ion engine

2003-05-08T07:46:00.000Z

Afghanistani IT

2003-05-08T07:29:00.000Z

News

Intellectual Property Rights for the Third World

2003-05-06T10:10:00.000Z

Holy Weblog! | holyweblog.com

Blogger burnout

2003-04-26T05:52:00.000Z

trialstory ideas

2003-03-18T06:32:00.000Z

fiona

2003-03-06T16:34:00.000Z

not so soft dot com: life, unfolding

2003-03-05T08:01:00.000Z

andrea's photo blog

2003-03-05T07:58:00.000Z

Black People Love Us!

2003-03-04T10:13:00.000Z

Greece and Ethiopia are not alone
Village churches take fight for stolen brasses to US - Guardian

Parishioners at two churches in East Anglia have taken on America's museum establishment by demanding the return of three priceless tomb brasses stolen from the churches' flagstone floors in the 19th century.
Worshippers at Brundish, in Suffolk, and Brinkley, in Cambridgeshire, were delighted to be told the long lost brasses had been discovered in the vaults of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Delighted, that is, until the American curators refused to give them back.

2003-02-24T10:01:00.000Z

Never say never
'No return' for Elgin Marbles - BBC

The director of the British Museum has said that the Elgin Marbles should never be returned from Britain to Greece. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Neil MacGregor said the sculptures, which once adorned the Parthenon temple in Athens, should remain in London.

2003-02-22T12:26:00.000Z

~~200,000~~ 65,000 take to the streets

Aerial study casts doubt on estimates of 200,000 - SF Gate

San Francisco -- A survey using sophisticated aerial photography of Sunday's anti-war march and rally in San Francisco has produced results that indicate a far smaller crowd than the 200,000 protesters estimated by police and event organizers.

The results of the independent survey, commissioned by The Chronicle and SFGate.com, cast doubt on traditional counting methods and contradict the crowd estimate of 200,000, which was reported in this newspaper and news media around the world. Crowd size in a demonstration is important because organizers tend to use it as evidence of support for their cause.

Did anyone ever believe those figures any way? We used to accept estimates with very little checking when reporting marches. For the journalist, typically, a bigger crowd makes a better story.

2003-02-16T07:46:00.000Z

Google Buys Pyra: Blogging Goes Big-Time - Dan Gillmor

I particularly liked the line:

Nick Denton asks: "Will Google use weblog links to improve Google News?" I asked Google's spokesman roughly the same question, but got no answer. Stay tuned, he said, because the company is just starting to figure out how it's going to use this stuff.

Suggesting that these guys are just buying toys and working out what to do with them later.

2003-02-11T08:07:00.000Z

David Galbraith

Are life vests on board planes there just to reassure us? Can anyone remember any plane crash over water that involved people bouncing down inflatable slides to safety?
Reuters

Actually, I can't. What about the bracing position? Would that actually help in a high-velocity crash?

2003-02-10T06:41:00.000Z

Very addictive Flash game

[ ] Letters

2003-02-07T12:11:00.000Z

GM crops boost yields more in poor countries - New Scientist

Field trials in India suggest that genetically modified crops have far greater benefits in developing countries, than the developed countries for which they were designed.

The farm trials of cotton genetically modified to produce a bacterial toxin produced increases in yield of up to 80 per cent, compared with non-GM counterparts. This is much greater than the improvement seen in developed countries where yields are boosted by less than 10 per cent, say the researchers.

2003-02-07T11:02:00.000Z

Things I should have done before 30

Things to do before you're 30 - Times

Times writers offered their top tips. Here are the ones I should have done:

Read St John’s Gospel, Memoirs of Socrates, John Locke’s Letters on Toleration, Francis Bacon’s Essays, Vanity Fair, Mrs Piozzi’s Anecdotes of Samuel Johnson and Animal Farm (WILLIAM REES-MOGG);

Know what it is like to be broke at the end of the week; You should have drunk until dawn at least once, and informed a total stranger that you really, really value them because you love all mankind, right; it’s good to have slept all night on a railway station, or a village hall floor; Manual work is important, too; You should know what it is to be utterly alone, in a lonely landscape without television or radio or telephone: a hut up an Irish mountain or on the edge of a distant loch, just you and books, your mind gently expanding in the mist. (LIBBY PURVES)

I WISH I’D interrogated my father. I mean the real third degree, for hours and days on end. No thumbscrews or bright lights, of course, just patience. I wouldn’t have been looking for a confession — just history. He was born in 1904 and died when I was 32. (ALAN HAMILTON)

FOR A MAN it is vital to attempt some form of facial hair before the 30th birthday. (BEN MACINTYRE)

I should have learnt how to kiss (still can’t), learnt how to read a balance sheet (still can’t), learnt how to cook (still can’t), learnt how to ski (still haven’t), contracted a serious skin disease in dubious circumstances (still haven’t), properly mastered at least one other European language (still haven’t), spent a weekend in Paris (still haven’t), visited Florence, Venice and Rome (still haven’t), bought two really good suits (was always too stingy), mastered the elements of snappy dressing (still haven’t), seriously betrayed someone I loved (how can we say that we’ve lived until we have known how treachery feels?), experienced addiction to a hard drug (or how can we pontificate?), killed a man with my own bare hands (well, maybe that’s taking it a bit far, but you know what I mean). (MATTHEW PARRIS)

2003-02-06T09:42:00.000Z

Sexy Sadie, what have you done...

