By Daniel Taghioff, India. We need a Global Climate Deal right now, but when even a Greeny like Al Gore worked hard to dilute the Kyoto Protocol, you start to wonder if the Americans have a collective death-wish. The answer, of course, is no. But why then the insistence on oil? Why the crazy misadventures [...]
Author Archives: Daniel Taghioff
Take me to the river…
November 30, 2008 – 2:17 pm
As the furore over Mumbai resolves into Indian rage towards Pakistan, it is worth taking a step back to look at what the tensions between these countries are about. Traditional explanations centre around partition, and about the holy status of Kashmir in the Hindu imaginary as a place of heaven, portrayed as a form of [...]
Ahoy there me hearties…
November 24, 2008 – 9:55 am
Pirates are suddenly everywhere: Indian Navy sinks Pirate Ship, Somali Pirates Hijack Saudi Oil Tanker: Cadbury’s Old Jamaica chocolate bar futures are set to surge. Why the sudden interest? Piracy is not new. Nor is this revival of interest so ephemeral either. We have had quite a few Pirates of the Caribbean to contend with [...]
There is a word for it ….
November 19, 2008 – 4:41 pm
I love online dictionaries. Does this make me a Dork, a Geek or a Nerd? I especially like the OneLook Reverse Dictionary. If you ever feel lost for words, take a concept that leaves you speechless, put it in, and out come the suggestions. One concept that has been leaving me speechless recently is how [...]
Human capital is only useful if you don't break the bank
November 16, 2008 – 11:30 pm
The mantra of the Third Way seems to be about “capabilities”. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband pontificated in The New Statesman that this it is about creating an “I can” society. But what exactly is the point of all this? Coming from a Development background, it took me a while to realise that all politics, [...]
Beyond Them and Us
November 8, 2008 – 10:45 am
It is sobering to consider that half of humanity exists at a level of the economic inferno which we blithely label as “less than a dollar a day.” Just stop and think about what that means. Is there any part of your own life that you can recognise in that? I live in India, and [...]