Thursday, January 7, 2016
Monday, January 4, 2016
Why did Saudi Arabia cause a crisis with Iran?
Alan Philps
THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS July 2015, Volume 71, Number 2
Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are higher now than at any time since the 1980s. But why has Saudi Arabia set off a crisis with Iran by executing the Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr... ... at a time when arguably the greatest threat the Saudi royal family faces is from the jihadists of Islamic State? As Jane Kinninmont reports, there are heated debates in Riyadh on which of these two threats to prioritize. The interior minister, Mohammed bin Nayef, who is also the Crown Prince and was nearly assassinated by al Al-Qaeda suicide bomber in 2009, is said to focus on the jihadists, while the King’s son, the defence minister, Mohammed bin Salman, appears to be more concerned by Iran. The net effect is that the western goal of rallying regional forces against Islamic State in Syria will have to wait for détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a fast-receding prospect.
As for Iran itself, the expected lifting of oil and banking sanctions will give a new push to its ambitions of greater regional influence. Sanam Vakil argues that the rival factions in Tehran are united in their desire to see the end of sanctions leading to a resurgent Iran. But they disagree on whether to pursue this goal by diplomatic means, as evidenced in last year’s agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear programme, or by the asymmetric means favoured by the Revolutionary Guard, with its proxy forces stretching from Iraq through Syria to Lebanon. Probably Iran will continue to deploy both, as the battle for the future of Iran is fought at home and abroad. As for Israel, clearly the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has lost his fight to shut down Iran’s nuclear programme and now has Iranian forces and their proxies across the Syrian border propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad. This looks like a double defeat. But in fact the arrival of Russian forces in Syria is providing some comfort for Israel, writes Meir Javedanfar. Vladimir Putin is now the senior foreign player in Syria, and he is not looking to mess with Israel nor is he likely to look kindly on Iran trying to do so.
READ MORE......
THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS July 2015, Volume 71, Number 2
Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are higher now than at any time since the 1980s. But why has Saudi Arabia set off a crisis with Iran by executing the Shia cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr... ... at a time when arguably the greatest threat the Saudi royal family faces is from the jihadists of Islamic State? As Jane Kinninmont reports, there are heated debates in Riyadh on which of these two threats to prioritize. The interior minister, Mohammed bin Nayef, who is also the Crown Prince and was nearly assassinated by al Al-Qaeda suicide bomber in 2009, is said to focus on the jihadists, while the King’s son, the defence minister, Mohammed bin Salman, appears to be more concerned by Iran. The net effect is that the western goal of rallying regional forces against Islamic State in Syria will have to wait for détente between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a fast-receding prospect.
As for Iran itself, the expected lifting of oil and banking sanctions will give a new push to its ambitions of greater regional influence. Sanam Vakil argues that the rival factions in Tehran are united in their desire to see the end of sanctions leading to a resurgent Iran. But they disagree on whether to pursue this goal by diplomatic means, as evidenced in last year’s agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear programme, or by the asymmetric means favoured by the Revolutionary Guard, with its proxy forces stretching from Iraq through Syria to Lebanon. Probably Iran will continue to deploy both, as the battle for the future of Iran is fought at home and abroad. As for Israel, clearly the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has lost his fight to shut down Iran’s nuclear programme and now has Iranian forces and their proxies across the Syrian border propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad. This looks like a double defeat. But in fact the arrival of Russian forces in Syria is providing some comfort for Israel, writes Meir Javedanfar. Vladimir Putin is now the senior foreign player in Syria, and he is not looking to mess with Israel nor is he likely to look kindly on Iran trying to do so.
READ MORE......
How student completion rates vary across Europe
By Ellie Bothwell
TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION - January 1, 2016
A comparison of some of the national policies aimed at addressing study success
How do countries across the European Union compare in ensuring that students complete a degree course? A report released by the European Commission (EC) last month looked in-depth at the issue and here are some of its findings.
Denmark
Completion rate: 81 per cent
Denmark is among the top performers in Europe with regard to completion rates, although this figure dropped by 4 percentage points between 2005 and 2011, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Further data collected for the European Commission report, based on a survey answered by national experts, reveals that there is a 6 percentage point gap between completion rates for bachelor’s students (79 per cent) and master’s students (85 per cent). In 2013, the Danish government introduced reforms that mean the funding of students and institutions is dependent on students’ achievements. The introduction of a mandatory study plan system means that full-time students are obliged to select course packages of at least 60 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits per year (or 30 per semester), they cannot withdraw from the exams related to these courses, and they must enrol for new courses each year.
READ MORE.....
TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION - January 1, 2016
A comparison of some of the national policies aimed at addressing study success
How do countries across the European Union compare in ensuring that students complete a degree course? A report released by the European Commission (EC) last month looked in-depth at the issue and here are some of its findings.
