This past weekend, more than 100 scholars and researchers from 12 Muslim countries met at the fifth annual Moderation Forum in Jordan. During the opening ceremony, Jordanian Minister of Culture Sabri Rbeihat urged the participants to support a clearer and truer image of Islam. He pointed out that there is often a major difference between […]
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 […]
Ageing Shanghai urges 2nd baby for eligible couples For the first time in decades, some officials are openly calling for Chinese to have more than one child. Shanghai city officials worry the rapidly increasing percentage of residents older than 60, combined with low birth rates, will tax the country’s ability to support its aging population. […]
I had the good fortune to be involved with some very smart activists back in the 1980s who were working on acid rain. One of these was the Environmental Defense Fund’s senior scientist Michael Oppenheimer. Michael’s been at Princeton for a number of years and among his many projects, he co-curated the compelling climate change […]
The IMF approved a $2.6 billion dollar loan for Sri Lanka over the objections five states who wanted human rights and policy conditions attached to the loan. As reported earlier on this blog, there are concerns about possible violation of humanitarian law committed by the government towards the end of the 26 year conflict, as […]
Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a […]
I’ve written about the revolution in low-tech. “Teach us delight in simple things …” are words, in my opinion, by which to live. I wrote about a different view of freedom in which the idea of using less energy and consuming fewer resources might actually be construed as liberating. I’ve quoted Bill McKibben in my […]
At the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy earlier this month, leaders came together to tell the world about all the great things they have in store for us. The money, the figures, and the promises. $20 billion will go to help feed the starving around the world. We’ve heard that one before at Gleneagles all […]
To add to the post, India Continues to Battle Against Child Labor, which the 1986 Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act that stated that children under fourteen years of age were prohibited to be employed in occupations deemed hazardous, and then the 2006 law, which banned the use of child labor for domestic purposes, and […]
A friend of mine recently commented that it seems like everything is a human right these days. He may be on to something. Case in point: Earlier today Intel appealed a landmark antitrust fine imposed on them by the European Union on the basis that the fine violated the company’s human rights. In May, the […]
Distinguished MIT professor Andrew W. Lo and private sector Research Analyst Jasmina Hasahodzic interviewed thirteen highly successful, award-winning market professionals who credit their investment acumen and success to technical analysis.
What should the United States do about Iran and its nuclear program? Is diplomacy still an option? Before she left on her trip to India and Thailand, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “We remain ready to engage with Iran, but the time for action is now. The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely.” […]
If the positions of the sun and the moon influence the future global balance of power, the solar eclipse seen today in Asia could mark the dawn of a new Asian century. This was the longest eclipse since July 11, 1991 (only months before the official dissolution of the Soviet Union) and there won’t be […]
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s repayments to the government of last year’s bailout money, including an agreement today to repay warrants, generated a 23 percent annualized return for U.S. taxpayers.
There has been much ink spilled lately over the fight between the Obama administration and the House and Senate over the fate of the F-22 Raptor. The administration was seeking to limit the number of planes to the 187 that had already been ordered, arguing that the advanced fighter, which has never seen combat, was […]