The 10 Most Educated Countries in the World

According to Education at a Glance 2011, a recently published report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the 10 developed countries with the most educated populations:

1- Canada 

2- Israel 

3- Japan 

4- United States 

5- New Zealand 

6- South Korea 

7- Norway 

8- United Kingdom 

9- Australia 

10- Finland


Let's move to Egypt. I know it's a cheap shot, but I couldn't resist. The Secretary of the new parliament's "Education Committee" name is Gaber El-Gahlan (in English: Gaber The Ignorant). Picture below:

Main photo of the girl by Matt Moyer. The photo was taken in Cairo at a mud hovel where workers, including children, made clay pots. 

Beirut: The Tragic Death of Lila Aacharya

Painful video from The Guardian about the exploitation of domestic workers in Lebanon. This is not unique to Lebanon but quite common in the Arab world:

Lila Aacharya left Nepal hoping to make a better life for her two young daughters. Two months later her body was flown home. Lila's case exposes the toll of human trafficking - from her attempt to escape the poverty of her village in the Himalayan foothills to her exploitation and death as a domestic worker in an upmarket apartment in Beirut. 

Image from World Bank campaign.

The New Home of Porn (not that we care!)

A new campaign (using mannequins!) for the new web addresses ending in .xxx.  The new web address have gone on general sale back in September 2011. Some 100,000 addresses have already been purchased in a restricted sale. This should make control of porn access online easier and act as a responsible alternative for "adult content sites".

Cartoon of the Day

Source: International Herald Tribune

Quote of the Day

"In general, I try to avoid terminology that is gratuitously inflammatory — meaning, language that is unnecessary to make a point and that is more likely to distract from the point with side controversies than focus attention on the point itself (by contrast, I don’t try to avoid language that is necessarily inflammatory: meaning language that is necessary to make a point even if it offends). " Glenn Greenwald from Salon. 

"These men don't negotiate. And they will certainly not give up power voluntarily."

The picture and excerpts are taken from Spigel's Can Egypt Make Democracy Work? The whole article is worth reading as it provides interesting details about three members of the new parliament. The excerpts below focus on the non-Islamist member:

Ziad El-Eleimy, 31, an attorney and revolutionary who now hold a seat in the new parliament. Here, he waits to pass a security checkpoint on his way to the first session … Then he walks into the parliament and shows the guard his badge, for which he had to wait five hours on the previous day. 

There are no offices for the delegates in this strange parliament, nor are there any budgets for staff. There is only a dusty library, and a lot of plaster and marble, oil paintings hanging crookedly and chandeliers in hallways with ceilings as high as trees. It is one of the many institutions of the old Egypt that gives people a sense of their own impotence.

El-Leimy, the social democrat is worried about the power of the military:

"The Muslim Brothers and the military council have made a deal, in the presidential election, the Muslim Brotherhood will support the military's candidate. This will enable them to rule without holding official responsibility. It's the best thing that could happen to them."

Good News of the Day: Global Food Prices Decline, But Remain Volatile

According to the World Bank Food Price Index:

Global food prices declined 8% between September and December 2011. Wheat, maize, and rice prices declined due to improved supply conditions, and among concerns regarding the global economy. However, global prices still remain high, with the 2011 annual food price index exceeding the 2010 annual index by 24 percent.

Prospects for decline in 2012 prices are favorable on account of increasing supplies. Yet, global prices remain high and volatile, markets tight, and oil prices uncertain. There has been strong demand from deficit areas and production losses from La Niña have already occurred. Domestic food prices also remain high and volatile, and continue to show large differences from country to country.

Sandmonkey Takes Salafi Preacher to Court!

Blogger Mahmoud Salem, commonly known as Sandmonkey, filed a lawsuit with the general prosecutor’s office against the influential Salafi cleric Yasser Al-Bourhami for incitement of violence against Egypt’s Christian community. Al-Bourhami had repeatedly demanded that Muslims not buy products from Christians, greet them on their holidays and insisted on calling them “infidels”.