Denmark
Completion rate: 81 per cent
Denmark is among the top performers in Europe with regard to completion rates, although this figure dropped by 4 percentage points between 2005 and 2011, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Further data collected for the European Commission report, based on a survey answered by national experts, reveals that there is a 6 percentage point gap between completion rates for bachelor’s students (79 per cent) and master’s students (85 per cent). In 2013, the Danish government introduced reforms that mean the funding of students and institutions is dependent on students’ achievements. The introduction of a mandatory study plan system means that full-time students are obliged to select course packages of at least 60 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits per year (or 30 per semester), they cannot withdraw from the exams related to these courses, and they must enrol for new courses each year.
READ MORE.....
Telecommuting Can Make the Office a Lonely Place, a Study Says
By PHYLLIS KORKKI
THE NEW YORK TIMES - JAN. 2, 2016
Ever since telecommuting became a viable option for a broad spectrum of workers, some companies have offered it as a tempting perk. Why not make workers happier by allowing them to spend more time with their families, avoid long commutes and exert more control over their schedules? Plus, off-site work enables businesses to save money on real estate and hire talented people who live in far-flung locations. If managers have had doubts about telecommuting, they have centered on whether people working from home will be as productive as they are in the office and if some form of monitoring is necessary, said Kevin W. Rockmann, an associate management professor at George Mason University.
READ MORE.....
THE NEW YORK TIMES - JAN. 2, 2016
Ever since telecommuting became a viable option for a broad spectrum of workers, some companies have offered it as a tempting perk. Why not make workers happier by allowing them to spend more time with their families, avoid long commutes and exert more control over their schedules? Plus, off-site work enables businesses to save money on real estate and hire talented people who live in far-flung locations. If managers have had doubts about telecommuting, they have centered on whether people working from home will be as productive as they are in the office and if some form of monitoring is necessary, said Kevin W. Rockmann, an associate management professor at George Mason University.
READ MORE.....
Q&A with an 'authoritative insider' on China’s supply side structural reform
People's Daily Online - January 04, 2016
China will put more emphasis on supply side structural reform in 2016 to ensure sustainable and sound economic development. This is an especially opportune time to do so since 2016 is the first year of China’s 13th Five Year Plan.
In an exclusive interview with People’s Daily, an "authoritative insider" offered his interpretation of the details of China’s supply side structural reform.
Q: What are the implications of supply side structural reform?
A: There are numerous interpretations of the term. Based on China’s current national condition, it can be understood as “supply side + structural + reform,” which means starting from elevating the supply quality, then restructuring the economy, reallocating resources and expanding effective supply.
Q: Why is supply side structural reform being highlighted right now?
A: The reform was decided on after careful deliberation about China’s economic situation. New economic risks are emerging from falling economic growth, industrial commodity price, corporate profit and the growth rate of fiscal revenue.
READ MORE.....
China will put more emphasis on supply side structural reform in 2016 to ensure sustainable and sound economic development. This is an especially opportune time to do so since 2016 is the first year of China’s 13th Five Year Plan.
In an exclusive interview with People’s Daily, an "authoritative insider" offered his interpretation of the details of China’s supply side structural reform.
Q: What are the implications of supply side structural reform?
A: There are numerous interpretations of the term. Based on China’s current national condition, it can be understood as “supply side + structural + reform,” which means starting from elevating the supply quality, then restructuring the economy, reallocating resources and expanding effective supply.
Q: Why is supply side structural reform being highlighted right now?
A: The reform was decided on after careful deliberation about China’s economic situation. New economic risks are emerging from falling economic growth, industrial commodity price, corporate profit and the growth rate of fiscal revenue.
READ MORE.....
Mapped: The Taliban Surged in 2015, but ISIS Is Moving In on Its Turf
By Paul McLeary, Dan De Luce, C.K. Hickey
FOREIGN POLICY - January 4, 2016
With the Islamic State dominating headlines in 2015, Afghanistan went back to being America’s forgotten war. That made it easier to ignore the fact that the Taliban now control more territory than at any time since 2001. With U.S. and NATO troops ending their combat mission in the country, the Taliban are attacking Afghanistan’s security personnel on multiple fronts. And while the U.S.-trained Afghan troops are in many areas fighting harder than in Iraq, the result has nevertheless been a string of defeats and steady militant gains. To make matters worse, the Islamic State has also steadily expanded its presence in Afghanistan, battling it out with the Taliban in the country’s east while importing some of the brutal tactics it honed in Iraq and Syria. The past year hasn’t been kind to the Afghan security forces, who have suffered record casualties after taking the lead in the fighting. The Taliban also quickly rushed in to take advantage of the space created by NATO closing hundreds of combat outposts across the country, clawing back hard-won ground in the country’s south, north, and east, highlighted on the map below.
READ MORE....
