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Ikea fed up with Russia's bureaucracy - Pravda.Ru

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:45:19 -0700

“All of a sudden it turned out that our complex was not resistant to hurricanes”


Milibanana's latest blunder. India is too rich, er, poor. - Paul Waugh, Evening Standard

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:40:44 -0700

DFID's aid programme is India to be cancelled - not


Frito-Lay Angrily Introduces Line Of Healthy Snacks | The Onion

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:38:27 -0700

Frito-Lay CEO: "Here's some shit that's made from beets. I hope you're all happy now that you have your precious beet chips with the recommended daily serving of fruit, or vegetables, or whatever the hell a 'beet' is."


US carbon tariffs, still long way off, draw Asia ire - Reuters

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:35:17 -0700

China says carbon tariffs in Waxman-Markey would violate WTO rules as well as the spirit of the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol


'How to cut £90bn a year' - David Halpern in Prospect

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:23:20 -0700

Whitehall’s response to the squeeze is predictable. First, ignore pressure. Second,“bleeding stumps”— where civil servants offer to cut programmes precious to ministers...


Iran Cleric Says British Embassy Staff to Stand Trial - NYTimes.com

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:35:39 -0700

Will the European Union show some backbone? No signs of it yet, it seems...


Are we witnessing Decoupling 2.0? - China and India rising fastest from the global wreckage

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:42:31 -0700

Oxfam's head of research, Duncan Green, notes that China's Yu Yongding and India's Surjit Bhalla are in cheerful mood


Going Solar: One Year Later

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:39:49 -0700

Extreme Tech article on going solar. NB incentive provided by tiered pricing.


Inside Obama's West Wing (washingtonpost.com)

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:48:37 -0700

If you think proximity is everything, then this is for you: interactive floor plan of the West Wing showing exactly who sits where


How To Communicate Securely in Repressive Environments

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:57:32 -0700

Superb guide covers email, SMS, VOIP, mobiles etc etc


Majority of Americans Approve Complete Ban on Torture - World Public Opinion

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 06:34:37 -0700

Six in 10 Americans want an international convention saying that "governments should never use physical torture", but 39 percent say this is too restrictive


On the White House - At Air-Conditioned News Conference, Obama Feels the Heat - NYTimes.com

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:28:43 -0700

"In five months on the job, Mr. Obama has rarely experienced as combative and contentious of an hour on live television as he did on Tuesday afternoon"


BBC NEWS | UK | Habitat sorry for Iran Tweeting

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:15:24 -0700

PR car crash of the year: furniture store Habitat apologises for using #Mousavi and #Iran tags on twitter to, er, promote chance to win a £1,000 gift card. #fail...


FAONewsroom: 1.02 billion people hungry

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:21:31 -0700

- less because of poor harvests than because of lower income and employment levels as a result of the economic crisis


Carlos Pascual nominated as U.S. ambassador to Mexico - Los Angeles Times

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:42:20 -0700

"Some commentators had wondered whether Mexico would take umbrage at the naming of a U.S. ambassador known for expertise on failed states."


How to run a protest without Twitter | GlobalPost

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:32:15 -0700

How earlier disruptive technologies shaped protest in Hungary in 56, the US in the 60s, E Timor in the 70s-80s, Iran in 79, and China and Eastern Europe in 89


Coral Cross: Can Information Outrun a Virus?

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:20:43 -0700

New massively multiplayer online game designed to combat flu pandemic - from the Hawaii Research Centre for Future Studies


Why Ban Ki-moon is the world's most dangerous Korean

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:28:06 -0700

Vicious review of the performance of the UN Secretary General: "Even Ban seems aware of what a nonentity he is: 'I tried to lead by example. Nobody followed.'"


War Book reveals how Britain planned to cope with nuclear attack | UK news | guardian.co.uk

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:22:48 -0700

And Sir David Omand reveals how the nuclear command bunker was used to manage the 2000 fuel protests


Amanda Ripley : Blog : DC Train Crash

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:40:00 -0700

As usual, "regular people did the hardest work in the most important moments" - and "survivors report fear, confusion and kindness -but not panic"


First Video Images Confirm State Violence, Gunfire, in Tehran

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 08:16:48 -0700

The police strategy is a media strategy: to avoid the photograph or video that shows the magnitude of the protest.