Dutch give nod to 'guru currency' - BBC

A new "currency" issued by a group founded by Beatles guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi may be used and has not violated Dutch law, the Dutch central bank has said. The Global Country of World Peace, set up by the Indian mystic, issued the brightly coloured notes of one, five and 10 "raam" last October.

You've made a fool of everyone etc etc

2003-02-04T10:44:00.000Z

"Buy our products" says company

Net firms face constant attack - BBC

Every company connected to the web is subject to an average of 30 security attacks a week, mainly on Tuesdays and Fridays, say experts(Symantec).

The internet is a big, scarey place, (so buy our products) says internet security company. This is a bit like taking crime statistics from a burglar alarm company.

2003-02-03T09:55:00.000Z

Heard on Bob Harris's show on BBC Radio 6.

Bob Dylan's Roll On John from There Is No Eye: Music For Photographs Smithsonian Folkways SFW CD 40091

2003-01-29T11:16:00.000Z

The dullest blog in the world

Whilst surfing the internet I happened upon a page which had a number of links on it. I clicked on one and was taken to another page. This had several links on it too, so I clicked on one and continued my surfing.

2003-01-27T10:23:00.000Z

Silicon Valley - Dan Gillmor's eJournal

Pos side blog

2003-01-24T10:59:00.000Z

Nestlé u-turn

Nestlé u-turn on Ethiopia debt - Guardian

Nestlé, the world's largest coffee company, was forced into a humiliating u-turn last night, after public outrage forced it to drop its $6m claim against the famine stricken Ethiopian government.

This sounds good but still leaves questions hanging in the air. First, what about all the other private companies with claims against Ethiopia. Second, is it really a victory? Nestlé's situation shows why so few private companies are prepared to invest in the Third World. They risk getting nationalised and when they open a factory, they get done for paying sweat-shop wages (that tend to be much better that local ones).

2003-01-23T10:37:00.000Z

Leave my desk alone. It works

In praise of clutter - The Economist

The sub-headings speak for themselves: "Clutterphobia", "The tyranny of the tidy", "A beautiful mind" and "Filers versus pilers".

2003-01-23T10:34:00.000Z

J'accuse Jacques

Derrida, Derrida, Etc. - National Review

If Derrida is a fraud, and he most definitely is, how has he managed to hoodwink so many highly credentialed academics, especially those trained in literary criticism, art history, film studies, psychology, sociology, linguistics, and (lately) legal theory?

You might as well add my English Lit professors at Edinburgh University to that list.

2003-01-22T20:44:00.000Z

The phoney famine?

Southern Africa famine threat is 'exaggerated' - Times

Brenda Cuppa, the head of the United States-based charity Care International, said that although there was severe hardship in Zambia, “the situation may have been dramatised to get a response”.

Guy Scott, a former Zambian Agriculture Minister who oversaw the importation of almost one million tonnes of maize during the last food shortages in 1992, said: “It looks to me as if the international donor community wanted to see a disaster without being critical enough.”

During a three-day tour of the Zambian province worst affected by drought, The Times found no sign of starvation.

How can it be so difficult to tell whether a famine is going on or not. This article aside, journalists are often taken to these trouble spots by charities - charities who have an interest in overstating the problem.

2003-01-17T13:23:00.000Z

I found my wife and maid a-washing

Pepys’ Diary

After that Sheply, Harrison and myself, we went towards Westminster on foot, and at the Golden Lion, near Charing Cross, we went in and drank a pint of wine, and so parted, and thence home, where I found my wife and maid a-washing. I staid up till the bell-man came by with his bell just under my window as I was writing of this very line, and cried, “Past one of the clock, and a cold, frosty, windy morning.” I then went to bed, and left my wife and the maid a-washing still.

2003-01-14T07:22:00.000Z

The Mirror Project

The Mirror Project is a growing community of like-minded individuals who have photographed themselves in all manner of reflective surfaces.

2003-01-14T07:15:00.000Z

LOMO - joining the lomo nation

Maybe I should keep a side blog just of lomo sites.

2003-01-14T07:02:00.000Z

kd blogs zim has spotted a hole in moveable type.

2003-01-13T08:41:00.000Z

Pos side blog

Fantastic4Edinburgh

2003-01-13T06:22:00.000Z

Death penalty system "broken"

Yahoo! News - Bush Urged to Follow Illinois Lead on Death Penalty

Activists around the world on Sunday applauded the move by the governor of Illinois to spare death row prisoners from execution and urged President Bush to follow his lead by abolishing the death penalty.

