tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503568237388679852024-03-04T22:24:38.537-08:00Please and Thank You.Serving you a side of news on the regular, political correctness not guaranteed.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-84215054375087887332014-02-11T10:51:00.000-08:002014-02-11T10:51:45.358-08:00The Story on Dumb Starbucks <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Quick facts</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Photo: Forbes</span></td></tr>
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<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A mystery coffee shop opened in Los Angeles this past weekend that looked like a real Starbucks - except it said Dumb Starbucks on the sign</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Customers were not charged for the coffee, which is perhaps in part why the lines were so long. There was a tip jar if anyone felt the urge.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dumb Starbucks claimed their “coffee shop” was really just an art gallery and the “coffee” should be therefore considered art. Basically, the shop, or art gallery as they called it, had to be labeled a work of parody art for legal reasons </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">People were literally lining up down the block to get a cup of the hot brewed coffee, which one customer said tasted very watery and not exactly what she had been expecting<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Forbes</td></tr>
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</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Turns out that in the end it was all a stunt created by Comedy Central reality-TV-show host Nathan Fielder</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now, the health department has shut down the 'art gallery' because it was operating without a health permit</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The comedian behind this, Nathan Fields, seems to be anything but funny in his video where he says he considers this to be a real business venture that he plans to get rich from</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next Dumb Starbucks is set to open in Brooklyn, New York</span></span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 27px;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dumb Starbucks has a Twitter account at @dumbstarbucks</span></span></span></li>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-41735930103901351052014-02-08T08:06:00.000-08:002014-02-08T08:36:26.792-08:00For Better or Worse, the 2014 Olympics Has Put Sochi on the MapI don't know about you, but for me, Sochi has never been a household name. That is, until it became the host of the 2014 Olympics. Now you can't get people to <i>stop</i> talking about this place. So obviously this made me want to learn more about it. And no, not because of what appears to have been a beautiful opening ceremony of the Olympics. I honestly don't really care about the Olympics games much, it's very low on my priority list, probably below sewing that hole in my winter jacket pocket and doing my taxes. But anyway, I do find it interesting that of all the places the Olympics could have been held this year, the coveted honor went to Sochi, Russia. Now I'm no Russia expert, but from what I've picked up, it isn't held in the highest esteem by the international community: the country doesn't really follow the rules (see <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303448204579338663239079496" target="_blank">here</a>) and it has a tendency not to play well with others (see <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26081977" target="_blank">here</a>). Not that this is much different than many other countries necessarily (ahem, U.S., anyone?), but from what I've read in the news, these are the aspects of Russia that have stood out and have therefore created a certain perception of the country.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opening Ceremony 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia</td></tr>
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First off, it's important to note (and this is something I didn't realize until I looked it up), Sochi was <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/sochi-russia/story?id=22271457" target="_blank">chosen to host the 2014 Olympic Games seven years ago</a>. Sochi is a resort town residing along the Black Sea, but unfortunately not the most safe of places. Before the games began, the U.S. State Department felt it necessary to issue a statement about the city being in close vicinity to Volgograd, Russia, which has had recent suicide bombings as well as a 10 year conflict with Islamic terrorists. These conflicts have led to bombings at various populated Russian areas such as airports and hotels.<br />
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I want to make it clear that I'm not in any way biased toward the choice of city or the actual city at all. If I had looked up Sochi and found out that it was being wrongly perceived, I would have written about that. Instead, I am just writing the facts as I have found them to be from the most reliable sources I could find.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Russian air defense system in front of the mountains where Olympics are being held</td></tr>
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And also, I'm sure there other viewpoints on this situation. There are much smarter people than myself weighing the pros and cons when choosing the host city of the Olympic Games. Perhaps they thought it would be a positive step for Russia, a way to promote the country's positive aspects. This totally makes sense. But, and again this is just my humble opinion, it does seem like a big collateral damage risk. Also, the mayor of Sochi has come straight out and said there are no gay people in the city, excuse the pun. Apparently he has concocted some method of detecting where gay people are, and they are conveniently not within the territorial lines of Sochi.</div>
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All I'm saying is, I'm not jumping on a plane to go over there and put myself into a heavily populated venue in Sochi, Russia, the land of the anti-rainbow. That seems too much like putting a big bulls eye on my forehead. And I like rainbows and gay people. It's cool, I'll just watch the games on my trusty television from the safety of my own room. Or maybe I'll just end up doing my taxes instead. Yeah, probably the latter.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.508515 -0.1254871999999522851.192402 -0.77093419999995227 51.824628000000004 0.51995980000004771tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-12516156206740870542014-02-04T07:43:00.000-08:002014-02-04T07:43:22.369-08:00Interview: APSA Director Steven Rathgeb Smith<h2 style="background-color: white; color: #393736; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">
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<a href="http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ippr/files/2014/02/SRSmith.jpg" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad004e; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="SRSmith" class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-252" height="150" src="http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ippr/files/2014/02/SRSmith-150x150.jpg" style="border: 0px solid; float: left; margin: 0px 15px 10px 0px; padding: 0px;" width="150" /></a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Professor Steven Rathgeb Smith is the new Executive Director of the</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><a href="https://www.apsanet.org/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad004e; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">American Political Science Association</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(APSA), of which he has been a member for over 30 years. He holds a PhD in Political Science from</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><a href="http://web.mit.edu/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad004e; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">MIT</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">and has taught at a number of major American universities, including</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><a href="http://duke.edu/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad004e; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Duke</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">and</span><a href="http://www.georgetown.edu/" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad004e; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Georgetown</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. Steven is a leading scholar on non-profit organisations, public management and social policy.</span></div>
