, 2020
- Found this in a file of old unposted posts, and since 2020 felt more like 2000 than 2000 did, it might mark the loss of ANTHONY BOURDAIN, even if a little bit late: “When I die…” December 30, 2020
- City chauvinism and Zonaras’ lament December 30, 2020
- My Best of Byzantine Ambassador’s tweets for 2020 December 30, 2020
- Photo: More New York in the snow, Neill Libbert, December 1960 December 30, 2020
- Wonderful Jewish grandmother who speaks a ton of languages December 30, 2020
- Photo: Musa-paša Mosque in Nova Kasaba, Bosnia December 30, 2020
- The Ashta Nayika in Indian painting, some Krishna and Radha thoughts, Linus and Hinduism, and Byz Amb on “safe” sex December 30, 2020
- Photo: Sophia Loren and prosecco December 30, 2020
- CENGIZ AKTAR: Don’t think Turkey is going back to normal any time soon; its civil society institutions (for what they were, let’s not exaggerate) are just too damaged. December 29, 2020
- Map: HDP members jailed in Turkey, municipalities they come from and where they’re jailed December 29, 2020
- Erdie: “The people of Turkey are behind me!” December 29, 2020
- From — yes — Wiki: a good summary definition of “Archetype”, for when you use it with people and they have no clue what you’re talking about. December 29, 2020
- Minarets and belltowers and erections on Twitter December 29, 2020
- Agnès Poirier and Irish reunification December 29, 2020
- Croatian facho tourist prop on Balkan Insight December 28, 2020
- Nesi Altaras: “We do not live in the Ottoman Empire and we are not subjects. As citizens we demand and deserve EQUAL CITIZENSHIP not TOLERANCE.” December 28, 2020
- “France is a symbol…” December 28, 2020
- No one on new Greek Survivor 2021, SKAI, is good-looking, wtf? December 27, 2020
- Turkey and its Jews: Avlaremoz, the Varlık Vergisi and Şekip Bey, the appropriation of minority capital, Sephardic Jews and Spain December 26, 2020
- New header image from Sergey Paradzhanov’s “Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors” — Тіні забутих предків December 26, 2020
- Beautiful photos of Peter at Christmas, from Eraxite @Eraxite1 December 26, 2020
- Christmas Eve — A painting by Auschwitz survivor Janina Tollik December 25, 2020
- “If Jesus was born today…” December 25, 2020
- The Queen, from me, with no apologies. December 25, 2020
- “The Liberal mind is oversexualized…” says تاریخ خراسان December 25, 2020
- Carl Jung: “Ending Your Inner Civil War” December 24, 2020
- Frangiko Christmas damper December 24, 2020
- Radio Free Europe — Radio Liberty: “When The World Looked Away: The Destruction Of Julfa Cemetery” December 24, 2020
- Photo: Mughal painting of Christ and the Virgin Mary December 24, 2020
- Photo: Assyrian women in front of the Assyrian Mar Narsai Church in Nohadra, Northern Iraq…survivors December 24, 2020
- Photo: Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, 1930s December 24, 2020
- Photo: Russian forest December 24, 2020
- “El niño divino, que está cansado de llorar en la tierra por su descanso…” — Lope de Vega December 24, 2020
- The beautiful “Shirazi Turk”-ish kid from the corny German commercial December 24, 2020
- Photo: the Great Conjunction over Athens December 23, 2020
- Viken Berberian in the NYRB: Armenia’s Tragedy in Shushi — “Will the apocryphal stories continue or will one day both sides acknowledge the other’s memories?” December 23, 2020
- NikoBako reads: Dangers of Convenient Universalism: Power Relations and Responsibility of Scholars on the Hagia Sophia — Axel B. Çorlu: “The reconversion of Hagia Sophia is about power…” December 23, 2020
- NikoBako reads: Tom Holland on secularism, France, Islam… December 23, 2020
- Aaargh…what a nightmare…Christmas December 23, 2020
- Cormac Moore in the Irish News: “Partition 100 Years On: The Government of Ireland Act 1920, ‘a ghastly Christmas gift'” December 23, 2020
- “Whose are you?” December 23, 2020
- Winter Solstice — Fuzuli P.S. December 22, 2020
- Pontic Christmas Carols — the chilling sound of an orchestra of kemencedes…you feel like the earth’s moving under your feet. December 22, 2020
- Winter Solstice — Fuzuli December 21, 2020
- “Turks complete first freight train line to China”: Cool, can they go back home now? December 20, 2020
- Ukrainian Stepford Wives December 20, 2020
- Maraş massacre, 1978 December 19, 2020
- Feast of St. Nicholas on Julian Calendar, old post, and Срећна Cлава to all Serbian friends celebrating today December 19, 2020
- Agnès Poirier, one of the great journalist-celebrity crushes of my life, “liked” my tweet December 18, 2020
