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Vatican Missteps and U.N. Blunders – NYTimes.com

February 12, 2014

Peter Singhatey Uncategorized People & Society, peter singhateh, The Catholic Church, UN Leave a comment

Vatican Missteps and U.N. Blunders – NYTimes.com.

“The case against the church is clear. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child refers to tens of thousands of crimes by priestly abusers over several decades. It calls on the church to remove all abusers from active ministry, report them to the police and open its archives on the 4,000 cases which have been referred to the Vatican.

But the report naïvely, or ideologically, also blundered into a wider attack on Catholic teachings on contraception, homosexuality and abortion. That prompted the Vatican to respond with a forceful counterattack claiming the United Nations has gone beyond its proper area of competence — and, indeed, has violated the safeguards on religious freedom in its own Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ..”

You’ll have no one to shoot on civvy street: Cruel jibes aimed at war veterans looking for work | Mail Online

February 12, 2014

Peter Singhatey Veterans News Armed Forces, People & Society, peter singhateh, Veterans Leave a comment

You’ll have no one to shoot on civvy street: Cruel jibes aimed at war veterans looking for work | Mail Online.

“Soldiers seeking jobs after leaving the Armed Forces have been rejected by employers because they ‘won’t need to shoot guns on civvy street’, a report has warned.

Military personnel who risked their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan have repeatedly endured cruel put-downs while trying to find work outside the military.

Lord Ashcroft, the Tory peer commissioned by Downing Street to review troops’ transition to civilian life, found thousands risked being left in the dole queue..”

FGM is banned but very much alive in the UK | Society | The Guardian

February 7, 2014

Peter Singhatey Reports People & Society Leave a comment

FGM is banned but very much alive in the UK | Society | The Guardian.

“It’s a custom that is very much alive, not just in home countries but in Scotland,” says Anela Anwar, from the Glasgow-based charity Roshni. “People have given us information saying girls are being cut in Scotland or we hear that girls are taken back home to be cut over the summer holidays.”

Reports that “cutters” are at work, some working in expensive private clinics, have come out of major cities including London, Birmingham and Bristol, says Sarah McCulloch, from the Agency for Culture and Change Management. “Wherever [ethnic minority] communities [that practise FGM] are residing, it is a problem,” she says. “Because why would they stop? Why should they stop? What will make them stop?..

Fighting female genital mutilation – Family News & Advice | Parenting, Marriage & Kids | The Irish Tim – Tue, Feb 04, 2014

February 5, 2014

Peter Singhatey Irish News Africa, Education, FGM, Gambia, Ireland, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

Fighting female genital mutilation – Family News & Advice | Parenting, Marriage & Kids | The Irish Tim – Tue, Feb 04, 2014.

In December 2012 the United Nations (UN) passed five resolutions condemning it. The motions were supported by all the countries in the African Union.

The procedure ranges in severity from a clitoridectomy, or the partial or total removal of the clitoris; excision, or the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora; infibulations, or the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal with or without a clitoridectomy.

The procedure can lead to multiple problems later in life. Infections, urinary incontinence, infertility, pain during sex and childbirth are among the problems faced by women who have been subjected to FGM.

The UN estimates that 140 million women have suffered FGM, two million girls a year are still subjected to the process. In parts of the Horn of Africa, FGM rates are more than 90 per cent. ..

Capitalism vs. Democracy – NYTimes.com

February 2, 2014

Peter Singhatey Research Capitalism, Democracy, Free Market, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

Capitalism vs. Democracy – NYTimes.com.

Thomas Piketty’s new book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” described by one French newspaper as a “a political and theoretical bulldozer,” defies left and right orthodoxy by arguing that worsening inequality is an inevitable outcome of free market capitalism.

Piketty, a professor at the Paris School of Economics, does not stop there. He contends that capitalism’s inherent dynamic propels powerful forces that threaten democratic societies…

Reading Books Is Fundamental – NYTimes.com

January 24, 2014

Peter Singhatey Education Education, People & Society, peter singhateh, Research Leave a comment

Reading Books Is Fundamental – NYTimes.com.

“…we are now inundated with information, and people’s reading habits have become fragmented to some degree by bite-size nuggets of text messages and social media, and that takes up much of the time that could otherwise be devoted to long-form reading. I get it. And I don’t take a troglodytic view of social media. I participate and enjoy it. Write A Comment

But reading texts is not the same as reading a text...”

Bosnia’s Lessons for Syria – NYTimes.com

January 24, 2014

Peter Singhatey International Security Conflict, Conflict Resolution, Middle East, People & Society, peter singhateh, Syria 1 Comment

Bosnia’s Lessons for Syria – NYTimes.com.

“Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, many observers have drawn parallels between Syria and Bosnia. The Geneva II talks echo efforts to resolve the conflict in the Balkans 20 years ago.

What are the lessons? If there is a general one from Bosnia for the parties meeting in Switzerland, it is the need for humility. As determined as the international community may be to resolve conflict, civil war is extraordinarily resistant to outside intervention. This has three important implications.

The first is that peace initiatives are often an unreliable lens through which to view a conflict. There is a tendency to assume that facts on the ground in places like Bosnia or Syria are primarily controlled by strategies and timetables devised by foreigners. They are not…”

The Undeserving Rich – NYTimes.com

January 20, 2014

Peter Singhatey Banking & Finance Gender Equality, Ireland, People & Society, peter singhateh Leave a comment

The Undeserving Rich – NYTimes.com.

An Extract from an article worth reading!

“The reality of rising American inequality is stark. Since the late 1970s real wages for the bottom half of the work force have stagnated or fallen, while the incomes of the top 1 percent have nearly quadrupled (and the incomes of the top 0.1 percent have risen even more). While we can and should have a serious debate about what to do about this situation, the simple fact — American capitalism as currently constituted is undermining the foundations of middle-class society — shouldn’t be up for argument.

But it is, of course. Partly this reflects Upton Sinclair’s famous dictum: It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it…”