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The Invisible Christians of #Kony2012

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The Invisible Christians of #Kony2012 AFRICA IS A COUNTRY In the last few days every journalist (or outraged blogger) covering #Kony2012 has been so busy reporting on what the bloggers have been saying and putting together salad after salad of African (and therefore authentic, true etc) opinion, that they have utterly failed to actually do any journalism. That's right: reporting. Finding out what this thing is actually about. So far as I can tell there hasn't been much of this. As a result the conversation has either taken the form of handwringing over What Is To Be Done in Northern Uganda (we all think we know more about this than six-year-old Gavin and so we can all speak with great confidence on such matters) or else gawping blankly at the colossal, though suspiciously self-pronounced, power of social media. A big part of the story that is being missed is that Invisible Children and their project are firmly rooted in evangelical Christianity. ...
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Will the Post-2015 report make a difference? Depends what happens next

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Will the Post-2015 report make a difference? Depends what happens next From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green An edited version of this piece, written with Stephen Hale , appeared on the Guardian Poverty Matters site on Friday Reading the report of the High Level Panel induces a sense of giddy optimism. It is a manifesto for a (much) better world, taking the best of the Millennium Development Goals, and adding what we have learned in the intervening years – the importance of social protection, sustainability, ending conflict, tackling the deepest pockets of poverty, even obesity (rapidly rising in many poor countries). It has a big idea ( consigning absolute poverty to the history books ) and is on occasion brave (in the Sir Humphrey sense ) for example in its commitment to women's rights, including ending child marriage and violence against women, and guaranteeing universal sexual and reproductive health rights. The ambition and optimism is all the mo...
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The Market Has Spoken – And It Is Rigged

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The Market Has Spoken – And It Is Rigged The Baseline Scenario By Simon Johnson In the aftermath of the Barclays rate-fixing scandal, the most surprising reaction has been from people in the financial sector who fully understand the awfulness of what has happened. Rather than seeing this as an issue of law and order, some well-informed people have been drawn toward arguments that excuse or justify the behavior of the Barclays employees. This is a big mistake, in terms of both the economics at stake and the likely political impact. The behavior at Barclays has all the hallmarks of  fraud , pure and simple – intentional deception for personal gain, causing significant damage to others. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission nailed the detailed mechanics of this deception in plain English in its "Order Instituting Proceedings" (which is also a settlement and series of admissions by Barclays). Most of the compelling quotes from traders ...
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