It always amazes me that the US has the death penalty. It's like a horrific scar on the face of a loved one.

2003-01-09T09:51:00.000Z

What Tina did next

"Tina, darling, the red suede gloves with fox fur trim sound divine. But they weren't from me" - The Times

IT'S SATISFYING to be back in New York after a week toasting on a beach in tiny Harbour Island in the Bahamas. Holidays are validated only if one returns to rain...

Last summer I was a guest on a media mogul's boat trip on the Mediterranean. Instead of the NY Times service, he has the luxury of a bespoke cull of all the newspapers and websites, prepared by his office and satellite-faxed to the high seas.

I suppose it's her sheer shamelessness that makes her such a good read.

2003-01-09T08:08:00.000Z

OJR article: Gear for the Multimedia Newsroom - OJR

Fujitsu S6110 LifeBook S Series Notebook

Specs: 11.5" x 9.3" x 1.3"; 4.5 pounds with DVD drive; built-in wireless networking

Price: $1,750

Overview: "This is a beautifully outfitted notebook," Northrup says, "with a 13-inch screen, full-size keyboard and a DVD/CD-RW drive, all wrapped into a package that's about 4 pounds and only an inch tall."

2003-01-08T14:12:00.000Z

Double trouble

Ethiopian drought cuts coffee crop - BBC

Drought could see Ethiopian coffee production could fall by 30%, undermining the country's main cash crop on which almost 15 million people depend.

"In coffee producing areas in western, southwestern and eastern parts of the country, the coffee harvest is estimated to have declined by 30% in 2002/03 due to drought," the US Famine Early Warning System Network (Fewsnet) said.

2003-01-08T14:10:00.000Z

Ethiopians urged to help hungry - BBC

The head of Ethiopia's Orthodox Church has called on Ethiopians to help those hit by drought.

In a Christmas message, Patriarch Paulos said it was the duty of Christians to help those in dire need.

2003-01-07T09:54:00.000Z

More Bob's boots

"Some of these bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff" - Salon

For well over half his career, Dylan's art has been better served by the bootleggers than by his own label -- or, indeed, by Dylan himself. Underground releases must also get a good share of credit for sustaining interest in Dylan as a continuing creative force.

Absolutely. The article lists some key bootlegs to track down.

2003-01-06T11:26:00.000Z

Worth a side blog

David Galbraith's weblog

2003-01-06T10:24:00.000Z

The weblog of Samuel Pepys

Pepys’ Diary

"When the idea of making a website out of Samuel Pepys' diary first occurred to me it seemed so obvious that I was worried someone would beat me to it," said creator Phil Gyford.

2003-01-06T09:30:00.000Z

Bob's boots

They Buy all the Albums, but Trade Concert Bootlegs - New York Times

Lots of links to bootleg sites.

2003-01-04T09:20:00.000Z

Strummer: A class act

Strummer was class act in last interview
- Times Online

JOE STRUMMER gave a robust defence of his public school background in the final interview before his death. The Clash frontman, who died last month from a heart attack, aged 50, reflected on his career in an interview for Uncut magazine.

Mr Strummer said that fellow punks had accused him of hypocrisy because of his middle-class background: “I’m afraid I talked it up a bit much. My father was in the Diplomatic Service, but he was a self-made orphan. He got himself a scholarship to Lucknow College. When I did my first interview and said my father was a diplomat, I was over-egging it.

“I did it because I was dead proud of what my father had done and I knew that he’d love to be described that way. He got paid nothing his whole life and all we had was a four-room pebbledash bungalow. The reason I went to public school (City of London Freemen’s School, Surrey) was because it was a perk of the job.”

2002-12-31T08:17:00.000Z

Ethiopia faces £330m in debt claims - The Guardian

The impoverished government of Ethiopia, which is struggling to combat the worst famine in 20 years, is facing demands from private creditors of up to $500m (£330m).

The World Bank, which is negotiating on behalf of the Ethiopian government, has offered claimants all the compensation the government can afford. "These claims are surreal," said one World Bank official. "They are laughable when you consider who the debtor is."

2002-12-27T07:58:00.000Z

Matthew Parris: Chance Witness p50

Many, many years later I saw on a professor's desk at Yale a translation of (I think) Aristotle from the ancient Greek: "It is by acting bravely that we become brave.'

This put into words an idea whose core appeared to me in the absolution block with Bill: if a desired human quality does not seem to be coming naturally then the answer may be to stop fretting about how we may get it and instead ask what things we would do if we already had it; and then do them.

2002-12-22T18:14:00.000Z

Ex-beggar says 'Don’t give money to beggars'

Don’t give money to beggars, urges Big Issue founder - The Times

THE founder of The Big Issue has accused people who give money to the homeless on the streets of being misguided and doing more harm than good. He also called for laws allowing the removal of people sleeping rough from the streets to be enforced.