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He is currently co-researching a comparative project into the welfare-state regimes of Canada, the US, the UK and Australia. Looking at the relationship between the voluntary sector and the state, Smith’s research asks to what extent there is convergence or change amongst these countries, in their provision of public services. He argues that there is convergence with regard to a move towards a more market-orientated approach to public service provision. On the other hand, Smith argues that the UK is distinct from the US in the emphasis that David Cameron has placed on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Society" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad004e; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">‘Big Society’</a> meaning the provision of services by the voluntary sector is more pronounced in the UK than in the US.</div>
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During Smith’s visit to UCL, we asked him about the implications of his research and also to share with us some insights into his professional development, and as Executive Director of the APSA his ambitions for political science.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: Are there any experiences or reasons that you can highlight for your interest in public management, non-profits and the voluntary sector?</strong></div>
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A: That’s an interesting question. Certainly my formative experience was working in the voluntary sector after university- in child welfare- and then got a Masters in social work. I initially thought I might work in direct services, but then I changed focus while I was in graduate school to policy administration and that led me to a research career in policy administration.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: Was that based at all on a feeling that you could have more impact by going into research and the policy side of things?</strong></div>
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A: Well, it’s a different kind of impact. I got very interested in doing research and I was attracted to learning about different voluntary organisations and how they are managed. By writing on the topic, I did feel that I could have a broader impact on how people manage these organisations and manage their relationship with the government. I like the teaching part of being a faculty member, too. Certainly if you’re working in a direct service role you can have a profound influence on people’s lives, but it’s different kind of influence.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: What do you think the voluntary sectors’ future role will be, especially in the context of the economic crisis?</strong></div>
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A: I think there will continue to be a role for community-based organizations, and if anything their role will grow as the public services continue to be restructured. But in certain policy areas that lend themselves to routinisation and standardisation, such as home-care for the elderly or disabled, across the world you’re seeing a growing role for for-profit organisations and a declining role for the voluntary sector. The remaining kind of voluntary organisations in those kind of services tend to be large. One of the big issues in Sweden these days is the growing role of for-profit healthcare companies. Sweden is a little different in that they have an important role for the state sector and a small role for the voluntary sector in the area of social health services, where service delivery which has mostly been controlled by local government.</div>
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So I think that the voluntary sector will remain important, particularly at the community level, but I do think that in some of the other service categories for-profits will continue to play a prominent role.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: You spoke about decentralisation of the provision of ‘human services’ in the US- if provision is based more on market demand, will there be less continuity in the kind of services provided?</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />A: I was just writing an article about this. I do think that the environment for the voluntary sector is more turbulent than it used to be. Before, some of these large voluntary organisations in the US and the UK could depend on government funding- they had a kind of market niche that was quite stable. Now it’s quite a turbulent environment, which is prone to disruptions- whether it’s budgetary disruptions that might be influenced by the economy, or political change.</div>
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The similarity that you have between the US and the UK is that the national government has historically provided some way of ensuring that there’s more equitable delivery of services around the country. To the extent that you get more decentralization and national government cuts back on its role, you’re going to get more variation at the local level. And it seems to me that’s what’s occurring in the UK as well.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: So access to services is becoming more of a post-code lottery?</strong></div>
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A: Yes, for the users it’s very insecure absolutely, and in the US it also means that the voluntary organisation itself is in a more uncertain environment. There’s been a big discussion in the voluntary sector about the role of business models and how that affects the way you manage these organisations. The argument would be that voluntary sector organisations faced with uncertainty are more risk-averse, and so are more likely to adopt various kinds of business models or financial measures and financial management tools from the business sector. The interest in social enterprises and social innovation also means that it’s attractive to adopt these more commercial business-oriented models in the sector as well.</div>
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Colleague and friend <a href="http://www.ucl.ac.uk/spp/people/teaching-staff/sarabajaya-kumar" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad004e; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Dr. Sarabajaya Kumar</a>: You also get very high-profile business people who say they don’t think certain organisations should be funded if they’re not efficient and run in a business-like way, which has an influence.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: Do you think governments who encourage voluntarism as a replacement for public service provision are shirking their responsibilities?</strong></div>
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A: I do think what’s happened in the UK and to a certain extent in the US as well, is that the public sector just cuts back and leaves it essentially to the local community by saying do it on your own without any money and on a volunteer basis. I don’t think that’s fair, and in this way I do think that the public sector is shirking their responsibilities. If the public sector said we’re not going to provide it through the public sector anymore, we’re going to shift it to the voluntary sector organizations, and we’re going to give them some money to do it, then that’s something different. You see some of that transfer in the U.S. [from the public sector to the voluntary sector], particularly with things like public parks and recreation. And it has had the effect of engaging a lot of community members in a kind of co-production activity and mobilizing community members in volunteering and donating money. And I think that it can work sometimes.</div>
