I wonder whether Mayor Bloomberg and the other New York City politicos who voted the totalitarian and hypocritical law banning public smoking in the Big Apple had an occasion to peruse the 1993 book by professor Richard Klein entitled Cigarettes Are Sublime (Durham: Duke University Press). (And, by the way, the book, full of anecdotes, also reminds the reader that the it was through the "beneficence'" of James B. Duke, a tobacco mogul, that Duke University was created.) Well, maybe they didn't need to read it, as the book is instead an eye-opener...
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Thursday, 12 May 2011
A raucus debate erupted Wednesday in Parliament over some provisions of the new electoral bill introduced by the Interior Ministry and amended by a parliamentary committee. The particular point of contention was the provision that raises the bar of eligibility of MPs to 10% of votes in the revised system of voting by proportional representation.It was the contention of some MPs that the article is yet another attempt by the majority to sideline the opposion in the upcoming election. But it also happened that many MPs of the ruling majority refused...
Thursday, 5 May 2011
The rift within Jean-Pierre Bemba's MLC party took on a dramatic turnon Wednesday when MP François Mwamba convened a press conference toannounce that he's suing MP Thomas Luhaka for firing him from hisposition as secretary general of the party two weeks or so ago.On their part, MP Thomas Luhaka and his group stood by their decision,adding that they'd end up prevailing in any court of law.A few days ago, MLC MP Adam Bombole said that Mwamba's leadershipcareer within the party had hit a dead end. Mwamba had better eitherabide by the decision taken...
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
...."God forgive me, but perchance You are drunk, Lord." (Omar Khayyam)...Evolutionary brain scientists claim to have established that religiousness is a genetically-formatted wiring of the brain. They have also alledgedly mapped its location in the brain: the 'upper rear parietal lobes, both right and left'. Moreover, these 'neurotheologians' conclude that the 'human brain was genetically conceived to encourage religious beliefs' (Andrew Newberg and Eugene d'Aquila, cited in Régis Debray, God: An Itinerary).Before even venturing...
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Laurent BlancEmbattled team manager of the French national football team (Credits) Two days ago, the French e-zine Mediapart--edited by Edwy Plenel, erstwhile editor-in-chief of the influential daily Le Monde--revealed that senior members of the French national football federation, including the newly-appointed national team manager Laurent Blanc, held a secret powwow in January that bears the hallmarks of a nefarious racist conspiracy.According...
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