American workers are like moths to Amazon’s flame
by Rashmee
Posted on April 15, 2021
/IT’S THE BUSINESS Amazon.com Inc. workers are unionised in Europe. But in the United States, Amazon employees are not, and the status quo seems unlikely to change in a hurry. Just days ago, Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted overwhelmingly against unionising. This has significant implications for America, for its workers and for the sort … Continue reading “American workers are like moths to Amazon’s flame”
Read MoreBiden builds back the idea of infrastructure much better
by Rashmee
Posted on April 14, 2021
/ TAKE UP ONE IDEA Joe Biden’s plan for America is about the remaking of a whole concept. What constitutes infrastructure? Is it just bridges, airports, rail routes and highways? Or is it something else as well – a country’s human resources? The way people learn to think, to be change-ready, how healthy and happy … Continue reading “Biden builds back the idea of infrastructure much better”
Read MoreAnkara chairs and the business of ‘protocol machismo’
by Rashmee
Posted on April 8, 2021
/IT’S THE BUSINESS Heard the one about European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel’s visit with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara? The men got the best seats. Mr Erdogan and Mr Michel took chairs side by side with the Turkish and EU flags behind them. As for … Continue reading “Ankara chairs and the business of ‘protocol machismo’”
Read MoreWhy do restaurants matter?
by Rashmee
Posted on September 27, 2020
‘1843’, sister magazine of ‘The Economist’ asked an important question the other day: Why do restaurants matter? Why, said the magazine, do we choose to spend large sums of money to dine among strangers? Why indeed? ‘1843’ offers us a fair few clues. The very word “restaurant”, it says, “hints at the restorative effects of … Continue reading “Why do restaurants matter?”
Read MoreThe availability theory of human psychology is very unifying this US political cycle
by Rashmee
Posted on September 21, 2020
All politics is about psychology but especially the part that forecasts results. So to the biggest question of the year: Will Donald Trump win re-election? No one knows but theories abound. One goes by the human tendency described in 1974 by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman as availability. That’s to say the mental shortcut … Continue reading “The availability theory of human psychology is very unifying this US political cycle”
Read MoreShattered over #RBG but the most tragic fact of all may be her refusal to step aside years ago
by Rashmee
Posted on September 20, 2020
So US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a last instruction, dictated to her granddaughter. It said, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” That’s a pious but improbable hope and #RBG, as the judge is called, must have known it as she went … Continue reading “Shattered over #RBG but the most tragic fact of all may be her refusal to step aside years ago”
Read MorePakistan…Palestine: Sacred vs secular spaces in ummah politics
by Rashmee
Posted on August 29, 2020
Does the “Arab street” still exist? I mean in the sense of the broad swath of Arab public opinion, passive, non-violent and emotionally attached to the idea of helping Palestinians achieve justice and self-determination. Does the politics of ummah still work? I mean in the sense of Muslim solidarity on certain core issues to … Continue reading “Pakistan…Palestine: Sacred vs secular spaces in ummah politics”
Read MoreThe centre-left cleaves to a principle enunciated by Plato
by Rashmee
Posted on July 19, 2020
Following on from what I recently wrote about the centre-left’s fidelity to principle , it’s fair to say it generally cleaves to a principle long ago enunciated by Plato. Plato wrote about aspiring to the ideal state, one that is ruled by the “guardians” with truth and justice. The “guardians”, as Plato’s Socrates says in … Continue reading “The centre-left cleaves to a principle enunciated by Plato”
Read MoreThe US presidential election just got whackier
by Rashmee
Posted on July 5, 2020
Kanye West announcing his presidential candidacy makes an unusual US presidential election season more bizarre by far. We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future. I am running for president of the United States 🇺🇸! #2020VISION – ye (@kanyewest) July 5, 2020 The pandemic — the first … Continue reading “The US presidential election just got whackier”
Read MoreThe ‘B’ word is strangely absent from the conversation today
by Rashmee
Posted on June 24, 2020 / The Focus
Today is the fourth anniversary of Brexit. Hardly anyone is marking the occasion. Take a look at the eight front pages below. None of them refer to that transformative event, which set off a period of intense political turmoil in Britain, paralysing Parliament, polarising the country and pushed two Conservative prime ministers out of office. The Brexit … Continue reading “The ‘B’ word is strangely absent from the conversation today”
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Rashmee has lived and worked in several countries in the past decade, including Afghanistan, India, Haiti, Tunisia, the UAE, US and UK