Last year, in June, a study was released in South Africa which found that more than one in four men in South Africa admitted to raping a woman. During the World Cup, 30,000 women have been given condoms, or tampon-like devices, which have “teeth”, or hooks inside that attach to a man’s penis during penetration. Once […]
For those wanting better insight into the inner-workings of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, I highly recommend the lengthy and meaty transcript from the Council on Foreign Relations conversation with Michael Kazatchkine (the Global Fund’s Executive Director) earlier this month. Of note: …everything that we would fund is evidence-based, so all of […]
I noted in my post earlier this week, The British Are Coming, that in spite of a stubborn, wasteful sticking to its guns on nuclear power and CCS, the new coalition government headed by the Conservatives has got an awful lot to recommend it – certainly on paper. Well, David Cameron has lived up to […]
I’m back. Just in time to go away again for the holiday weekend. Take a moment to re-read the Declaration of Independence, why don’t you? All men are created equal. They are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Good stuff. But even better is Jeremy Bentham’s […]
In October 2008 I attended the International Anti-Corruption Conference. On a bus from the hotel to a reception, I sat next to someone named Julian Assange. At the time, I did not know who he was. He told me he worked for a group called Wikileaks, which was not a wiki but rather a website […]
Much needed relief from eurocratic Brussels was provided over the weekend by the folks at Festival Couleur Cafe. Founded in 1990 to highlight music from Africa and the Caribbean against the diverse background of Brussels, the promoters offer the somewhat confusing description of their carnival as it exists today: ” Couleur Café can no longer be rightfully […]
This week the battle against child trafficking has made huge hurdles with the introduction of a new bill, the Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Deterrence and Victims Support Act of 2010 (DMSTDVS). The bill was introduced this week by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who are the co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus […]
I mentioned my visit to the local British Consulate-General yesterday and some discussions there. I also mentioned the enviable climate and energy politics across the pond in “Oh, to be in England” a while back. The three major parties in the UK have had their differences, but as can be evidenced by the new coalition’s […]
In May I was invited to be an observer at the Scenarios Initiative of the Center for Global Affairs (CGA) at NYU. The focus of the session I attended was Turkey’s possible futures over the next decade. It is a fascinating and useful process, described on its website in the following way: The NYU Center […]
Editor&Publisher reports that some journalists covering anti G-20 protests over the weekend got caught up in the crowd and suffered the consequences. According to E&P, at least 3 journalists were beaten and arrested. The National Post reported its staff photographer, Brett Gundlock, was tackled and arrested by several police officers as they dispersed protesters near […]
Pope decries Belgian police raid over abuse allegations Pope Benedict XVI sharply condemned the decision by Belgian police to conduct a police raid on church property, seizing files, detaining bishops and even searching at least one cardinal’s tomb for evidence. The pope expressed solidarity with Belgian Archbishop André-Joseph Léonard, while the Vatican said that police […]
The City of Toronto, Canada – a truly international destination – was undoubtly proud to be the host of the G-20 Summit this past weekend, 26-27 June. As one of the very few developed nations hit hard by the global financial crisis, Canada grasped the opportunity to spruce up its image by investing more than $1Bn […]
Senate Homeland Security pushed through a comprehensive cybersecurity reform bill last week. (Writeup; bill text). It appears that cyber, for now, remains one of the areas in which the parties can work productively together, as it is co-sponsored by a Republican (Collins), Democrat (Carper), and Weasel Independent (Lieberman). It’s an interesting and important idea that the […]
With apologies to Longfellow, not to mention Paul Revere, I want to recount my recent, close encounters with the British here in New York. As I mentioned in passing here, I was invited to a discussion at the Consulate-General to talk about my thoughts regarding the state of play on climate change; what you, gentle […]
“The unbearable past.” That is how survivor Vann Nath describes the time he was imprisoned, tortured, beaten, and almost starved to death in Khmer Rouge-controlled Cambodia in the late 1970s. Director Rithy Panh, who himself was held in a labor camp for four years, strips the story to its essence. [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/8abZjVj0mu0″ width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” […]