Ever since the partition of British India in 1947, the states of India and Pakistan have faced a bizarre if not schizophrenic standoff of national, cultural and religious identity. They have fought wars and constantly lambaste each other in mutual recrimination for subverting the other. There are also hardline militants on both sides doing their utmost to undermine peaceful cohabitation. And yet, both countries share similar backgrounds and have much in common. For example, there are more Muslims living in India today than in Pakistan. It is no surprise that South Asians living in London, Manchester or New York, often share the same “Indo-Pak” communities and get on with each other without problem. In this Letter from Mumbai, Indian journalist Rupa Chinai reflects on last week’s terror attacks in the city, and how the policies of both governments have pushed populations on the two sides to the wall, closing off avenues of dialogue and promoting terrorism.
When the Pays de Gex was hit last year by a plethora of armed robberies, the mayors of this neighbouring French region had little idea what was going on. They also refused to take part in a public meeting in Grilly with over 100 concerned citizens from at least 12 communes from both sides of the border. The gendarmerie, too, did not consider it the business of the local citizenry to find out what was going on - or what to do. In the end, it was up to a private French security firm and two United Nations specialists more used to dealing with war situations around the world to provide advice. With the recent kidnapping scare in the Pays de Gex, the Mayor of Thoiry seems to be perpetuating the tradition of failing to keep his constituents informed. - and to keep priorities straight. Jack Turner sent us this dispatch.
Locally, it is know as the “Halfway Café” – halfway up the mountain, that is. Some 20 kilometres from Geneva and six kilometres up the Col de la Faucille in the Jura, the Refuge de Florimont has one of the most spectacular restaurant views in the region. This is the sort of place to bring – and impress - visitors by saying, “I happen to know a good little restaurant…"
Barack Obama ran a near flawless campaign for the presidency and appears to be managing an equally flawless transition from candidate to President.
His election in itself has already had enormous benefits for the United States and the world. The out pouring of praise from around the world, not only the ritual congratulations of governments, but the joy of the public of every social level is a thrill to behold. Much of the world public again believes, at least for now, that the United States really is the embodiment of the Founders democratic miracle. Some large part of the leadership which we exercised for so many years has already been restored. Whatever his policies may turn out to be, the indisputable reality that he has shattered the black glass ceiling after some 240 years of slavery and after 145 years since Emancipation, can be a cause for joy among all of us, whatever our color.
The exhibition “Antipersonnel 1:1” which opened at the Imaginaid Gallery at 28 Rue Des Grottes, Thursday night, shows the work of a young French photographer, Raphaël Dallaporta, who has spent the last decade recording some of the most lethal objects to spring from the imagination of modern man. Dallaporta’s unusual and troubling book, Antipersonnel 1:1, which will be published early next year by Kodoji Press, contains 35 photographs of antipersonnel mines and cluster bombs presented life size, with a flare and attention to detail more characteristic of fashion magazines, than arms catalogues. The Imaginaid show offers a unique opportunity to see Dallaporta’s work before it appears in print. The images range from the cold steel brutality of a Russian cluster bomb, to the unpretentious functionality of an American-made bomblet. The deadly instruments, intended to cripple or kill the most people possible are placed on one wall, with the creative work of Russia, the United States and France placed side-by-side. The photograph of a French cluster bomb looks astonishingly more like an expensive bottle of perfume --an object of desire--than a lethal device. As we all know from the incursion into Lebanon two years ago, in which American-manufactured cluster bombs were used on a massive scale--the victims are often civilians and frequently children.
This desperate letter was forwarded to The Essential Edge by the Initiatives of Change in Caux overlooking Lake Geneva. This same letter is being set out to friends and colleagues elsewhere in the world to draw attention to the ever-worsening crisis and abuses by the Robert Mugabe regime. Zimbabwe has not only become a horrendous humanitarian and human rights disaster. It has also brought shame on Africa's leaders for allowing one of their own to so dispise his own people and besmirch what the new Africa is supposed to represent. As John Winter notes, there urgently needs to be better media coverage in Zimbabwe because the situation has become madness and a genocide in the making. Journalists are indeed trying to report - often clandestinely - but, as one Mugabe regime sign at the Zimbabwe border with Zambia maintains: "You report, we deport."
