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The regime of 87-year-old strongman Robert Mugabe has sought to preempt the types of protests that have shaken autocrats in North Africa and the Middle East. Yet, a constellation of internal and external events may finally bring an end to the more than 30 years of one-man rule.
Elections are scheduled for sometime this year, and many believe that Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, are resorting to their time-honored practices of intimidation, bribery, naked assaults against the opposition and outright election thievery.
In 2008, Mugabe forced a second runoff although it appeared to all objective observers that he had lost the first round by a majority vote. He won in the subsequent round after the opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), refused to participate.
The entire election cycle was marred by violence, murder and harassment. However, condemnation of the election results and near global isolation compelled Mugabe into a power-sharing agreement with MDC President Morgan

Have you noticed that almost every week a newer, more state of the art mobile phone gets released? This makes me wonder why the telephone is still not used as much as it could be to build business. With the speed-of-light growth of Social Media, the telephone has been left behind. It may seem contrary, but I highly recommend combining the two technologies: the long lost art of the cold call with the new found art of social networking. This is a sure fire combination to boost your business!
We are a global

As Libya descends into a bloody and protracted civil war, both the White House and International Energy Agency are considering tapping strategic oil reserves.
Normally, no one would care what’s happening in a remote desert country that has been a pariah state for decades. But when you produce 1.6 million barrels a day of oil in a market in which global supply and demand was already balanced on a knife-edge, all of a sudden everybody cares.
European motorists are already feeling the pinch at the pumps as the flow of Libyan oil slows to a trickle. Estimates of how much of Libya’s production has been shut down grow all the

There must be something in the water in the area that surrounds Manchester, England, for that city and suburbs of it have given us great music for nearly 40 years. For the seaside town of Morecambe, they are about to be put on the map due to a little band that is about to do big things. The Heartbreaks are bringing posh looks and catchy hooks back to rock and roll. Many critics back in their country have already compared them to The Smiths and Orange Juice, but The Heartbreaks, though inspired by those legends, bring something new to the

“It is the story of a writer of lurid bestsellers who goes to India in search of new sensations…”
So begins Okayplayer: The Bollywood Remake. This extraordinary remix record – my early pick for the best of 2011 – delivers on its initial promise: the album packs a sonic punch that can, and will move audiences from Bombay to Brooklyn and everywhere in between in search of “new sensations.” ["Bollywood" is the nickname given to the Hindi film industry based in Bombay (now Mumbai), India.]
The British DJ who brought you last year’s Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers (a delicious mash-up of – you guessed it – the Fab Four and Wu-Tang Clan) has returned with a vengeance. Combining classic Bollywood beats with a “who’s-who” roster of progressive American hip-hop/soul, Tom Caruana’s The Bollywood Remake is everything a proper remix record should be: innovative, intelligent, and endlessly surprising; awash with unexpected twists, turns, and tiny bits of ear candy that demand repeat listens (to say nothing of the involuntary head-bobbing it often provokes – what I consider to be the unequivocal indication of truly exceptional hip-hop).
It so happens that Tom Caruana is as generous with his time as he is talented at his craft. This lowly internet scribe recently got the opportunity to interview Tom about his art, the Bollywood Remake, and the future.
Zachary Stockill: First off, let me just congratulate you for making such a fantastic

There has been a strange lull in the healthcare discussion in this country. Certainly the events in the Middle East and the recent good jobs report have taken the news spotlight off of healthcare reform. While the debate over repealing healthcare reform is far from over, the news has definitely moved on to other topics.
Then on Saturday, the New York Times published an article on rising healthcare premiums across the country and the shock that many Americans are experiencing when they see their monthly premiums go up 20% or

Congressman Peter King (R-NY), the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, faced protests from hundreds of New Yorkers and interfaith leaders this weekend over his plans to single out Muslim communities in upcoming Congressional hearings. While Rep. King seeks to look tough on terrorism by scapegoating people for their religious beliefs, last week he showed his willingness to leave New Yorkers and millions of other Americans vulnerable to a catastrophic terrorist attack on dangerous chemical plants.
Instead of ensuring that the highest risk chemical plants convert to safer technologies, King joined Representatives Dan Lungren (R-CA) and Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) in supporting weak chemical plant security standards. Championed by chemical industry lobbyists, these rules leave 110 million Americans threatened by these pre-positioned weapons of mass

