UN Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Earlier this week the UN released a 400 page report on the abuses experienced in North Korea. It is a staggering report. As Adrian Hong said, the "abundance of evidence presented to civilization removes any remaining excuses for inaction. History will judge us." The only problem is, none of this is new. I've been aware of North Korea and their abuses since I started grad school in 2007, and none of this is new to me. So yes, history will judge us based on what we do now and what have not done in the past. Click HERE for the full report.

• UN North Korea Report puts China in Uncomfortable Position [WSJ]
• UN's North Korea report: Main Findings [BBC]
• Why North Korea probably won't change despite damning UN report [CNN]
• The UN report on North Korea: Four things to know [Washington Post]

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

If we want to be Christians, we must have some share in Christ's large-heartedness by acting with responsibility and in freedom when the hour of danger comes, and by showing a real sympathy that springs not from fear, but from the liberating and redeeming love of Christ for all who suffer. Mere waiting and looking on is not Christian behavior. The Christian is called to sympathy and action, not in the first place by his own sufferings, but by the sufferings of his brethren, for whose sake Christ suffered.

~ Bonhoeffer

Weekly Reading List - 6.28.13

Health & Fittness

• Getting Men to Want to Use Condoms & Reinventing the Condom & A Reinvented Condom, That's only Part of the Challenge - I am apparently a little late to the party on this one, but I thought it was such a great idea and challenge that it is definitely worth sharing. As the NYTimes article points out, the goal of a condom is two fold: prevent "unintended pregnancies and STDs like AIDS. Condoms cheaply and effectively prevent both, but around the world only 5% of men wear them and there are 2.5 million new HIV infections a year. To stem that tide, health experts say, the number of men regularly using condoms needs to double."
• Froome Leads Next Generation of Tour de France Contenders - The 2013 Tour de France (TDF) starts on Saturday!! 

Protests & Treason (or is it Whistle blowing?)

• Brazil's President Meets Protests with an Anti-Erdogan Response & Brazil Police Kill "Drug Traffickers" Following Favela Protest - I think this is a great quote from President Dilma Rousseff, "Transportation is terrible, education is terrible, public health is terrible...I think it's a miracle that people took so long to demonstrate" I don't know much about her, or her Presidency in general, but she seems like a smart lady, at minimum that is an insightful comment.
• Public Split over Impact of NSA Leak, But Most Want Snowden Prosecuted & Meet the Press interview with Glenn Greenwald - I had a very intersting conversation with a Canadian Colleague of mine. He was expressing his wish that if Snowden had been truly concerned with the NSA lying to Congress and to the American public, that he had just released domestic wiretapping information. Instead he actually took state secrets regarding our enemies and other foreign countries and shared it with them. The line between whistle blowing and treason, in his mind had been crossed at that moment. I have to say I agree. That's what bothers me so much. He says, "I'm a patriot" "I was worried about the lies and secrets" but all he really did was make us more vulnerable and insecure. Although kudos to him and Wikileaks and Bradley Manning for bringing this dark secret into the public consciousness for open debate and discussion.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Religion

• Extremism Rises Among Myanmar Buddhists - I remember having a conversation with a former colleague of mine about Buddhists and their amazing poise in the face of persecution. I find it very fascinating to hear of those who have finally had enough. The consequences of belief when faced with a stark reality. I will be curious to see how this evolves for their system of belief.
• US Must Separate Religion and Iran Policy - Just food for thought.

Weekly Reading List [3.22.13]

CYPRUS

• HOW GERMAN FEARS OF UNDERWRITING RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS PUSHED CYPRUS TO CRISIS
• CYPRUS REJECTS THE EU BAILOUT: WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
• ROUND TRIPS TO CYPRUS
• WHY THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK IS PLAYING HARDBALL WITH CYPRUS
• WHAT WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN IF CYPRUS DEAL FAILS?
• EURO MAY BE DOOMED WHETHER CYPRUS STAYS OR GOES
• WHAT DO WE DO NOW? 
• THIS IS A NUCLEAR WAR ON SAVINGS AND WEALTH

FRIDAY INSPIRATION

• From Elle Luna (a former colleague) - I love her process. You can see more of her work, and read about this project at elleluna.com

Sometimes you just need to paint. from elle luna on Vimeo.

