A written constitution can’t save us from Brexit now – it could even make things worseFebruary 13, 2019Source: Independent / www.independent.co.uk / By John Rentoul / Once upon a time I was a living embodiment of Robert Conquest’s third law, which holds: “The simplest way to explain the behaviour of any bureaucratic organisation is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.” This …
Truth, lies and fake newsJanuary 15, 2019Source: Times Malta / www.timesofmalta.com / By Ray Azzopardi / Christiane Amanpour, a renowned journalist with CNN, in an interview on ‘How to seek truth in the era of fake news’, uploaded by TED in 2017, affirms that one cannot solve the great issues facing the world if one cannot …
Looking for Havel’s legacyDecember 20, 2018Source: Politico / www.politico.eu / Siegfried Mortowitz / PRAGUE — Twenty-one years after one of Václav Havel’s most famous speeches, many fear the Czech Republic is still in an “ugly mood.” In December 1997, the then-president told a joint session of the Czech parliament that the nation was on the wrong …
A defiant Canada is trolling China with Liu Xiaobo’s legacyDecember 20, 2018Source: Quartz / https://qz.com / By Isabella Steger / Two of its nationals may be under detention in China amid a serious diplomatic fallout, but that hasn’t stopped Canada from stirring the hornets’ nest over a topic that’s particularly taboo. The Canadian embassy in Beijing yesterday (Dec. 18) posted a message (link …
Readings and ‘big heart’ rally commemorate seven years since death of Václav HavelDecember 19, 2018Source: Radio Praha / www.radio.cz / By Tom McEnchroe / Tuesday marks the seventh anniversary of the death of Václav Havel. The former president remains a much respected figure in the country, even though his quotes are often used to help delineate the current divide in Czech society. Several commemorative …
US Capitol celebrates 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma GandhiDecember 2, 2018Source: Business Standard / www.business-standard.com / By ANI / Eminent lawmakers of the United States lawmakers and Indian-Americans on Tuesday came forward to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Capitol Hill. Addressing an illustrious gathering comprising US lawmakers and Indian diaspora at the Indian Embassy here, Ambassador …
Lessons: We need compassionate and caring leadershipNovember 21, 2018Source: Livingston County News / www.thelcn.com / By Bill Cook / Tonight I walked again through Wenceslas Square in Prague. It is not a particularly beautiful square, certainly no match for the nearby Old Town Square. It is hardly a square at all, but rather a half-mile long street that …
Velvet Revolution: Czechs and Slovaks celebrate anniversary of fall of communism and triumph of Vaclav HavelNovember 18, 2018Source: Independent / www.independent.co.uk / By Joe Sommerlad / Peaceful student uprising brought oppressive rule to end, swept dissident playwright to power and spelled doom for Soviet Union in 1989. Citizens of the former Czechoslovakia will honour the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution this weekend. The uprising, entirely peaceful in spirit, …
Why the Berlin Wall fellNovember 12, 2018Source: The Courier-Tribune / www.courier-tribune.com / By Lee Edwards / The fall of the Berlin Wall 29 years ago was one of the most consequential events of the 20th century, exposing the Soviet Union as a corrupt weak “empire” and effectively ending the Cold War. But it did not happen …
The core values that once illuminated the ANC now provide the moral backbone of Gordhan’s Zondo submissionNovember 12, 2018Source: Daily Maverick / www.dailymaverick.co.za / By Marianne Thamm / One has felt the loss. The slow erosion of the moral high ground that once belonged and still belongs to a unique and visionary generation of ANC leaders and activists who are celebrated across the world. There are streets, libraries, …
The Strange Journey of Aung San Suu KyiNovember 2, 2018Source: The Scarlet / www.thescarlet.org / By Andrew Rose, Scarlet Staff / The 2016 election of Aung San Suu Kyi was supposed to usher in a new era in Myanmar. For decades, the people of this small, Southeast Asian nation had labored under the oppressive rule of a secretive, and …
Pussy Riot’s New Book Is Disruption 101October 16, 2018Source: The Daily Beast / www.dailybeast.com / Lewis Beale / In a new book, Nadya Tolokonnikova uses what she’s learned as a member of the Russian dada/punk band about how to best challenge those with entrenched power. Nadya Tolokonnikova readily admits that the political protest her group Pussy Riot undertook …
Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2018 awarded to Oyub TitievOctober 10, 2018Source: Council for Europe / www.coe.int / The sixth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded to the head of the Grozny office of the Memorial Human Rights Center in Chechyna, Oyub Titiev (Russian Federation). The …
First public appearance for Chinese Nobel dissident Liu Xiaobo widowOctober 10, 2018Source: France 24 / www.m.france24.com / By AFP / NEW YORK (AFP) – The widow of Nobel Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo on Wednesday made her first public appearance since leaving China more than two months ago, discreetly attending a panel discussion in New York. To applause the poet Liu Xia arrived …
A written constitution can’t save us from Brexit now – it could even make things worse February 13, 2019 Source: Independent / www.independent.co.uk / By John Rentoul / Once upon a time I was a living embodiment of Robert Conquest’s third law, which holds: “The simplest way to explain the behaviour of any bureaucratic organisation is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.” This …