As classical Muzak blasted from a loudspeaker, Kelvin Kwong got down on one knee and declared his love for his fiance, Ashley Tse, in front of a rowdy media scrum. Their engagement party on Valentine’s Day was the inaugural event of a new and aggressively promoted nuptial service at McDonald’s restaurants in Hong Kong, the first in the world to offer McWeddings. — The New York Times
Hello, my name is Ronald McDonald, and I’ll be your wedding planner. Don’t worry — I may be a clown, but I take your special day very

The 16th edition of Rendez-vous with French Cinema raises the question, Why is French popular cinema smarter, wittier, and heavier on charm than Hollywood’s equivalent crowd-pleasers? Is this another example of the “French exception,” along with Gallic longevity and slimness despite all the wine, cream, and petits fours? Currently unspooling at New York’s Film Society and the IFC Center, and co-sponsored by Unifrance, the fest offers two not-to-be-missed samples of popular French cinema: Service Entrance (Les Femmes du Sixieme Etage) by Philippe Le Guay and Potiche by Francois Ozon. Service Entrance is a delight, thanks to a witty script and the presence of French national treasure, Fabrice Luchini, whose comic schtick evokes Moliere. Luchini plays a tight-assed stockbroker who browbeats servants over the timing of his morning boiled egg. But before you can say hola he awakens to the appalling condition of the help’s upstairs quarters and becomes entranced with his beautiful new housekeeper, along with her high-spirited

Have you ever heard that you should dress for the job you want? The implication is to look the part so that your boss can picture you in the position as a natural transition. Imagine if you dressed way too casually for your sales position while at the same time trying to land the new manager spot. Even if you have the expertise and the experience, you may be jeopardizing your ability to move your career forward if people cannot imagine you representing the position well.
The same is true for being an

Current Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci might only be awaiting a formal announcement before he takes the reigns at Dior for the dramatically deposed John Galliano — although nothing’s been confirmed. When the speculation reached fever pitch last night through social media sites, some voiced their approval, some noted that the new head of design’s aesthetic wasn’t quite for them, and others–perhaps you–were left scratching their heads whispering to themselves, “Riccardo Whosci”. So, if you need a primer on this young designer or just a refresher course on the man who is moving from one of fashion’s most storied brands to another, here are ten things you probably didn’t know about Riccardo Tisci.
10. While perhaps not the most traditional of Italian Catholics, Tisci is very tied to the religion and uses it in his

Hi there, business or important person! I couldn’t help but notice that your social media sucks! Here are six reasons why:
1. You Still Think It’s a Novelty
Hey, cool! Your coffee shop is on Twitter! Facebook! And YouTube!
And… that’s it. Sorry, but your mere presence on these platforms doesn’t put you ahead of the

Patients discharged from America’s hospitals return much sooner than one might expect, exacting an enormous and unnecessary human and financial toll. The good news is that an estimated three quarters of those readmissions could be prevented. There’s also good news in that patients can help reduce their own chances of readmission.
The cost of unnecessary hospital readmissions is astonishing. A study released last month shows that reducing avoidable hospital readmissions by just one day, in California alone, could save government health care programs $227 million a year, according to the California Discharge Planning

In 1906, a woman by the name of Welthy Fisher launched a school in China to give girls the skills they needed in order to play a greater role in their society. The teaching tools this 27-year-old woman relied upon were books and chalkboards, paper and pens. Now, more than a century later, the organization she founded finds itself in an era where information and communication technologies (ICT) are being used at an increasing rate to improve education and learning environments. But will these new tools really make a difference for girls and women in disadvantaged areas across the globe?
Around the world today, girls and young women still continue to struggle to complete school, fight to secure work and to keep jobs that are often less desirable and poorly

By now, everyone knows about the obesity epidemic that has super-sized our nation. We’re fat, confused, and misinformed — and often spend hours in the gym trying to shed the pounds packed on due to a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of healthy foods. We’ve made eating one of the lowest priorities of the day, and with so much information being pushed at us from every direction, we’re on constant overdrive as we’re told what to do, what not to do, and what not to eat. But are we trusting the wrong people when it comes to food and nutrition guidance? Is all this information actually misinformation?
Our doctors say “eat healthfully” to stay well, but what exactly does that mean? Most of them don’t have time to sit down and explain it to

March 10 marks the anniversary when Tibetans rose up in the streets of Lhasa against China’s nascent occupation of Tibet. It is also when a 24-year-old Dalai Lama fled a pursuing Chinese army and eventually crossed Tibet’s border into India as a refugee. That was 52 years ago.
With the Dalai Lama turning 76 this year, the international media is increasingly focusing on the question of his

