Category Archives: Politics
Quotas for women – why only in boardrooms?
Both the UK and the EU are considering the implementation of quotas for women in corporate boardrooms, something that Norway already did in 2004. This raises obvious questions which have been discussed many times before: What if not enough women … Continue reading
What Sarah Shourd can’t say (yet)
Sarah Shourd, the American woman who was hiking in the Iraq-Iran border region last year and was arrested on that occasion and who subsequently spent 13 months in a prison in Iran, was finally released on 14 September 2010 without ever … Continue reading
Ed, you are too late for the protest.
Dear Ed Miliband, congratulations on becoming Labour leader, even if it might have irreparably strained relationships with those whom you professed to “love”. If that’s worth it for you, that’s your decision. But what really struck me is that you … Continue reading
A day at the beach is NOT a human right.
Rachel Shabi of the Guardian writes sympathetically about Palestinian girls that are being taken to the beach by Israeli women. As nice as this may sound, this is another article about Israel/Palestine that is not inaccurate but delves too much … Continue reading
The Pope in Britain. What kind of a “state visit” is this?
Much has been written about the costs of at least 12 million £ that British taxpayers will be stuck with for the “state visit” by the Pope to the UK in September 2010. The argument that British taxpayers should not … Continue reading
“The Case of the Pope” by Geoffrey Robertson is a flawed case.
This week I attended a lecture at LSE by Geoffrey Robertson who was introducing his new book “The Case of the Pope: Vatican Accountability for Human Rights Abuse”, conveniently published just days before the Pope’s visit to Britain. Mr Robertson … Continue reading
Umfrage zur angekündigten Koran-Verbrennung
Umfrage zur angekündigten Koran-Verbrennung: (Sorry für den geschmack- und niveaulosen Humor. Ich wollte nur mal ausprobieren, wie man eine Umfrage in einen Blog einbauen kann und mir fiel spontan nichts Witzigeres ein. Die einzig korrekte Antwort ist natürlich, daß man … Continue reading
TV documentary “For Neda”
On 12 June 2010, the TV documentary “For Neda” was aired on HBO in the United States. Simultaneously and in an unprecedented move, HBO made the movie available on YouTube in full length and also distributed a version in Farsi, … Continue reading
A (very short) response to Holocaust denial
Whenever I meet someone who denies the Holocaust, I want to punch them in the face and say: This punch did not happen. And if it did happen, it happened on a much lesser scale. Too bad this doesn’t work … Continue reading
5 years after 7/7 in London
Exactly five years after the suicide bombings of 7 July 2005 that killed 52 people on underground trains and on a bus in London, I am in London myself. More specifically, I am on a underground train as I am … Continue reading
The Happy Hermit 