LEXIE TUCKER WRITES – It’s time for an upgrade to China’s decades-old petitioning system. According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China’s website, the State Bureau of Letters and Calls announced new reform measures that would be put into effect following the investigation of…
Month: December 2013
NEW ZEALAND: Spying Here, There, and Almost Everywhere
E.J. DE LARA WRITES – Several reports have criticized New Zealand for its intrusion of privacy. Many have raised concerns over Parliament passing a bill for the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) – the intelligence agency of the New Zealand government – to spy on people with a search warrant.…
AFGHANISTAN: Bombs Blow up People but Media Blows up Morality
VITTO BANEZ WRITES – Western Afghan religious leaders claim the media is displaying material that is un-Islamic. The mullahs assert that said material is inflicting more harm than a suicide bomb. Farouq Hussaini, the spokesman for the council of Muslim scholars, articulated this belief in his statement that “suicide attackers…
ISRAEL: 21st Century Ethnic Segregation
AHMAD ALKHUZAM WRITES – One would assume that civilization has come a long way since the injustices of apartheid. But Negev Bedouins face the reality of being forced to pack up and leave. The Israeli government will finalize the parliamentary bill for the Prawer plan, which will forcibly relocate up to 70,000 Negev…
THAILAND: Might Equals Right?
ELIZABETH NAAI WRITES – Thailand’s Democrat Party leaders are using momentum from the country’s current protests to further their own, longstanding cause: The overthrow of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinowatra and the dominant Pheu Thai Party. Protests first erupted between royalists (locally coined as “yellow shirts”) and those loyal to Thaksin (the…
PHILIPPINES: Pacquiao’s Career Continues to Face Adversity
TREVOR ISBELL WRITES – With a dominating, unanimous decision victory over Brandon Rios, Manny Pacquiao gives life back to the Philippine Islands after enduring the devastating Typhoon Haiyan. Pacquiao was able to land 223 of his 468 thrown punches, while Brandon Rios was only able to land 113 of his 263.…
HONG KONG: ‘In the Middle of the Future’
South China Morning Post Columnist Alice Wu’s take on the new book IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUTURE: TOM PLATE ON ASIA (Marshall Cavendish International, Asia, Singapore 2014): Alice Wu writes: “Once upon a time, before the turn of the century, while studying under and working for my university professor…