About me
Personal Links
Category Archives: society
meta meme
My admiration for people that are able to explain something complex in a simple, but not simplifying way, funny, concise, interest arousing, and using multiple layers of meaning, each a comment on the previous one, so as to walk the walk that … Continue reading
lows and a high of Nepal
None of the places I have lived I ever really leave. None of them are a source of much happy news. Despite my widely acknowledged sunny disposition. Must be the world goes to pieces. I do consume whatever antidote comes … Continue reading
corruption among development NGOs, part 3 – the need for collective action by funding agencies
For the background of this series, see part 1. The original of this post can be found here. The full reports can be accessed on my publications page. The previous post of the series can be accessed here. the need for collective action … Continue reading
corruption among development NGOs, Part 2–the hot potato of upward accountability
For the background of this series, see part 1. The original of this post can be found here. The full reports can be accessed on my publications page. The third of the series can be accessed here. the hot potato of upward accountability … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged accountability, Bipul Chettri, cambodia, Caroline Hughes, corruption, development aid, donor-centrism, due diligence, NGO sector
2 Comments
corruption among development NGOs, Part 1–Getting the Facts
I have been conducting policy research on NGO governance and problematic financial management in the Cambodian NGO sector since late 2014. It’s an ongoing involvement. The material costs have been covered by the grantmaker that commissioned it, but given my board membership … Continue reading
the best democracy money can buy
a disturbing (but strangely niche) read for anyone interested in what we settle for when accepting that democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others. Haven’t come across much that added anything to this eye-opener that entered … Continue reading
visualizing inequality
One of my resources to keep in touch with development debates is Oxfam GB Duncan Green’s From Poverty to Power blog. Apart from his own interesting posts and guest contributions he regularly publishes a Links I Liked post that always contains click-worthy … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Brandan Reynolds, Branko Milanovic, Duncan Green, GAB, Inequality, Rory Gallagher, visualization, WAG
Leave a comment
tourism as an indicator of tragedy
The Kathmandu post recently published a short article on the dramatic downfall of tourism arrivals in Nepal.
Posted in society, Uncategorized
Tagged Cadenza Collective, Kathmandu Post, Nepal, tourism stats
Leave a comment
the science business
It may very well be confirmation bias, which would be telling, a strange loop or bootstrapping kinda phenomenon rather than some real change out there, but the science business hanky panky finally seems to be getting more attention in mainstream media. It’s been a … Continue reading
the rock star of data nerds
Didn’t know Hans Rosling, whom I greatly admire, had acquired rock star status but according to the data nerds organizing this ODI event he has. Although I do not share all of his opinions, I find it very difficult to … Continue reading
ever heard of Saad Lamjarred?
I hadn’t. And I probably never would have were it not for staying somewhat in touch with MENA news since leaving Cairo. It’s a weird ambition, trying to ‘stay in touch’. But I find that scanning newspaper headlines, staying subscribed … Continue reading
China, foreign pundits, can it be otherwise? reblogging James Palmer
When I read the below opinion piece by historian James Palmer, currently an editor of the Global Times in Bejing, it struck me as refreshingly different, a meta-journalistic reflection, nothing particularly innovative, but a welcome reminder of a truism that … Continue reading
Posted in psychology, society
Tagged Chen Zhen, China watchers, Global Times, James Palmer, Rockbund, the bigger bang, Tim Franco
Leave a comment
reblogging Kunda Dixit on disaster journalism
German mountaineer, journalist and Miss Hawley’s Himalayan Database assistant Billie Bierling‘s update on Kathmandu, one month on, linked to the below very insightful piece by Nepali Times publisher and editor Kunda Dixit. After Joris Luyendijk’s Het zijn net mensen on his insights … Continue reading
smartphone life in China
There are plenty of short videos around about the effects of smartphone addiction on behavior. But nothing much yet from China (on youtube that is). Film maker Xie Chenglin, is a student at the Chinese Central Academy of Fine Arts and is … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged China, Chinese Central Academy of Fine Arts, smartphones, Xie Chenglin
Leave a comment
Shanghai ambitions
Two documentaries. Yes, the commentaries have that obnoxious Discovery Channel intonation (the future, if we have one, is going ridicule it), but anyone interested in a feel for the scale of Shanghai ambitions and the resources put into their realization will … Continue reading
servicing the ultra rich
The increased inequality brought about by financial capitalism (returning us to a world of patrimonial capitalism?) is accompanied by a thriving service industry that makes for fascinating reading. Just came across a piece on Quartz that I just cannot not reblog. It’s a … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Dub FX & Flower Fairy, freeports, Inequality, luxury good, Oxfam, Richard Wilkinson, Wealth report
Leave a comment
again Cairo chairs
Some time ago I posted some pics by a Dutch photographer fascinated by the chairs on Cairo streets. Turns out he is not the only one: We are David Puig and Manar Moursi, authors of Sidewalk Salon: 1001 Street Chairs … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Cairo, crowdfunding, David Puig, Manar Moursi, Sidewalk Salon
Leave a comment
energy footprints
I have this thing with meaningless numbers turned into something sensible by a comparison, a visualization, or an analogy. And I’ve got this thing with inequality. An example I recently came across is the energy footprint of Bangkok luxury malls. … Continue reading
exceptional artist in an exceptional space
We read about the Rockbund Art Museum, and its current exhibition of Shanghai inspired work of LA based artist Mark Bradford. The pics I saw and the accompanying story about this contemporary art space, open since 2010, and located behind the Bund, … Continue reading
Posted in personal, society
Tagged Mark Bradford, palimpsest, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, Teju Cole
Leave a comment
Extraordinary ladies
They make me cry, they break through my normal misanthropic outlook and show truth in its starkest form. Their wisdom is rare. Too rare. Way too rare to save us is what my morose neurochemistry tells me. But if hope … Continue reading
Egyptian follies
Egyptian rulers and planners have been pursuing the fantasy of desert cities for a long time. The efforts till date have all gone to waste. Developers have become rich, the army profits because it holds the land and also owns … Continue reading
reblogging the Islamic state through the looking glass
The looking-glass of Western geopolitical involvement in the Middle East is normally a tired and very much inside-the-box perspective if one is interested in the region. However important the power players from outside the region may be in the decisions … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged confirmation bias, Islamic State, Middle East, Peter Harding, political analysis, Sarah Birke
Leave a comment
global inequality
It’s been a fancy for some time now and I keep being amazed about the scale of the disparity described by that bland term inequality. Just came across this graph. I knew about the basic stat already but my fresh amazement at … Continue reading
reblogging 4 Things You Probably Know About Poverty That Bill and Melinda Gates Don’t
Needs no comments. Two of the authors are associated with The Rules, the other one is an editor at this online magazine. I’ve had my serious doubts about the Gates Foundation from the moment I learned about the way it … Continue reading
Posted in society
Tagged Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Inequality, Jason Hickel, Joe Brewer, Martin Kirk, poverty, tax justice, techno-optimism
Leave a comment
Egypt’s state killers
It happens in many places, it’s nothing much new, I just happen to have lived there for a while and thus notice these kinda tidbits. Worse killing has happened in the recent past, more will happen in the future. Worse … Continue reading
roger henke's fancies 