Archive for November, 2009
11 30th, 2009
The mainly Christian Swiss have voted to ban the building of any more minarets on Muslim places of worship. Now is this liberal or illiberal democracy at work?
11 29th, 2009
In 2002, the Argentine economy collapsed because of excessive borrowing; in 2008. America and Europe came close because of excessive borrowing; in 2009, Dubai (yawn, yawn) because of….. Come on, bankers, give us a break!
You can Google to see how economies work or try page 187 of Democracy Kills — very simple; very readable.
11 29th, 2009
In post 9/11 2001, democratic market forces in the United States demanded the invasion of Afghanstan. They also brought into Iraq in 2003. Now the same market forces are demanding an end to both. Policy is driven by voters’ wishes in the invading nations, not by the wishes of those who are invaded.
11 25th, 2009
Tiny Provesende village with its opulent, but compact church and ancient stake for burning people to death lies in mountains high above the Douro River and boasts Papas Zaida family restaurant where we lunched on pork, clams and salad. Our amusing and knowledgeable hosts were Paul Symington, whose family vineyards bring us Graham’s, Dow and Warre’s port; Miles Edlmann his viticulturist and Antonio Silvana, the caseiro or farm manager. We shared a bottle of highly-acclaimed Chryseia 2003 from the Douro — which incidentally is the oldest demarcated wine growing region in the world — 1756.
11 24th, 2009
On an Oporto sloping cobbled street in northern Portugal, opposite the Boys Or Us gay bar lies the deliciously laid-back Atelier cafe, with its minimilist decor, saxophone beer pumps and bottles of Moet and Dom lying chilled on ice on the bar. The urbanely droll owner Miguel Rodrigues-Pereira assures me it is ’straight-friendly’ a place where people of all ages and sexual persuasion can go to relax, kiss and cuddle and show affections that are usually kept out of sight in this conservative, Catholic society. For lunch, I had fiejoada a transmontana — a stew with beans, pork, sausage, bacon and cabbage washed down with fine coffee. Totally excellent
11 20th, 2009
An amazing evening at Foyles in the Charing Cross Road hosted by the indefatigueably probing Austin Williams on Democracy Kills. Austin was superb in a questioning every point I made, which in turn created an incredibly high quality of questioning from the audience. For some reason, the BNP came to the fore with a highly articulate (non-white) guy making the point that should the BNP ever get elected to government they should be given a chance to prove themselves, rather than be sanctioned by international organisations for their policies. This is my last event until March 2010 and I’ve learned that democracy and how it’s implemented is one of the buzz c onversations of our time.
p.s. Austin’s next Bookshop Barnie is on December 10th Bookshop Barnies – Democracy Kills
11 19th, 2009
I plan to test a couple of democracy themes this evening at the Foyles debate in the Charing Cross Road at 7pm and at a discussion on BBC Network Africa before that. I want to see what level of international intrusions people find acceptable in order to get a country back on its feet again. Bosnia, for example, is controlled by a foreigner. Liberia had foreigners running its budget. Taiwan was strongly mentored by the United States for half a century before becoming a democracy — and it’s still not a recognised nation. I’m going to try and get beyond the lazy arguments about a Colonialism and Wetsern domination — paricularly prevalent in Africa – because they miss the issue altogether.
November 19th 2009 at 7pm
Bookshop Barnies – Democracy Kills
Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London. Bookshop Barnies.
A stimulating salon-style discussion in which Humphrey will be challenged in front of an audience to justify Democracy Kills and fight his corner. Tickets are free but places must be reserved.
11 14th, 2009
Peter Gordon on Democracy Kills in the Asian Review of Books.
Hawksley has an uncanny ability to connect transnational dots in an uncomfortable matter. He writes fluently and easily, whether about Africa, the Middle East, Asia or the Balkans, with a knack for merging observation, anecdote, opinion and analysis, moving from place to place and topic to topic, never dwelling so long on any one point that it becomes repetitive. His descriptions of the chocolate trade in the Ivory Coast and the mess in Iraq are devastating, emotionally as well as intellectually.
Click here: Asian Review of Books — Democracy Kills
11 13th, 2009
Kishore Mahbubani author of The New Asian Hemisphere pays tribute ot Francis Fukiyama in a stimulating piece in the New York Times. He argues that modernisation has spread across the world, but it has been accompanied by de-Westernisation and provocatively states that Francis Fukiyama’s famous essay End of History may have done some serious brain damage to Western minds…which believed that the ‘end of history’ equalled the triumph of the West.’
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/opinion/12iht-edmahbubani.html?_r=1&ref=global
11 12th, 2009
In a sleek and cavernous basement in the heart of Chelsea, lies a fun Japanese restaurant, where the chefs cook steaks, fish and vegetable in front of you while juggling spatulas and pepper pots, and occassionally dropping them to keep things interesting. The Asahi is chilled and expensive. The food excellent, fresh and inexpensive. Surf, turf, sushi and the rest for only £22 a head and youy can get in and out easily within an hour — or stay for three if its suits.
Benihana, 77 King’s Road, London, SW3 4NX www.benihana.co.uk
