Tuesday, June 25, 2013

102 Interesting Notions From Around the World (Links to my Six Ideas, Big Think, and Better World Columns)



  1. NEWSWEEK

    Decoding Dolphins

    by Christopher Dickey 
    What the wild creatures would say, if we could understand.
  2. NEWSWEEK

    PRISM’s Global Reach

    by Christopher Dickey 
    Will the NSA’s program send non-Americans fleeing Facebook?
  4. NEWSWEEK

    Under African Skies

    by Christopher Dickey 
    Getting high-speed internet to low-tech places.
  5. NEWSWEEK

    Better Than Teflon

    by Christopher Dickey 
    Medicine grows a ‘natural’ artificial blood vessel.
  6. NEWSWEEK

    Genghis Khan Democracy

    by Christopher Dickey 
    There’s something to be learned from ancient ways.
  7. NEWSWEEK

    Weeding Out Voters

    by Christopher Dickey 
    Bill Maher takes on the racial divide oVER pot.
  8. NEWSWEEK

    Eye-Witness Apps

    by Christopher Dickey 
    Making smartphones even smarter.
  9. NEWSWEEK

    T-Rex Sex

    by Christopher Dickey 
    Scientists get bashful around old bones.

    NEWSWEEK

    Practically Crazy

    by Christopher Dickey 
    After graduation, making pipe dreams into reality.

    1. NEWSWEEK

    2. Killing Machines

      by Christopher Dickey 
      A plea to stop robotic soldiers ... Before it’s too late.
    5. NEWSWEEK

      When Learning Goes Too Far

      by Christopher Dickey 
      Is the latest educational trend just a bad idea?
    7. NEWSWEEK

      The Next American Century

      by Christopher Dickey 
      The power of immigration.

      1. NEWSWEEK

        Dogged Determination

        by Christopher Dickey 
        Researching man’s best friend.
      2. NEWSWEEK

        Raise the Roof

        by Christopher Dickey 
        Welcome to Wikihouse: the site for collaborative, buildable homes.
      3. NEWSWEEK

        The Medium’s Message

        by Christopher Dickey 
        Televised violence doesn’t cause violent crime.
      4. NEWSWEEK

        Ending Child Marriage

        by Christopher Dickey 
        The corrosive effect of a deplorable practice.

        1. NEWSWEEK

          A Climate Of Agreement

          by Christopher Dickey 
          The vast majority of Scientists concur on global warming.
        2. NEWSWEEK

          Online Security Games

          by Christopher Dickey 
          The catch-22 of closing cyberdoors.

          1. NEWSWEEK

            Twenty-nothings

            by Christopher Dickey 
            Beware: the clock is ticking.
          3. NEWSWEEK

            Unlocking the Lotus

            by Christopher Dickey 
            What a sacred plant can teach us.

            2. NEWSWEEK

              Grand Grandparents

              by Christopher Dickey 
              How the Older Generation Shapes the New.
            3. NEWSWEEK

              Printing Prosthetics

              by Christopher Dickey 
              The creation of 3-D digits.
            4. NEWSWEEK

              Location, Location, Location

              by Christopher Dickey 
              The geographical explanation of American exceptionalism.
            5. NEWSWEEK

              Building Mosques for Peace

              by Christopher Dickey 
              How religion prevents radicalism.

              NEWSWEEK

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey 

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey April 22, 2013 04:45 AM EDT

              NEWSWEEK

              The Big Think

              by Christopher Dickey 
              From wars for water to the first social network

              NEWSWEEK

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey 
              From rat brains to losing our religion.

              NEWSWEEK

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey 
              NEWSWEEK

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey 
              From Poachers to iDemocracy

              NEWSWEEK

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey 

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey February 25, 2013 04:45 AM EST

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey February 19, 2013 12:00 AM EST

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey 

              Around the World in Six Ideas

              by Christopher Dickey 


Posted by at No comments:

Sunday, June 23, 2013

"You Say You Want a Revolution?", and other writings

The Daily Beast: You Say You Want a Revolution? 23 June 2013
Protests and riots are spreading around the world. Where do they come from and what do they signify? By Christopher Dickey.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/23/you-say-you-want-a-revolution.html


“Uprisings begin when people feel cheated by change.”


Newsweek Better World: Decoding Dolphins, 19 June 2013
What the wild creatures would say, if we could understand

Newsweek Better World: An App a Day Keeps the Doctor Away, 19 June 2013
Accessible medical technology goes to the ends of the earth

Newsweek Better World: PRISM's Global Reach, 19 June 2013
Will the NSA's program send non-Americans fleeing Facebook?