• JOI ITO PLANS A RADICAL REINVENTION OF MIT'S MEDIA LAB
• Infographic: THE WEB'S TOP BRANDS LOOOOVE BLUE
• [long read] WE AREN'T THE WORLD

Weekly Reading List 3/15/13

North Korea

• North Korea threatens to nuke D.C.: why it's especially angry this time
• New Sanctions on North Korea Pass in Unified U.N. Vote
• North Korea rejects U.N. Sanctions, China calls for calm
• North Korea leaves phone to South Korea off the hook
• Armistice dead? US and South Korea dismiss North Korea's edict

Pakistan

• In Pakistan, mob burns homes in anti-Christian violence
• Christian and Muslim Lawyers of Lahore courts protest on burning Christian homes
• Torching Christians in Pakistan
• Minorities, including Christians, at receiving end in Pakistan
• Punjab police arrest 150 suspects in connection with Christian colony attack
• OpenIDEO - How Might we gather information from hard-to-access areas to prevent mass violence against civilians?

Technology

• Pew Internet Report: Teens and Technology 2013
• What Teens Get About The Internet That Parents Don't
• Closing the Digital Divide: Latinos and Technology Adoption

Government 

• Paul's filibuster seizes the day
• Rand Paul's Filibuster and Targeted Killings
• Morning Bell: Senators Bring Stirring Filibuster Against Obama CIA Nominee
• Rand Standing

Vatican News

• Conclave Elects Pope Francis

A LOVE LETTER TO NODE...

A love letter to Node. from IDEO on Vimeo. 

[Just a beautiful video done by one of my colleagues, Elger Oberwelz inspired by a project he did]

Silent Retreat

The theme of this weekend's silent retreat was "The Wilderness Journey". Throughout the day there were specific group meditations around Matthew 4:1-11 and Jesus' journey in the wilderness which serendipitously intersected with my personal readings during the retreat.

For the past couple of years I have been slowly making my way through "The Gift of Pain" a memoir by Paul Brand. I decided that a day of silence in the beautiful seaside town of Bolinas was the perfect opportunity to finish the book! Dr. Brand spent his life working with leprosy patients around the world. The essence of his book is that a life without pain is actually a terrible life. He said, "If I held in my hands the power to eliminate physical pain from the world I would not exercise it. My work with pain deprived patients has prove to me that pain protects us from destroying ourselves."

'If I were to choose between pain and nothing, I would choose pain.' ~William Faulkner

When it comes to our lives, I find that "pain and pleasure come to us not as opposites but as twins, strangely joined." Everywhere greater joy is proceeded by greater suffering. "We dare not allow our daily lives to become so comfortable that we no longer challenged to grow, seek adventure, to risk." In a society that works endlessly to reduce and eliminate pain, the 'wilderness' is an essential part of our spiritual life. The wilderness for all of us is a life changing, spiritual experience; like Jesus, at the end we are free from distractions, from those addictions we use to dull or negate our pain our discomfort. Its an opportunity to learn self-restraint, to gain trust, and clarity. Anyone who wants to follow Christ, needs the clarity that only comes from the gifts of the wilderness. Emerging from the wilderness, we learn to employ those spiritual disciplines throughout our daily lives -- to live on less, to practice a life of subtraction and not addition. Lent is an annual opportunity to walk through the wilderness. 40 days to remember what life is like without the usual painkillers, the chocolate, the white carbs, the cussing, the over active social calendar, and to deal with our spiritual insufficiency.

So this lent season I'm walking through my own wilderness to embrace those painful, awkward places in my life. What will you learn in the wilderness?

"Happy are they who bear their share of the worlds pain: In the long run they will know more happiness than those who avoid it." ~Jesus