Megacities, megadisasters

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:49:43 -0700

UN Under-Secretary-General Sir John Holmes on the new urban vulnerability to climate change


Congo: 'Rape was not policy'

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:51:56 -0700

"We were never paid in the FDLR, we got nothing, only money from car-jacking. To get money and food we would approach civilians, take their crops, rob their villages. We would attack the civilians too, it’s true. But the rape, that was not policy"


BeyondTalk.net

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:46:14 -0700

The latest front in climate activism - visitors are invited to submit that "I pledge, if asked, to perform non-violent civil disobedience and risk arrest..."


Internet has changed foreign policy for ever, says Gordon Brown

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:56:03 -0700

"You cannot have Rwanda again. This week's events in Iran are a reminder of the way that people are using new technology to come together in new ways to make their views known."


Mohsen Makhmalbaf - Mousavi's spokesman - speaks

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:54:30 -0700

On differences between today and 1979: The young people "use SMS; they use the Internet. And they are not being actually led by anyone, but they are connected to each other."


Presidency of The Islamic Republic of Iran News Service

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 05:34:40 -0700

Ahmadinejad's website makes no website whatsoever of anything untoward happening in Tehran. No siree, nothing to see here...


J’accuse: the US Army’s Development Delusions

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:35:02 -0700

Bill Easterly thinks that the US army's belief in development is killing people.


The UN's secretary-general: The score at half-time | The Economist

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:46:49 -0700

Ban gets 8/10 on 'the bigger picture' (climate, food etc), 6/10 on peacekeeping, 3/10 on telling truth to power, 2/10 on management


LRB · Donald MacKenzie: All Those Arrows

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:14:03 -0700

"...the history of the J.P. Morgan credit derivatives team shows that banking can be technically innovative while remaining responsible"


Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun - NYTimes.com

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:44:23 -0700

Tax incentives have accelerated the plantings of green roofs, particularly in Chicago, which has encouraged green roofs for almost a decade.


WPR Article | U.S.-India Relations Strained under Obama

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:43:53 -0700

India frets that "some of the closeness in relations enjoyed under the Bush administration is dissipating under Obama "


Andy Xie: Tight Spot for Fed, Blind Spot for Investors

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:40:58 -0700

"Strong economic growth won't follow the current stock market surge. This is a bear market rally. People who jump in now will lose big."


Climate, conflict, peacebuilding and adaptation: a need for leaps and links « Dan Smith’s blog

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:59:56 -0700

Dan's been in DC: "a picture emerged and while it is by no means horrible it is not very encouraging"


Medvedev calls for rules to admit new Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members - RIA Novosti

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:04:26 -0700

Russia wants to accept Iran & Pakistan's ask for full membership. China's not so sure


BRIC to Focus on Raising IMF Clout - Moscow Times

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:15:42 -0700

Medvedev to meet leaders of China, India and Brazil on Tuesday for talks on how the four should seek to increase their clout in IFIs particularly the IMF


U.S., Japan, China plan trilateral powwow | The Japan Times Online

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 08:56:56 -0700

New head of policy planning level gathering to launch in July and look at climate, energy and global issues


Ideas 4 development » From Architecture to Networks: Aid in a World of Variable Geometry

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:30:16 -0700

Transparency, benchmarking and independent evaluation rather than regulation and coordination, according to DFID Perm Sec Minouche Shafik


Krugman: Stay the Course

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:38:32 -0700

"It’s much too soon to give up on policies that have, at most, pulled us a few inches back from the edge of the abyss."


Blurred Out: 51 Things You Aren't Allowed to see on Google Maps | IT Security | http://www.focus.com

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:46:34 -0700

Mostly sites linked to national security, but also including the US Capitol...


E3G-WRI side event at UNFCCC: MRV Institutions and Issues

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:07:25 -0700

That's "monitoring, reporting and verification" - one of the least glamorous but most important dimensions of global climate governance


Towards a global climate agreement: insights from Project Catalyst

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:02:21 -0700

Presentation made at a side event at UNFCCC talks in Bonn this week (video + separate slides)


China’s Buying Spree on Commodities - NYTimes.com

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:46:32 -0700

China builds up stockpiles of more or less everything


The Economy Is Still at the Brink - NYTimes.com

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 09:28:41 -0700

"We’re concerned that nothing has really been fixed. We’re doubly concerned that people appear to feel the worst of the storm is over."


