Many of the news stories covering the Occupy Wall Street protests have expressed that the protesters don’t seem to have defined exactly what it is they want, as if there needs to be one clearly definable outcome that the protesters ‘sell’ so that others can ‘buy’. Such thinking misses the point. From the way I see it from the other side of the world in New Zealand, Occupy Wall Street is a sweeping expression of dissatisfaction about [...]

We Kiwis have a real connection with farming.  It’s been the backbone of our economy from the start.  Many of us come from farms, have farming friends or family, or at least have stayed on a farm for a while. We’re not too happy when we see big chunks of our farmland being sold to overseas buyers but at least we’re sure the Kiwi land owner agreed to the sale and sold at a very [...]

To use a very American expression – I feel conflicted about the USA. I have many American friends and most of the Americans I’ve met have been open hearted, charming people. The US keeps me entertained with movies, TV, books and music. I have America to thank for much of the technology I enjoy. And as kiwis we have to thank America’s involvement in WW2 for our existence as a free country.

Laura Freschi over at Aid Watch has written an interesting blog post looking at the work of Devesh Kapur and the idea that the brain drain in India has a positive effect on democracy in the country. Basically the idea is that the migration of the elite out of a country allows for minorities and socially disenfranchised groups to be heard more than they otherwise would as they are given more room to access the [...]

With all the media hype that exists around this time every year about the tragic events that unfolded in New York on September 11, 2001 where extremists flew two aircraft into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, bringing a horrible end to the lives of nearly 3000 innocent people, it is easy to forget another large tragedy that occurred on the same day many years earlier in Latin America. It is a tragedy [...]

I don’t like the word democracy. It is one of those words that is used to mean all kinds of things, and it is interpreted in all kinds of ways. Democracy is not the world’s saviour… and neither is the blind belief in human progress. Here we are in 2010 and despite our progress, governments still kill their own citizens. A few interesting things happened in Wellington recently, mostly unnoticed by media outlets. A small [...]

Burma (also known as the Union of Myanmar) is a country we hear little about. Under military rule since 1962, the country is dominated by an oppressive regime resulting in a State of fear. Democratic elections have been planned for 2010, but they are a farce, or – as described by the US government – a mockery.  The leader of the democratic movement Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for many years, [...]

Here in Aotearoa (NZ) there has been a campaign to put advertising on the sides of buses that says “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy life.” It’s commonly known as the Atheist Bus Campaign and follows on the heels of the same campaign in the U.K. It has garnered a lot of support and raised the funds necessary to get the messages of the side of buses… but now NZ Bus has [...]

Every year TEAR Fund’s Christmas Focus appeal focuses on a particularly needy area of the world.  In 2007 the focus was Darfur.  Last year it was Nepal with a particular emphasis on slave trafficking.  This year it’s Zimbabwe – which on the failed states index – runs a close second to Somalia as the most crippled country in the world.

I am a fan of the United Nations or at least, the concept of it. I believe the idea is good – a majority of the nations of the world coming together to dialogue and trying to forge paths forward for humanity in order to avoid the catastrophic mistakes we have made in the past with the two world wars setting the stage for its formation. The Charter of the United Nations states its purpose [...]