FOREIGN POLICY - January 4, 2016
With the Islamic State dominating headlines in 2015, Afghanistan went back to being America’s forgotten war. That made it easier to ignore the fact that the Taliban now control more territory than at any time since 2001. With U.S. and NATO troops ending their combat mission in the country, the Taliban are attacking Afghanistan’s security personnel on multiple fronts. And while the U.S.-trained Afghan troops are in many areas fighting harder than in Iraq, the result has nevertheless been a string of defeats and steady militant gains. To make matters worse, the Islamic State has also steadily expanded its presence in Afghanistan, battling it out with the Taliban in the country’s east while importing some of the brutal tactics it honed in Iraq and Syria. The past year hasn’t been kind to the Afghan security forces, who have suffered record casualties after taking the lead in the fighting. The Taliban also quickly rushed in to take advantage of the space created by NATO closing hundreds of combat outposts across the country, clawing back hard-won ground in the country’s south, north, and east, highlighted on the map below.
READ MORE....
Should PhD students be classed as employees?
Tom Livermore and Jamie Gallagher
THE GUARDIAN - Thursday 16 July 2015
Two early-career researchers go head-to-head to argue for and against defining PhD candidates as fully-fledged university employees
Queen Mary University of London wants to change the status of its PhD students to that of employees. A current and a former PhD student argue for and against this change.
Against employee status
Tom Livermore, PhD Student at University College London, says: While I recognise that there are advantages associated with employment, I believe that remaining a student provides significant benefits of its own and better reflects the training element of a doctorate. The most common concern of my peers was what might happen to our pay. At present, our stipends are exempt from tax, making our reasonable, but not extravagant, earnings more comparable with other graduate salaries. Losing our student status would mean either an effective pay cut through taxation, or perhaps a compensatory increase in our funding. In this case training a PhD candidate would become more expensive; potentially meaning funding bodies would be able to support fewer PhDs, not a desirable outcome to my mind.
READ MORE.....
THE GUARDIAN - Thursday 16 July 2015
Two early-career researchers go head-to-head to argue for and against defining PhD candidates as fully-fledged university employees
Queen Mary University of London wants to change the status of its PhD students to that of employees. A current and a former PhD student argue for and against this change.
Against employee status
Tom Livermore, PhD Student at University College London, says: While I recognise that there are advantages associated with employment, I believe that remaining a student provides significant benefits of its own and better reflects the training element of a doctorate. The most common concern of my peers was what might happen to our pay. At present, our stipends are exempt from tax, making our reasonable, but not extravagant, earnings more comparable with other graduate salaries. Losing our student status would mean either an effective pay cut through taxation, or perhaps a compensatory increase in our funding. In this case training a PhD candidate would become more expensive; potentially meaning funding bodies would be able to support fewer PhDs, not a desirable outcome to my mind.
READ MORE.....
Oman criticizes Saudi Arabia for cutting ties with Iran
TREND NEWS AGENCY - 4 January 2016
Oman's Ambassador to Tehran Saud bin Ahmad al-Bardani criticized Saudi Arabia for severing relations with Iran, Fars News reported.
"Regardless of its cause, this has definitely been an unwise action conducted through an incorrect method," Bardani said in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Monday, referring to Riyadh's severance of diplomatic ties with Iran.
"I believe Saudi Arabia, through its recent measure, is after pressuring Iran and overshadowing the nuclear agreement (between Tehran and the world powers)," he added.
Bardani referred to the critical situation in the regional states, including Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and said, "In the current conditions, we need tranquility in the region instead of exacerbation of the crises."
READ MORE.....
Oman's Ambassador to Tehran Saud bin Ahmad al-Bardani criticized Saudi Arabia for severing relations with Iran, Fars News reported.
"Regardless of its cause, this has definitely been an unwise action conducted through an incorrect method," Bardani said in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in Tehran on Monday, referring to Riyadh's severance of diplomatic ties with Iran.
"I believe Saudi Arabia, through its recent measure, is after pressuring Iran and overshadowing the nuclear agreement (between Tehran and the world powers)," he added.
Bardani referred to the critical situation in the regional states, including Syria, Iraq and Yemen, and said, "In the current conditions, we need tranquility in the region instead of exacerbation of the crises."
READ MORE.....
China probes 64 state-owned firm officials
English.news.cn 2016-01-04
BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-four officials from Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) administrated by central authorities have been investigated by the end of November 2015, the top anti-graft watchdog said Monday.
The probed SOE executives are largely from firms in energy, communication, transportation and machine manufacturing, with 39 percent of the total number from energy enterprises, the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement.
Among the 64 officials, 56 percent were top leaders of the centrally-administrated SOEs, according to the statement.
Anti-graft inspection teams were sent to SOEs by the central authority starting from 2013 and have covered all 55 centrally-administrated SOEs in the past two years.
"The outstanding problems with SOEs include weakened Party leadership over the firms, abuse of power in exchange for illegal profit, personnel selection and promotion, as well as undesirable work and life styles," it said.
READ MORE.....
BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-four officials from Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) administrated by central authorities have been investigated by the end of November 2015, the top anti-graft watchdog said Monday.
