Climate activists’ current stated goal is to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, according to the latest IPCC report, atmospheric CO2 levels must peak by 2025. But this battle is already lost, so what’s their Plan B? The above statement is not a critique of the desirability of […]
Global
Tony Soprano’s critique of identity politics
Tony Soprano, the eponymous fictional antihero of HBO’s iconic series about organised crime syndicates in northern New Jersey, tends to evoke images of cigars, strip clubs and guys getting their teeth bashed in or even ‘whacked’, because they disrespected the wife or daughter of a ‘made guy’ or handed in an envelope deemed ‘light’ (on […]
Is bitcoin simply unlicensed gambling?
Promoters claim that bitcoin is a new type of money, reduces transaction costs by abandoning intermediaries and will become a safe asset that they call ‘digital gold’. The bitcoin network, in fact, is a game of chance subject to existing gambling regulations. Economic theory states that money should reduce transaction costs for payments, loans and […]
From British tea to Russian vodka
A brief history of boycotts. From government bans to customers pouring it in gutters by the gallon, Americans are saying “nyet” to Russian vodka, expressing their anger over the Kremlin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Politicians have known since the republic’s founding that folks love taking out their frustrations at the ballot box. And in a […]
Zero-Covid policy threatens Hong Kong’s status as an international financial hub
Hong Kong’s implementation of draconian Covid policies threatens its status as an international financial hub. This is seen through Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s execution of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ‘Zero-Covid’ policy amid crippling economic strain and a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections. Lam’s pandemic strategy, compounded with concerns over the National Security Law (NSL), undermines the liberties that Hong Kong is […]
Ukraine’s zoos
What is happening to all the animals? Details are starting to emerge on how Ukraine’s zoos are coping with the war. Some of the animals, including lions, tigers and wild cats, have been rehomed to zoos in Poland, but this is just not going to be possible for many species. The current situation in Ukraine is having a […]
I am alone: please let me tell you about it
I am alone in New York this week and I have double vision, so when I walk down the street, I pass identical twins who often are leading identical dogs and my loneliness feels rather dramatic. Double vision cost me my driver’s license and as a pedestrian I’m moved by the world around me, by […]
The inspiring architect from Burkina Faso who lifted world’s biggest prize
Diébédo Francis Kéré has become the first African and the first black person to be awarded architecture’s highest international honour, the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Kéré was born in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and built his architectural practice designing schools and medical facilities that were most often built by local communities with minimal resources and a very careful selection of affordable and sustainable […]
Cause and effect
How cricket reflects our age. A game of cricket is an extended narrative. It’s also an exercise in cause and effect. Luck aside, if you play a bad shot, you may be dismissed; if you bowl a bad ball, you will probably be hit for runs and vice versa. There is a causal element of […]
Why working from home (WFH) could be inciting inequality
As with other innovations, it carries risks as well as benefits. Originally published August 2021. There is this great cartoon where a man sits behind a laptop having a Zoom call at his kitchen table perfectly shaven and dressed in a shiny shirt with tie, but under the table he is in his boxer shorts […]