Newsweek Better World: Better than Teflon, 19 June 2013
Medicine grows a 'natural' artificial blood vessel

Newsweek Better World: Under African Skies, 19 June 2013
Getting high-speed internet to low-tech places
Background links: http://www.o3bnetworks.com


You might also be interested in "My Waltz With Orwell," links to columns dating back to Iran in 1999 that have brought his perspective to current events: http://christopherdickey.blogspot.fr/2013/06/my-waltz-with-orwell-1999-to-present.html
Posted by at No comments:

My Waltz with Orwell: 1999 to the Present

In the wake of the NSA-PRISM-Snowden scandal (which has not yet finished, of course), there's a lot of talk about George Orwell and 1984. Michael Moynihan's Newsweek essay helped put things in perspective. We're not in 1984 yet, and many other societies are a lot closer to that totalitarian nightmare than ours. But I've gone back to the Orwell, as it were, many times over the years because there's almost always something to be learned from his writing, whether in 1984, or Animal Farm or his many marvelous essays. I think "Fable" (2011) and "American Nightmare" (2006) may be of particular interest. (Please do feel free to comment, tweet, share, etc.)


  1. NEWSWEEK

    A Cautionary Fable

    by Christopher Dickey 
    ... here. We’re talking about a parable of all-too-human politics. We could talk about communism (as Orwell does), or fascism, or for that matter Jacobinism, Catholicism, Protestantism...
  2. NEWSWEEK

    How Iran Protests Threaten Arab Rulers

    by Christopher Dickey 
    ... doesn't seem to mean much any more. But back in the middle of the 20th century, when George Orwell wrote the bleak, iconic novel 1984, he had a profound sense of the evil that men did...
  3. NEWSWEEK

    Why Nations Can't Escape the Empire Trap

    by Christopher Dickey 
    When George Orwell was a young man in the 1920s, he served as a British policeman in the colony of Burma. On duty there he saw, as he put it, "the dirty work of empire at close...
  4. NEWSWEEK

    American Dream, American Nightmare

    by Christopher Dickey 
    ... to be confused with patriotism, which Orwell defined as “devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish...
  5. NEWSWEEK

    Shadowland: Freedom's Just Another Word

    by Christopher Dickey 
    ... its hallucinatory rhetoric. George Orwell had the key words about right, describing the party slogans of another time, another place: "WAR IS PEACE; FREEDOM IS SLAVERY; IGNORANCE IS...
  6. NEWSWEEK

    Shadowland: Pride And Prejudices

    by Christopher Dickey 
    ... willing to sacrifice sweet reason in order to save face, to protect pride. As George Orwell pointed out, they will refuse to see what's right in front of their noses. He called this...
  7. NEWSWEEK

    Giving Voice To Freedom

    by Christopher Dickey 
    ..., capable of repression as surreal as anything imagined by George Orwell. This is a country where the dreaded intelligence agency is officially called the Ministry of Information. Last...
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Articles about Qatar and the Art World, and Five Ideas for the Wider World

Newsweek: Is Sheikha Mayassa the Art World's Most Powerful Woman? 12 June 2013
Mayassa al-Thani may be a 'tomboy' princess. But she's also turning Qatar into a grand museum.
[This rather personal portrait of the young Qataris princess is the second of three stories in a Newsweek cover package on "The Art World Gone Wild"]

"With Mayassa, there’s a sense, almost a theatrical sense, of shedding youth and assuming responsibility. As the professors talked, I thought of Prince Hal becoming Henry V, or, maybe more appropriately, of Audrey Hepburn returning to her role as princess at the end of Roman Holiday."




Brief items from the "Better World" Column, with background links:

Tyrannosaurus Sex: Scientists get bashful around old bones
Background: 

Practically Crazy: After graduation, turning pipe dreams into reality
Background:

Genghis Khan Democracy: Once size of freedom doesn't fit all
Background:

Weeding Out Voters: Bill Maher takes on the racial divide over pot arrests
Background:

Eye-Witness Apps: Making smartphones part of the chain of evidence
Background:
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, June 05, 2013

"Kill Zone": My Newsweek Cover Story on The Guns of New York - and America, plus Ideas for A Better World

Newsweek: Kill Zone, 5 June 2013
The boy is 17. His mother was killed by gang gunfire. His uncle was shot for his coat. To him, gun control isn't about rights. It's about survival.

