The Washington Post: Two decades before Aleppo, there was Srebrenica. “Never again,” the world promised.

Neither the representatives of Russia nor of the United States held back their views: To Russia, the resolution to recognize the killings of thousands of civilians as genocide was “politically motivated.” But for Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Russia's refusal to accept the resolution was “madness.”

These remarks were not part of a debate about Syria and the killings in Aleppo, however. They made headlines a year ago as the world commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, in which 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serbs, beginning on July 11, 1995. [...]

Although comparisons between Srebrenica and Aleppo have come from survivors of the former massacre themselves, experts point out one key difference: "News of the Srebrenica massacre was slow to trickle out," said Cameron Hudson, director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide. "Because of the internet and social media, we see in real time what is happening inside Aleppo."

Srebrenica nevertheless provides some indications of what might yet come in Syria: a decades-long continuation of hostilities in various ways and a refusal to fully acknowledge responsibility. Despite more evidence being found every year, Serbian denial of the full scale of the massacre is on the rise. [...]

The case of Srebrenica also puts a spotlight at the slow wheels of justice: As of last summer, only 14 individuals had been convicted of their involvement in the massacre. Radovan Karadzic, a former Bosnian Serb political leader and commander of military forces, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in March. But Karadzic and others are considered heroes by many Serbs, despite their proven crimes.

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The School of Life: Should We Laugh Or Should We Cry?

The Atlantic: The Problem With Obama's Faith in White America

In 2007, the very idea of a President Barack Obama was ridiculous to me. I was and am southern, god bless. I am black. I come from black people who are southerners even when they were New Yorkers for a spell. We are the black American story of enslavement, rural migration, urban displacement, resistance, boostrapping, mobility, and class fragility. In this milieu we, as a friend once described it, know our whites. To know our whites is to understand the psychology of white people and the elasticity of whiteness. It is to be intimate with some white persons but to critically withhold faith in white people categorically. It is to anticipate white people’s emotions and fears and grievances because their issues are singularly our problem. To know our whites is to survive without letting bitterness rot your soul. [...]

Back at home, the black people I know were positive that white people were crazy to think that he could win. My mother told me as much: “White people are crazy.” She, like me, knew her whites. I went home that night and told her that I had seen, not new whites, but white people doing what people do: coalescing around shared interests. Only their shared interests converged with my own. These white people were not new. They still had more money, more power than we had. They were as young as me but lived in million-dollar estates. They would still negotiate the daily experience of racial segregation in their neighborhoods and schools and jobs but they had, for a million reasons, chosen this black man as “their guy.” [...]

The other interpretation of liminality, or double-consciousness, that Obama is said to represent is more complicated. Not only does one trapped between two sets of social norms understand each better, but he is often blinded to the ways in which they are in conflict. Duality can breed insight but it can also breed delusions. The challenge of holding two sets of social selves, two ways of being and understanding the world at one time is to soften the edges so much that for the liminal, the edges no longer exist.

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Motherboard: This Japanese Company Wants to Sell You a Tiny Holographic Wife

Gatebox is new holographic home assistant that's similar to the Amazon Echo's Alexa, only more anthropomorphic—and creepier. Made by the Japanese company Vinclu Inc, the device is a transparent, voice-activated cylinder that displays a tiny holographic character named Azuma Hikari (presumably, other characters can be added later). Pre-orders for a limited production run of 300 units began today on Gatebox's website.

Hikari was created to be a "comforting character that is great for those living alone." The purpose of this cutesy anime character, blue hair, mini skirt, knee high socks and all, is to "do all she can just for the owner"—also referred to as "master." It seems designed specifically to appeal to lonely bachelors.

In this ad, Azuma wakes her master up in the morning, notifies him of the weather ("Take your umbrella"), and even coddles him with emotional support. During the day, while he's at work she texts him things like "Come home early" or "I can't wait to see you." When he finally gets home at the end of the day, she's already made sure all the lights are on and jumps up and down inside her little glass frame, exclaiming "Missed you, darling."

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Politico: Worker protection rules trigger East-West battle

The aim is to close loopholes in a two-decades-old law on “posted workers” that allow businesses to ship cheap labor from country to country to bypass stringent employment rules — so-called social dumping. According to the plans, posted workers should receive the same pay and benefits as local workers, with local employment rules kicking in after 24 months.

But while France and Germany are pushing hard for the changes, a number of mainly Central and Eastern European countries remain strongly opposed. In both the Council of the EU and the European Parliament — which must both agree on the changes before they become law — the same East-West splits have emerged. [...]

However, she wants the length of time workers can be treated as “posted” to be cut from 24 to 12 months, after which the employment regulations of the host country would kick in.

Not all MEPs are behind the changes, which are “motivated by public opinion, not facts,” said Martina Dlabajová, a Czech Liberal MEP. “Unfortunately, it is a false promise to workers who think their lives will be better. Instead, some of them might be out of work soon.”

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