John Bird, whose magazine sellers dot street corners around Britain, says begging encourages the homeless to continue living on the street and lowers the quality of city life.

“Things are made worse by handouts because you keep people on the streets. They are maintained on the streets by a generous public,” said Bird, a beggar for 20 years before he founded The Big Issue.

2002-12-19T10:25:00.000Z

Nestle sues Ethiopia

This reads like an article on The Onion. I thought Nestle was the bad guy in the developing world. Now we know different. The starving millions of the world's poorest country are the real villains of the piece.

Guardian Unlimited - Nestle claims £3.7m from famine-hit Ethiopia

The multinational coffee corporation, Nestle, is demanding a $6m (£3.7m) payment from the government of the world's poorest state, Ethiopia, as the country struggles to combat its worst famine for nearly 20 years.

The money is compensation for an Ethiopian business which the previous military government nationalised in 1975. It could feed a million people for a month, according to Oxfam.

2002-12-19T08:40:00.000Z

Journey to the black gates of Mordor

Once again, the FT's Nigel Andrews proves himself to be the king of film reviewers. Today's review of The Two Towers is less enthusiastic than his reaction to the first installment (a real 'classic critique'). But he's still blown away.

FT.com / Culture & sports - paid registration required

"Let me sum up. I hadn't a clue what was going on, at many points in the plot, and would happily have offered to edit 180 minutes down to 140, but for the danger of being set upon by Tolkien admirers and non-digitally ripped apart. Perhaps they are right. The beauty and virtuosity evident in Part 1 are re-evident here, with Jackson, cinematographer Andrew Lesnie and their effects army conjuring a credence-beggaring array of soaring towers, mighty castles, gulfs of boiling fire, floods, battles and million-man marches, as if there were no barrier in film-making between "would do" and "can do". (In the pixel age, there isn't).

"Coups de cinéma abound and astound; as when the camera descends and dollies out from Saruman's cloudscraping tower, then backtracks for seeming miles over the heads and bristling spears of the largest army since D-Day; or when a forest comes alive with ambulant, gesticulating trees as supple-jointed as foliaged stick insects, only cuddlier and more gigantic.

"Only when the human characters, or those played by humans, stop and speechify is the spell scattered. Dialogue is thuddingly instructional or naffly inspirational. "This is Gimli son of Gloin and this is Legless of Lambeth." (I can't have heard that correctly). Or: "In the gathering dark, the will of the ring grows strong."

2002-12-19T08:07:00.000Z

Would Aragorn invade Iraq?

He sure would, according to InstaPundit. These pro-war bloggers see support for their arguments everywhere they look. Glenn Reynolds manages to see a Hawkish sub-text in the latest Lord of the Rings installment. Maybe the "Two Towers", "Twin Towers" title tangle has turned his head. Sometimes, to misquote Freud, a film is just a film.

Here's the quote in question.

"Viggo Mortensen's occasional off-camera antiwar blather notwithstanding, the inevitability of war, and the importance of having the will to resist evil despite the burdens and the horror is a repeated theme, twined in and around the despair and temptation points I mention above. Indeed, one speech in which Aragorn explains to Theoden that this isn't just the usual raiding, but an effort to stamp out his civilization, seems especially on point."

2002-12-19T07:57:00.000Z

Scotland targeted

London, New York - no surprise there. But for some reason I always assumed that "terrorists" would never be interested in Edinburgh. If they are terrorists that is.

One of the arrests - in Easter Road, round the corner from this here flat, brought it even closer to home. The Scotsman has a great pic of three women out pretending to wash the pavement in Easter Road, obviously trying to get a closer look. The Mirror has gone for what every conspiracy theorist is thinking, with a headline "Target Scotland!"

BBC - Terror police continue 'Scots' interrogation

"Detectives are continuing to question seven men arrested under the Terrorism Act in separate raids England and Scotland.

"The men, in their 30s and said to be of north African origin, were arrested early on Wednesday morning in separate raids in London and Edinburgh."

2002-12-18T18:20:00.000Z

Gawker Day 1. Looks good so far. I wonder if Edinburgh, or the whole of Scotland, could sustain one.

Gawker It is a live review of city news, and by news we mean, among other things, urban dating rituals, no-ropes social climbing, Condé Nastiness, downwardly-mobile i-bankers, real estate porn -- the serious stuff.

2002-12-18T16:57:00.000Z

Slate goes through "today's papers". Side blog?
Slate Magazine

2002-12-18T10:23:00.000Z

BBC - Famine threat to Africa 'growing'

"Thirty million Africans face food shortages next year unless international donors come up with nearly $1bn (£629m). The warning comes in a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which calls on donors to double their pledges."

2002-12-18T10:20:00.000Z

This could eventually turn into the tool to persuade museums to hand back loot. If loot becomes a political issue, extra funding could be given on the understanding that they start negotiations over returning certain artefacts. That will be a long time down the line though.