- Iason Athanasiadis, photo of Oran, Namara Smith on Kamel Daoud’s The Meursault Investigation, and Camus’ dis of said city December 18, 2020
- “Taliban use violence as leverage”: gee, thanks for that insight. December 18, 2020
- Missing snowstorms in New York, which are a lot of fun December 18, 2020
- Sometimes I even miss America December 18, 2020
- Germans, Turks, Christmas December 18, 2020
- Byz Amb on safe sex December 17, 2020
- Hanukkah in Ortaköy: It’s so nice to celebrate religious minorities’ culture when the minorities have been safely eliminated December 17, 2020
- “The only remaining democratic party in TR is HDP.” December 15, 2020
- Erdie: “America will pay the price.” December 15, 2020
- Sergey Bodrov, from film “Brother” (Брат), Trinity Bridge, Petersburg December 15, 2020
- Terence December 15, 2020
- Jews, Yiddish, past participles and the Rzeczpospolita December 15, 2020
- Rudeness in Europe: from a Quora discussion. I found these scarily accurate… December 15, 2020
- Photo: Moscow, Nikol’skaya Street December 15, 2020
- Sorry, only funny if you speak Greek and watch Greek Big Brother 2020 December 15, 2020
- Nationalism… December 15, 2020
- Photo: Connemara, county Galway, 1927– Three generations of Irish women stand outside their stone cottage. American photographer Clifton Royal Adams. December 14, 2020
- Hagia Sophia: a picture is worth a thousand words December 14, 2020
- Thirty largest cities in Europe, 1050 – 1800 A.D. December 13, 2020
- Heathcliff (I’m assuming): “I care nothing for your sufferings.” December 13, 2020
- Niko Pirosmani: Portrait of wine-pub owner on a red background December 12, 2020
- Even more beautiful Irish singing: The Rocky Road To Dublin – The Ramparts December 12, 2020
- Erdie and the EU: When it would be funny if it weren’t so depressing and worrisome December 12, 2020
- Alexandria’s Nuovo Teatro Alhambra, 1926 December 12, 2020
- Όταν θα πάω κυρά μου στο παζάρι, Irish edition December 12, 2020
- Great Macron photo, EU and Turkey December 12, 2020
- These are hilarious: “…Kyiv, Ukraine yesterday…people struggling to walk downhill due to ice covering the street…” December 12, 2020
- Today is International Mountain Day December 12, 2020
- Moscow Tavern — Московский трактир — Boris Kustodiev, 1916 December 11, 2020
- This is Fantastic! BILLIE JEAN (A CAPELLA TRÈS SPECIAL !!!) December 11, 2020
- Salonica p.s.: cool map December 8, 2020
- Ekathimerini: The ghosts of Thessaloniki are still here, by Leon Saltiel December 8, 2020
- P.P.S. Salonica and the myth of the Olympus view December 6, 2020
- P.S. Salonica and the myth of the Olympus view December 6, 2020
- From Ahval: “Rediscovering and re-evaluating the new Turkey” by Constantinopolitan Greek analyst Hercules Millas: Erdoğan and “Christianophobia” — yes, you read right — and the “limited ingredients” we have to work with. December 6, 2020
- Today is International Basque Language Day — who knew? 😳 …And another diatribe on the destructiveness of identity politics December 6, 2020
- Bosnian History @BosnianHistory posts beautiful old photos of Bosnia December 6, 2020
- Nostalgia for Yugo-land — and curses on those who destroyed it December 6, 2020
- Huah! Shout out to my homeboys in Lezarati! December 3, 2020
- The one about the Bosnian woman and pita… December 2, 2020
- Photo: Hadrian’s library. Athens. Night. Lockdown. December 2, 2020
- Video tour of recently restored Rüstem Paşa mosque, Istanbul December 1, 2020
- Photo: Ilissos and Acropolis, 1910 December 1, 2020
- Some tips that might help Neo-Greeks enjoy the beautiful Attic winters they’ve been blessed with December 1, 2020
- Photo: Abbot at Hilandar Serbian Serbian Orthodox monastery, Mt. Athos, 1912 November 30, 2020
- Photo: Herzegovina drought, 1917 November 30, 2020
- Padre Pio November 30, 2020
- Enes Kanter is a class act, II November 29, 2020
- Photo: Macron & Voltaire, France November 29, 2020
- Orwell: nationalist atrocities November 29, 2020
- Photo: Palermo locked down November 29, 2020
- Photo: Russian priest with communion chalice and peasant in countryside November 29, 2020
- Stephen Spender on Cavafy November 29, 2020
- Photo: Greek ladies have coffee and get together with neighbors despite quarantine November 29, 2020
- Photo: women in Trebizond, Pontus, 1890s November 27, 2020
- Iason Athanasiadis on Christmas in Greece, my comments and Kotsovolos’ Black Friday November 26, 2020
- “Islamophobia”: blah blah… Yasmine Mohammed November 26, 2020
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