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I think that the drawback in volunteering is there are also differences in class and education. Also, different communities and different service categories are more likely to have volunteers than others. Over the years I’ve done quite a bit on substance abuse and treatment services, which historically in the United States get very little philanthropy. It’s very difficult to generate donations and they get very few volunteers. Some of the services for the chronically mentally ill also have difficulty generating philanthropic dollars. So in those cases for the public sector to say we’re not going to provide these services, we’re going to depend on volunteers, even with some public funding, seems like an abdication of responsibility because you know they are going to have great difficulty generating philanthropy.</div>
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<strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Q: Do you think there are weaknesses in the field of political science that need strengthening? And how do you think APSA could help with this right now?</strong></div>
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A: Well, political science is a very diverse field. You have people with very different approaches to the study of political science; they have very different substantive interests. Some are interested in theory, some are interested in comparative politics, some in international relations or in citizenship. Political science as an association has responded by saying, well, we’re an association that any political scientist can join but we have subfields that people with similar interests can join. I think in many ways it reflects the dynamics of any large membership association as it evolves and changes. But the challenge of course, and I think that this is something that the APSA faces today, is to say what the relationship between these subfields is to the larger association.</div>
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I think that academic associations are facing many of the same challenges that are affecting other institutions in society. There’s a disaggregating impulse going on. Academic associations used to have to join academic associations because you needed the journal and you had to go to the conference. But now you can get the journal online. So now people individually become more powerful in terms of the kind of information they have access to and have control over. It’s changed the role of academic associations.</div>
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
I think political science is facing more questions about the value of political science, such as how do you become a better person by studying political science in a university, or do you become a better citizen if you study political science? And then it’s a question about the value of political science research, which I think we’re delving into in the United States. APSA is a part of that conversation. A lot of political scientists study elections, and you can kind of see where that might have some important impact in terms of promoting transparency and good elections, and less corruption and fairness and things like that. But I think for some things in political science it’s a little more complicated to see what the point is. I think that’s going to be a big challenge for us, to communicate the value of political science.</div>
<div style="line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">
-This was co-written with my journalist colleague Harriet Bradley</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0University College London, Gower St, London WC1E 6BT51.524559200000013 -0.1340400999999928951.514679700000016 -0.15421009999999288 51.53443870000001 -0.1138700999999929tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-49420128214383949912014-01-19T15:16:00.000-08:002014-01-20T04:15:56.694-08:00Istanbul the Beautiful City in Flux<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just got back from a trip to the beautiful, complicated, one and only Istanbul. I can't even believe that this is the same city that we see in the news having violent protests. Somehow the images I see in the newspapers do not sync up with the magical place I spent time exploring for a week. But it's true. This city is a paradox of modernism wrapped in old traditions, a city trying to move forward in modernity and status, and still getting tangled up with old ways of dealing with conflict.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcrk72BRegc1keskOLzZ_w3WbvT3ADI5gsl6GNPgeXOxTPCBzy5TY1cKNA2AQtP3MI_poLlSI5y5C8OtZKGIO2lOHtylLieKMsMAcLtVI5-2Vnu0erwJDCZV4Eym11rsg6IdIMrMN99Ea/s1600/IMG_4109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBcrk72BRegc1keskOLzZ_w3WbvT3ADI5gsl6GNPgeXOxTPCBzy5TY1cKNA2AQtP3MI_poLlSI5y5C8OtZKGIO2lOHtylLieKMsMAcLtVI5-2Vnu0erwJDCZV4Eym11rsg6IdIMrMN99Ea/s1600/IMG_4109.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turkey has a rapidly growing economy and is now considered an industrialized country, which is a fairly new development. Things are on the up and up in Istanbul, and it's very obvious to someone exploring it. There are modern museums throughout, various restorations taking place all over, and even a newly opened and popular undersea rail link called the Marmaray.<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"> </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFV57amrYLFGbDXp8xpOPpTa4_tJ6JRLpq6jXfxSNdQbIzOiWBGrbjvUJ4HhS29bHsf_VQAsOvLygTMc4pwhbFKGExAunl7R9MRCW7ATI2V-ieVVH1UqFjGJHlXhOm8JtQKKy7ayTtpHkI/s1600/IMG_4045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFV57amrYLFGbDXp8xpOPpTa4_tJ6JRLpq6jXfxSNdQbIzOiWBGrbjvUJ4HhS29bHsf_VQAsOvLygTMc4pwhbFKGExAunl7R9MRCW7ATI2V-ieVVH1UqFjGJHlXhOm8JtQKKy7ayTtpHkI/s1600/IMG_4045.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These and many other features all display the brightness of Turkey's future. Somehow Istanbul pulls off the perfect balance of the old world with the new that no other city can with quite such ease. To know that there is such vast history here that dates back to 8500 years ago is hard to comprehend. Once you have been here, once you have seen it with your own eyes, you can't help but become a fan of what it stands for historically and what it appears to be striving for in its future.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgBnzbfDTx11hchSp4D5jeiukpRX2QhFNLGCsd1NChKAqljLKqLqwC3TFImNrM_i7jbVYuY-dqFYOAF_C69oicM-xjAsMER6p6_JHHG__Pqa9IiAzRc34YUk44mWoYCPTVqaYJv2Xceec/s1600/IMG_3986.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVgBnzbfDTx11hchSp4D5jeiukpRX2QhFNLGCsd1NChKAqljLKqLqwC3TFImNrM_i7jbVYuY-dqFYOAF_C69oicM-xjAsMER6p6_JHHG__Pqa9IiAzRc34YUk44mWoYCPTVqaYJv2Xceec/s1600/IMG_3986.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But beneath this amazingly layered history and these contemporary developments, there is a quiet but noticeable undertone of conflict. Men with guns stand at the ready while you make your way to Topkapi Palace. In another section of Istanbul you drive past guards in bulletproof glass boxes with large rifles in hand. It's a big whiff of reality after losing yourself in the allure of the Hagia Sophia, the heady smells of the Spice Bazaar, and the sounds of the awe-inspiring ocean. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdqyPszc8wqa5HLGrohtdLR_MV72iO88_tm7khjkMzHOrczcwFy7HnwcxCJY4F1oug53kDTpb6JQkdtJhR0W6Z2Lw3GpteZARuX8bABAgdywVHrBfFshCsAi_HO6r4Bxy860wAhTVTmTR/s1600/IMG_4002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdqyPszc8wqa5HLGrohtdLR_MV72iO88_tm7khjkMzHOrczcwFy7HnwcxCJY4F1oug53kDTpb6JQkdtJhR0W6Z2Lw3GpteZARuX8bABAgdywVHrBfFshCsAi_HO6r4Bxy860wAhTVTmTR/s1600/IMG_4002.