Museums ask for £14m of new funds - The Glasgow Herald

"SCOTLAND'S museums and galleries need at least another £14m in funds if the nation's heritage is to be saved for future generations, according to the leading museums body.

"The Scottish Museums Council has asked the executive for the funds in a series of proposals that it believes will guarantee the best possible use of the more than 12 million objects held in the nation's museums and galleries."

2002-12-17T12:03:00.000Z

India counts the high cost of its food mountains

In the 1980s, the Europe Economic Community gained notoriety as the producer of the world's largest food mountains. That distinction is now claimed by India - much of its bumper stock is rotting in central government warehouses.

"India has all the food it needs," says a western aid official. "But half of it is currently being eaten by rats."

2002-12-15T08:57:00.000Z

For all the coverage at the moment, it has to be said that New Labour scandals are fairly underfed, anaemic creatures compared to their Tory counterparts. When Edwina Curry confessed to bedding John Major a few weeks back, I felt a wave of nostalgia for the good old days. Scandals ought to involve a good dose of sleaze mixed in with blatant hypocrisy. Cherigate is a real trainspotters scandal. You can collect it in your scandal logbook. It has all the correct markings of a scandal. But no one outside a very select class of enthusiasts really cares.

Cheriegate conman to implicate key Blair ally THE role of Alastair Campbell, the Prime Minister's director of communications, in the "Cheriegate" affair is expected to be highlighted on Monday when Peter Foster, the Australian conman, tells his story.
It emerged yesterday that Foster is preparing to "clarify all issues" surrounding the fiasco by releasing a statement after ditching his reported plan to sell his story for £100,000.

2002-12-15T08:46:00.000Z

Just as I get my first stock-based ISA (a UK tax-free savings bundle for anyone listening out there)...

Yahoo! News - Goodbye to Monster Stock Gains Now that the market is headed into its third straight year of losses, people are brushing up on the fundamental stuff that dictates how stocks are priced. And the rich rewards of the 1990s mania may be a thing of the past.
Expect the market to chalk up lower returns for the rest of the decade, says Jeffrey Kleintop, chief investment strategist for PNC Advisors in Philadelphia.

2002-12-12T16:58:00.000Z

Sorry to keep going on about this. But how much learning has come out of the Ethiopian loot. It would be good to see how often the Magdala manuscripts have been used or what papers have been written on them.

2002-12-12T16:37:00.000Z

It would also be good to find out just how much of our museums's collections might be considered loot by someone, somewhere.

You could draw up some guidelines - ie only return loot when the culture from which it was taken still exists in a coherent form. The Britons, for example, could not now launch a claim against the Vikings. Both groups intermarried and no longer exist separately. It would be interesting if, after all, we were only talking about a relatively small selection of exhibits.

2002-12-12T16:19:00.000Z

Gail from the Ethiopian Embassy put me on to this one.

The museums of the developed world have at last come clean and explained why they are holding on to the developing world's riches.

The statement raises a couple of interesting issues.

Firstly, the museums say that they are for "people of every nation", therefore they should be able to keep Ethiopia's treasures and Greece's Elgin Marbles. But how can the "peoples of every nation" get to visit these global museums? Very few Ethiopians can afford the air fare to see their own heritage.

Secondly, in the NYT version of the story at least, the museums essentially say that the looting was acceptable at the time, so it should be acceptable now. This goes to the heart of the whole matter. Does morality really change in time?

Museums unite against return of imperial ‘loot’ - Times
“We should acknowledge the essentially destructive nature of the repatriation of objects . . . Museums are agents in the development of culture, whose mission is to foster knowledge by a continuous process of reinterpretation. They serve not just the citizens of one nation, but the people of every nation,” says the statement.

2002-12-12T16:10:00.000Z

Here'e the New York Times' take on it
Major Museums Affirm Right to Keep Long-Held Antiquities

2002-12-12T07:27:00.000Z

I'm sure I've mentioned him before - nicely nerdy.
Dan Bricklin Log

2002-12-10T15:09:00.000Z

Ananova - Microsoft lobbying US, Third World against Linux, other open source software

"Microsoft Corp has been waging a major lobbying and public-policy campaign to stop government agencies in the US and in developing countries from using free, "open-source" software, especially the Linux operating system, the Wall Street Journal reported citing Linux vendors and government officials."

2002-12-10T10:51:00.000Z

More Googling and, perhaps, another one of God's geeks.

Who Owns the Alphabet?

2002-12-09T10:35:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | Meles links Somalis to Kenya attacks

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said he has indications that a group operating out of Somalia may have been behind last month's attacks on Israelis in Kenya.

A scoop by the BBC's new guy Martin Plaut.

Also

Ethiopia launches food appeal

2002-12-08T08:30:00.000Z

explodingdog

2002-12-08T08:24:00.000Z

Amazing optical illusion, via fleeingrabbit. As she suggested, I compared the two squares using fireworks.