"The embattled streets of the city and the gunland of the heartland are wildly different places, and the failure to understand that difference, and overcome it, is the great American tragedy of our time."


Newsweek: Better World, 5 June 2013
The shallowness of "deeper learning"; facial recognition from outer space; the next pharmageddon; a  plea to stop killer robots before it's too late; don't overestimate yourself.

Newsweek: Better world, 29 May 2013
Dogged determinations; ending child marriage; raising the roof with Wiki; the myth of television violence and crime; and why this will be the new American century.

Remember, with the new digital Newsweek, you can just keep scrolling down to see the previous issues. It's meant to be like having a stack of great magazines. And, really, it is.

 Just go to Newsweek.com



Posted by at No comments:

Background Links for the latest "Better World" column in Newsweek


The Hidden Faces of Earth
          

http://www.onformative.com/lab/googlefaces/


Pharmageddon
            
http://www.cfr.org/health-and-disease/preventing-pharmageddon-treatment-access-noncommunicable-diseases/p30416


Terminating the Terminators
         

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Media.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEInsrT8cHU&feature=youtu.be
DARPA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFGfq0pRczY
http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Programs/DARPA_Robotics_Challenge.aspx


Known Unknowns About Yourself
            
http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=26&editionID=226&ArticleID=2282


The Deeper Learning Curve
           
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brown-center-chalkboard/posts/2013/05/29-deeper-cognitive-learning-loveless


Posted by at No comments:

Egypt Sentences Democracy Workers to Jail Terms, Several Americans Convicted in Absentia: Reactions from Two NGOs


STATEMENT BY NDI ON TODAY'S VERDICT IN EGYPT

Wakeel 450px
The National Democratic Institute (NDI) is shocked and deeply distressed by the unjust conviction today of its employees on trial in Egypt and those of the International Republican Institute, Freedom House, the International Center for Journalists and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The work of these 43 individuals to strengthen and support democracy in Egypt should be commended, not prosecuted. The verdict also has a chilling effect on the important efforts of civil society in Egypt.
NDI intends to appeal this decision and hopes that the court’s decision will be overturned. The Institute will do whatever it can to clear the names of its innocent employees.
NDI’s programs in Egypt included sharing international experiences on democratic transitions, training for the long-term development of political parties, and assistance to civil society organizations engaged in election monitoring, civic education and nonpartisan voter education. At no time has NDI ever funded any political party or movement. The Institute has never sought a particular electoral outcome, and it has never aligned itself with any political party, ideology or candidate.
Those wrongfully convicted were ultimately the victims of an intergovernmental dispute between the U.S. and the then-Egyptian government. The Egyptian authorities at the time claimed that the U.S. democracy assistance funds were intended instead for use by them.
From the moment it opened an office in Egypt in 2005, NDI was open and transparent in all of its activities. The Institute applied for registration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at that time and had been assured by the government since then that its papers were in order and that registration was pending. In fact, in 2006, the Ministry of Social Solidarity, another ministry involved in registration, wrote that NDI’s activities complied with Egypt’s current NGO law (Law 84). In January of 2012, NDI was invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to update its registration request from 2005, which is still pending. Throughout its time working in the country, NDI maintained open, transparent and constructive relationships with the government of Egypt, and at no time was the Institute asked to stop its work or close its office. Those circumstances make today’s verdicts particularly troubling.

Convictions in Egypt NGO Case a Disgrace

Washington – June 4, 2013 –  
Freedom House condemns in the strongest possible terms the conviction of 43 NGO workers, including six currently with Freedom House and a former staff member, after a government-led witch-hunt intended to strangle civil society activity and limit free expression in post-revolutionary Egypt.  As evidence of that, the judge in the case also ordered the permanent closure of all the organizations involved.

The charges against the 43 NGO staff, made up of Egyptian and foreign staff including 17 Americans, were the culmination of a months-long campaign of intimidation by authorities, starting with holdovers from the Mubarak era and continuing under the interim military rule and under the present government; many in the Egyptian media also fed into this campaign.  After raids on 10 NGO offices that included other American and German organizations as well as several Egyptian civil society groups in December 2011, the workers were indicted on charges of operating an organization and receiving funds from a foreign government without a license.

