links for 2009-11-04

Underreported: The Best Defense is a Good Offence
Observers of Egyptian politics had predicted the annual convention of the ruling National Democratic Party would address the issue of "succession."
What most NDP officials did in their speeches, however, was wage scathing attacks on the opposition, with the popular Muslim Brotherhood receiving the lion's share.
The NDP's recent escalation [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-11-03

The Fun Theory
Initiative to promote change for the better by making things fun. The front page videos include an arcade like bottle-bank; piano stairs to encourage them over escalator and a bin that sounds like it's bottomless.
(tags: design video technology socialmedia environment humor education)

Saudi Arabia, Turkey to map out cooperation
- "Saudi Arabia and Turkey will [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-11-02

China, India Forge Alternative to UN Climate Treaty (Update2) – Bloomberg.com
- "Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) — Asias two biggest polluters from burning carbon-based fuels announced their collaboration on renewable power and energy-efficiency projects in a memo of understanding yesterday in New Delhi. They again rejected limits on emissions blamed for global warming that industrialized nations have [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-11-01

Think Again: God – By Karen Armstrong | Foreign Policy
more or less, says God is necessary and that atheists should stop being so negative.
(tags: religion atheism politics KarenArmstrong)

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-27

Cameron Todd Willingham, Texas, and the death penalty : The New Yorker
(tags: law politics texas newyorker deathpenalty crime)

Moisés Naím on the new power of shadow finance | Foreign Policy
Welcome to the new shadow financial system, a world where regulators are hampered and bankers are bold. The "old" shadow financial system, before the bubbles burst, thrived [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-26

Choike – Brave new world emerges from IMF and World Bank Istanbul meetings
"The IMF /World Bank 2009 Annual meetings were, as every three years, held outside of Washington, this time in the city of Istanbul. The meetings came on the heels of the recent summit of the Group of 20 in Pittsburgh, giving follow up [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-25

BBC NEWS | Europe | Rich Germans demand higher taxes
"A group of rich Germans has launched a petition calling for the government to make wealthy people pay higher taxes.
The group say they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programmes to aid Germany's economic recovery.
Germany could raise [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-24

BBC NEWS | Europe | Rich Germans demand higher taxes
"A group of rich Germans has launched a petition calling for the government to make wealthy people pay higher taxes.
The group say they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programmes to aid Germany's economic recovery.
Germany could raise [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-23

Copenhagen Is a Recipe for Failure – By Bruce Bueno de Mesquita | Foreign Policy
Based on his game theory model/application (which purportedly has a 90% correct track record), says odds of reaching anything better than kyoto are slim and that over time we arent likely to get beyond about 10 "points" (20% over kyoto) reductions.
(tags: [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-22

Charles Kenny on why TV, not Facebook or Twitter, is going to revolutionize the world | Foreign Policy
Charles Kenny says TV variety changes the world, citing the effects of TV on birth and divorce rates among other stats. Don'e fully buy it, but it's interesting
"It's not Twitter or Facebook that's reinventing the planet. Eighty years [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-19

Capitalism and financial crashes : The New Yorker
[A]s the Princeton economist Hyun Song Shin pointed out in a prescient 2005 paper. Most of the time, financial markets are pretty calm, trading is orderly, and participants can buy and sell in large quantities. Whenever a crisis hits, however, the biggest players—banks, investment banks, hedge funds—rush to [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-14

http://www.egyptcarpoolers.com/cms.php?id=public_landing_page
This is an interesting initiative. Site for CARPOOLING! in Egypt!
(tags: egypt carbon transport pollution)

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-11

Egypt and beyond: Exile
As soon as the immigration officers at the airport pulled me aside and told me to wait “for a few minutes” I guessed what was about to happen, but I still didn't really believe it. I spent the next few hours in a limbo, with my immediate future in the hands of [...]

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-09

Afed…First Annual Conference of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development
(tags: arab environment lebanon policy MiddleEast)

The Euromed Partnership in the Light of the Global Economic Turmoil- Carnegie Middle East Center
(tags: europe eu euromed economic-crisis economy trade policy)

Read Full Post »

links for 2009-10-08

Carnegie Middle East Center
"like other G20 countries, it has been increasingly exposed to the challenges of globalization. The Saudis have been particularly affected by three markets that have witnessed tremendous volatility in the past two years: international finance, oil, and food commodities."
(tags: saudi-arabia food energy finance economy economics g20 food-security energy-policy)

Study paints rosy picture of [...]

Read Full Post »