There are, it seems, three ways to endanger your job if you’re a public figure: you can call into a radio show to denigrate your boss as a clown, you can claim an affection for Hitler, or you can be linked to the Gaddafis. Howard Davies, the head of Britain’s prestigious London School of Economics, has just tendered his resignation over …
Human rights
New Info Campaign Tells French Citizens How To Be Burqa Vigilantes
It’s not exactly “wear a burqa, go to jail”, but the French state has begun a sloganeering information campaign aimed at dissuading a crime that has fueled growing public concern. As part of that effort, the government is reminding Muslim women who wear the full-body veil that they’ll soon be legally prohibited of being seen in …
Ripples of a Revolution: A Jasmine Crackdown in Vietnam
Nguyen Dan Que heard the call for revolution. But so did the government. On Feb. 28, the 68-year-old doctor and dissident was detained by Vietnamese authorities for posting internet messages that threatened the “stability and strength” of the country’s ruling party. He has since been released, but must attend daily “interrogation …
An ‘Interim’ Peace Deal? Israel’s Netanyahu Tries to Reheat a Souffle
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be forgiven for feeling just a wee bit lonely, right now. Events in the Middle East are increasingly passing him by, leaving him on the sidelines as the region’s history is being remade. And on Wednesday, one of Israel’s most senior veteran diplomats, Ilan Baruch, resigned from the …
March 3: Happy Mistress Day!
Mark your calendars: March 3 is Mistress Day in China. How are you going to celebrate this special occasion? According to the Shanghai Daily and the Global Times, an Internet community of third wheels has decided to designate 3/3 as their exclusive day. Here’s the scoop from the Global Times:
“An online forum advocating
…
South Africa’s Rainbow Nation: Still Stuck on Color
Two race scandals dominate the headlines in South Africa today, both of them concerning slurs against the colored community of the Western Cape, where I live. On Sunday, socialite Nomakula “Kuli” Roberts wrote a poorly conceived and dreadfully executed column about the characteristics supposedly shared by all colored women in her Bitch’s …
How Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws Are Tearing The Country Apart
In a sign of Pakistan’s increasing instability gunmen attacked and killed Pakistan’s minister for religious minorities earlier this morning. Shahbaz Bhatti, a member of Pakistan’s minority Christian community, had been vocal about Pakistan’s draconian anti-blasphemy laws. And he is not the first: in January, Salmaan Taseer, the …
Why ‘Domestic’ Work is a Global Issue
If there was a runner-up award for oldest profession, ‘servant’ would certainly have a shot. But domestic work, like sex work, is rarely treated as real labor, which explains in part why domestic laborers are all-too-often abused, their triumphs downplayed, their work swept under the door. It also explains why, despite links to slavery, …
After Egypt, A Palestinian Techie Takes to the Streets
Like most Palestinian children, Mohammad Khatib was raised to avoid politics, widely understood as a shortcut to an early grave or an Israeli prison. Khatib took the advice and bent to his studies. But on Feb. 2 he noticed that a friend had updated her Facebook status to say she was going to demonstrate in solidarity with Egyptians …
Zimbabwe: Virtually No Revolution
There’s been much speculation about whether Egyptian-style uprisings might spread south across the Sahara into Africa, particularly to the seat of the continent’s most notorious despot, Robert Mugabe. Mugabe’s regime has been particularly paranoid about the possibility, arresting 46 people for watching news reports of the rebellions in …
Gaddafi’s Ministry of Silly Outfits: a TIME Gallery
We mentioned in an earlier post that, yes, it has become a little cliche to gawk at Muammar Gaddafi’s sartorial decision-making. Unlike other publications, we even deliberately refrained from publishing our amassed photos of the now-isolated Libyan dictator’s wardrobe while security forces in his employ gunned down ordinary Libyans. …
With Friends Like the Gaddafis…
It seems only yesterday (actually it was last November) that students from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an institution of such international renown that like the BBC it usually goes by a three-letter acronym, led protests about changes to the funding of higher education in Britain. Once again, LSE students are …
Tomb Robbers Rejoice! The Death Penalty No Longer Applies in China
Convicted in China of tax fraud, grave-robbing or fossil-smuggling? Good news. In a country that reportedly executes more people than the rest of the world combined, these crimes will no longer merit the death penalty. As of May 1, China will decrease the number of crimes punishable by execution to a mere 55, down from 68. Those offenses …