“This whole case was a disgrace from the very beginning, and the verdict makes a mockery of the Egyptian judicial process,” said David J. Kramer, president of Freedom House. “It is motivated purely by corrupt and anti-democratic behavior and a determination to shut down civil society.  None of those indicted did anything wrong. They were simply working with Egyptians to help them realize their dream of a free Egypt, and instead have been made scapegoats for a government and judiciary who have betrayed the aspirations of the January 25, 2011 revolution.”

Under a Mubarak-era law, NGOs receiving foreign funding were subject to registration and review by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and other entities, but this was typically used as a way to stymie civil society activity, with the registration process often dragging on indefinitely. Despite that, Freedom House had formally submitted its registration application three days before its office was raided and after working with Egyptian authorities for months to ensure compliance with all legal requirements.

“I am deeply disappointed by today’s verdict but, unfortunately, not surprised,” said Nancy Okail, director of Egypt programs at Freedom House, and one of the convicted defendants. “President Morsi’s government has continued Mubarak’s tactics of using threats, intimidation, and the arbitrary exercise of government power to suppress free expression and association in Egypt.  How can the international community believe he is committed to democracy when he has shut down groups and jailed staff who were helping Egyptians participate in shaping their country’s future?”

Since the raids in December 2011, all of these groups have essentially been unable to function in the country, and the case has had a chilling effect on civil society activity in general, with reports that hundreds more Egyptian NGOs are being investigated.

The current government has proposed a new NGO law that would impose even more restrictions and harm civil society than the previous law under Mubarak.

Despite the fact that the lower body of Egyptian parliament has been disbanded, the Muslim Brotherhood is intent on moving the law through the Shura Council, also set to be disbanded, with little opportunity for public comment.

“The United States government and the U.S. Congress should make clear to President Morsi that the continued persecution of civil society activists is a grave breach of his stated commitment to a democratic transition,” said Charles W. Dunne, director of Middle East and North Africa programs at Freedom House, and a convicted defendant.  “We expect to appeal this case. Meanwhile, the government should end repressive practices including pulling its support for the oppressive new NGO law being considered by the Shura Council.”

Egypt is rated Partly Free in Freedom in the World 2013, Freedom House’s annual global survey of political rights and civil liberties, Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2013 and Partly Free in Freedom on the Net 2012.

Learn more:
Freedom in the World 2013: Egypt
Freedom of the Press 2012: Egypt
Countries at the Crossroads 2012: Egypt
Freedom on the Net 2012: Egypt


Posted by at No comments:

The Terminator Issue: Thinking Hard About Killer Robots. Can They Be Given the Power of Judge, Jury and Executioner?

This sounds off the wall, but it is deadly serious. Literally:

 UN human rights expert calls for a moratorium on lethal autonomous robots


GENEVA (30 May 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, today called for a global pause in the development and deployment of lethal autonomous robots (LARs), to allow “serious and meaningful international engagement on this issue before we proceed to a world where machines are given the power to kill humans.”
“While drones still have a ‘human in the loop’ who takes the decision to use lethal force, LARs have on-board computers that decide who should be targeted,” he stressed.

“The possible introduction of LARs raises far-reaching concerns about the protection of life during war and peace,” Mr. Heyns noted during the presentation of his latest report* to the UN Human Rights Council. “If this is done, machines and not humans, will take the decision on who is alive or dies,” he said.
“This may make it easier for States to go to war; and raises the question whether they can be programmed to comply with the requirements of international humanitarian law, especially the distinction between combatant and civilians and collateral damage,” he explained.
“Beyond this, their deployment may be unacceptable because no adequate system of legal accountability can be devised for the actions of machines,” the independent human rights expert noted, based on his analysis of potential violations of the rights to life and human dignity should the use of LARs materialize.
In his report, Mr. Heyns urges the UN Human Rights Council to call on all States “to declare and implement national moratoria on the production, assembly, transfer, acquisition, deployment and use of LARs, until a framework on the future of LARs has been established.” He also invites the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene or to work with other UN bodies to convene a High Level Panel on LARs to articulate this framework.
“War without reflection is mechanical slaughter,” the UN expert on summary executions said. “In the same way that the taking of any human life deserves as a minimum some deliberation, a decision to allow machines to be deployed to kill human beings deserves a collective pause worldwide.”
For the Special Rapporteur, the time is ripe for a thorough and cool-headed global reflection in order “to ensure that not only life itself but also the value of life and human dignity is protected in the long run.”
“If deployed, LARs will take humans ‘out of the loop,’” Mr. Heyns warned. In his view, “States find this technology attractive because human decision-making is often much slower than that of robots, and human thinking can be clouded by emotion.”
“At the same time, humans may in some cases, unlike robots, be able to act out of compassion or grace and can, based on their understanding of the bigger picture, know that a more lenient approach is called for in a specific situation,” he underscored.
The Special Rapporteur stressed that there is now an opportunity to pause collectively, and to engage with the risks posed by LARs in a proactive way, in contrast to other revolutions in military affairs, where serious reflection mostly began after the emergence of new methods of warfare. “The current moment may be the best we will have to address these concerns,” he said.
The new report provides specific recommendations to the UN system, regional and inter-governmental organizations, and States, as well as to developers of robotics systems, NGOs, civil society, human rights groups and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns (South Africa), is a director of the Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa and Professor of Human Rights Law at the University of Pretoria, where he has also directed the Centre for Human Rights, and has engaged in wide-reaching initiatives on human rights in Africa. He has advised a number of international, regional and national entities on human rights issues. Mr. Heyns’ research interests include international human rights law and human rights law in Africa. Learn more, log on to:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Executions/Pages/SRExecutionsIndex.aspx
(*) Check the full report: http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G13/127/76/PDF/G1312776.pdf?OpenElement or http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/23/47
Watch the Special Rapporteur on our YouTube Channel: http://youtu.be/LEInsrT8cHU
Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Check out The Woman Who Faced Down the Woolwich Butchers, and The Future of/with AlJazeera America, and 5 Ideas

