There are administrations that have been undermined as a result of disasters, but others have emerged from crises more powerful than before. The difference lies in how disasters and crises are handled. Taiwan is predisposed to earthquakes and storms and is experienced in handling the typhoon season that hits the island at this time every […]
Barbara Gonzalez I am reading Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America: Argentine Peronism in a Comparative Perspective by Steven Levitsky, who is currently is associate professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. Drawing from the literature on party change, Levitsky argues that loosely structured party organizations have a better chance of surviving environmental […]
The secretary of state finally gets a platter of her own at ITC Maurya’s Bukhara restaurant in New Delhi. The Hillary Platter–urgh malai kabab, seekh kabab, paneer tikka, tandoori aloo, sikandari raan, dal bukhara, tandoori jinga, mixed raita, naan, rasmalai and kulfi–joins the Presidential Platter and the Chelsea Platter. At the town hall meeting at […]
Mexico’s midterm election for its Chamber of Deputies, six governors and mayors and local legislators in 11 states will be held next Sunday July 5. The governing National Action Party (PAN) has deployed an agressive campaign that attempts to turn the elections into a referendum on President Felipe Calderón’s war against the drug cartels: either […]
By Klara Moradkhan Imagine having a strong desire to help others, and finally getting the opportunity to do so in the country you take pride in and love. Then imagine that same country suddenly imprisoning you, taking you away from your family, your friends and your humanitarian work. This happened to my dear cousin and […]
Who’s afraid of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s fondness of “mucho platos de arroz, gandoles y pernir—rice, beans and pork”? The Grand Old Party, apparently. I think that if there are questions about the influence of patitas de cerdo con garbanzo on her judicial philosophy during the confirmation hearings, it will be immensely entertaining for […]
Cross-strait relations between the Chinese mainland and the Republic of Taiwan have made significant progress with an extension of goodwill to Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which strives for Taiwanese independence. Earlier this month, Kaohsiung municipality Mayor Chen Chu became the highest ranking DPP official to have set foot on the mainland. Not only is […]
Last week Judge Sonia Sotomayor was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court. Politico is not alone in interpreting the move as part of the Obama administration’s “relentless courtship” of women and Latinos who were key in securing his election. Sonia Sotomayor’s appointment to the Supreme Court would be historic. She would be […]
My mom just drew my attention to what might be the greatest defense arms music video ever made. Earlier this year, Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems decided to celebrate the strengthening of India-Israel military ties and the virtues of its products in song and dance. In this Israeli video, a man decked out in a […]
The Congress Party wins big, while Hindu nationalists and communists lose out in the largest democratic elections in the world. And the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty keeps going and going… BBC’s vast election coverage (beaming with post-colonial pride) is worth checking out. India’s Finance Ministry is holding a contest to see who can come up with a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Today, we’re launching a new monthly feature called “On Our Bookshelves.” As the mysterious title suggests, it will feature our random thoughts on books that we’ve read, are currently reading or would like to read right after we finish reading all those other books we haven’t read. Enjoy, and please share your recommendations! Larissa Douglass […]
A website has been launched to help push for the release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who has been sentenced in Iran to eight years in prison on charges for spying for the United States. I don’t think I can add anything to the many articles that have already been written about the case. I […]
A Facebook Haggadah is born. Sample: “Joseph and Pharaoh are now friends…. Pharaoh sent The Israelites Bread of Affliction.” Ever wonder what happens to the leavened goods in Israel during Passover? PRI’s The World talks to Hussein Jaber, a Muslim catering manager at a Jerusalem hotel who gets them all! Barack Obama hosts what is […]