At The New York Times Magazine, Nate Silver decided to try to apply his analytical chops to the question of “where to get the world’s best service.” He basically links standard tipping rates with survey responses about the customer service people received in 24 countries. The takeaway: All of this brings us to the Tipping […]
Dangerous political deadlock The ratification process of former Justice Minister Bernard Honorat Gousse, President Michel Martelly’s second nominee for prime minister, came down to the controversial divide between the technical or procedural vote and the political or personal vote. “I would vote against Gousse even if the other 29 senators voted for him,” declared Senator […]
A joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using billions of dollars of development aid as a tool for political oppression. Posing as tourists the team of journalists travelled to the southern region of Ethiopia.There they found villages where whole communities are […]
Today marks the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. At a ceremony held at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park today, Prime Minister Naoto Kan drew parallels between the atomic bombing and the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. He took the opportunity to expound on the importance for Japan to […]
“What has kept the world safe from the bomb since 1945 has not been deterrence, in the sense of fear of specific weapons, so much as it’s been memory. The memory of what happened at Hiroshima.” — John Hersey, Hiroshima Early in the morning of August 6th, 1945 — 66 years ago today — the […]
In a recent piece I authored at Dissent Magazine, I remarked about the ever-expanding income discrepancy between the rich and poor that has come to characterize Thailand as the region’s most evident and relevant example of class warfare. Not only were the results of the recent elections last month a manifestation of a nation-state’s proletariat […]
Over two dozen House Democrats are preparing a week-long trip to Israel and the West Bank only a month out from Palestinian attempts to unilaterally declare statehood and days after reports surfaced that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reversed his opposition to using 1967 borders as the baseline for negotiations. The group of Democrats […]
In Somalia famine spreads and its death toll rises. It is increasingly clear that while the famine’s proximate cause may be drought, in reality like so many famines this one is predominantly a political creation that emanates from al Shabaab, the al Qaeda-affiliated organization that is actively preventing food aid and other materiel to reach […]
The African National Congress (ANC) and the ANC Youth League have clashed over the issue of, of all things, politics in Botswana. Basically, the Youth League has called for political change in Botswana, supporting the the Botswana National Front, (BNF) which the Youth League calls its “ally,” instead of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). […]
Suzanne Trimel, Media Relations Director Amnesty International USA New York – Amnesty International today called the United Nations Security Council response to the bloodshed in Syria “completely inadequate” and “deeply disappointing” and pressed the Council for a “firm and legally binding” position imposing an arms embargo, freezing President Al-Assad’s assets and pursuing an international investigation […]
Two years and one conviction later, Mumbai was once again rocked by three serial bomb blasts last month (apparently to mark the 26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab’s birthday). Though smaller in comparison to the 26/11 terrorists attacks that killed some 166 people during a three day virtual siege on the city, the blasts on 13 July […]
NPR’s “Morning Edition” features an upbeat report by Jason Beaubien on Cuidad Juarez. Yes, Juarez: the border city in full grip of Mexico’s drug war. But the economy is thriving, adding jobs and exporting more goods to the United States than ever before. Car part factories are a big part of the city’s industrial base. […]
Both Israeli and U.S. politicians often discuss the shared values and interests of the two countries, but shared outcomes are also a big part of that package and emerge time and time again in the economic, foreign policy and security realms. As Washington struggled to cobble together a debt limit increase and deficit reduction […]
Tochigi became the fourth prefecture to have beef shipments suspended due to fears of radiation contamination. Tochigi joins Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi to find cattle contaminated with radioactive cesium after eating straw grown near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The straw was contaminated with 690,000 becquerels per kilogram, well over the government’s limit of […]
One of the latest news from the High Representative Ashton is the appointment of 25 new Heads of EU Delegations around the world. This new wave of appointments is part of the 2011 rotating period. The list of appointees is composed of 16 individuals from Member States, seven from the EEAS, and two from the […]