Enjoy Poverty is a disturbing 80 minute film that attempts to expose and lay bare the inherent viciousness of poverty’s status quo. It draws parallels between the economics of poverty and the psychology of western consumption and aid. It attempts to symbolize the perversity of our own societies, the dramas and the obscure fascination we have with death. […]
There are many things that are wrong with the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner. For one, how do Tyra Banks and Jim Cramer qualify as White House correspondents? Comedian Wanda Sykes hosted this year’s schmoozing extravaganza. She had her moments but adopted some of the tactics of Rush Limbaugh, whose kidneys she had wished to […]
Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate the women who gives us life, the women who raise us and while one things there is only one mother for each child, they are often not one in the same. Many women unselfishly give up their children, so that another can give their child the life they […]
There is something terribly disturbing about it all. Since 2003, the US has imprisoned 43,000 people seeking asylum. The Department of Homeland Security has increased immigration detention beds by 78% says Human Rights First. Jailed in Texas. Why does that not seem surprising? A teacher who fled the persecution and beatings in Burma arrived in […]
“It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” – Mother Teresa of Calcutta Over a billion people across the globe live on less than a dollar a day, placing them in extreme poverty. Moderate poverty is defined as those living, on $1 to $2 a […]
Last year when I walked through the urban centre of Tbilisi I was struck by the vibrancy of its people. It’s a rare feeling, an energy that permeates through all senses. This was a month before the war broke out. It was hard to believe that refugees would soon be flooding this cultural oasis – […]
The following was originally published by the author on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009, on the Examiner, in a follow-up to the piece posted Wednesday, April 29th, 2009, The United States and The Rights of the Child, the debate on the United States has heated-up once again. US opponents of the UN Convention on the Rights […]
Watchdog gives World Bank mixed review on health The World Bank’s HIV/AIDS programs have failed to produce satisfactory results during the past decade, with the worst performances in Africa, where the disease is most heavily concentrated, according to an internal Bank review. Complicated program design and limited government capabilities hampered the HIV/AIDS efforts, and the […]
The Lebanese are told to kiss their kiss on the cheek greeting goodbye. As Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh put it, “If you visit someone, don’t exchange kisses… Let’s stop the social kissing habit.” The Egyptian government takes U.N.’s “it has nothing to do with pigs” advice to heart by ordering the slaughter of all of […]
The past week has seen an armada of reports on President Obama’s first 100 days in office. Nicholas Kristof has this brief, but challenging column, suggesting in light of the myriad global crises, the Administration has not done enough about Darfur. Meanwhile, Kevin Heller notes that at least one African leader is finally starting to […]
So often the world sits idly by, watching ethnic conflicts flare up, as if these were mere entertainment rather than human beings whose lives are being destroyed. Shouldn’t the existence of even one single refugee be a cause for alarm throughout the world? – Urkhan Alakbarov (Azerbaijani geneticist, Professor and contributor to a number of […]
Supreme Court Justice David Souter announced Friday he would leave his post. Michigan’s Gov. Jennifer Granholm has been floated as a possible replacement, among others. Thought Souter is known for his migration from a conservative voice to one of the more liberal justices on the Supreme Court, U.S. President Barack Obama will not be able […]
The winners of the 2009 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards were announced today by the Jane Addams Peace Association. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai, written and illustrated by Claire A. Nivola, is the winner in the Books for Younger Children Category. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari […]
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has had its fair share of criticisms throughout its short existence. The accusation of double standards is a common one. Why does the ICC seem to focus all its energy on Africa? What about Israel, what about North Korea, what about torture during the Bush Administration? The ICC is a […]
Teen loitering is nothing new in any corner of the globe, in fact its a mainstay that appears to transcend most ethnic divides. For what does one do when you simply have no where to go, parents cramp your young adult style, you tend to have little money, and there really isn’t any place to […]