Salem explained the merits of his lawsuit: 

“Disdain for religion, specifically Christianity, is something the Islamists completely abuse as a tool to terrorize the people they disagree with. If there’s anyone practicing hate speech, it’s those Salafi sheikhs against Egypt’s Christians, yet nobody does anything about it. I’m not the first person to file a lawsuit against them, but nobody follows up and investigates it.”

This lawsuit is an important step to challenge Egypt’s culture of legal impunity for hate-speech, discrimination and violence against Christians in Egypt. If successful, this could be the beginning of a process to hold radical preachers accountable for their poisonous rhetoric.

However, this won’t be easy as Salem's legal team will have to show that Al-Bourhami's rhetoric directly incited a follower or group of followers to carry out a specific act or acts of violence against Christians.  

Quotes of the Day

Two quotes from Freddie deBoer's must-read post  "Because Policing The Discourse is Punk Rock"  and  Mairav Zonszein's refreshing article "The Downside of Unbridled Support for Israel" respectively.    The quotes are in relation to the heated discussion regarding the use of the controversial term "Israel-Firster" (someone who puts Israeli right-wing agenda above America's interests) by some liberals in the American media. 

• "Note to some of my fellow progressives: If we can’t argue about Israel without using anti-Semitic tropes, then the debate is lost before it even begins." 

• "Despite this being U.S. foreign policy for quite a while, GOP candidates and mainstream American Jewish groups - bolstered by what is arguably the most rigid right-wing government Israel has ever had - have attacked Obama regularly for what they deem to be his deficient "pro-Israel" record, simply because he has condemned settlement construction. Obama has capitulated under the pressure and reasserted his strong "pro-Israel" (read: Israel right or wrong ) stance, for fear of losing the political and economic support he needs to win another term. Indeed, it is no secret that "pro-Israel" money (albeit, not all of it from Jews) comprises a substantial percentage of all donations to political parties in the United States. Talking about "Jewish" - or more accurately, "pro-Israel" - money in American politics is therefore not inherently anti-Semitic: It is a given, and the effort to silence such debate is the problem."

Will The Generals Give Up Power?

Recently we've been hearing and reading about a compromise that may be reached between the army and Islamists. The compromise would allow the army to leave politics and go back to the barracks.  

This floated compromise usually includes demands such as independence of the army's budget from the general budget (e.g., no oversight by a parliament committee or the central auditing agency), retaining their economic empire with the perks that come with it (e.g., tax exemptions) and legal immunity of the army and its personnel from prosecution (e.g., torture, killings and corruption). 

These demands are logical and a reasonable person would imagine the army to be considering in a deal with Islamists but I doubt that this is the case. The army is intelligent and experienced enough to gamble by trusting the Islamists. I expect the army to play for time and seek an ambiguous reality at least in the short run. In other words, instead of taking concrete actions to give up power we will get sucked into a lot of process (e.g., form a committee, prepare a decree, discuss a referendum, etc).

I imagine the army strategy would consist of three folds:

- Divide the Islamists: This would include ensuring that the Islamists camp (Salafis, Muslim Brotherhood and Young Muslim Brothers) is never united. This is not a difficult task given how the three factions dislike each other and being political novices. 

- Redirect the People's Anger: Most Egyptians have high expectations of the new parliament (jobs, economic recovery, fighting corruption, etc.) but these expectations will not materialize at least in the coming four years (global economic crisis, dwindling tourism, etc.) This will make the parliament and the president to be, the focus of the people's anger. 

- Keep America Happy: The U.S. wants three things from Egypt (i) support in the fight against terrorism and Iran, (ii) the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel retained and (iii) Islamists to fail. I imagine the army will be happy to help.

So to conclude, the army is here to stay. The center of Egypt's politics won't be the weak presidency or the powerless parliament, it will be the army and its generals. As we've seen over the past year, real progress in Egypt's "freedom agenda" came through pressure by Tahrir Square. This will remain the case in the coming years.