The probed SOE executives are largely from firms in energy, communication, transportation and machine manufacturing, with 39 percent of the total number from energy enterprises, the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said in a statement.
Among the 64 officials, 56 percent were top leaders of the centrally-administrated SOEs, according to the statement.
Anti-graft inspection teams were sent to SOEs by the central authority starting from 2013 and have covered all 55 centrally-administrated SOEs in the past two years.
"The outstanding problems with SOEs include weakened Party leadership over the firms, abuse of power in exchange for illegal profit, personnel selection and promotion, as well as undesirable work and life styles," it said.
READ MORE.....
The Most Chinese Schools in America
By Tea Leaf Nation Staff
FOREIGN POLICY - January 4, 2016
Here’s where all those Chinese students are going -- from New York to Silicon Valley to the American heartland.
In the 1970s, they came from Iran, riding the wave of the oil boom. Then in the first decade of the second millennium, they came from India, filling up graduate programs in business and science. Now, it’s Chinese students who comprise the largest group of international pupils in the United States, buoyed by a growing Chinese middle class that’s willing to pay top dollar for their children’s educations. According to an annual report by the Institute of International Education (IIE), in the 2014-2015 academic year more than 304,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, an almost five-fold increase from just a decade earlier.
READ MORE....
FOREIGN POLICY - January 4, 2016
Here’s where all those Chinese students are going -- from New York to Silicon Valley to the American heartland.
In the 1970s, they came from Iran, riding the wave of the oil boom. Then in the first decade of the second millennium, they came from India, filling up graduate programs in business and science. Now, it’s Chinese students who comprise the largest group of international pupils in the United States, buoyed by a growing Chinese middle class that’s willing to pay top dollar for their children’s educations. According to an annual report by the Institute of International Education (IIE), in the 2014-2015 academic year more than 304,000 Chinese students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, an almost five-fold increase from just a decade earlier.
READ MORE....
Sunday, January 3, 2016
ULUSLARARASI ILISKILERE GIRIS: FINAL SINAVI SALI GUNU SAAT 12:30'DA SINIFTA
Degerli arkadaslar,
Ilk once hepinizin yeni yilini kutlar, yeni yilin size ve ailienize, ulkemize ve insanliga mutluluk, huzur baris ve saglik getirmesini dilerim.
Final sinavi Sali GUNU SINIFTA SAAT 12:30-13:30 ARASI YAPILACAKTIR.
SINAV ICIN ASAGIDAKI BOLUMLERDEN SORUMLUSUNUZ:
DAHA ONCEKI SINAVLARDA CIKAN SORULARDAN 15 TANE
C10. Isbirligi
C11. Uluslararasi Sistem
C12. Uluslararasi Hukuk
C13. Uluslararasi Orgutler
C14. Uluslararasi Politik Ekonomi
C15. Uluslararasi Mudahale
C16. Demokrasi
C17. Insan Haklari
C18. Kuresellesme
C19. Aktor
C20. Oyun Kurami
C21. Analiz Duzeyi Problemi
4. KONULAR
D1. Birlesmis Milletler
D2. Kitle Imha Silahlari ve Silahsizlanma
D3. Azgelismislik ve Kalkinma
D4. Cevre Sorunlari ve Kursel Iklim Degisikligi
D5. Nufus Hareketleri ve Goc
D6. Enerji
D7. Milliyetcilik ve Etnik Catismalar
D8. Avrupa Birligi
D9. Cin’in Yukselisi
D10. Dunya Siyasetinde Afrika
D11. Arap Bahari
D12. Basarisiz Devletler
D13. 11 Eylul Teror Eylemi ve Kuresel Duzen
D14. Toplumsal Hareketler
D15. Siber Savaslar
Eger bir sorunuz olursa bana iletmekten cekinmeyin.
Tugrul
OFIS SAATLERI: Carsamba 13:30-16:30
http://internationalstudiesandsociology.blogspot.com.tr/
Ilk once hepinizin yeni yilini kutlar, yeni yilin size ve ailienize, ulkemize ve insanliga mutluluk, huzur baris ve saglik getirmesini dilerim.
Final sinavi Sali GUNU SINIFTA SAAT 12:30-13:30 ARASI YAPILACAKTIR.