Cloud computing is all the rage. In its simplest terms, it means outsourcing your company’s information technology (IT) needs, from data and storage to software. All the servers and applications sit elsewhere in the Internet “cloud,” but more literally in a data center or centers.
A recent study from Microsoft (with Accenture and WSP), “Cloud Computing and Sustainability”, compared the environmental footprint of running business software internally or with an outsourced provider (in this case, Microsoft). The study showed that, compared to running their own applications, by outsourcing companies can reduce the energy use and carbon footprint of computing by up to 90 percent!
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Jared Loughner pleads not guilty in Giffords shooting

Crossposted with TomDispatch.com
Since 2001, Americans have been living with a nightmare Arab, a Muslim monster threatening us to the core, chilling our souls with the cry, “God is great!” Yet after two months of world-historic protest and rebellion in streets and squares across the Arab world, we are finally waking up to another reality: that this was our bad dream, significantly a creation of our own fevered imaginations.
For years, vestigial colonial contempt for Arabs combined with rank prejudice against the Islamic religion, exacerbated by an obsession with oil, proved a blinding combination. Then 9/11 pulled its shroud across the sun. But like the night yielding to dawn, all of this now appears in a new light. Americans are seeing Arabs and Muslims as if for the first time, and we are, despite ourselves, impressed and

This week, Speaker of the House John Boehner is convening his committee intending to represent the government in court in defense of the various pending legal challenges to what is commonly referred to as “DOMA”, or the “Defense of Marriage Act”. Because of DOMA, the Federal Government does not recognize same-sex marriages. Because of DOMA, marriages that legally take place in one state, do not get automatic recognition in other states where same-sex marriage is prohibited. The legislation, implemented at the Federal level, gives legitimacy to state-sanctioned discrimination against gays and

It is a time of great reckoning. A time when an anxious, troubled nation huddles in tight clusters of fear and uncertainty, shot through with far too much war, economic grief, Tea Party idiocy, iffy cell phone reception and low-level karmic doom.
But wait! Just when all seems lost… look! Yonder! Could it be? It is! A dazzling beacon winks out from the savage darkness. We are saved! Let us now wheel in the hookers and Veuve Clicquot and large bazookas full of cocaine! God bless

By Megan McLemore, senior health researcher at Human Rights Watch
(Jackson, Mississippi) – Thousands of Mississippians are at risk for HIV, and many who are infected are denied lifesaving measures and treatment because of counterproductive state laws and policies, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Mississippi has resisted effective approaches to HIV prevention and treatment and instead supported policies that promote stigma and discrimination, fueling one of the nation’s highest AIDS rates, Human Rights Watch said.
The 59-page report, “Rights at Risk: State Response to HIV in Mississippi,” documents the harmful impact of Mississippi’s policies on state residents, including people living with HIV and those at high risk of contracting it. Mississippi refuses to provide complete, accurate information about HIV prevention to students and threatens criminal penalties for failing to disclose one’s HIV status to sexual partners. At the same time, Mississippi provides little or no funding for HIV prevention, housing, transportation, or prescription drug programs for people living with HIV, and the state fails to take full advantage of federal subsidies to bolster these

If you accept the conservative definition that judges who uphold and enforce the constitutional or statutory rights of those accused or convicted of crimes are “soft on crime”, then the answer is yes. As in so many other instances, the conservatives have repeated this ludicrous mantra so often that the public has come to believe it. They have created this fantasy of liberal judges sitting around their breakfast tables eating their Wheaties and wondering how they can spend the day setting some criminal free. Judges who uphold the Constitution do not enable, encourage or enhance crime, and doing so does not make them “soft on crime.” They are merely following their sworn oaths.
The Supreme Court has ruled in the case of Hank Skinner that he has the right to pursue DNA testing under federal civil rights laws and is not limited to the traditional remedy of habeas

With all the turmoil and foreign affairs debate surrounding Afghanistan, it’s easy to forget about the millions of Afghan civilians still dealing with the consequences that have resulted from over thirty years of war. Families from all over the country who struggle to make a living are finding themselves caught between the crossfire of NATO forces and the Taliban. Anytime they interact or help one side, they risk facing major repercussions from the other. This dynamic has led to increased civilian casualties and waning support for the war at both home and