Checkershadow Illusion

2002-12-08T07:28:00.000Z

NB "Trebuchet MS" looks great

2002-12-08T07:22:00.000Z

Creative Commons » Home

Here's the spiel.

"Creative Commons promotes the innovative reuse of all sorts of intellectual works. Our first project is to offer the public a set of copyright licenses free of charge.

"These licenses will help you tell others that your works are free for copying and other uses -- but only on certain conditions.

"You're probably familiar with the phrase, "All rights reserved," and the little (c) that goes along with it. Creative Commons wants to help copyright holders send a different message: "Some rights reserved."

"For example, if you don't mind people copying and distributing your online image so long as they give you credit, we'll have a license that helps you say so. If you want people to copy your band's MP3 but don't want them to profit off it without your permission, use one of our licenses to express that preference. Our licensing tools will even help you mix and match such preferences from a menu of options."

2002-12-07T08:56:00.000Z

Blogroll?

shellen.com ::: now in widescreen

2002-12-06T12:12:00.000Z

And here's Mrs Veen
Leslie Veen

2002-12-06T12:11:00.000Z

Blogroll?
Jeffrey Veen

2002-12-06T07:37:00.000Z

The flaw in the UN: Samuel Brittan Financial Times 06/12/02

"The UN is far from providing a satisfactory system of international law. There is a General Assembly consisting of nearly 200 countries, operating on the absurd system of one vote each for China and India, with about 1bn people each, and one vote also for Andorra, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Liechtenstein, the Marshall Islands, Monaco, Palau, St Kitts, San Marino, Seychelles and Vanuatu, all with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants. An idea of its quality can be gained from the nomination of Libya to take over the chair of the UN human rights commission."

2002-12-04T16:19:00.000Z

Once again, the West shows itself to be a true friend of developing countries and a bastion of free trade.... But, as this article points out, the developing world is not doing much to help itself either.

All in a tangle over Third World yarn - The Times

"HERE’S a yarn. Here are tonnes and tonnes of yarn. Polyester textured filament yarn made in the Third World is finding its way into Europe and it is most unwelcome.

"The polyester yarn is being dumped in Europe at unfair prices, or so says the European Commission, which has imposed punitive counter-vailing duties on manufacturers from India, Indonesia and Belarus."

2002-12-04T07:07:00.000Z

AIDS dead could be buried in disused mines - New Scientist

"Disused mineshafts in Johannesburg could be turned into catacomb-style cemeteries, in a bid by the City Parks agency to accommodate the increasing number of people dying from AIDS.

"Officials are also considering alternative disposal methods, such as powdering bodies using liquid nitrogen, as well as mass graves.

"Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and about 750,000 of its three million citizens are currently infected with HIV. The city's official death rate has increased by 35 percent in the last five years. It reached 19 per 1000 in 2002, largely due to an increase in AIDS-related deaths in young adults."

2002-12-03T18:02:00.000Z

The Zimbabwean Model of Development
The Economist's Economics Focus page shows the common ground between Robert Mugabe and Naomi Klein. The journalist, as ever, is anonymous. But I suspect Philippe Legrain, author of the excellent Open World: The Truth About Globalisation.

2002-12-03T17:56:00.000Z

And this ought to go on as well, for the second time of asking.

Gizmodo : The Gadgets Weblog

2002-12-03T17:54:00.000Z

Pos blog roll?
ph8 - Controlling your destiny, since 1984.

2002-12-03T12:29:00.000Z

There must be a whole untapped vein of stories about technology and development. There was that Onion story, something like 'Tribesman uses router to crack nut'. Whatever happened to HP's big tech/development plans? Are there any bits of higely expensive tech equipment lying unused in Africa's bushlands?

The Earth Times Daily/An International Assessment on the Future Role of Agricultural Science and Technology in Reducing Hunger and Improving Rural Livelihoods. By The World Bank

From the World Bank: An International Assessment on the Future Role of Agricultural Science and Technology in Reducing Hunger and Improving Rural Livelihoods

2002-12-02T10:03:00.000Z

A rare insight on poverty from Ayenew Haileselassie, an Ethiopian journalist.allAfrica.com -- Ethiopia [opinion]: The New Measure of Poverty Level - Visceral

"During my stay [in Kenya], I had an opportunity to converse with some African journalists. Some of these people had a salary of a thousand USD. Even two thousand USD!

"More than fifteen times the salary of an average Ethiopian journalist. They had their own complaint in their own countries, but they are able to lead a more comfortable life than we do here. African journalists working for local media.

"That is when I started thinking about the new measure poverty level. For our medical doctors this feeling of poverty level came on a personal basis years ago, and many fled to other African countries, not Europe, not America, before the government could wake up and stop or at least reduce their exodus."

2002-12-01T18:18:00.000Z

Another Google mining story, again via Nick Denton.
Postcards From Planet Google

2002-11-29T07:45:00.000Z

Mr Stern continues his crusade

Poor nations urged to end trade barriers - FT

"Poor countries should unilaterally dismantle their barriers to trade in agriculture in spite of European and American "hypocrisy" in raising farm subsidies, the World Bank's chief economist said on Thursday.