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some things will need to change if it wants to truly become modern by the global society standards of today. The protests that keep popping up are not good for the reputation of a city that should be in the news for so many better reasons. But of course, the protests are what make the news, which is fair. Hopefully with all the positive growth this city is having, they will make the time to focus on evolving their politics in important ways as well.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.195100899999986 -0.7652713999999704 51.827326899999989 0.52562260000002958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-7774187119050763342014-01-05T13:22:00.001-08:002014-01-05T13:22:58.112-08:00Two Blogs<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Check out these blogs:</b></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/ippr/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">IPPR</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://humanrightsjournalucl.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Human Rights Journal</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Both have thought provoking up and coming writers covering important political issues that will keep you up to date.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>Give 'em some love!</b></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.195100899999986 -0.7652713999999704 51.827326899999989 0.52562260000002958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-3389286971514115402014-01-04T15:19:00.001-08:002014-01-04T16:17:45.850-08:00Help You Help Me<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: purple;">Lets look at some statistics about the most
recent natural disaster that has taken place, known as Typhoon Haiyan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Philippine typhoon that hit November
8 has racked up a current death toll of almost 6,166, while 1,785 have still
not been found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adding to this,
almost 29,000 people have suffered injuries from the typhoon, 4 million people
have been displaced from their homes, and 14 million Filipinos were impacted in
some way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Philippine
government has said that it is feeding 1.4 million people a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAW1JYxy4dtaKxZI-KlE1V4xQYDHJp5WWcw5sB6urV5U-F2QU4hTHItDrL2YizJvJaaFzrIU1OdM8-MCpN5aTbFMqIDWWYd6P3SZTFbF7f87NnzLET5PXyeyirIfD7xzQIz9R_Q07OoYb/s1600/5094390-3x2-940x627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAW1JYxy4dtaKxZI-KlE1V4xQYDHJp5WWcw5sB6urV5U-F2QU4hTHItDrL2YizJvJaaFzrIU1OdM8-MCpN5aTbFMqIDWWYd6P3SZTFbF7f87NnzLET5PXyeyirIfD7xzQIz9R_Q07OoYb/s320/5094390-3x2-940x627.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: purple;">Although the government is being lauded for
not doing more, it is still difficult to find blame when it comes to natural
disasters of this level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it
comes down to it, there is no one that can be directly blamed when people die
in this manner, there is only so much anyone can do except try to prepare for
an event of this kind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The number
of deaths that are being caused by these natural disasters are frightening. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: purple;">Eight weeks after their death, the victims
of Super Typhoon Haiyan are just now being buried because, as Tacloban City
authorities put it, there has been a lack of technical personnel as well as bad
weather in the form of non-stop rain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This has greatly slowed down their ability to identify bodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The burial process is expected to take
about five days more because of this, and still many of the bodies have not
been claimed or identified by any family members.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: purple;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pzb_H-S4U9qg9nzpnMm1oQJr2oXCyrRCmycd-Yat_HAbkozwbfyFDtPdqscayeZgpHGM-V3q1BztCnrzQOA44evUA7R_143jMDTzTBTLVaaKNf9ciq39Qs-W-CMWBRPhU337KqNZQSnP/s1600/5083696-3x2-940x627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: purple;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pzb_H-S4U9qg9nzpnMm1oQJr2oXCyrRCmycd-Yat_HAbkozwbfyFDtPdqscayeZgpHGM-V3q1BztCnrzQOA44evUA7R_143jMDTzTBTLVaaKNf9ciq39Qs-W-CMWBRPhU337KqNZQSnP/s320/5083696-3x2-940x627.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: purple;">As Filipino-American columnist for the
Guardian Juanita Salvador-Burris also pointed out, it hasn’t helped that old
rules created by the United States Congress back in the 1950’s has drawn out the
process of getting extremely necessary humanitarian aid relief over to millions
of desperate Filipinos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
outdated laws and regulations have the potential to cause real harm and perhaps
even cause unnecessary death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With
4 million people having lost their homes because of the typhoon, the columnist
is right in saying that there is no excuse for any amount of red tape when it
comes to responding to a disaster such as this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is when red tape should be cut and thrown in the
wastebasket with haste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anything
less than such a reaction should be seen as careless.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="color: purple;">If this were a natural disaster that had
occurred in the United States, there would be no questions asked and protocol would
be thrown to the wayside if it were becoming an obstacle. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As citizens of the world all sharing one
globe, the same thing should be done for citizens of any country irrespective
of any other factors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
are the most important times to show our mutual respect to one another, when
others are facing times of crisis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps the often recited but not as often practiced saying “Do unto
others as you would have them do to you” should be put into practice in this
case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The saying is
appropriately the foundation of many of the ethical systems that societies are
built upon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The United States is allegedly
one of these societies, so it seems that there is no better time like the
present for the U.S. to dust off this proverb and transform it from an
antiquated and empty saying that has been left in the past into one that can be
practically applied today.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com4London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.195100899999986 -0.7652713999999704 51.827326899999989 0.52562260000002958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-49435661262027656732013-12-27T12:37:00.001-08:002014-01-04T16:18:09.295-08:00Political Food for Thought<i><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b>Before beginning my MA in Human Rights, I would have read the below article and fully disagreed with it. I tend to look at life in a glass-half-full sort of way, sometimes verging into rose-colored glasses territory. I will admit that I, like many others, thought of human rights as this abstract concept that would ride in on a white horse and save the day, if only given the proper chance by those pesky laws and politicians that always seemed to block its way. But my view has rapidly changed after being one term into my MA program. I can confidently say that human rights as we know it will not be the solution that many of us so want it to be, and the idea that it will be is kind of like believing that Disney movies are real. It's unfair and downright naive to assume that a big blanket of human rights can be thrown over all atrocities and voila, all will be better. This is just not so. There are so many interpretations of rights. A</b><b>s anyone who has kept up with the news will know, Western and non-Western ideas of inalienable rights are quite often not the same. Additionally, l</b><b>ike Gray mentioned, there are rights such as 'freedom of expression' and 'protection from hate speech' that compete with each other and there is no way that they can ever sync up, yet both can be defended as important and essential rights. </b></span></i><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><i><br /></i></b>
