A new State of Palestine? Get used to it, Binyamin.

There are signs that everything is about to change in the way the US tackles Israeli intransigence and the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict.  First of all, when the US vice-president, Joe...

Israel-Palestine: Now is the time!

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party".Many Israelis believe, erroneously I think, that they are surrounded on all sides by enemies (as NowPublic's Rhonda J Mangus pointed out,...

Indian testosterone: the next tsunami!

"people eating, people washing, people sleeping....people visiting, arguing and screaming....people clinging to buses....people, people, people". Paul Ehrlich:  The Population Bomb. India is on the rise. ...

This flu 'pandemic': Mexican pigs in a poke.

"Factory farms....manufacture low-cost flesh, with a side-dish of viruses to go". Johann Hari, The Independent, 1st May 2009. I don't know about you:  my picture of how and where this flu virus started was of...

Tackling Thailand's troubles.

"Mr Abhisit.....a mature leadership, with his fist in a velvet glove"... Nattaya Chetchotiros in today's Bangkok Post. The enduring image I shall hold of Thailand's New Year this week will not be of the...

Couples must control their lusts in this over-populated world!

"Those were the days my friend, We thought they'd never end,We'd sing and dance forever and a day, We'd live the life we choose,We'd fight and never lose, For we were young and sure to have our way"....

INDIA - women's toilet power in Maharashtra

There was a time when the young women in the village of Asgaon would judge a man by how much land he had, or whether he possessed a buffalo.  Not any longer.  Now they want something more...

Housing for all in Kolkata - promises, promises

"The property scenario in Kolkata is changing fast and it has indeed changed drastically since the time it was known as 'Calcutta'. The image of erstwhile Calcutta with modestly-built houses and slums is fading...

Mumbai 26/11 - in remembrance of an omelet man

The relatives of many of those who died in the Mumbai shootings have doubtless said of their loved ones:  'they were in the wrong place at the wrong time". That wasn't true for Sunil Thackeray.  He...

Sleeping out in Kolkata

"There's enough wealth in this city to fill everyone's stomach.  It's true, I assure you. You still think like a peasant.  But soon you'll be a real Calcutta wallah and know all the tricks". ...

India farmer - "who took my dam water?"

"The government does not care about farmers.  Why should I bother to vote",  Dadarao Thakse is a fortyfive year old farmer with ten acres of land.  He lives in Amaravati, in the Indian state...

The private grief and public shame of begging

"The presentation of self in everyday life", Irving Goffman.  This little kid is desolate.  A few moments earlier he looked even more 'abandoned' and alone.  He still does not understand why his...

The shifting sands of Indian politics

"There are three main diseases of this country, sir: typhoid, cholera, and election fever.  This last one is the worst".  Aravinda Adiga, in White Tiger.  After the Mumbai shootings last year,...

Reporting on the next war to break in Africa?

"If the river goes down, there will be war"  Nyangatom warrior, Ethiopia. If you want to report on the next war in Africa, then go to the south east of  Ethiopia.  Make...

India's poor? Sonia Gandhi says - "Let them eat rice".

"The world is in trouble but we are the number-two growing country in the world", Manmohan Singh. India's current Prime Minister is a good man.  He has achieved much during his tenure.  But will he last,...