"Best Use of Bad Taste"

"Never Hide" is nominated for "Best Use of Bad Taste" category at the Chip Shop Awards. The awards appreciate creative schemes with no limits or rules, it's all about ideas. The work need not have run and the creator need not work for the client.

A New View of the Arab Spring: Not Bad For Israel

Jonathan Schanzer, Jerusalem Post, wonders whether the Arab Spring may actually benefit Israel.  Below is the excerpt on Egypt:

Egypt is a potentially bigger problem. After all, the Israelis have relied on Cairo to keep the peace on their southern border, if not the entire region. As the saying goes, "If Egypt goes to war, the Middle East goes with it."But the chances of war with the new Egypt are currently low. Its economy is in the toilet, with foreign investors spooked and the corrupt patronage network that Mubarak created on the verge of collapse. Even if the Muslim Brotherhood is as powerful as the recent polls suggest, it is increasingly apparent that the real struggle for control of Egypt is between the military and the internal security apparatus.  Both actors rely heavily on US assistance, and neither will want to jeopardize it. So, unless the Islamists manage to purge them altogether (unlikely), Israeli interests for the time being appear safe.

Image: Alice Popkorn

Corruption Who?

“The more corrupt the state, the more the laws.” Publius Cornelius Tacitus said. And in the Middle East we are the masters of passing laws. So, it’s not a big surprise to see most of the Middle East countries at the lower half of Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International. 

Recently PwC released its Middle East Economic Crime Survey. Unsurprisingly, the Survey results confirm the need for more robust fraud detection and investigation mechanisms in organizations in the Middle East. Below are some findings from the survey:

• More than a quarter of businesses and organizations reported economic crime in the last 12 months.

• Twenty-eight percent of respondents said they had suffered, with asset misappropriation, bribery and corruption, cybercrime and accounting fraud cited as the main crimes.

• Thirty-nine percent of respondents said their organizations were likely to face bribery and corruption in the next 12 months, compared to the global average of 23 percent.

• Two in five respondents reported that their organizations have not performed a fraud risk assessment in the last 12 months.

• 17 percent of known fraud was detected by accident compared to the global average of 8 percent.

• Almost half of the respondents reported that incidents of fraud cost their organizations between $100,001 and $5m in the last 12 months.

And my favorite: 

• The survey said 69 percent of respondents indicated that most serious fraud incidents were committed by internal perpetrators, who are typically profiled as male, between 31 and 40 years old, a graduate degree holder and has been with the company for three to five years.

Books - - Belzoni: The Giant Archaeologists Love to Hate

The Italian son of a barber. A failed hydraulic engineer. A giant who performed feats of strength and agility in the circus. Giovanni Belzoni (1778-1824) was all of these before going on to become one of the most controversial figures in the history of Egyptian archaeology. 

A man of exceptional size with an ego of comparable proportions, he procured for the British Museum some of its largest and still awe-inspiring treasures. Today, however, the typical museum visitor knows nothing of Belzoni, and many modern archaeologists dismiss him as an ignorant vandal.

An excerpt from a review of the book by Rob Hardy:

At a time before Egyptian antiquities were valued as historical specimens, the rulers were willing to let anything go. In putting his proposal to dig at Abu Simbel, Belzoni faced the ruler of its district, who thought digging to find a temple could simply not be done. But if it could, asked Belzoni, what then? The ruler laughed and said, "If you find the temple full of gold, half of it is to be mine." This was fine with Belzoni, who said, "But if it is only full of stones, they are all my property." The ruler had no interest in any stones. Similarly, when Belzoni had opened the sepulcher of Seti I (still known as Belzoni's Tomb), the aga in charge of the area was eager to see the excavations, and wanted to know where the treasure had been put. There was no treasure, Belzoni had to say, but wanted to know what the aga thought of the magnificent painted figures on the walls all around. The aga barely looked at the murals, but then allowed, "This would be a good place for a harem, as the women would have something to look at.

