Asia Foundation Survey: How Are You Feeling Afghanistan?
November 15, 2010 1 min. read

The Asia Foundation recently released a massive report on the views of the Afghan people. The report titled ‘Afghanistan in 2010: A Survey of the Afghan People‘ is over 200 pages and features Afghan replies to numerous questions about the state of their country and lives. Below is a chart of the overall national temperature […]

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Pakistan's Human Development Index 2010: Marginal Improvement, Dismal Prospects for Human Development in Near Future.
November 15, 2010 3 min. read

The 2010 UNDP Human Development Report offers some muted good news for those concerned with the reach of socially structured human welfare and development in Pakistan.  However, given the way the good news is structured, recent events in Pakistan suggest that the prospects of Pakistan’s human development look strikingly bleak  for the coming few years. […]

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Google me in Chichewa
November 13, 2010 2 min. read

This is happened sometimes in July of this year, but only landed on my desktop now. And I have to say that could not contain my excitement to post it! How many languages does Google speak? Oh wait, to be precise, how many African languages does Google speak? I admit, I don’t know the answer. […]

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Democracy at Gunpoint
November 13, 2010 4 min. read

Port-au-Prince, Haiti– Haitians will be electing a president, 10 Senators and 99 members of parliament on November 28, 2010, 16 short days from now. Democracy must prevail; the Haitian Constitution, international community and fundamental democratic principles necessitate such peaceful transfer of power. However common sensical, dubious observers question the legitimacy and wisdom of the Provisional Electoral Council’s decision and […]

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2010 Human Development Index, Bangladesh: Relative Improvement, Objective Misery
November 13, 2010 3 min. read

The 2010 Human Development Index is out.  It offers some good news for Bangladesh.   Though Bangladesh ranked 129 among 169 UN members states (out of a possible 192 states in the world), it ranked 3rd in terms of improvement since 1980 in its assessed Human Development Index, itself a weighted average of education, wealth and […]

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Crime in Context Concisely
November 12, 2010 1 min. read

A super-brief South Africa crime update: Now Verb Free! Good news. Caveat. Context. Much more context.

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BRIC to BRICS
November 12, 2010 1 min. read

Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the BRIC countries, exist in a state of ever becoming. All four have massive potential economies, sometimes can play with the big boys (meaning basically the United States and certain of the European Union countries) and want to have a permanent role in the game. South Africa has wanted to […]

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PM Sheikh Hasina Takes Credit for Strong Economic Growth During Oregon Governor's Visit
November 12, 2010 2 min. read

It had to come sometime.  The major international financial organizations, like the World Bank and the IMF, have long lauded the successful moves of the stewards of Bangladesh’s economy.  Now Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken credit for that stewardship. She made the claim during Governor of Oregon Ted Kulongoski’s visit to Bangladesh.  I suppose […]

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Conflict in Pakistan, As India Enjoys the Fruits of Economic and Jobs Growth Policy
November 12, 2010 2 min. read

At least eighteen people are dead in Karachi, many more wounded, victims of a car bomb and subsequent armed attack that targeted a police compound set up to investigate and counter militant activity in that southern port city.  Karachi, the commercial hub and a major political constituency in Pakistan is now increasingly becoming home to the […]

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West Bank Speech Crackdown As Peace Process Reminder
November 11, 2010 3 min. read

The peace process is stalled yet again even though U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in marathon talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. But all the players in the peace process game are sitting atop different standards, values and goals, and the Palestinian Authority gave us a helpful reminder of that this week. […]

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Links Roundup
November 11, 2010 3 min. read

My desktop tabs are getting cluttered, so it’s time for a links dump, with brief commentary as applicable: One of the most noxious tendencies in American politics is that conservatives have managed to turn the charge of racism into an offense as terrible as actual racism, which of course provides cover for all sorts of […]

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