The Daily Beast: The Woman Who Stood Up to the Woolwich Butchers, 23 May 2013
One woman faced down the two alleged killers who used cleavers and carving knives to hack a soldier to death in London. Christopher Dickey on the Cub Scout leader who stood up to terror.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/23/cub-scout-leaders-stands-up-to-london-attackers.html


Newsweek: Al Jazeera is the Best Thing to Happen to Journalism -- Unless it Isn't, 22 May 2013
Can a small very rich nation save American news?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2013/05/22/the-al-jazeera-revolution.html

Newsweek: Better World - Reinventing the Globe in Five Ideas, 22 May 2013
A climate of agreement; unlocking the genes of the sacred lotus; the catch-22 of closing cyberdoors; twenty-nothings; and getting fit in seven-minutes

Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, May 18, 2013

My latest column: Truth, Justice and Benghazi

The Daily Beast: Truth, Justice and Benghazi - 17 May 2013
Why the CIA bears the main responsibility for the intelligence failures that led to the atrocity in Libya last year.

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, May 17, 2013

"The Art of the Heist" and "5 Ideas" in the new re-designed digital Newsweek

First, a note on the redesigned digital Newsweek: You can read it on any browser, no app required. The reader experience is equally good on a computer, a tablet or a smartphone (and not only iPads and iPhones). It's also very easy to find. To get there just type in newsweek.com . 

As for my latest:

Newsweek: (Some) Crime Pays, 15 May 2013
The New Art of the Heist

Newsweek: Better World, 15 May 2013 
Reinventing the Globe in Five Ideas
This week: Building Mosques for Peace; Printing Prosthetics; Grand Grandparents; Location, Location, Location; and Mapping the Twittersphere
(This is the successor to Six Ideas from Around the World)

Video: France 24 The World This Week, 10 May 2013
Talking about Syria, the hero of Cleveland, and the Ferguson management style

Posted by at No comments:

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Quick hits on breaking news: Stolen Diamonds; Maid-Slaves, plus the latest 6 Ideas

The Daily Beast: Ocean's 31 - Belgian Diamond Heist Solved? 8 May 2013
Authorities in Belgium, France, and Switzerland say they've got the robbers who stole $50 million worth of ice from Brussels Airport. But details are sketchy, reports Christopher Dickey.

Newsweek: Around the World in Six Ideas, 6 May 2013
Water Worlds - The new blue planets discovered 1,200 light years from Earth; Texting as linguistic evolution; See-through brains; Early Warning Systems networks; Saving DNA samples for every species on the planet; the left-leaning ivory tower.

The Daily Beast / Women in the World: U.S. Authorities Free Two Domestics in Raid on Saudi Diplomatic Residence, 3 May 2013
Middle Eastern nation is notorious for ill treatment of indentured servants.

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, May 03, 2013

Video: How the NYPD secures the city (2009)



In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, a lot of people have been wondering if New York City is safe -- or at least safer than other cities. If it is, and there is good reason to believe that's the case, this brief video produced by Lee Wang for Newsweek in 2009 suggests why.