Truth, lies and fake news January 15, 2019 Source: Times Malta / www.timesofmalta.com / By Ray Azzopardi / Christiane Amanpour, a renowned journalist with CNN, in an interview on ‘How to seek truth in the era of fake news’, uploaded by TED in 2017, affirms that one cannot solve the great issues facing the world if one cannot …
Looking for Havel’s legacy December 20, 2018 Source: Politico / www.politico.eu / Siegfried Mortowitz / PRAGUE — Twenty-one years after one of Václav Havel’s most famous speeches, many fear the Czech Republic is still in an “ugly mood.” In December 1997, the then-president told a joint session of the Czech parliament that the nation was on the wrong …
A defiant Canada is trolling China with Liu Xiaobo’s legacy December 20, 2018 Source: Quartz / https://qz.com / By Isabella Steger / Two of its nationals may be under detention in China amid a serious diplomatic fallout, but that hasn’t stopped Canada from stirring the hornets’ nest over a topic that’s particularly taboo. The Canadian embassy in Beijing yesterday (Dec. 18) posted a message (link …
Readings and ‘big heart’ rally commemorate seven years since death of Václav Havel December 19, 2018 Source: Radio Praha / www.radio.cz / By Tom McEnchroe / Tuesday marks the seventh anniversary of the death of Václav Havel. The former president remains a much respected figure in the country, even though his quotes are often used to help delineate the current divide in Czech society. Several commemorative …
Retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake throws shade at Trump in farewell address to Congress, warns of dangers to democracy December 16, 2018 Source: CNBC / www.cnbc.com / By Tucker Higgins / Retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, in a farewell speech to the Senate, warned on Thursday of the dangers facing democracies. Sen. Flake: America is not immune to authoritarianism from CNBC. “Let us recognize from this place here today that the …
US Capitol celebrates 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi December 2, 2018 Source: Business Standard / www.business-standard.com / By ANI / Eminent lawmakers of the United States lawmakers and Indian-Americans on Tuesday came forward to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Capitol Hill. Addressing an illustrious gathering comprising US lawmakers and Indian diaspora at the Indian Embassy here, Ambassador …
Lessons: We need compassionate and caring leadership November 21, 2018 Source: Livingston County News / www.thelcn.com / By Bill Cook / Tonight I walked again through Wenceslas Square in Prague. It is not a particularly beautiful square, certainly no match for the nearby Old Town Square. It is hardly a square at all, but rather a half-mile long street that …
Velvet Revolution: Czechs and Slovaks celebrate anniversary of fall of communism and triumph of Vaclav Havel November 18, 2018 Source: Independent / www.independent.co.uk / By Joe Sommerlad / Peaceful student uprising brought oppressive rule to end, swept dissident playwright to power and spelled doom for Soviet Union in 1989. Citizens of the former Czechoslovakia will honour the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution this weekend. The uprising, entirely peaceful in spirit, …
Why the Berlin Wall fell November 12, 2018 Source: The Courier-Tribune / www.courier-tribune.com / By Lee Edwards / The fall of the Berlin Wall 29 years ago was one of the most consequential events of the 20th century, exposing the Soviet Union as a corrupt weak “empire” and effectively ending the Cold War. But it did not happen …
The core values that once illuminated the ANC now provide the moral backbone of Gordhan’s Zondo submission November 12, 2018 Source: Daily Maverick / www.dailymaverick.co.za / By Marianne Thamm / One has felt the loss. The slow erosion of the moral high ground that once belonged and still belongs to a unique and visionary generation of ANC leaders and activists who are celebrated across the world. There are streets, libraries, …
The Strange Journey of Aung San Suu Kyi November 2, 2018 Source: The Scarlet / www.thescarlet.org / By Andrew Rose, Scarlet Staff / The 2016 election of Aung San Suu Kyi was supposed to usher in a new era in Myanmar. For decades, the people of this small, Southeast Asian nation had labored under the oppressive rule of a secretive, and …
Pussy Riot’s New Book Is Disruption 101 October 16, 2018 Source: The Daily Beast / www.dailybeast.com / Lewis Beale / In a new book, Nadya Tolokonnikova uses what she’s learned as a member of the Russian dada/punk band about how to best challenge those with entrenched power. Nadya Tolokonnikova readily admits that the political protest her group Pussy Riot undertook …
Václav Havel Human Rights Prize 2018 awarded to Oyub Titiev October 10, 2018 Source: Council for Europe / www.coe.int / The sixth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded to the head of the Grozny office of the Memorial Human Rights Center in Chechyna, Oyub Titiev (Russian Federation). The …
First public appearance for Chinese Nobel dissident Liu Xiaobo widow October 10, 2018 Source: France 24 / www.m.france24.com / By AFP / NEW YORK (AFP) – The widow of Nobel Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo on Wednesday made her first public appearance since leaving China more than two months ago, discreetly attending a panel discussion in New York. To applause the poet Liu Xia arrived …