Triage: The Next Twelve Months in Afghanistan and Pakistan

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:05:45 -0700

Andrew Exum, Nathaniel Fick, Ahmed Humayun, and David Kilcullen on what should come next on either side of the Durand Line.


What Obama Said, What the Mideast Heard - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:30:25 -0700

"Benjamin Netanyahu’s problem is that it’s difficult to distinguish between President Obama and Tzipi Livni."


Is Obama Trying To Overthrow Bibi? - Jeffrey Goldberg

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:27:22 -0700

"If I were an American policymaker, that's the Israeli coalition I would hope for: Netanyahu-Barak-Livni, rather than Netanyahu-Barak-Lieberman. You watch: It's coming."


Social Media goes hyper local for emergencies « Shepherd’s Pi

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:11:14 -0700

Microsoft Vine: a highly visual, local/social networking service that adds to your Twitter-like updates access to 20,000 local media sources, local-gov and emergency-management notification feeds.


The world economy is tracking or doing worse than during the Great Depression

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 05:37:02 -0700

Barry Eichengreen and Kevin O’Rourke still reckon we're in the early stages of a pronounced global depression.


State Department official who mocked Britain is arrested as Cuban spy

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:57:00 -0700

Said: "There never really has been a special relationship, or at least not one we've noticed." Now arrested for spying for Cuba for thirty years.


Biofuels and neo-colonialism

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:14:56 -0700

"Africans face a massive land-grabbing scramble, as European companies – some with foreign aid money support – rapidly establish enormous carbon monoculture fields in tropical countries."


Frontline bloggers - Afghanistan

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:01:28 -0700

Frontline bloggers provides a window into UK operations in Afghanistan through the experiences of the UK forces.


Intel firestorm: GOP reveals briefing info

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:29:42 -0700

Torture works. The US should do more of it. Or something like that.


The problems of plotting

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:23:13 -0700

"We are a bit unsure about how to deal with the problem of receiving hoax emails. You know, how do we check the email is real?" complains an unnamed Labour rebel.


Sarkozy: Europe's "peacemaker"? Or was it all spin? | Charlemagne's notebook | Economist.com

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:41:05 -0700

Le Monde is sceptical of Sarko's peacemaking credentials


Ezra Klein - Clear Thinking on the Financial New World Order

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:37:21 -0700

"The Wall Street Journal calls the result "Eight Ways to Radically Remake the World," and that's not far from the truth"


Boris Johnson stumbles into river - BBC News

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 06:58:31 -0700

London's mayor exhibits the statesmanlike qualities for which he was elected


Christ Kills Two, Injures Seven In Abortion-Clinic Attack | The Onion

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:49:37 -0700

The edgiest article from the Onion in a long time - but takes the point about pro-life violence by "Christians" to its logical conclusion


White House Watch - Is Obama Getting Tough With Israel?

Fri, 29 May 2009 14:07:30 -0700

"Netanyahu should listen to Obama because Obama is telling him, in essence, that resolving the conflict is an American interest.," Once in decade chance for peace in the Middle East...


Dambisa Moyo: Aid Ironies

Fri, 29 May 2009 08:57:21 -0700

Moyo's response to Jeff Sachs.


Shashi Tharoor: Indian Strategic Power: Soft

Fri, 29 May 2009 06:09:53 -0700

New Indian Minister of State for External Affairs on India's soft power.


Strategic Planning Gap in U.S. Foreign Policy - World Politics Review

Fri, 29 May 2009 05:02:42 -0700

Jordan Michael Smith is an Anne-Marie Slaughter fan, but thinks that State's policy planning staff "is not what it used to be"


Think thank plagiary

Fri, 29 May 2009 03:53:26 -0700

Canadian think tank has a black eye after being forced to withdraw three reports on intellectual property because they plagiarized a study by a U.S. lobby group for the entertainment industry.


