Europe is experiencing an increasingly costly and destructive problem with its non-Western immigrant populations – particularly those from Muslim countries. A new study shows that on a net migration of 25,000 non-Western immigrants per year, with an equal number of offspring, Holland alone incurs a net cost of €7.2 billion [$8.8 billion] a year. In Denmark,…… Continue reading Violence and Islam in Europe
Does the internet make us smart, stupid or just more informed?
There has been an ongoing debate in the past few years about what the internet does to our brains. Some would argue that due to the sheer volume of information we consume on a daily basis we are actually becoming smarter. While the other opinion is that we have lost the ability to concentrate due to the constant e-mails, messages and scrolling sidebars which distract us.
Life Currents – A Reflection
The lake in this piece put me to thinking about water, rivers, streams and how they simply flow to their destination. This led me to consider that some people perhaps go through life on a sure and steady stream and life goes rather smoothly for them with minor bumps along the way.
Identity politics and the idea of peace
As a young boy, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen witnessed how identity politics can change human beings and lead to terrible violence when Hindu-Muslim sectarian riots erupted in the mid-1940s in pre-independent India. Sen, an economist and considered one of the great modern thinkers, said “the broad human beings of summer were suddenly transformed through ruthless…… Continue reading Identity politics and the idea of peace
Survivors and activists hail cluster bomb ban
(This is a story I did for Reuters AlertNet and re-posting it here as the Convention comes into force today.) By Thin Lei Win and Maria Caspani BANGKOK/LONDON, July 30 (AlertNet) – Thoummy Silamphan was only eight when he lost his left hand to a cluster bomb in 1996. He was digging for bamboo shoots…… Continue reading Survivors and activists hail cluster bomb ban