Egypt Will Support Govt of Liberia in Every Sector

This excerpt is taken from an article published in Liberia:

"The Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt accredited to Liberia, Maher El-Adway, says his country will continue to support Liberia in every sector to enhance Liberia's recovery process. According to the Egyptian El-Adway, when Liberia is stronger in growth and democracy, Egypt in turn will benefit."

Of course, he's promoting Egyptian companies in Liberia, but to have the audacity to talk about "democracy" in Liberia while Egypt is going through its mess is special!

"Barbaric and Unacceptable in Canada" or Anywhere!

A Canadian jury on Sunday found three members of an Afghan family guilty of killing three teenage sisters and another woman in what the judge described as "cold-blooded, shameful murders" resulting from a "twisted concept of honor," ending a case that shocked and riveted Canadians. 

After the verdict was read, the three defendants again declared their innocence in the killings. 

Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly killed the three teenage sisters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and using the Internet. The prosecutor elaborated on the crimes by saying:

"It is difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable, more honor-less crime. The apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your completely twisted concept of honor ... that has absolutely no place in any civilized society." 

Additional Information on "Honor Killings" From Wikipedia:

According to The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that perhaps as many as 5,000 women and girls a year are killed by members of their own families. Many women's groups in the Middle East and Southwest Asia suspect the number of victims is about four times greater. 

Widney Brown, the advocacy director of Human Rights Watch, said that the practice "goes across cultures and across religions." Human rights advocates have compared "honor killing" to "crimes of passion" in Latin America (which are sometimes treated extremely leniently) and also to the killing of women for lack of dowry in India.

In 2008 a woman was killed in Saudi Arabia by her father for "chatting" to a man on Facebook. The killing became public only when a Saudi cleric referred to the case to criticize Facebook for the strife it caused.

This link provides more information about Honor Killings in Egypt.

Islamist Politicians, Not Bankers, At Davos: Don't Fear Us

Let me share with you some interesting quotations by the newly elected politicians of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt:

"I would like to ask the businessmen in the room. Have you suffered from the victory of the Islamists? You supported the dictatorships in the past, today we can guarantee your interests more than they did in the past." Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane

"I do not believe the new regimes should be called political Islamist regimes. We must be careful with our terminology. For the first time in the Arab world, we have free and honest elections that led to democratic regimes," Tunisian Prime Minister Hammadi Jebali

"It wasn't about bikinis or no bikinis, or whether to implement Sharia law. It got down to jobs, money and security, and the people wanted the best-organized groups. First you have to let the Arab world be for a while. Stop trying to impose secularism from afar," Moez Masoud, an Islamic scholar and preacher at Egypt's Al-Tareeq Al-Sah

The Egyptian Government Dumped By U.S. Lobbyists?

Politico reported that former Republican Rep. Bob Livingston, former Democratic Rep. Toby Moffett and longtime lobbyist Tony Podesta ended their contract with the Egyptian government. The lobbyists confirmed in a statement Saturday that they were immediately terminating their four-year relationship with the Egyptian government.

"We hope that Egyptians continue to enjoy the deepening of democracy in their country, and that Egypt remains a strong, stable and vital ally of the United States," the three lobbyists said in a joint statement.

Politico reported earlier that the firms came under criticism after circulating talking points justifying Egyptian security forces' raids on a number of NGOs including American groups.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Sunday it has ended a contract with three Washington lobbying firms to cut expenses, denying reports that the Americans were the ones to sever the contract.

Source: Associated Press

South African Church Billboard Banned Following Atheist Complaint

The New Humanist blog posted this interesting story from South Africa:

A church in South Africa has been ordered to remove a billboard about non-believers following a complaint from an atheist to the country's Advertising Standards Authority.

The billboard depicted a man, apparently missing that crucial section of the head that houses the brain, holding his temples in deep thought (lack of brain notwithstanding), alongside a line by the English poet Francis Thompson: “An atheist is a man who believes himself to be an accident.”

