India's Olympic Shame
Here’s an interesting alternative medal table (h/t KiwiClaire). It ranks the countries not by how many Beijing Olympic medals they have won, but by their ratio of medals to population, and to GDP....
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Sowing Division, Reaping Unity
Mumbaikars kept back from the scene of devastation, Colaba. Photo by Vinu. Whoever these terrorists in Mumbai turn out to be, its clear that they are trying to sow division and hatred in a country of...
View ArticleMightier than the Sword
Today I start a new job, as Campaigns Manager at English PEN, promoting literature and human rights worldwide. A dream job for a blogger, I reckon. As before, consider this full disclosure to the...
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Lobby the UN for Aung San Suu Kyi
Activists marked the 12th anniversary of the house arrest of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by protests outside Chinese embassies worldwide, this one in London. Photo by lewishamdreamer...
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64 words for Aung San Suu Kyi
I didn’t know that Salman Rushdie and Aung San Suu Kyi shared a birthday: On this day, my birthday and yours, I always remember your long ordeal and silently applaud your endurance. This year, silence...
View ArticleAnother Demo for Aung San Suu Kyi
I am becoming quite the agitator these days. English PEN has been on its second demonstration of the month… this time outside the Burmese Embassy in Mayfair. Those with keen memories will recall the...
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Hindi versus English
Last Thursday was International Translation Day, and I spent a little bit of time at a translation conference, hosted by English PEN and the Free Word Centre. Plenty of rabble-rousing for more...
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The Chilling Effect of Rarely Used Laws
Governor of the Punjab Salmaan Taseer visits Aasia Bibi, Christian woman condemned to death under the Blasphemy Law. (Creative Commons Licenced photo from salmaantaseer on Flickr) A depressing story to...
View ArticleLost Tribes and Human Nature
I found this video, of an uncontacted tribe meeting a white man for the first time, utterly compelling. I admit that the Enigma style sound-track (actually Yeha-Noha by Sacred Spirit, a new feature on...
View ArticleInterviewed on Free Expression in Vietnam
The General Secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party Nguyễn Phú Trọng was in the UK this week, so English PEN wrote a letter to David Cameron, asking him to raise our free expression concerns during...
View Article‘That Bastard Pardon’ –Writing on Myanmar Journalists for the New Statesman
Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, the two Reuter’s journalists unjustly imprisoned in Myanmar, have been released. I have written a short piece for the New Statesman, commenting on how presidential pardons do...
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