The worsening security situation in Afghanistan is making it increasingly difficult for humanitarian and development organizations to operate where their help is needed most, notably the countryside. Up to 80 percent of an estimated 32 million Afghans live in rural areas. While the US-led war against the Taliban and other insurgents coupled with a second war against the growing of opium poppies – Afghanistan’s principal but unofficial economic mainstay – are garnering the most attention worldwide, corruption, particularly in high places, is one the country’s main problems. Kim Barker of the Chicago Tribune published 25 November, 2008 reports on how this wide-spread corruption is undermining Afghanistan’s longterm recovery - and pushing the people into the arms of the insurgents.
The time has come again for Americans – but also Americanized expats and spouses – based in the Lake Geneva region to hunt for that really big Thanksgiving turkey. Many French and Swiss butchers will adamantly – and very often arrogantly - tell you that free-range turkeys larger than five or six kilos simply do not exist unless imported frozen from the United States. But they do exist and it seems to be getting easier to find them.
You can also talk turkey by listening to Anne Glusker's STIR IT UP on World Radio Switzerland (WRS) 88.4 at 10:30 - 11.00 Tuesdays, repeated Sundays 12:00 - 12.30. Podcasts on WRS by clicking on PROGRAMS and then scrolling down to STIR IT UP.
Ever since the partition of British India in 1947, the states of India and Pakistan have faced a bizarre if not schizophrenic standoff of national, cultural and religious identity. They have fought wars and constantly lambaste each other in mutual recrimination for subverting the other. There are also hardline militants on both sides doing their utmost to undermine peaceful cohabitation. And yet, both countries share similar backgrounds and have much in common. For example, there are more Muslims living in India today than in Pakistan. It is no surprise that South Asians living in London, Manchester or New York, often share the same “Indo-Pak” communities and get on with each other without problem. In this Letter from Mumbai, Indian journalist Rupa Chinai reflects on last week’s terror attacks in the city, and how the policies of both governments have pushed populations on the two sides to the wall, closing off avenues of dialogue and promoting terrorism.
When the Pays de Gex was hit last year by a plethora of armed robberies, the mayors of this neighbouring French region had little idea what was going on. They also refused to take part in a public meeting in Grilly with over 100 concerned citizens from at least 12 communes from both sides of the border. The gendarmerie, too, did not consider it the business of the local citizenry to find out what was going on - or what to do. In the end, it was up to a private French security firm and two United Nations specialists more used to dealing with war situations around the world to provide advice. With the recent kidnapping scare in the Pays de Gex, the Mayor of Thoiry seems to be perpetuating the tradition of failing to keep his constituents informed. - and to keep priorities straight. Jack Turner sent us this dispatch.
Locally, it is know as the “Halfway Café” – halfway up the mountain, that is. Some 20 kilometres from Geneva and six kilometres up the Col de la Faucille in the Jura, the Refuge de Florimont has one of the most spectacular restaurant views in the region. This is the sort of place to bring – and impress - visitors by saying, “I happen to know a good little restaurant…"
Barack Obama ran a near flawless campaign for the presidency and appears to be managing an equally flawless transition from candidate to President.
His election in itself has already had enormous benefits for the United States and the world. The out pouring of praise from around the world, not only the ritual congratulations of governments, but the joy of the public of every social level is a thrill to behold. Much of the world public again believes, at least for now, that the United States really is the embodiment of the Founders democratic miracle. Some large part of the leadership which we exercised for so many years has already been restored. Whatever his policies may turn out to be, the indisputable reality that he has shattered the black glass ceiling after some 240 years of slavery and after 145 years since Emancipation, can be a cause for joy among all of us, whatever our color.
This desperate letter was forwarded to The Essential Edge by the 
The worsening security situation in Afghanistan is making it increasingly difficult for humanitarian and development organizations to operate where their help is needed most, notably the countryside. Up to 80 percent of an estimated 32 million Afghans live in rural areas. While the US-led war against the Taliban and other insurgents coupled with a second war against the growing of opium poppies – Afghanistan’s principal but unofficial economic mainstay – are garnering the most attention worldwide, corruption, particularly in high places, is one the country’s main problems. Kim Barker of the 
The time has come again for Americans – but also Americanized expats and spouses – based in the Lake Geneva region to hunt for that really big Thanksgiving turkey. Many French and Swiss butchers will adamantly – and very often arrogantly - tell you that free-range turkeys larger than five or six kilos simply do not exist unless imported frozen from the United States. But they do exist and it seems to be getting easier to find them.