In his complaint to the ASA, Eugene Gerber argued that the billboard, displayed outside River’s Church in Sandton, was offensive:

"In essence, the complainant submitted that the billboard offends him as an atheist as he does not consider his existence to be an accident. Secondly, the depiction of a man with an empty head communicates that atheists are stupid."

The ASA upheld the complaint, and explained in the ruling how it determines what can and cannot be considered offensive in relation to religion and belief:

"... when advertising with somewhat of a religious connotation or connection does not pass comment or judgement, or belittles a basic belief or tenet of any specific religion or belief system, it would not likely be regarded as offensive to that particular religion."

The Silent Massacre of Egypt's Heritage

Cairo Observer has an excellent post on the gutting of Egypt's heritage: 

"The destruction of Egypt’s modern architectural heritage is widespread in cities across the country ... various reasons for this have been mentioned and they range from legal and inheritance issues but the state is mostly to blame for failing to provide a legal framework that protects this heritage without undermining the economic interests of the property owners. Additionally corrupt local governments and the lax regulations regarding building code and building heights have further threatened surviving structures, many of which were designed as villas surrounded by gardens. Such villas, even if they survived, their value as villas has been jeopardized because no one would invest in a villa overlooked and surrounded by 10+ story apartments.

The Villa Aghion (photo above) built by the Perret brothers in Alexandria in 1926-1927 is considered an important modernist villa reflecting Alexandria’s society and architectural culture. It had survived until 2009 when there was an attempt to demolish it. Today it stands partially destroyed and abandoned. This has been the fate of many more less high-profile structures in Alexandria, Cairo, Mansoura and other cities."

Image: Alaa El-Habashi

"Why Is Egypt Picking A Fight With America?"

The NEW York Times editorial (excerpts below) is perplexed by the latest moves by SCAF.  The escalation started late last year by the Egyptian security forces raiding a number of NGOs, including three-American financed "democracy building groups" with strong connections in the U.S. (including the International Republican Institute). Later this year, the Egyptian Government barred at least six Americans — including I.R.I.’s Egypt director, Sam LaHood, the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood — from leaving Egypt. This comes at a time when lawmakers in Capitol Hill will soon consider a new request for aid to Egypt's military, which now runs about $1.3 billion per year.

"The generals make the specious charge that recent unrest was caused by “foreign hands.” Outside forces didn’t drive Egyptians to courageously rise up against Hosni Mubarak. And outside forces aren’t driving them to keep pressing the military to keep its promises and move fully to civilian rule. If Egyptians want outside help to make that transition, they should be allowed to accept it.  I.R.I.’s president, Lorne Craner, said that in his organization’s 30-year history, it has never been treated like this by any country, including Russia, China and Venezuela."

The NGOs problems in Egypt are not as simple as the NYT describes in its one-sided editorial. Foreign funding for NGOs was always a sensitive and a controversial issue. We've seen this in democratic countries with strong NGOs legislation. The Indian government used the dreaded "acting on behalf of foreign interests" accusation in its fight with an NGO over the construction of Sardar Sarovar dam, a four billion-U.S. dollar project. The Indian government didn't stop there but proposed a new legislation to closely monitor the sources and use of foreign funds received by hundreds of NGOs in the country.

Egypt needs a balanced approach in dealing with the NGOs issue. First it needs to acknowledge the important role played by NGOs whether in operations and/or advocacy to fill existing gaps in government services. Treating all NGOs as enemies of the state is short-sighted and politically motivated.

The new parliament should pass a new NGOs law. The new law should build on international best practice while ensuring Egypt's sovereignty, coordination between NGOs activities and relevant line ministries, independence of the NGOs and their right to receive funding (foreign and local).  The new NGOs law should reflect the spirit of a post-Mubarak Egypt that, we hope, is less authoritarian, rigid and closeted. 