If the above doesn't play for you, try this from Vimeo:

NYPD Unseen from Lee Wang on Vimeo.


Posted by at 1 comment:

Sunday, April 28, 2013

A busy weekend: "Six Ideas," "The FBI vs NYC," two appearances on MSNBC, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev's mysterious friend

The Daily Beast: The FBI Cut The NYPD Out of the Loop About the Tsarnaev Brothers' Plans, 27 April 2013
The Feds allegedly failed to tell officials in New York that the Boston Marathon bombers meant to target Times Square, reports Christopher Dickey. The threat may have passed but the tensions haven't.


Newsweek: Around the World in Six Ideas, 29 April 2013
Emotional men; digital dictators; the polarization equation; the society of spectacle; wikipresident; and rethinking the border.

MSNBC video: Talking Tsarnaevs, terror and "TNT" with Alex Witt, 28 April 2013


Video on MSNBC w/ Alex Witt, Lessons Learned from Boston Attacks, 27 April 2013
[[With a bad cold and little sleep, looking pretty gnarly in this one.]]

The Daily Beast: Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Friend & Teacher Misha, the Bombings' Mystery Man, 24 April 2013
By Anna Nemtsova and Christopher Dickey
Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's mother, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, tells Anna Nemtsova that Russian and U.S. investigators are asking her about Misha, the Armenian convert to Islam who influenced Tamerlan.

Posted by at No comments:

Friday, April 26, 2013

Check out The Terrorist Tipping Point and the latest "Six Ideas"

The Daily Beast: The Terrorist Tipping Point - What Pushed the Tsarnaev Brothers to Violence? 23 April 2013
Forget what you know about terrorism. Christopher Dickey on the three surprising factors that contribute to creating deadly terrorists, whether they are from al Qaeda or the IRA. [An update my my 2009 "TNT" column]
Posted by at No comments:

Newsweek: The Story Behind the Bombers

Newsweek: The Story Behind the Bombers, 19 April 2013
How safe are we, really? Did al Qaeda ideology inspire the attack or were the two brothers driven by other motivations? Christopher Dickey, Eli Lake, and Daniel Klaidman report on the latest.
[This story last updated at noon Boston time on Friday.]

Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

First takes on the Boston Bombing

The Daily Beast: The Boston Bombing Intelligence Failure, 16 April 2013The question is not whether the feds missed something. They did. The questions are what, and where, and why?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/16/the-boston-bombing-intelligence-failure.html


France24 Debate: The Boston bombings : a painful reminder of vulnerability, 16 April 2013
With Don Borelli and others
http://www.france24.com/en/20130416-debate-part-1-boston-act-of-terror-marathon-reminder-of-vulnerability


The Daily Beast: Boston Marathon Attack Still Mysterious, 15 April 2013
There are few solid clues so far in the bombing that killed two and injured more than 100.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/15/boston-marathon-attack-still-mysterious.html
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 15, 2013

Check out an interview w/ Christopher Dickey about his father, James Dickey; plus Around the World in Six Ideas

WBUR Audio: Poems And Memories Of James Dickey, 12 April 2013
A conversation with Robin Young  on "Here and Now" plus extras on the Web page. In the second part, I get a little choked up.

Newsweek: Around the World in Six Ideas, 15 April 2013
Water wars, the risk gene, wonder women, ancient social networks, innocence is impotence, and long-distance touchy feely

Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

My latest: The Thatcher Legacy, plus women in Pakistan, stolen daughters in Argentina, Susan Rice stays cool, and modern scourge of slavery

The Daily Beast: The Thatcher Legacy, 8 April 2013
The world needs an Iron Lady every now and then to set things right. And above all else, that was what Britain's first and only female prime minister set out to do. thebea.st/XzMyVB 

The Daily Beast: Answering a Bullet, 8 April 2013
Christopher Dickey on the game-changing moment at Women in the World.
http://thebea.st/XyEMLA 

The Daily Beast Video: One Mother's Unrelenting Search, 5 April 2013
Susana Trimarco has been searching for her daughter for more than 11 years. Christopher Dickey asks her the tough question: does she believe her daughter is still alive?

The Daily Beast: Susan Rice Keeps Cool, 5 April 2013
Amid threats from North Korea, Obama's U.N. ambassador says the administration is staying calm.

Newsweek: Joy Ngozi Ezeilo - Slavery's Scourge, 4 April 2013
The U.N.'s special rapporteur on trafficking in persons on stopping the sex slavery of women and girls.

Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)