<b><i>One thing I don't agree with Gray on is that human rights has the same approach as Evangelists in that if people are just shown the light, they will realize they want this, too. I really do believe that if given the chance, it is inherent in everyone to desire rights. Who would not want to better themselves and their positions? Perhaps Gray needs to clarify his statement.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b><i><br /></i></b>
<i><b>We do not live in a cohesive or homogeneous world, and we will never be able to have a cohesive set of human rights that apply to all. Gray explains why in a clear way. </b><b>Our idea of human rights is too simplistic to solve all of our complicated problems. Instead of trying to come up with a perfect solution for an imperfect world, we need to broaden our minds and see that human rights should be thought of as just one tool, as opposed to the one and only answer.</b></i></span><br />
<i><b style="color: orange;"><br /></b></i>
<b><i><span style="color: #b45f06;">The following article on why human rights are not a solution was just published by BBC News, written by the influential political philosopher John Gray. </span></i></b><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><u>A Point of View: Two cheers for human rights</u></span></h1>
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Human rights are important, but they will never be a solution to ending conflict, writes John Gray.</div>
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When we hear reports of nightmarish atrocities being committed in Syria, it's easy to respond by thinking these horrors could be prevented if only the country had a government that respected human rights. We've come to believe rights are the answer to many of the world's ills. But rights aren't a cure for human conflict, and I think it's a mistake to treat them as an article of faith.</div>
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In an essay published in 1938, the novelist EM Forster gave two cheers for democracy: "One because it admits variety, and two because it permits criticism… Two cheers are quite enough," he wrote. "There is no occasion to give three." Forster thought that no political system - not even democracy - should be turned into an icon. What mattered, he thought, was that individuals should have the chance to live as best they can.</div>
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On this Forster was right. While democracy is a good thing, as anyone will tell you who has experienced the alternatives, it isn't something we should worship, and it shouldn't be a creed we try to impose on the world. But what Forster argued about democracy is also true of human rights today. From providing a useful safeguard against the abuse of power, human rights are turning into a comforting dogma through which we try to escape the painful dilemmas of war and politics.</div>
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Find out more</h2>
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<img alt="John Gray" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67271000/jpg/_67271246_67271245.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; display: block; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: -9px 0px 17px; position: relative;" width="304" /></div>
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<li style="background-image: url(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/view/3_0_18/cream/hi/shared/img/story_sprite.gif); background-position: -1200px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: auto;">A Point of View is usually broadcast on Fridays on Radio 4 at 20:50 GMT and repeated Sundays 08:50 GMT</li>
<li style="background-image: url(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/view/3_0_18/cream/hi/shared/img/story_sprite.gif); background-position: -1200px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: auto;">John Gray is a political philosopher and author of False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism</li>
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Human rights have two large virtues - they empower us against governments, and anyone can claim them. If we have rights we needn't approach power on our knees, as supplicants begging for favours. We can demand that our freedoms be respected. And it doesn't matter who governs us. Human rights can be invoked wherever they exist.</div>
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For many people the universality of rights is their principal attraction, but for me it's also their chief weakness. John Locke, the 17th Century English thinker who founded the modern theory of rights, believed rights were grounded in our duties to God. For him, human freedom was divinely ordained. That's why he believed we didn't have the right to commit suicide, or to sell ourselves into slavery. In Locke's view, we always remained God's creatures.</div>
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Nowadays many believers in rights are indifferent or hostile to religion. The fact remains that human rights originated in monotheism - the belief that there's only one God, who creates a single moral law for all human beings. And there's a sense in which human rights still depend on some sort of religious commitment. For unless these rights are grounded in something beyond the human world, they can only be a human invention.</div>
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<img alt="Cambodian child marks International Human Rights Day" height="333" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71941000/jpg/_71941712_cambodia.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0px; position: relative;" width="464" /></div>
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As someone without any religious beliefs that's a conclusion I'm happy to accept, but it has uncomfortable consequences for those who think human rights have universal authority. It's one thing to say there are universal human values (a view I strongly endorse). Some things are bad for everyone - being subject to the threat of torture or persecution, for example. But human beings have devised a variety of ways of fending off these universal evils, and rights haven't always been the most reliable or effective. A highly developed culture of rights in the US didn't stop torture being regarded by some as a legitimate weapon in the so-called "war on terror", for example.</div>
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“<span style="display: block; margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-indent: -5000px;">Start Quote</span></h2>
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Rights are like money and the law - they only exist if enough people accept that they exist”</div>
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We've forgotten that rights aren't the only way to protect universal values. For several centuries the Ottoman empire was a haven where religious minorities that were persecuted in Christian countries could live together in peace. The Ottoman regime wasn't based on rights. In fact, since it involved separate systems of law for each community, it was incompatible with a system in which everyone had the same rights. Where something like peace between religions has been achieved, it's because the difficult art of toleration has been learnt.</div>