We Are Sick

As Egypt goes through this messy and challenging transition, we should know that we are on our own.  We are alone because Europe, the U.S. and the Gulf Arabs have their own problems, agendas and limitations. We are also not helping by alienating our allies and continuously accusing "others" of being behind all our problems. 

• Europe is preoccupied with its economic crisis and as usual without a coherent position on Egypt. Ensuring the Copts are protected and peace between Egypt and Israel is maintained mostly drive Europe’s policy towards Egypt. Europe’s shrinking aid budget will not be used to assist with Egypt’s transition to democracy but as a small price to remain almost relevant in the new Egypt.

• The U.S. for the coming year will be focused on its presidential election with minimal economic and political capitals invested on Egypt. With AIPAC, Evangelical Christians and right-wing media increasingly defining the relationship between the U.S. and Egypt, it’s hard to imagine Washington spending its money and efforts to help the Islamists succeed. This may explain the difference between the U.S. response to the Eastern Europeans countries transition to democracy and its current efforts in Egypt. 

• The Gulf Arabs were always excellent in committing billions of dollars and disbursing almost nothing. Also, Gulf Arabs, like Europe and the U.S., have their own agenda whether spreading a stringent form of Islam in Egypt or marginalizing Egypt as a regional player.

I know many would say, that’s fine. We don’t need anyone. We can make it alone. But these are empty words that won’t get us out of our economic mess. 

We need Europe, the U.S. and the Gulf Arabs. We need to stop demonizing anything and everything that comes from the West.  We need to be selective and logical in what to accept or reject. We need to realize that blaming the West for Mubarak’s regime is naive. We need to define our relationship with the West not only through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We need to accept that we are no longer the dominant force in the Arab world. 

We need to realize that Egypt is sick and needs serious help. 

Egypt "repression continues and changes are just cosmetic"

Reporters Without Borders just released its annual Press Freedom Index.

It is clear from reading the report that the future of Egypt remains uncertain, and the place it will allow the media is undecided. The report states:

Most of the region’s countries have fallen in the index because of the measures taken in a bid to impose a news blackout on a crackdown. Egypt plummeted 39 places (from 127th last year to 166th this year) because of the attempts by Hosni Mubarak’s government and then the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to rein in the revolution’s successive phases. The hounding of foreign journalists for three days at the start of February, the interrogations, arrests and convictions of journalists and bloggers by military courts, and the searches without warrants all contributed to Egypt’s dramatic fall in the index.

Transitions that have begun are not necessarily leading towards more pluralism and most of the changes in the rankings have been downward ones. The freedoms that have been won are fragile and could easily be swept away.

Image: Cofano

Revolutionary Business: Rethinking Entrepreneurship in MENA

Carnegie has an excellent report on the power of small and medium sized enterprises (SME). The report stresses the importance of enacting favorable legislation and enhanced government transparency in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Below are excerpts from the report that highlight the gender dilemma:

The limited involvement of women in SMEs in the region cannot be doubted; the SME sector is characterized by low rates of female ownership and few female workers—in stark contrast to the participation of women in the informal sector. In the Middle East and North Africa, SMEs comprise the most substantive part the economy: there are 12 million SMEs, which make up 95 percent of the private sector. Even so, only about 300,000 of those are women-owned “formal” SMEs. In Egypt, these enterprises account for about 75 percent of total employment and 80 percent of the gross domestic product—yet women own less than two percent. Even with that disparity, it is important to remember that this trend is not unique to the Middle East; globally, women own only one-third of SMEs in emerging market economies (between eight and ten million).  

To address this disparity, many programs try to level the playing field through microcredit loans to women. Although well intentioned, this focus on unequal access to credit ignores the real difficulties of doing business in the Middle East. Women’s rights activists in the region often stress this and argue that the core obstacle to doing business in the Middle East is the failure of governments to create regulatory environments that facilitate access to institutional capital and knowledge and that are conducive to entrepreneurship for everyone, regardless of gender. 