"With an average tariff rate of 35 per cent, India had among the most restrictive trade regimes in the world. Unilateral reductions in its own barriers would increase welfare for the poor in India. He estimated that India's trade was $150bn (€152bn, £96bn) less than it should be partly because of self-imposed restrictions on trade."

2002-11-28T11:16:00.000Z

The Economist takes on the AIDS debate, focusing on the AIDS orphans who then grow up lawless and disruptive. It also throws this statistic into the pot.
Economist.com | AIDS in Africa
A 15-year-old boy in Botswana has an 80% chance of dying of AIDS.

2002-11-27T12:08:00.000Z

This comes via Nick Denton - the continued joys of mining Google for data. 212, 486, 911, 1040, 1492, 1776, 68040, and 90210 are among the most popular numbers online and certain countries are associated with certain words - eg Russia and brides.
THE SECRET LIVES OF NUMBERS

2002-11-27T09:14:00.000Z

CNN.com - U.N.: HIV cases on the rise worldwide
The world's fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemic is happening in Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where there will be an estimated 250,000 new infections and 25,000 deaths during 2002, according to the report.

2002-11-26T10:56:00.000Z

So how will the countries compete? Will we have more statements like the Ethiopian PM's, a misery contest to capture headlines?

Bush Wants New Agency to Dole Out Foreign Aid to Poor Nations: Bloomberg.com
"President George W. Bush will propose creating an independent corporation to administer $5 billion in new development aid for countries that battle corruption, open markets, and invest in health and education, senior administration officials said.

"About 110 of the world's poorest countries will compete for the money, which Bush wants on top of $10 billion the U.S. already provides annually in foreign assistance, the officials said in a briefing for reporters."

2002-11-25T10:21:00.000Z

Most of the Saudis involved in Sept 11 were middle class. The classic linking of poverty and terrorism does not stand up.

Reuters Wire | 11/24/2002 | O'Neill says poverty, terror a challenge Wrapping up a tour of three South Asian nations plagued by poverty and terrorism, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill Sunday rejected the idea the two were directly linked but added wealthy nations must help Afghanistan, Pakistan and India deal with both scourges.

2002-11-25T10:17:00.000Z

The Third World is certainly not suffering from a shortage of reports.

USATODAY.com - Vaccines could halt Third World health crisis
The State of the World's Vaccines and Immunization report, compiled by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the World Bank, warns that inequities within and among developing countries could lead to social instability and the spread of disease.
The poorest 20% of the world's population suffer over half of all child deaths from whooping cough, polio, diphtheria, measles and tetanus, says the report, released today in Senegal at a meeting of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

2002-11-22T00:22:00.000Z

anil dash - New York Invented Hip Hop Another side link?

2002-11-21T14:05:00.000Z

The Telegraph takes its turn featuring the Famine - First the cattle die, then the goats, then the people. The two writers have clearly been taken to the area by Farm Africa - the article focuses on cattle shortages, the NGO's main bugbear.

Then it lays into the government with, as far as I can see, no quotes to back it all up.

"In the capital, many are angry with their own government for its failure, yet again, to heed past warnings about drought. Much-needed agricultural reforms have been delayed, and the government's refusal to restore private land ownership to small farmers has exacerbated the crisis by discouraging long-term conservation.

"The political failure to resolve the festering border dispute with Eritrea has made matters in the north far worse, and disputes with Somali tribes have increased tensions. In Afar, the majority of men walk around armed, either with an AK-47 slung nonchalantly around their shoulders, or with a traditional dagger.

"In Addis Ababa, the government appears to have abandoned all efforts to deal with the crisis itself. Having learnt nothing from past famines, it prefers to shame international donors into action, gambling that the rest of the world will not have the stomach to be mere spectators to such a terrible human disaster."

2002-11-20T12:51:00.000Z

So, is this the real problem?
World Bank attacks US and EU on subsidies - FT
The World Bank's chief economist on Tuesday accused the US and the European Union of hypocrisy over their agricultural trade policies, saying their huge subsidies were hurting farmers in poor countries.

"It is hypocritical to preach the advantages of trade and markets and then erect obstacles in precisely those markets in which developing countries have a comparative advantage," Nicholas Stern said in Munich.

He said EU farm subsidies were much higher than those in the US and produced "bizarre" results. "We see sugar beets grown in Finland whilst poor sugar producers in the tropics struggle to make a living," he said. Average subsidies to every cow in the EU, at $2.50, exceeded the daily income of some Africans.

2002-11-19T12:14:00.000Z

Feature idea - the influence ofthe Jetsons, Star Trek and Dick Tracey on tech designers. Have our ideas of what technology can do moved on from the cartoon imaginings of these 50's/60s shows. Or - are the designers themselves still stuck in Jetson land. Is this why we are always being offered intelligent fridges and connected lifestyles that no one wants. It would make for great graphics.globetechnology.com: News

2002-11-19T10:07:00.000Z

Here's a less upbeat take from nthe FT.