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Where it's deeply rooted, the practice of tolerance is a more reliable safeguard against persecution than any code of rights. The European Convention on Human Rights was incorporated into UK law only in 1998, but Britain, despite all its flaws, has a better historical record of respecting human freedom than many European states. The elaborate system of rights that was embodied in the Weimar Republic didn't stem the rise of Nazism. Human rights can't defend anyone when the state that upholds them is swept away.</div>
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<img alt="Human rights protesters in Srinagar" height="305" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71938000/jpg/_71938350_banner.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0px; position: relative;" width="464" /></div>
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Many people seem to think that once tyranny is demolished human rights will emerge naturally from the rubble. But rights are artefacts of civilisation, not a natural human condition. If they protect us against the state, they are also created and enforced by states. Where the state is weak or collapsed, as in many parts of the world today, human rights simply don't exist.</div>
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EM Forster (1879-1871)</h2>
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<img alt="EM FORSTER" height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71941000/jpg/_71941934_forster.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; display: block; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: -9px 0px 17px; position: relative;" width="304" /></div>
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<li style="background-image: url(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/view/3_0_18/cream/hi/shared/img/story_sprite.gif); background-position: -1200px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: auto;">Author of novels including <strong>A Passage To India</strong>,<strong>A Room With A View</strong> and <strong>Howard's End</strong></li>
<li style="background-image: url(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/view/3_0_18/cream/hi/shared/img/story_sprite.gif); background-position: -1200px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: auto;">Conscientious objector in WW1, Forster was member of Bloomsbury Group of writers</li>
<li style="background-image: url(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/view/3_0_18/cream/hi/shared/img/story_sprite.gif); background-position: -1200px 5px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; font-size: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 16px; text-rendering: auto;">Wrote about his homosexuality in the novel<strong>Maurice</strong>, published after his death</li>
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<li style="background-image: none; font-size: 1em; margin: 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-rendering: auto;"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/writers/12202.shtml" style="color: #174f82; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">BBC - Archive: EM Forster</a></li>
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It's consoling to believe that horrendous cruelty in Syria could be stopped by deposing the dictator and ending the war. In fact, if Assad were toppled at this point the most likely result would be a country without any state at all that was stuck in a condition of chronic war. That's pretty much what has happened in Libya, where even the prime minister isn't safe from kidnap by armed gangs.</div>
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If a new state could be installed in such conditions, it's not clear it would be one that respected human rights. Rights are like money and the law - they only exist if enough people accept that they exist. But what if large sections of the population, or those that are the most ruthless in imposing their values, don't accept them? What if many people don't want human rights?</div>
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For believers in rights, the answer is that everyone really does want them - or if they don't, they can be persuaded to want them. The similarity between this view and that of religious evangelists is obvious and striking. Evangelists are convinced that all that's needed for humankind to see the light is that it should be shown to them. Once they've seen the true faith, everyone will embrace it. If there are some who don't accept the saving gospel (as will surely be the case) the mission must continue until they do. Believers in human rights think the same. Both are engaged in an unending project of conversion.</div>
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<img alt=""human rights in Tibet" protester" height="294" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71938000/jpg/_71938351_tibet.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0px; position: relative;" width="464" /></div>
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It's not surprising that human rights movements should exhibit some of the attributes of evangelical religion. Like other secular creeds, they're continuations of proselytising monotheism by other means. The certainty of rights advocates that only one type of state can be legitimate continues the conviction that only one way of life can be good.</div>
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In their different ways, evangelical religion and human rights movements express the perennial dream of a life without irreconcilable conflicts. But human life as we know it is made up of conflicts of this kind, and politics is very often a choice among evils. This isn't only because every society is bound to be less than perfect. It's because we lack any coherent idea of what a perfect society would actually be like.</div>
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A world in which all rights are protected isn't just impracticable - it's not even conceivable. Freedom of expression is a good thing, but so is protection from hate speech. We all want to be free to voice our views without fear, but we also want to be free from being insulted or stigmatised. The two freedoms will always be at odds, for they protect different and competing human interests. Both are universal human values, but they'll never be reconciled in any kind of harmonious whole.</div>
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The ideal of a world ruled by rights distracts us from an unalterable reality - we'll always be mired in dangerous and only partly soluble conflicts. Human rights can't get round the fact that human values are at odds with one another. The freedom from conflict that many people seek in rights is just an illusion.</div>
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<img alt="Egyptian woman holds vigil for human rights" height="304" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71938000/jpg/_71938352_vigil-464.jpg" style="-webkit-user-select: none; border: 0px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0px; position: relative;" width="464" /><span style="display: block; width: 464px;">An Egyptian woman holds vigil on International Human Rights Day</span></div>
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This doesn't mean rights should be scrapped. Like the religion from which they sprang, they're a valuable part of the human inheritance. But rather than thinking of rights as a militant creed that can deliver the world from its conflicts, we should recognise rights for what they are - useful devices that quite often don't work. Following EM Forster, we should give human rights a rousing two cheers.</div>