SINAV ICIN ASAGIDAKI BOLUMLERDEN SORUMLUSUNUZ:
DAHA ONCEKI SINAVLARDA CIKAN SORULARDAN 15 TANE
C10. Isbirligi
C11. Uluslararasi Sistem
C12. Uluslararasi Hukuk
C13. Uluslararasi Orgutler
C14. Uluslararasi Politik Ekonomi
C15. Uluslararasi Mudahale
C16. Demokrasi
C17. Insan Haklari
C18. Kuresellesme
C19. Aktor
C20. Oyun Kurami
C21. Analiz Duzeyi Problemi
4. KONULAR
D1. Birlesmis Milletler
D2. Kitle Imha Silahlari ve Silahsizlanma
D3. Azgelismislik ve Kalkinma
D4. Cevre Sorunlari ve Kursel Iklim Degisikligi
D5. Nufus Hareketleri ve Goc
D6. Enerji
D7. Milliyetcilik ve Etnik Catismalar
D8. Avrupa Birligi
D9. Cin’in Yukselisi
D10. Dunya Siyasetinde Afrika
D11. Arap Bahari
D12. Basarisiz Devletler
D13. 11 Eylul Teror Eylemi ve Kuresel Duzen
D14. Toplumsal Hareketler
D15. Siber Savaslar
Eger bir sorunuz olursa bana iletmekten cekinmeyin.
Tugrul
OFIS SAATLERI: Carsamba 13:30-16:30
http://internationalstudiesandsociology.blogspot.com.tr/
Friday, January 1, 2016
$60 Trillion of World Debt in One Visualization
Jeff Desjardins on August 6, 2015
Two weeks ago, we published a post showing the world economy in one visualization.
In the corresponding comments section, a user asked us if we could put
together a similar visualization but instead honing in on world debt.
Today’s visualization breaks down $59.7 trillion of world debt by country, as well as highlighting each country’s debt-to-GDP ratio using colour. The data comes from the IMF and only covers public government debt. It excludes the debt of country’s citizens and businesses, as well as unfunded liabilities which are not yet technically incurred yet. All figures are based on USD.
The numbers that stand out the most, especially when comparing to the previous world economy graphic:
READ MORE.....
Today’s visualization breaks down $59.7 trillion of world debt by country, as well as highlighting each country’s debt-to-GDP ratio using colour. The data comes from the IMF and only covers public government debt. It excludes the debt of country’s citizens and businesses, as well as unfunded liabilities which are not yet technically incurred yet. All figures are based on USD.
The numbers that stand out the most, especially when comparing to the previous world economy graphic:
- The United States constitutes 23.3% of the world economy but 29.1% of world debt. It’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 103.4% using IMF figures.
- Japan makes up only 6.18% of total economic production, but has amounted 19.99% of global debt.
- China, the world’s second largest economy (and largest by other measures), accounts for 13.9% of production. They only have 6.25% of world debt and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 39.4%.
- 7 of the 15 countries with the most total debt are European. Together, excluding Russia, the European continent holds over 26% of total world debt.
READ MORE.....
Why the modern world is bad for your brain
In an era of email, text messages, Facebook and Twitter, we’re all required to do several things at once. But this constant multitasking is taking its toll. Here neuroscientist Daniel J Levitin explains how our addiction to technology is making us less efficient
Daniel J Levitin Q&A
THE GUARDIAN - JAN 18, 2015
Our brains are busier than ever before. We’re assaulted with facts, pseudo facts, jibber-jabber, and rumour, all posing as information. Trying to figure out what you need to know and what you can ignore is exhausting. At the same time, we are all doing more. Thirty years ago, travel agents made our airline and rail reservations, salespeople helped us find what we were looking for in shops, and professional typists or secretaries helped busy people with their correspondence. Now we do most of those things ourselves. We are doing the jobs of 10 different people while still trying to keep up with our lives, our children and parents, our friends, our careers, our hobbies, and our favourite TV shows.
Our smartphones have become Swiss army knife–like appliances that include a dictionary, calculator, web browser, email, Game Boy, appointment calendar, voice recorder, guitar tuner, weather forecaster, GPS, texter, tweeter, Facebook updater, and flashlight. They’re more powerful and do more things than the most advanced computer at IBM corporate headquarters 30 years ago. And we use them all the time, part of a 21st-century mania for cramming everything we do into every single spare moment of downtime. We text while we’re walking across the street, catch up on email while standing in a queue – and while having lunch with friends, we surreptitiously check to see what our other friends are doing. At the kitchen counter, cosy and secure in our domicile, we write our shopping lists on smartphones while we are listening to that wonderfully informative podcast on urban beekeeping.
READ MORE......
Daniel J Levitin Q&A
THE GUARDIAN - JAN 18, 2015
Our brains are busier than ever before. We’re assaulted with facts, pseudo facts, jibber-jabber, and rumour, all posing as information. Trying to figure out what you need to know and what you can ignore is exhausting. At the same time, we are all doing more. Thirty years ago, travel agents made our airline and rail reservations, salespeople helped us find what we were looking for in shops, and professional typists or secretaries helped busy people with their correspondence. Now we do most of those things ourselves. We are doing the jobs of 10 different people while still trying to keep up with our lives, our children and parents, our friends, our careers, our hobbies, and our favourite TV shows.
