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XX-treme societies offer little hope
Asia's war on women, seen in the genital mutilation, denial of human rights and
infanticide from Pakistan to South Korea, is as responsible for the Delhi
gang-rape as the perpetrators. Being born with XX chromosomes is pure chance,
but from that point on Asian females face a pre-determined course designed to
shut them out from public life, boardrooms and corridors of power. - Chan Akya
(Jan 15, '13) |
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Islamabad lacks Tahrir Square focus
Cleric Tahirul Qadri is heralding an "age of change" in Pakistan as tens of
thousands of his supporters occupy the country's administrative heartland in
Islamabad after marching against the ruling elites. Plans to replicate the
Tahrir Square focal point of the Egyptian revolution in the Pakistani capital
accompany Qadri's demands, but it is there that comparisons with the Arab
Spring end.
- Syed Fazl-e-Haider (Jan 15, '13)
Pakistan's Hazaras killed and
cornered
More than 100 people were killed in violence in Balochistan last year, and on
the night of January 10 alone, more than that died. They were killed because of
their ethnicity and the Hazara community's history of conflict with Sunni
Muslims. With space for minorities shrinking, more than 25,000 of the 600,000
Hazaras in Pakistan have fled in the past decade. The rest are increasingly
cornered.
- Zofeen Ebrahim (Jan 15, '13)
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Dark side obscured to
visitors to Laos
For travelers visiting Southeast Asia, Laos seems a laid back, spectacular
option that avoids the moral dilemma posed by visiting until still strongly
militarized Myanmar. Yet the communist authorities' suspected involvement in
forced disappearances and other serious human-rights abuses suggest the country
is anything but the "sleepy" paradise portrayed in guidebooks, and it is
shadowy political elites that benefit the most from tourist dollars. - Melinda
Boh (Jan 15, '13)
Festive spirits at the Kumbh Mela
Indian Hindu Sadhus or holy men line up to take the waters of the Sangham, the
confluence of the the Yamuna and Ganges rivers during the Kumbh Mela in
Allahabad. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims led by naked, ash-covered holy men
streamed into the Ganges at the start of the world's biggest religious
festival, which will see up to 100 million worshippers converge.
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Taliban release is high risk,
low-reward
The Afghan government is preparing to release thousands of Taliban officials
and rank-and-file members while pushing Islamabad to free others, such as
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and some of the group's most dangerous characters,
in a bid to convince the militants that the road to peace runs through Kabul.
It is a high risk move with little likelihood of reward. - Frud Bezhan
(Jan 15, '13)
Prisoners' Intifada shames
leaders
Commitment to the Palestine cause seen in prisoners' hunger strikes makes a
mockery of the "unity" efforts of a leadership beset by factionalism and
seemingly subservient to demands of the international community. As the
interests of the Palestinian elite increasingly overlap with those of Israeli
authorities, the distance between them and the people is growing too far to
bridge. - Ramzy Baroud (Jan 15, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Blaze-hit Kabul stores race deep
freeze
Kabul merchants are facing a race against the onset of deep winter to rebuild
and recover from a devastating market blaze that wiped out their stock and
destroyed their cash holdings. Adding to their injuries, the government is
failing to help them recover while demanding that store-owners now buy
insurance policies.
- Ali M Latifi (Jan 14, '13)
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Pakistan shakes up bombed
Balochistan
Pakistan has imposed governor rule on insurgency-hit Balochistan, ceding to
nationwide protests led by the minority Shi'ite Hazara community, who refused
to bury the bodies of the victims of last week's sectarian terror attacks in
Quetta unless the provincial government was dismissed. Islamabad says the
military could be brought in to restore order. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Jan 14, '13)
Rainbow rally lifts
opposition in Malaysia
Malaysia's national stadium was awash with color at the weekend as 100,000
demonstrators representing an assortment of grassroots causes and movements
gathered for a "people's uprising". In a shift from suppression of previous
rallies, security was low-key - fueling the political opposition's hopes of
winning federal power in this year's national elections.
- Anil Netto (Jan 14, '13)
 The
Pentagon as a global rifle association
The Newtown school massacre has seen debate over the right to bear arms reach
fever pitch in the United States, yet no one sees the contradiction between
this and the US Pentagon's mission to flood the world with the most advanced
weaponry money can buy. The Obama administration is the middle man, easing the
way for major arms sales abroad with relaxed export rules.