Business key to internet use in poor nations
Though internet use is rising rapidly in the developing world, electronic commerce will not take off without a flourishing business-to-business sector, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said on Monday.

In its annual e-commerce and development report, Unctad said B2B - which accounts for 95 per cent of all online transactions - was handicapped in poor countries by inadequate infrastructure and a shortage of skilled workers.

2002-11-19T10:06:00.000Z

Here are the links to the UN e-commerce reports.

UNCTAD Electronic Commerce Branch: ICT and Internet powered trade and development

2002-11-19T10:04:00.000Z

This sounds an awful lot like the hype at the start of the US internet boom. Can the developing world really be saved by e-retail? Won't they have the same problems as pets.com, only amplified by the lack of banking and postal infrastructure?

Yahoo! News - Order a cake or buy a traditional costume: U.N. sees e-commerce opportunities for poor nations

"Developing countries don't have access to the (international) market in the physical sense," said Carlos Fortin, Deputy Secretary-General of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.
It would be impossible for most firms from poor nations to open a store or an office in a Western city, he said.
"But they find it relatively easy to open a Web site," Fortin said.

2002-11-17T19:56:00.000Z

Now, Georgia Shaver's comments are being reported as news in Addis.

Drought And Lack Of Food Aid Threaten Millions Ethiopians

"Donor contributions have covered the most acute needs over recent months, but by early next year the number of drought affected Ethiopians will rise dramatically -- the food aid pledges received so far are nowhere near enough," said Georgia Shaver, WFP Representative in Ethiopia.

2002-11-15T14:39:00.000Z

BBC NEWS - Eritrea offers its ports to Ethiopia

In a foreign ministry statement, the Eritrean Government said it was conscious of its obligations in the face of the huge humanitarian crisis, though it added in a barbed comment that the Ethiopian people should not be punished for the wrongdoings of the government.

2002-11-14T11:12:00.000Z

Financial Review - Free trade has reduced poverty, Greenspan says

Free trade and liberalised economies had helped raise living standards in poor and developing nations, US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday.

In a speech to a Bank of Mexico development conference in Mexico City, he urged developing countries to follow the precepts of 18th century economist Adam Smith to develop their societies.

2002-11-14T11:10:00.000Z

Economist.com | Famine in Africa

In Ethiopia, the food crisis has been aggravated by the legacy of a senseless border war with neighbouring Eritrea between 1998 and 2000. This killed tens of thousands, forced 350,000 to flee their homes, blasted both countries' infrastructure and prompted foreign donors to freeze a lot of aid. In all, it cost Ethiopia an estimated $2.9 billion—almost a whole year’s output for every farmer in a country where 80% of the population live on farms. Such a monumental man-made disaster has made it harder for the country to cope with a natural one.

On the plus side, the current Ethiopian government is not indifferent to its people’s suffering, unlike the Marxist military regime that presided over the famine of 1984, refusing to allow foreign aid in until, for multitudes of Ethiopians, it was too late. That regime was overthrown in 1991, and since then food production has steadily increased. But half the population remains desperately poor, a plight made harder to escape by insecure land tenure and the government’s failure to abolish the old feudal system of extracting heavy taxes from peasants.

In southern Africa it is notable that well-governed countries, such as South Africa and Botswana, have not suffered food shortages, despite the drought. The hungriest countries are all, to varying degrees, misruled.

2002-11-14T10:29:00.000Z

Might be worth blog rolling - stevenberlinjohnson.com

2002-11-14T10:19:00.000Z

Moreover has no new headlines for Ethiopia today. The story which broke on Monday is now dead.

2002-11-14T10:13:00.000Z

Already, just three days after the Ethiopian PM's warning, all mention of the story has disappeared from the BBC'a Africa page. Does everyone now question the whole premise of the story?

2002-11-14T10:06:00.000Z

Here is Clare Short's put down of the NGO.

Earlier Georgia Shaver, the UN World Food Programme’s representative in Addis Ababa, had said that Ethiopia had received only a trickle of the aid that it required.

“In southern Africa, there are ten (million) to 14 million people needing aid across six countries. In Ethiopia, we could have the same number in just one country,” she said. “We need the resources today so that we can prevent a deterioration of the situation.”

Ms Short hit back angrily: “I heard that woman’s very irresponsible statement,” she said. “Four million people (in Ethiopia) are dependent on food aid every single year. This is a well-organised country used to handling aid.

“The crisis in southern Africa is the same sort of numbers, but less well-organised. People are weakened by HIV and it is dangerous that we will not be able to reach them.”

British aid organisations seem to agree with Ms Short’s assessment of the situation. The Disasters Emergency Committee, which co-ordinates emergency relief, has raised £15 million for southern Africa and is appealing for further donations.