Our smartphones have become Swiss army knife–like appliances that include a dictionary, calculator, web browser, email, Game Boy, appointment calendar, voice recorder, guitar tuner, weather forecaster, GPS, texter, tweeter, Facebook updater, and flashlight. They’re more powerful and do more things than the most advanced computer at IBM corporate headquarters 30 years ago. And we use them all the time, part of a 21st-century mania for cramming everything we do into every single spare moment of downtime. We text while we’re walking across the street, catch up on email while standing in a queue – and while having lunch with friends, we surreptitiously check to see what our other friends are doing. At the kitchen counter, cosy and secure in our domicile, we write our shopping lists on smartphones while we are listening to that wonderfully informative podcast on urban beekeeping.
READ MORE......
How Diversity Destroyed Affirmative Action
Once race-conscious admissions stopped being about equity and reparation, the only argument for it was the enrichment of white students. That was never going to hold up.
By Sigal Alon
THE NATION - December 16, 2015
T he recent wave of campus protests further confirm what we all know: Race is still an open wound in America, and racial discrimination and racism still exist in the United States. Despite the great achievements of the civil-rights movement, including affirmative action in higher education and the workplace, black people still suffer the ramifications of centuries of discrimination and the accumulated burden of their imposed subordination. But campus protests may not only be a backlash against persistent discrimination, racism and inequality, but also a display of a long-lasting frustration with the fact that these problems are not acknowledged in the public sphere. Indeed, among the demands made by the student protesters is that universities acknowledge historic injustices and issue formal, public apologies. There is no better place to illustrate this point than the current debate about affirmative action in college admissions, which reached the Supreme Court last week with the oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas.
READ MORE.....
By Sigal Alon
THE NATION - December 16, 2015
T he recent wave of campus protests further confirm what we all know: Race is still an open wound in America, and racial discrimination and racism still exist in the United States. Despite the great achievements of the civil-rights movement, including affirmative action in higher education and the workplace, black people still suffer the ramifications of centuries of discrimination and the accumulated burden of their imposed subordination. But campus protests may not only be a backlash against persistent discrimination, racism and inequality, but also a display of a long-lasting frustration with the fact that these problems are not acknowledged in the public sphere. Indeed, among the demands made by the student protesters is that universities acknowledge historic injustices and issue formal, public apologies. There is no better place to illustrate this point than the current debate about affirmative action in college admissions, which reached the Supreme Court last week with the oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas.
READ MORE.....
The Anglo Connection: Why Do So Many Jewish Terrorists Come From the English-speaking World?
From the suspects in the Duma arson case to the revelers in the ‘wedding of hate,’ the ranks of Jewish extremist groups are filled with immigrants from the U.S. and other English speaking countries.
Judy Maltz
HAREETZ - Dec 31, 20152
At the Petach Tikva Magistrate Court, where some of the key suspects in the latest wave of Jewish terror activity were having their remands extended this week, concerned family members huddled in the hallways while hearings were held behind closed doors. A passerby paying close attention could not help but take note of the preponderance of English being spoken. And when not English, then American-accented Hebrew. Is it pure coincidence that a disproportionate number of those taken into custody in the latest crackdown on Jewish extremism in Israel, as well as those cheering them on, are children of immigrants from English-speaking countries or immigrants who hold dual citizenship?
READ MORE.....
Judy Maltz
HAREETZ - Dec 31, 20152
At the Petach Tikva Magistrate Court, where some of the key suspects in the latest wave of Jewish terror activity were having their remands extended this week, concerned family members huddled in the hallways while hearings were held behind closed doors. A passerby paying close attention could not help but take note of the preponderance of English being spoken. And when not English, then American-accented Hebrew. Is it pure coincidence that a disproportionate number of those taken into custody in the latest crackdown on Jewish extremism in Israel, as well as those cheering them on, are children of immigrants from English-speaking countries or immigrants who hold dual citizenship?
READ MORE.....
Writing China: Mark O’Neill, ‘The Miraculous History of China’s Two Palace Museums’
China Real Time - Jan 1, 2016
In late 1948 and early 1949, toward the end of the Chinese civil war, Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek transported across the Taiwan Strait hundreds of thousands of valuable Chinese artifacts which are now stored in Taipei’s National Palace Museum. Along with its Palace Museum counterpart in Beijing – more famous as the Forbidden City – the museums serve as one of the most poignant reminders of the division of China.
Beijing’s Palace Museum, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in October, was established shortly after the last Chinese emperor, Pu Yi, was forced from his palace, where he had been allowed to stay even after the Chinese republic was founded in 1911. Intellectuals at the time wanted to set up a Chinese museum along the lines of the great museums in Europe.
Today, millions visit both museums each year, crowding around artifacts such as the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-Shaped Stone in Taipei. Among the visitors are huge tour groups of mainland Chinese tourists, as the Taipei government continues to liberalize travel policies for its neighbor amid a broader detente.
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In late 1948 and early 1949, toward the end of the Chinese civil war, Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek transported across the Taiwan Strait hundreds of thousands of valuable Chinese artifacts which are now stored in Taipei’s National Palace Museum. Along with its Palace Museum counterpart in Beijing – more famous as the Forbidden City – the museums serve as one of the most poignant reminders of the division of China.
