UPDATED - 2 MAY

As the risk of a Swine Flu pandemic increases, we should think about how it came about, and what we could do to prevent similar crises in the future. The financial meltdown lead politicians to consider systemic changes – will the swine flu outbreak do the same for the food production industry?
Read the rest of this entry »

From the Peru archives

The high life
You don’t see the typical guide book Peruvian - indigenous, dark-skinned and dressed in brightly coloured woven fabrics - at the gym in downtown Lima. Here, the average exerciser looks distinctly European, a combination of natural attributes and money: relatively tall and fair-skinned with an unnaturally high proportion of blondes.
This is where the wealthy come to keep up appearances. Read the rest of this entry »

New revelations about the death of Ian Tomlinson highlight the benefits of this media-saturated society, while Bob Quick’s embarrasing mistake shows its dangers.

When a man died at the anti-G20 protests in London at the beginning of this month, it seemed an open and shut case. Ian Tomlinson died of a heart attack; police had done their best to assist him when he fell to the ground. The Independent Police Complaints Commission let the London police conduct their own investigation, and didn’t look into things much further.

If it hadn’t been for the media doing their own research, that’s where things would have ended.

Read the rest of this entry »

The cop is in a huff when he pulls over the carload of tourists. He stands in the cold dusk air on the main road into Arequipa scanning the registration and insurance documents. Fernando, riding co-pilot and the only local in the car, answers the questions for the non-Spanish speaking driver. They assume he’ll just nod and wave them on, as other police officers have done so far – the car’s papers are in perfect order. Instead he asks gruffly for the Circulation Card, something they neither have, nor need. The games begin.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tambien en español: Buenas intenciones en malas manos

Congresswoman Mercedes Cabanillas has demanded the resignation of the Vice Minister of Education, Idel Vexler, over the content of social studies textbooks distributed by the Peruvian state. From her point of view, parts of the text, aimed at 5th year secondary school students, come close to “contraband” ideologies, because of a series of inaccuracies they contain. Among the statements published which provoked the enraged protest of the Aprista politician are those related to the era of armed subversion which Peru endured over a number of years, propelled by bloodthirsty groups like Shining Path. “[The text] talks about internal war, when what Peru faced was actions of violence and crime from subversive groups,” Cabanillas criticised indignantly.

Read the rest of this entry »