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Articles by Thomas Bell
Duane Berian Clifford Jones, 49
Duane Berian Clifford Jones, who worked for nearly 30 years in Nepal, died of cancer on 8 September at the age of 49. A talented linguist, he was as dedicated to Nepal as to his native Wales. Partly inspired by the language politics of Wales, he raised his children speaking Nepali at home. He is remembered as a man of great integrity, who adored his family, and had an endless curiosity about people -- always observing, listening and trying to understand.
Nepal After the Massacre
It is a quarter of a century since Nepal’s crown prince Dipendra gunned down most of his family at a grim dinner party, and transformed his country’s future. Among the dead were his parents, King Birendra Shah and Queen Aishwarya, his sister Shruti, brother Nirajan, and five other relatives. Finally Dipendra himself was shot, in what the official inquest determined to be a suicide. Perhaps a military aide-de-camp put an end to the rampage.
Reining in the Courts – Jay Cost
What is the proper role of the judiciary in American political life? There has never been a clear answer to that question, even among the founders. The Constitution itself has relatively little to say about the judiciary, delegating most of its design and much of its authority to congressional action. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist #78 argued that the judiciary could resolve disputes arising under the Constitution.
Human Nature by Thomas Bell
Receive 25% off the RRP of this title when you enter the code SUMMER25 during checkout between 28th-31st July. More titles available, visit our offer page from the home screen In Human Nature, Thomas Bell embarks on four walks through the Himalaya, each in a different season, to explore the interplay between the land and the people who call it home.
Book review | Tender portrait: Travelling and research go hand in hand for Thomas Bell - Telegraph India
Thomas Bell divides the book into four parts, each recording his experience of travelling across the Himalayan country during a different season Kajori Patra Published 10.01.25, 07:49 AM HUMAN NATURE By Thomas Bell Viking, Rs 799 When writing about Nepal, it is rather easy — understandable even — to fall into the trap of focussing on the serenity of its snow-capped mountains, the mysticism of the stupas, and the drama of snow-storms or earthquakes that have come to define that country in...
Travelogue: How Nepal’s Gosaikund Lake became a pilgrimage site for both Buddhists and Hindus
On one level – the deepest – Gosainkund is similar to other lakes in the mountains which are pilgrimage destinations and sites of shamanic ritual. Tamangs come here in a similar way as Rais go to Salpa, with the difference that their religion includes elements of Tibetan Buddhism that the Rai tradition doesn’t. For them the Buddhist master Guru Rinpoche is present here, in addition to a shamanic pantheon. There’s also a deep Hindu layer at Gosainkund.
Navigating the Tightrope of TikTok's Future in the US
The ongoing saga of TikTok in the United States has reached a critical juncture, with the U.S. House of Representatives passing a bill that mandates ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to divest its U.S. assets or face a ban. This bill, reflective of escalating concerns over national security and data privacy, underscores the intricate dance between maintaining innovation and safeguarding privacy in the digital age.
Music, Art and Eco Glitter: Queer Camping Festival Gaytimes Drops Its 2024 Line-Up
Queer camping festival Gaytimes is back for its eighth year with a riotous blend of music, dancing, workshops, yoga, performance art, food trucks and plenty of eco-glitter. Founded by the organisers of long-running queer party Closet, the annual “frolic in the forest” is set to attract a colourful crew from the LGBTIQA+ community to Gilwell Park Scout Camp outside Gembrook, February 23-25.
How many illegals went to Delaware?(letter to the editor)
What is our government doing to our country and city? President Biden is allowing tens of thousands asylum seekers to enter our country and sending thousands to New York City for us to take care of. Our mayor says that we will have to cut services in order to help these illegal immigrants. We don’t have enough housing, jobs or money to do what President Biden expects of us. What services do we cut to provide for these people?
Let’s celebrate our freedom (letter to the editor)
Our forefathers put together our Declaration of Independence, which has helped us live free and grow into a great nation. Yes, we had and still have problems, but we will get better. This 4th of July (Independence Day 245 years young) we should remember all those that have died to keep us free. Let’s forget color, nationalities and religion, and celebrate our freedom and our way of life. God Bless America.