Beijing’s Palace Museum, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in October, was established shortly after the last Chinese emperor, Pu Yi, was forced from his palace, where he had been allowed to stay even after the Chinese republic was founded in 1911. Intellectuals at the time wanted to set up a Chinese museum along the lines of the great museums in Europe.
Today, millions visit both museums each year, crowding around artifacts such as the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-Shaped Stone in Taipei. Among the visitors are huge tour groups of mainland Chinese tourists, as the Taipei government continues to liberalize travel policies for its neighbor amid a broader detente.
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Top 7 Middle East Foreign Policy Challenges in 2016
By Juan Cole | Jan. 1, 2016
My own feeling is that the US engagement with the Middle East is likely to remain so intense only for another two decades or so. As fossil fuels are replaced with renewables, the outsized role that the oil Gulf plays in world affairs will decline. The region is otherwise relatively low in resources (though apparently its phosphate could become more valuable over time). The Suez Canal will remain a strategic consideration, and the US domestic connection to Israel, while it may weaken because of the latter’s turn to fascism, will not entirely attenuate. President Obama’s instinct that the economic and diplomatic future of the US is primarily in the Pacific rim is probably correct but 20 years premature.
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My own feeling is that the US engagement with the Middle East is likely to remain so intense only for another two decades or so. As fossil fuels are replaced with renewables, the outsized role that the oil Gulf plays in world affairs will decline. The region is otherwise relatively low in resources (though apparently its phosphate could become more valuable over time). The Suez Canal will remain a strategic consideration, and the US domestic connection to Israel, while it may weaken because of the latter’s turn to fascism, will not entirely attenuate. President Obama’s instinct that the economic and diplomatic future of the US is primarily in the Pacific rim is probably correct but 20 years premature.
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China builds new aircraft carrier in show of strength to Washington
RUSSIA TODAY - 31 Dec, 2015
"China has a long coastline and a vast maritime area under our jurisdiction. To safeguard our maritime sovereignty, interests and rights is the sacred mission of the Chinese armed forces," Yang said, as cited by Reuters.
The Defense Ministry spokesman added that the aircraft carrier will be able to operate J-15 fighter jets and will also have a ski-jump take-off. China’s only other aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was purchased from Ukraine in 1998 before being refitted in China.
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China intends to beef up its maritime presence by building a
second aircraft carrier. Beijing wants to exert its presence in the
South China Sea, after complaining of “provocations” from the US, as
well as defending its interests in the region.
Little is known about
China’s aircraft carrier program, however a spokesman for the Defense
Ministry, Yang Yujun, said the ship had been designed in China and was
being built in the port of Dalian."China has a long coastline and a vast maritime area under our jurisdiction. To safeguard our maritime sovereignty, interests and rights is the sacred mission of the Chinese armed forces," Yang said, as cited by Reuters.
The Defense Ministry spokesman added that the aircraft carrier will be able to operate J-15 fighter jets and will also have a ski-jump take-off. China’s only other aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was purchased from Ukraine in 1998 before being refitted in China.
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The Speech That Set Off the Debate About America’s Role in the World
By Josh Zeitz
POLITICO - December 29, 2015
Seventy-five years ago this evening, on December 29, 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt—recently reelected to an unprecedented third term in office—took to the airwaves at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time to address an increasingly restive nation on the sobering topic of war mobilization. Across the Atlantic, Britain was engaged in a death struggle with Hitler’s Germany, which had already laid claim to vast regions of Europe, from France and the lowlands in the west to Poland in the east. In Asia, Japan had swallowed up large parts of China and cast a watchful eye toward the Central and South Pacific. For over 36 minutes and 53 seconds, Roosevelt spoke to his captive audience about the imperative of American engagement in the conflict. Staying true to his campaign pledge of several weeks earlier, that America would not declare war on the Axis powers unless it were attacked, the president still made a forceful case for American military support to Britain. “If Great Britain goes down,” he warned, “the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the high seas. … It is no exaggeration to say that all of us, in all the Americas, would be living at the point of a gun.”
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POLITICO - December 29, 2015
Seventy-five years ago this evening, on December 29, 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt—recently reelected to an unprecedented third term in office—took to the airwaves at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time to address an increasingly restive nation on the sobering topic of war mobilization. Across the Atlantic, Britain was engaged in a death struggle with Hitler’s Germany, which had already laid claim to vast regions of Europe, from France and the lowlands in the west to Poland in the east. In Asia, Japan had swallowed up large parts of China and cast a watchful eye toward the Central and South Pacific. For over 36 minutes and 53 seconds, Roosevelt spoke to his captive audience about the imperative of American engagement in the conflict. Staying true to his campaign pledge of several weeks earlier, that America would not declare war on the Axis powers unless it were attacked, the president still made a forceful case for American military support to Britain. “If Great Britain goes down,” he warned, “the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the high seas. … It is no exaggeration to say that all of us, in all the Americas, would be living at the point of a gun.”