In Defense of Distraction - New York magazine

Wed, 27 May 2009 08:15:13 -0700

Twitter, Adderall, lifehacking, mindful jogging, power browsing, Obama’s BlackBerry, and the benefits of overstimulation


Power’s world: Now is the time for a deal on Kashmir - Prospect

Wed, 27 May 2009 05:59:00 -0700

India has hinted at abolition of the “line of control”, while accepting division of Kashmir, withdrawal of Indian soldiers and autonomy for the two parts of Kashmir


Pakistan on the Brink - The New York Review of Books

Tue, 26 May 2009 04:09:18 -0700

Ahmed Rashid: "Pakistan desperately needs international aid, but its leaders must first define a strategy"


African Arguments » In Memoriam: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

Tue, 26 May 2009 04:04:28 -0700

Alex de Waal's obituary of "the most irrepressible Pan Africanist of his generation"


Sachs Ironies: Why Critics are Better for Foreign Aid than Apologists

Tue, 26 May 2009 01:53:51 -0700

Easterly hits back: "Sachs' desperation shows when he peddles what he knew were falsehoods. Besides, the sight of two middle-aged white men mud-wrestling on African aid may entertain the audience."


Jeffrey Sachs: Aid Ironies

Tue, 26 May 2009 01:52:14 -0700

Sachs duffs up the aid critics - Moyo is 'cruel and mistaken, Easterly 'peddling...a simplistic concoction of free markets and self help'.


Boston Police Dept Twitter Feed

Mon, 25 May 2009 07:30:08 -0700

@Boston_Police: “INJURED OFFICER: human bite to arm, suspect in custody." @willcady "@Boston_Police if that was a zombie bite, would you tell us?” @Boston_Police: "@willcady Yes, absolutely."


A failure of capitalism?

Sun, 24 May 2009 08:19:49 -0700

Richard Posner and Alan Greenspan spar on the failure of capitalism. Shorter Greenspan: "not my fault, guv."


Obama's power players

Thu, 21 May 2009 07:38:25 -0700

Foreign Policy's pick of the key power brokers in Obama's administration.


Gawker - Sex Sells Bloody Death - Climate Change

Thu, 21 May 2009 02:30:34 -0700

Oxfam's YouTube trainwreck (best comment: "I have no idea what happened here. Did a sniper shoot me in the eye through the camera lens?")


U.S. Pullout a Condition in Afghan Peace Overture - NYTimes.com

Thu, 21 May 2009 01:00:06 -0700

Taliban talking to intermediaries about peace agreement:, initial demands focused on timetable for withdrawal of US troops


Constraints, drivers and catalysts for the 21st century - Outsights

Thu, 21 May 2009 00:35:20 -0700

Presentation made to UK Prime Minister's Strategy Unit earlier this month. Worth a look


Paul Romer’s Many Hong Kongs

Wed, 20 May 2009 13:47:50 -0700

Developing countries should let contract out the running of Hong Kong-like city states within their territory - and gradually take them over when they've created wealth.


WHO’s Pandemic Response: What’s missing? | the GEG blog

Wed, 20 May 2009 11:51:27 -0700

WHO’s performance has been far from stellar, argues Rajaje Batniji


Climate change odds much worse than thought

Wed, 20 May 2009 11:40:00 -0700

New MIT model shows a median probability of surface warming of 5.2 degrees Celsius by 2100, with a 90% probability range of 3.5 to 7.4 degrees


Pentagon To Drop Bible Quotes From Daily Briefings

Wed, 20 May 2009 09:30:29 -0700

Ye gods.


Paul Hilder: Why Israelis Trust Obama More Than Bibi Netanyahu

Tue, 19 May 2009 01:25:12 -0700

59% of Israelis call the US President trustworthy while only 31% say this of Bibi, according to polling commissioned by Avaaz


Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization? - Scientific American

Tue, 19 May 2009 00:58:39 -0700

Lester Brown is more worried than ever. First class analysis from one of the senior thinkers of the environmental world


Administration officials - Who Runs Gov - Government directory

Mon, 18 May 2009 09:08:57 -0700

Indispensable directory of profiles of senior officials in Obama's Administration


Gen. Jones and the Anonymous Long Knives - washingtonpost.com

Mon, 18 May 2009 07:36:07 -0700

Sniping against Obama's NSA reportedly coming mostly from State Department officials and some staffers at the White House


Sympathy for the bad apples

Mon, 18 May 2009 06:37:49 -0700

"We’ve got what amounts to a reverse Nuremberg defense, where Bush administration officials are let off the hook because they were only giving orders."