- Tom Engelhardt (Jan 14, '13)
Netanyahu suffers from being
too popular
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces the electorate this month with his
still-high popularity ensuring that he will continue to rule. Yet his voting
base is being undermined by his decision to unify his right-wing Likud party
list with Avigdor Lieberman's more right-wing Israel Beitenu party. In
politics, "united we stand" doesn't necessarily translate into a strong showing
at the polling station.
- Pierre Klochendler (Jan 14, '13)
Assam's bloody 'fun' draws thousands
A centerpiece of the annual harvest festival in Guwahati, capital of India's
Assam state, the famous bulbul fight sees red vented bulbul birds claw, peck
and pin down rivals in a bloody battle of wills. Although this, and buffalo
fights held in nearby Nagaon, are traditions dating back to the Ahom kings of
the 1200s, some Assamese say the cruelty must stop.
- Ranjita Biswas (Jan 14, '13)
A wider war looms in Myanmar
Some of the heaviest fighting in Myanmar's decades-long civil war is taking
place in the country's far north as government forces use helicopter gunships
and sophisticated attack aircraft in a determined strike against the Kachin
Independence Army. With the ongoing offensive undermining President Thein
Sein's peace credentials, the gap between majority Burmans and ethnic
minorities has never been wider. - Bertil Lintner
(Jan 11, '13)
The historical significance of Mao
New Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the
importance of upholding Mao Zedong Thought, even as revisionists under the
spell of neo-liberal market fundamentalism fail to appreciate the late leader's
contributions to the Chinese collective consciousness. Deng Xiaoping argued
that to get rich is glorious; Xi and his colleagues would do better to follow
Mao's advice: serve the people. - Henry C K Liu
(Jan 11, '13)
INTERVIEW
Gold emerges as euro debt-crisis
option
The European Union is running out of options as it seeks to emerge from the
debt crisis burdening member states. Economist Ansgar Belke, an important voice
in advising Europe's politicians on what can be done next, explains how the use
of gold as collateral can support struggling countries' sovereign bond issues.
- Lars Schall (Jan 11, '13)
 THE
ROVING EYE
Syria: A jihadi paradise
Syria has turned into a remix of 1980s Afghanistan as Sunni hardcore faithful
rush to crush President Bashar al-Assad on al-Qaeda's call. This is hardly what
the petromonarchs and gilded Western powers backing the Syrian opposition have
in mind. What they want is a military dictatorship without the military
dictator; what they've put up is a jihadi paradise with Assad not moving
anytime soon. - Pepe Escobar (Jan 10, '13)
Hagel can reveal the 'real'
Obama
Barack Obama entered the White House on grand, and vague, talk of "hope". His
choice of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary (and John Kerry as secretary of
state) suggests that freed from the exigencies of re-election, President Obama
now feels largely free to follow his moral instincts in foreign policy with
fewer inhibitions - and perhaps secure his legacy as the helmsman at this
defining moment for his country. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Jan 9, '13)
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India
should beware influx of megastores
India's decision to open its retail sector to international competition bodes
ill for small stores and the local range of outlets. It also opens the way to
corrupt practices, with events already following a path seen in America and the
UK. Gainers will be highly paid lawyers and tax-avoidance experts. - Brian
Cloughley
THE BEAR'S LAIR
Nixon in China revisited
Richard Nixon's 1972 triumph in China, viewed from a century after his birth,
has so far brought considerable economic return to the world's peoples, and in
particular to the profit statements of multinational corporations. Probable
losers include several Asian neighbors. - Martin Hutchinson
CREDIT BUBBLE BULLETIN
'Risk on' risk rises
The European Central Bank is actually showing unambiguous recognition that the
backdrop to its actions have changed and it must alter course accordingly. The
Federal Reserve shows no such recognition. Its continued timidity raises the
probability that an unleashed "risk on" finds an opening.
Doug Noland looks at the previous week's events each Monday.
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Two
takes on India's protests
In a recent article in Newsweek magazine, former British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown wore his current hat as the United Nations Special Envoy for Global
Education to take an overview the protest movement in India. Brown's views are
of interest...
- M K Bhadrakumar
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Which Wonder Idea is loonier, crazier and more asinine, the trillion dollar
Get-Out-of-Debt platinum coin or the 850 Quadrillion Dollar "Death Star?"
H Campbell
Texas |
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Go to Letters to the Editor |
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