Some people think the support for Sarah Palin in America is superficial. But listen to these intellectual heaviweights and you might change your mind.
Archive for the 'Politics' Category
Yesterday the long overdue health reform in the USA came one step closer, with a narrow win in the Senate. It is merely a vote to hold a full debate on the issue, but even this was vehemently opposed by Republicans, influenced heavily by the hugely wealthy health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. More »
In an age where we are all encouraged to watch our words and to please everyone and not to ruffle feathers, here is a refreshing politician from the US (Alan Grayson) who is determined to have his say, however uncomfortable it may be to the opposition and to viewers. More »
It is a week since I returned to UK from Iran. While I was flying back the demostrations started. Everyone is waiting to see what happens today. Whatever happens, we all hope it does not involve bloodshed. But feelings are high, and frustrations intense. More »
I am visiting my dad in Mashhad, in Iran. The presidential election campaigns here are at their peak, ahead of voting on Friday. These include several live TV debates. Last night my friend Hamed Zaghaghi (a talented programmer, and one of the few free software advocates in Iran) asked if I wanted to go to one of the rallies for Karroubi, and to watch the debate on a makeshift, large-screen TV. More »
The Persian new year, or Norooz, is calculated to the nearest second each year. It happened about 1 hour ago, at 12.45pm, London time. To coincide with this, Barack Obama has sent a video message to Iranians, wishing them a happy new year in Persian, or Farsi. More »
I am sitting in my hotel room in Boston, at the end of a short trip to attend a holography gathering at MIT. I did a live webcast and recorded the show, as a small contribution. I met several colleagues whom I had not seen for around 20 years, but the years had not dented our friendship. So a great trip all around. More »
Here is a hypothetical scenario: Suppose that an Iranian judge were proved to have sent hundreds of innocent children and teenagers to a privately run detention centre, deliberately denying them any legal council in court, and that he only took 1–2 minutes for the legal process for each child.
A hilarious little snippet from the Ellen DeGeneres show. (Thanks to my friend Al for bringing it to my attention.) More »
A recent resolution at the United Nations was passed almost unanimously:
By a vote of 180 in favour to 1 against (United States) and no abstentions, the Committee also approved a resolution on the right to food, by which the Assembly would “consider it intolerable” that more than 6 million children still died every year from hunger-related illness before their fifth birthday, and that the number of undernourished people had grown to about 923 million worldwide, at the same time that the planet could produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, or twice the world’s present population. (See Annex III.)
So the USA representative alone thought it is indeed tolerable that these children die from hunger before they are five.
Is it any wonder that the Iraqi “shoe bomber” has become a hero throughout the third world?