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<i><b style="color: orange;">What do you think? Is human rights the solution? Do you disagree or agree with John Gray? Do you have a better solution?</b></i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.511213899999987 -0.1198243999999704151.195100899999986 -0.7652713999999704 51.827326899999989 0.52562260000002958tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-76095267620987520622013-12-20T04:13:00.000-08:002014-01-04T16:18:32.548-08:00Music 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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London Grammar - Nightcall</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-56704837652503594042013-12-19T13:02:00.000-08:002014-01-04T16:18:48.269-08:00Photos 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5D9gKpqczsZrhx7eH2sgLy7gO0WDXoksXRVWcw6qeaVEG3vJY_tqKesqNG-V1jSZTAh2Cd846QNqLcXRFWBR8q9s1EmeQ79AS2__CwOQqE2n-sFdb9zyf_qbvhyphenhyphen2wPajriFcS9lYj3NkH/s1600/foto4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5D9gKpqczsZrhx7eH2sgLy7gO0WDXoksXRVWcw6qeaVEG3vJY_tqKesqNG-V1jSZTAh2Cd846QNqLcXRFWBR8q9s1EmeQ79AS2__CwOQqE2n-sFdb9zyf_qbvhyphenhyphen2wPajriFcS9lYj3NkH/s320/foto4.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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By Miles Aldridge</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdt9rrWKtIMV1M0CEekrq0K2Ze_dLc4GoTINWlaSzs1Y22vSYoIHROr5NcWPZpf0o477mnjj26WPI_abrPKFZ-Q60dH5BFj2NLSVdrnCfvZoEvH5binMb1DwTD8dwf3_7sBlCBBesPZfL/s1600/foto2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdt9rrWKtIMV1M0CEekrq0K2Ze_dLc4GoTINWlaSzs1Y22vSYoIHROr5NcWPZpf0o477mnjj26WPI_abrPKFZ-Q60dH5BFj2NLSVdrnCfvZoEvH5binMb1DwTD8dwf3_7sBlCBBesPZfL/s320/foto2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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By Peter Kaaden</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjtjdTCosYRheTRq1D20V5Aig43ZB17toC__4sJ7fjSfOthuRgKX7VE4M5H-4L1sJikoz5IyjwFKV_-5Xb_xm5ZnCWv7iOHIUST1nKmc2dj-lE_t7knhLh3QhuIy09Z4jg2fXpFpTqV9M/s1600/foto1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjtjdTCosYRheTRq1D20V5Aig43ZB17toC__4sJ7fjSfOthuRgKX7VE4M5H-4L1sJikoz5IyjwFKV_-5Xb_xm5ZnCWv7iOHIUST1nKmc2dj-lE_t7knhLh3QhuIy09Z4jg2fXpFpTqV9M/s320/foto1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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By Mike Brodie</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-29308677800997212652013-12-19T12:39:00.000-08:002014-01-04T16:19:05.930-08:00Thinking About a Career at A Think Tank or an NGO?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-GB">At IPPR’s Careers
Event, three professionals working at think tanks and an international
organization gave students a look into what qualities were regarded highly in
the application process, what it would be like work in this field, and how
these organizations are making an impact on policy and change.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The first speaker
was Christiane Andersen, who currently works at the European Council on Foreign
Relations as the programme officer of the Asia Programme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2012 she received her M. Sc. in
International Public Policy at UCL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Christiane stressed the importance of transferable skills such as
communication skills, specifically having the ability to write various types of
texts that are engaging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also
brought up that knowing multiple languages would be very helpful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, she emphasized that
feeling at home in the world of economics would be useful, as well as brushing
up on basic office skills like how to use PowerPoint and create a
spreadsheet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few more
interesting points she made were that most people do not stay at a think tank
for more than about five years, and because of this it is necessary to make
connections while there, because this may lead to another job down the line.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Next up was Matt
Honeyman, a research assistant at the King’s Fund, an independent charitable
organization working on improvements in UK healthcare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was previously a research intern at
the Constitution Unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt
provided a lot of detail on what it was like to be a research assistant and also
gave information on the King’s Fund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He noted that he spent a lot of time spent sifting through data, but
also spent time writing literature reviews, doing qualitative data programming,
and attending relevant conferences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was passionate about the health care field, and this enthusiasm
seemed to be what made the work worth it, especially when he got to see results
of the project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He mentioned that
there were intermittently staff development seminars held by the senior staff
members for those that were newer like him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A valuable tip he offered was to contact individuals working
in fields of personal relevance and request to work with them for a day in
order to gain experience and perhaps an important networking connection.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Kerry Stares was
the last speaker of the event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
had recently completed her MA in Human Rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, before deciding to work in the advocacy sector, Kerry
had been a city lawyer who had sued hedge funds on behalf of banks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She decided to switch career as she was
no longer happy with the work that she was doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She began her new job as the private sector advocacy adviser
for ActionAid about six weeks ago, an international organization working to
promote human rights and bring an end to poverty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because she is so new to the position, she was not able to
provide a lot of information on what her job entails on a day-to-day
basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, she did explain
that the overarching aim of her job was to direct advocacy to the private
sector and foster accountability within private companies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This role is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a fairly new one because the private sector’s increasing
influence politically is still a novel matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is still plenty of discussion and debate on how much
or how little non-governmental organizations should become involved with the
private sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">The best part of
Kerry’s talk was her 5 tips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, she believes it is most valuable to make sure the modules one
chooses are pertinent to what one wants to pursue after graduating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, make sure the CV is done well
and done right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Find someone who
works in this field who is willing to look at it, if possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third, make the most of Twitter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Follow all significant organizations
and staff, and tweet anything that could stand out to them, such as a public
policy article you have written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fourth, network, network, network!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She bought coffee for anyone and everyone in the field in order to
shamelessly pick their brain and get advice. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was not one set way that any of the speakers attained
their current jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
Christiane also highlighted the significance of networking as a way of either
getting a job or making connections for a future switch in jobs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was obvious that personal
connections they had made by linking up with people in their fields helped them
get where they are today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fifth,
if necessary, work for free and fill up any holes in your CV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No experience campaigning?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go out and find a place where you can