Governor of Utah selected to be US Ambassador to China

Sat, 16 May 2009 05:45:20 -0700

Considered a bit of a surprise that Obama thought it important to appoint a Mandarin speaker. Takes a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate out of play as well.


Europe in deepest recession since War as Germany suffers

Sat, 16 May 2009 05:38:55 -0700

Germany's economy has shrunk twice as fast as the UK's. Failure to apply quick stimulus is blamed.


One small tweet for man

Sat, 16 May 2009 01:22:34 -0700

Astronaut Mike Massimino is now using Twitter from the space shuttle Atlantis ("Launch was awesome!!")


Portrait of Burmese Advocate’s ‘Stalker’ Emerges - The Lede Blog - NYTimes.com

Fri, 15 May 2009 09:38:40 -0700

Bits and pieces emerge about John William Yettaw, whose swim to see Aung San Suu Kyi could get her a 5 year jail term


Climate change displacement has begun – but hardly anyone has noticed | guardian.co.uk

Fri, 15 May 2009 09:35:07 -0700

The 2,600 people who live on the Carteret Islands are being evacuated


Malcolm Gladwell: How David Beats Goliath

Fri, 15 May 2009 05:55:49 -0700

What it takes for an underdog to win.


How to Fail Cheaply

Fri, 15 May 2009 01:58:33 -0700

(i) Make your experiments cheaper. (ii) Test strategic assumptions before logistical ones. (iii) Make decisions faster.


Obama's agenda - rank favouritism

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:35:29 -0700

George Will - Conrad Black lackey and Pulitzer prize winner - accuses Obama's administration of acquiring "a tincture of lawlessness." Expect the calls for impeachment to start coming in 9 months or so.


The Truth About Cheney and torture

Thu, 14 May 2009 10:18:16 -0700

According to former State Dept .Chief of Staff, Cheney's "priority for intelligence was not pre-empting another terrorist attack on the U.S. but discovering a smoking gun linking Iraq and al-Qa'ida."


Scouts Train to Fight Terrorists

Thu, 14 May 2009 06:19:41 -0700

Also: illegal immigrants, drugs etc. “It fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.” Baden Powell would be proud.


Too Much To Handle? - The New Republic

Thu, 14 May 2009 05:49:35 -0700

John B. Judis expects Obama's poll numbers to plummet soon


What’s a flu like you doing in a host like this?

Thu, 14 May 2009 03:38:42 -0700

What makes a disease more or less lethal?


Barack Hussein Obama - Conservapedia

Wed, 13 May 2009 11:01:11 -0700

Oh good grief


Barack Obama's key climate bill hit by $45m PR campaign - The Guardian

Wed, 13 May 2009 04:20:55 -0700

"The enviros are getting their message out, but they are being outspent by 10 to one."


Rat Traders

Wed, 13 May 2009 02:17:05 -0700

Cutting-edge training and breeding program to turn lab rats into successful futures traders. Hilarious


10 Ways to Change the World Through Social Media

Wed, 13 May 2009 02:06:21 -0700

Max Gladwell's latest list



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Key Posts

Pakistan, Kilcullen, Evans - a reply to David Miliband

Do we know what we’re trying to achieve in Pakistan?

Read more » | Comments Off

More on African land deals

Article on rich-country land acquisitions in Africa

Read more » | Comments Off

New report on international institutions and climate change

New report by Alex Evans and David Steven exploring the future international institutional requirements for managing climate change.

Read more » | 1 Comment

The self-resilient society

In a brittle society, we need radical action to build a “Resilient Nation” - so argues a new pamphlet for Demos, by Charlie Edwards.

Read more » | Comments Off

Time to dump 0.7

Why does 0.7 remain so central to the development debate, given that it was arbitrary even when it was agreed… forty years ago?

Read more » | 4 Comments

Peak Emissions Now

Why wait until 2015? Let’s declare 2009 the high watermark for global greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more » | 2 Comments

The peacekeeping crisis in numbers

What happens when you authorise peacekeeping missions - but don’t have the troops to deliver.

Read more » | Comments Off

After the crunch: more urbanisation or less?

Consensus may be growing that the credit crunch spells the end of suburbia - but will what comes next involve more urbanisation, or less?

Read more » | 4 Comments

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