Category Archives: Politics
Tottenham Riots August 2011
Last night, a peaceful protest in Tottenham in North London against the shooting of Mark Duggan (29) by police turned violent. The questionable circumstances of the shooting have led to (more) anger in the community against the police. When I … Continue reading
Peace Camp at Parliament Square in London
I wonder if the participants of the “Peace Camp” at Parliament Square in London have ever noticed the irony of protesting against all kinds of wars under the amused eyes of Winston Churchill. The “Peace Camp” is a continuous protest … Continue reading
How Osama bin Laden was really found
That the most-wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden, was finally tracked down after a manhunt that lasted decades has caused admiration for the US intelligence and military (including by me in my post about the killing of Mr bin Laden) as … Continue reading
Dominique Strauss-Kahn at Rikers Island
To those who think that the imprisonment of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of International Monetary Fund, at Rikers Island prison in New York is a bit harsh, I would suggest that it rather demonstrates an ironic homage to the literature … Continue reading
Globalisation is a Myth
Globalisation, this concept that everyone writes about and that many people blame for their woes or use as an excuse for their policies, is in large parts a myth. Who am I to claim this? Having grown up in a … Continue reading
A welcome alternative to flag-burning
When I was in Kosovo in February 2009 for the first anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, I spotted this car draped is US flags in front of a mosque in the Southern (i.e. Kosovar) part of Mitrovica: Of all the countries I … Continue reading
Assessing the risk of nuclear technology
The nuclear industry is keen on coming up with probabilistic risk assessments that show that a serious accident at a nuclear power plant can only happen every 20,000 years or so (admittedly this number is from a somewhat outdated report … Continue reading
Deutsche Aussenpolitik schafft sich ab.
Nach Wochen des Mordens, Bombardierens und apokalyptischen Schwadronierens durch den libyschen Führer Gaddafi hatte die Weltgemeinschaft in Form des UN-Sicherheitsrates ausnahmsweise mal selbst genug von den ewigen “Ermahnungen”, “Aufforderungen” und “dringenden Bitten”, mit denen sonst auf Menschenrechtsverletzungen reagiert wird. Vor … Continue reading
Why the North is taking itself too serious
Map-making has always had the problem of trying to fit the surface of a (roughly) ball-shaped object on a flat piece of paper. A map reflective of the true proportions of our planet would look something like this: However, most … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 