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Men in Aprons Colin Kidd: Who’s Afraid of Freemasons? The Phenomenon of Freemasonry
by Alexander Piatigorsky
Our experience of Freemasonry is one of the minor peculiarities of the British. From The Grand Mystery of Freemasonry Discover’d (1724) and Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected (1730) to Martin Short’s Inside the Brotherhood: Further Secrets of the Freemasons (1989), the dominant genre in Masonic literature has been the ‘exposure’. Rituals, passwords, oaths, handshakes and symbolic imagery pique the curiosity of the uninitiated, or ‘cowans’ in Mason-speak. Yet, despite its exotic paraphernalia, the Craft’s wider influence on British society is perceived to be mundane and narrow in compass. The list of allegations on the dust-jacket of Short’s book runs to corruption in local government, perversions of justice, ‘the promotion of mediocrity’ and ‘marital break-ups’: why, the cover asks, ‘do so many husbands don an apron at the lodge when they wouldn’t be seen dead in one at home?’
British fears of Masonic conspiracy have never risen to the same pitch as on the Continent or in the United States, not least because our history lacks an adversarial Enlightenment and its culmination in a violent democratic revolution. The French Revolution unleashed a reactionary critique of secret societies. Augustin de Barruel’s widely translated Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire du jacobinisme (1797) traced a triad of conspiracies – of philosophes, Freemasons and Illuminati – which lay behind the assault on the Ancien Régime. English Masonry, however, unlike the noxious, anticlerical French model, was misguided rather than vicious. This distinction was confirmed by John Robison, professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh, in Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe (1797). British Masonry stood in a different relationship to the visible Establishment. Whereas in 1738 Pope Clement XII’s bull, In eminenti, had excommunicated all Freemasons, British Masonry continued throughout the turmoil and accusations of the Revolutionary era to enjoy direct Hanoverian patronage from its Grand Masters, the Duke of Cumberland, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex.
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Our experience of Freemasonry is one of the minor peculiarities of the British. From The Grand Mystery of Freemasonry Discover’d (1724) and Samuel Prichard’s Masonry Dissected (1730) to Martin Short’s Inside the Brotherhood: Further Secrets of the Freemasons (1989), the dominant genre in Masonic literature has been the ‘exposure’. Rituals, passwords, oaths, handshakes and symbolic imagery pique the curiosity of the uninitiated, or ‘cowans’ in Mason-speak. Yet, despite its exotic paraphernalia, the Craft’s wider influence on British society is perceived to be mundane and narrow in compass. The list of allegations on the dust-jacket of Short’s book runs to corruption in local government, perversions of justice, ‘the promotion of mediocrity’ and ‘marital break-ups’: why, the cover asks, ‘do so many husbands don an apron at the lodge when they wouldn’t be seen dead in one at home?’
British fears of Masonic conspiracy have never risen to the same pitch as on the Continent or in the United States, not least because our history lacks an adversarial Enlightenment and its culmination in a violent democratic revolution. The French Revolution unleashed a reactionary critique of secret societies. Augustin de Barruel’s widely translated Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire du jacobinisme (1797) traced a triad of conspiracies – of philosophes, Freemasons and Illuminati – which lay behind the assault on the Ancien Régime. English Masonry, however, unlike the noxious, anticlerical French model, was misguided rather than vicious. This distinction was confirmed by John Robison, professor of natural philosophy at Edinburgh, in Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe (1797). British Masonry stood in a different relationship to the visible Establishment. Whereas in 1738 Pope Clement XII’s bull, In eminenti, had excommunicated all Freemasons, British Masonry continued throughout the turmoil and accusations of the Revolutionary era to enjoy direct Hanoverian patronage from its Grand Masters, the Duke of Cumberland, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex.
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Recruiting Mercenaries for Middle East Fuels Rancor in Colombia
By Matthew Bristow Nafeesa Syeed
BLOOMBERG - December 31, 2015
Colombia’s government is frustrated at having its top soldiers lured to the Middle East as mercenaries for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates when they are still needed to fight insurgents and drug traffickers, Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said.
A Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has deployed Colombian contractors, according to a former army officer who has been involved in recruiting contractors and a senior government official, who asked not to be named because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Soldiers are persuaded to quit the army when their terms of enlistment end by the prospect of earning about seven times as much in the Middle East, the former officer said.
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BLOOMBERG - December 31, 2015
Colombia’s government is frustrated at having its top soldiers lured to the Middle East as mercenaries for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates when they are still needed to fight insurgents and drug traffickers, Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said.
A Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has deployed Colombian contractors, according to a former army officer who has been involved in recruiting contractors and a senior government official, who asked not to be named because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Soldiers are persuaded to quit the army when their terms of enlistment end by the prospect of earning about seven times as much in the Middle East, the former officer said.
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