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August 15, 2024
 

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Cesar Chelala

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Cesar Chelala
Cesar Chelala, MD, PhD, is an international public health consultant for several UN agencies, and a writer on human rights, medical and foreign policy issues. He is a winner of an Overseas Press Club of America Award. His articles have been published in more than 70 countries worldwide.
COMMENTARY
Apr 30, 2012
The international path toward self-destruction
The latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that, after allowing for some data uncertainties, world military spending in 2011 as essentially unchanged from that in 2012. This breaks a 13-year-long run of continuous military spending increases. It might be a...
COMMENTARY
Apr 27, 2012
Increasing condemnation of the Cuba embargo
At the recent Summit of the Americas, Latin American governments roundly condemned the U.S. embargo on Cuba. — only days after Pope Benedict XVI had added his voice against the embargo.
COMMENTARY
Apr 23, 2012
Filling in for the 'Angel in charge of distribution'
For several years now, New York poet Jack Agueros has been living with Alzheimer's. Slowly but unrelentingly, the disease is erasing his memories. As his daughter Natalia told The New York Times, "There is nothing sadder than a poet without words." The following is a homage to a great poet.
COMMENTARY
Apr 11, 2012
Why Japan and U.S. should ban the death penalty
Japan's decision to hang three prisoners after nearly two years without executions has been severely criticized by Amnesty International, which calls it a "retrograde step." Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa authorized the executions of three men, stating that this was his "duty" as minister. "Justifying...
COMMENTARY
Mar 26, 2012
Cyberspace: new face of war in the 21st century
For the past few years, there has been an explosion of ways in which countries can engage in destructive behavior. The use of cyberspace as a venue of battle has changed the nature of conventional warfare. This poses problems in terms of response to those threats as well as how to develop international...
COMMENTARY
Mar 13, 2012
Greece could learn from Argentina's experience
To understand Greece's recent travails and how the country got there, it is useful to quote what Mikis Theodorakis, the famous Greek songwriter and composer, wrote about it recently on his homepage:
COMMENTARY
Mar 5, 2012
Blood donations critically below par in China
Every year, blood transfusions save millions of lives, but still millions of patients needing transfusion do not have access to safe blood because of insufficient donations. Among the countries suffering this problem is China, where insufficient amounts of donated blood continue being a problem despite...
COMMENTARY
Feb 20, 2012
New leads emerge in battle against Alzheimer's
Dementia is a general term that describes the decline in mental activity severe enough to interfere with daily activities. Of several types of dementia, Alzheimer's disease is the most common type, accounting for an estimated 60 to 80 percent of cases.
COMMENTARY
Jan 30, 2012
Economic crisis exacting tolls on public health
The deteriorating global economic outlook is increasing worries among health experts on the effects that the economic crises will have on people's health.
COMMENTARY
Jan 11, 2012
Are protests loosening Putin's grip on power?
Russia cannot be understood with the mind alone,
COMMENTARY
Dec 29, 2011
Disappointed with Obama? It's not all his fault
Perhaps one of the most important questions globally now is who the real Barack Obama is, and what to expect from him from now on, particularly after the death of Osama Bin Laden.
COMMENTARY
Dec 13, 2011
The golden curse of the Peruvian Amazon
Madre de Dios, the name of a region in southeastern Peru bordering Brazil and Bolivia, is a common designation for the Virgin Mary, meaning Mother of God in Spanish.
COMMENTARY
Nov 28, 2011
How to ramrod an American congressman
A widespread perception that members of the U.S. Congress respond increasingly to special interests has received additional support from a person who knows something about it.
COMMENTARY
Nov 21, 2011
As the Egyptian military takes off its mask
The killing under torture in a maximum security prison in Cairo of Essam Ali Atta Ali, a 24-year-old Egyptian, raises concern on the role of the Egyptian military in the "New Egypt." His death was likened to that of Khalid Said, who was beaten to death by the police in Alexandria last year.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2011
Crime in America: execution of the mentally ill
Christopher Johnson's execution by the State of Alabama creates serious doubts about the justice of a measure that is widely criticized by human rights advocates throughout the world. According to the group Equal Justice Initiative, the Alabama Supreme Court planned the execution without even engaging...
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2011
Echoes of Subcomandante Marcos' movement
I am sitting at a coffee place in San Cristobal de las Casas, a misty town in Chiapas, in southern Mexico. I am told that occasionally Subcomandante Marcos, the famed leader of indigenous people in the region, used to come here. I wonder if I will see him, although he has not made a public appearance...
COMMENTARY
Oct 17, 2011
Worrisome link between diabetes, Alzheimer's
In 1999, the Rotterdam Study uncovered the strong association between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. In this landmark study carried out in the Netherlands, 6,370 elderly men and women were followed for an average of two years. In what was perhaps one of the first reports on this issue, they found...
COMMENTARY
Oct 10, 2011
Lord, let me quit cigars, but not yet
Despite increasing bans on tobacco use, smoking cigars will continue to have universal appeal. As the trade embargo on Cuban cigars in the U.S. is still in place, it is good to remember one of the greatest fans of Cuban cigars: the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2011
Why Messi finishes first on and off the pitch
There was no one happier in Barcelona on Saturday, Sept. 19, than 11-year-old Soufian of Morocco. He had seen his hero Lionel Messi, the Argentine soccer player, lift his hands and slap his thighs after scoring the first goal against team Osasuna — gestures that Soufian knew indicated that the goal...
COMMENTARY
Sep 16, 2011
In Chile, dissent has a woman's face
In Chile, a 23-year-old woman has been leading student protests against the government of President Sebastian Pinera. Her actions pose a serious challenge to the government and may lead to a significant overhaul of the country's education system.
Japan to revise consumption tax exemption for overseas tourists
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji Temple in Tokyo in April
Japan's tourism industry hit by cancellations after megaquake alert
A beach closed due to a megaquake alert in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, from Friday to Thursday.
Focus shifts to incoming typhoon as Tropical Storm Maria dissipates
Newly formed Tropical Storm Ampil, which is forecast to approach eastern Japan this weekend, is seen on the left side of this satellite image.
Kishida to step down in September in bid to show ‘LDP has changed’
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference Wednesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
Economic security is about strengthening and sustaining growth, former minister says
Former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi says changes in the international balance of power, along with deepening economic interdependence, have led some countries to attempt to use their economic power to impose their will on others.
Ice bandanas, convenience store breaks: Running under Japan’s summer sun
Blistering heat is becoming a fixture of summer in Japan, but a few tweaks to your routine can make your outdoor runs bearable — if not enjoyable — until cooler temperatures return.
Japan issued its first-ever megaquake alert. What does that mean?
Naoshi Hirata (center), chairman of a committee tasked with evaluating the risk of a Nankai Trough earthquake, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
France brings down the curtain on its Olympic party with Tom Cruise and Leon Marchand
Fireworks are set off during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday.
Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’
By Thu-Huong Ha

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