pick this knowledge up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make sure
to be proactive and not just reactive.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">All three speakers
made it clear that one should not follow this career path if wanting to earn a
very high salary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of the
three speakers seemed to have a clear cut set of tasks that they did on a daily
basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, their jobs seemed
to include a bit of everything from research, analysis, and outreach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, it seems vital that someone
wishing to go into this field does have a broad background of experiences so
that they are more likely to be well suited and prepared for a job at a think
tank or international organization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The three speakers all had one thing in common: they all believed that
the work that think tanks and international organizations did by way of
generating and processing ideas, inserting advocacy into governments, and
bringing a public aspect to politics, had a positive impact on governments.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-250356823738867985.post-7257776778071408252013-12-19T12:25:00.001-08:002014-01-04T16:19:19.583-08:00Snowden, Greenwald and the lost right to privacy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #333333;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 1.6;">I wrote this article for the <a href="http://humanrightsjournalucl.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/snowden-greenwald-and-the-lost-right-to-privacy/" target="_blank">UCL Human Rights Journal</a>, it was published November 27, 2013.</i></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; line-height: 1.6;">T</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.6;">he</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.6;"> right to privacy is a human right, but what exactly does this right entail? This is not so easily explained, which is why it has not been clearly and specifically defined by anyone. While the US constitution does place limits on the government’s ability to intrude on individuals’ right to privacy, this was before modern technology came into the picture, and therefore it was much easier to outline an individual’s right. But now that government surveillance programmes and other such programmes have been created, there is a greater need for the legal system to state in a clear-cut manner what our personal right to privacy is. Up until Edward Snowden opened the floodgates by whistleblowing on the United States’ National Security Agency’s surveillance program PRISM, no one was really addressing this possible human rights violation.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Edward Snowden is one of the most controversial figures in the world at the moment. When I Google his name, articles pop up with headlines like ‘American Hero’ while right below, other headlines call him out as a traitor. Whatever side you fall on, one fact is undeniable – he has opened up an important debate about a citizen’s right to privacy with regards to government surveillance. His choice to leak government files has touched a nerve. In Snowden’s words, his aim was “to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.” His disclosures have started important debates regarding mass surveillance, government secrecy, and the balance between national security and information privacy. And this is not just a human rights violation that affects US citizens. A recent article by the BBC claims that the U.K. has allowed the NSA to store phone numbers and email addresses of British citizens since 2007.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">On Friday night I went to a talk by Glenn Greenwald, the reporter who exposed the mass surveillance program (PRISM) in the leaks by previous NSA employee Edward Snowden this past June. Greenwald has worked for Salon.com, <i>The Guardian</i>, has published four books (three have been <i>New York Times</i>bestsellers), has also won awards for his work in journalism, and is considered one of the top American journalists at the moment. Greenwald was in Rio de Janeiro so the talk was held over Skype. The first part was questions asked by the two moderators which covered topics that ranged from legal to political, especially focusing on the lack of safety measures on government surveillance programs, the individual’s right to privacy, and the freedom of the press to release these documents. There was also a 30-minute session where the audience could ask questions. I have included some of the highlights from this talk below.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">One individual brought up the government’s claim that Greenwald’s decision to release the PRISM documents was a careless move. Greenwald responded by stating that although there are tens of thousands of government documents he has the ability to publish, only about 300 have actually been released to the public. He could have easily released the tens of thousands of documents all at once, but instead he and his colleagues have taken the time to sift through and carefully pick and choose what they feel is necessary for the public to be shown. If they were trying to take down the government they could have released everything all at once. Greenwald also stated that he thinks it is smarter from his end not to release all of the documents at once, as then the important details will not get the necessary attention.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">One person asked about Edward Snowden’s seeking asylum in Russia and what Greenwald thought of this considering Russia’s less than stellar human rights record. As Greenwald put it, no one questions the 100,000 people who seek asylum in the United States on a yearly basis, even though they are seeking refuge in a country that has a record of torturing, breaching citizens’ rights to privacy, and the list goes on. No one ever questions or challenges these individuals’ choice to seek asylum in a country with this marred record. And the only reason anyone is questioning Snowden is because of who he is. In addition, Greenwald pointed out that Snowden was not planning on seeking asylum in Russia but was actually in transit to Latin America before the United States interfered with his travel and asylum-seeking plans.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The US government has formally charged Edward Snowden with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information, and wilful communication of classified intelligence to an unauthorised person. The US president has openly said he does not see Snowden as a patriot, and he also claims that his administration was in the process of reviewing the programmes that were unknown by most American citizens. He claims Snowden’s leaks were detrimental to this process.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">We will most likely never know if this is true, and perhaps I am unnecessarily sceptical and untrustworthy of the United States, but I highly doubt that there was any such process underway or even such a process being discussed. Snowden did the public a service by exposing an aspect of the government. Hopefully people pulled their heads out of the sand and became more aware of their government’s actions. One thing is certain – our right to privacy needs to be reassessed and defined within the context of a world run by modern technology and filled with government surveillance programs.</span></div>
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<em style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Francisca Stewart</em></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Let me know your thoughts on this debate. Do you agree with me? Do you think I'm completely off? </i><i>Where do you stand? </i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17467044417573043206noreply@blogger.com0