Restrictive legislation is one of the key obstacles to the emergence of a culture of entrepreneurship in many Arab countries. According to the World Bank’s 2012 “ease of doing business” ranking, the regional average is 93 out of 183 countries.  Egypt and Jordan are ranked 110 and 96 respectively. “Although Egypt came in 21st for “starting a business” which includes things like registering with the government and signing up to pay taxes, it scored very low on essential needs for conducting business: 101st for obtaining electricity, 147th for enforcing contracts and 154th for handling construction permits. Jordan was 96th overall and 95th for “ease in starting a business.” 

The Camel Express!

Boing Boing challenged its readers to send them photos of their favorite museum photos. The submissions ranged from "The Bishop's Rectum" to "Mummified Ice-Age Bison".  My favorite: 

"Arab Courier Attacked by Lions", on display at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh. Built by Jules Verreaux for the Paris Exposition in 1867, it was purchased first by the American Museum of Natural History—which quickly thought better of it—and was then sold to Andrew Carnegie in 1898 for $50. 

The lions preserved here are Barbary lions, a subspecies that went extinct in the wild in the early 20th century. 

The "Arab courier", thankfully, is a mannequin. However, that might not have always been the case. Jules Verreaux had previously stuffed and mounted the corpses of non-Europeans before he made this diorama. Meanwhile, the man who was preparator-in-chief at the Carnegie Museum at the time they purchased "Arab Courier" once wrote that the courier "might have been real prior to 1899 when it was refurbished." So, yeah. Historical racism. How about that?

"Cycle of Violence"

One Punch, Seven Women: Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) released this anti-domestic violence ad.

Reality In Post Gaddafi Libya: More Torture

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) suspended its operations in parts of Libya: 

MSF teams began working in Misrata’s detention centers in August, 2011, to treat war-wounded detainees. Since then, MSF doctors had been increasingly confronted with patients who suffered injuries caused by torture during interrogation sessions. The interrogations were held outside the detention centers. In total, MSF treated 115 people who had torture-related wounds. The organization reported all the cases to the relevant authorities in Misrata. Since January, several of the patients returned to interrogation centers were again tortured.

“Some officials have sought to exploit and obstruct MSF’s medical work,” said MSF general director Christopher Stokes. “Patients were brought to us in the middle of interrogation for medical care, in order to make them fit for further interrogation. This is unacceptable. Our role is to provide medical care to war casualties and sick detainees, not to repeatedly treat the same patients between torture sessions.”

Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice

Confirming what we always knew, Live Science published this refreshing article:

There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.   

The research finds that children with low intelligence are more likely to hold prejudiced attitudes as adults. These findings point to a vicious cycle, according to lead researcher Gordon Hodson, a psychologist at Brock University in Ontario. Low-intelligence adults tend to gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, the study found. Those ideologies, in turn, stress hierarchy and resistance to change, attitudes that can contribute to prejudice, Hodson wrote in an email to LiveScience.   

"Prejudice is extremely complex and multifaceted, making it critical that any factors contributing to bias are uncovered and understood," he said.  

As suspected, low intelligence in childhood corresponded with racism in adulthood. But the factor that explained the relationship between these two variables was political: When researchers included social conservatism in the analysis, those ideologies accounted for much of the link between brains and bias. " 

 Image (edited): Vincent Ferrari

Snub or Punishment?

One of the biggest surprises of the recently announced Academy Awards nominations was the fact that Tilda Swinton was not nominated for an Oscar for her role in We Need to Talk About Kevin despite being nominated for her role by: SAG, HFPA, BFCA, and BAFTA. 

Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss, provides a sinister explanation of the Academy's snub:

A flick through the November issue of the British edition of Voguerevealed one accessory I did not expect to see. After pages of faux fur, sequinned clutches and designer feathered capes, I happened upon something rather more surprising: a full-page shot of actress Tilda Swinton sporting a knitted scarf emblazoned not with a designer logo but with the word “Palestine.”

I don't buy it (too "conspiracy theory" for my taste) especially that other omissions include Steven Spielberg and David Fincher. 

Image: Vogue.