The Constitution of Conflict
Description Praise Contents A bold and timely proposal for rethinking the role of the Supreme Court in the separation of powers. There is a widespread sense today that the separation-of-powers system is broken or dysfunctional and has become an obstacle to effective government. The Constitution of Conflict demonstrates that much of the problem comes from attempts to find legal answers to political problems.
10 Must-Read Books Set In Pennsylvania
These must-read books set in Pennsylvania include modern classics and bestselling fiction, many of which have been made into major motion pictures. Visit the Keystone State with these books that take place in Pennsylvania. 1. Rabbit, Run by John Updike “Harry Angstrom was a star basketball player in high school and that was the best time of his life. Now in his mid-20s, his work is unfulfilling, his marriage is moribund, and he tries to find happiness with another woman.
Caste persists, nurtured by the state
A day after Rupa Sunar spoke up against the caste-based injustice she faced in Kathmandu, I called a former colleague, a Dalit, to talk about the incident. To my surprise, he sounded almost nonchalant. When I asked him how he felt, he gave a vague, evasive reply. It was only after I expressed my outrage, after I clearly stated whose side I was on, that he revealed how hurt, angry and hopeless the incident had made him. His delayed response gave me pause.
‘Profound And Often Negative Consequences’: Study Forecasts Dramatic Population Decline
Posted by: Thomas Bell in Science, Technology, and Social Media July 15, 2020 ShareTweetSubscribe: CDN Daily Briefing The global population will peak then rapidly decline by the end of the century leading to major economic and social consequences, according to a study published Tuesday.
Poppers ban would be 'homophobic', advocates tell TGA in Melbourne
Image: Claude Truong-Ngoc / Wikimedia Commons - cc-by-sa-4.0. Health advocates and LGBTI activists have warned the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) against a ban on the sale and use of alkyl nitrites, or poppers, at a public meeting in Melbourne on Thursday. The meeting comes after a similar consultation in Sydney last month, which was called after a public outcry in response to the TGA’s proposal to list alkyl nitrates as Schedule 9 Prohibited Substances — the same category as heroin.
Defense Lawyers Want $1 M Bond For Nxivm Sex Cult Leader
The weird and crazy alleged Nxivm sex cult is back in the news because its chief wants to be let free until his trial, the New York Post reports. Keith Raniere’s already tried to go free on bail twice, and one of the reasons he has the chance to even attempt a third time is because the start of his trial continues to be pushed along the calendar.
Watch: UCF
When confetti rained down at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Jan. 1, 2018, the scene foreshadowed the many milestones UCF would celebrate throughout the year. UCF reflected on these moments in the “Best of 2018” video. To learn more about what you see in the video, read the stories listed below. 2018 was a year of making moves.
5 Frames... With Fuji Provia 100F RDPIII (EI 400 / 120 format / XPRO / Mamiya C220)
I don’t shoot as much E6 film as I want to. Part of it is that I love the ease and practicality of B/W, and the other is I’m too cheap to send my rolls to a lab. I don’t shoot enough to warrant buying an Arista E-6 kit, so my stockpile of Provia and Ektachrome 400X sits in my freezer judging me every time something needs defrosting.
Atlanta wild: How to coexist with deer, coyotes and urban wildlife
I first heard heard a rustling: unhurried, sustained and substantial. I was standing quietly by the creekside in Zonolite Park, a little patch of meadow and forest behind an old industrial park that now holds a Crossfit, a Pilates studio, an indoor gun range, and Floataway Cafe. The noisy rush of Briarcliff Road was two blocks away but lost in the water and breeze.
Atlanta wild: How to coexist with deer, coyotes and urban wildlife
Story by Thomas Bell. Photos by Jenni Girtman. I first heard heard a rustling: unhurried, sustained and substantial. I was standing quietly by the creekside in Zonolite Park, a little patch of meadow and forest behind an old industrial park that now holds a Crossfit, a Pilates studio, an indoor gun range, and Floataway Cafe. The noisy rush of Briarcliff Road was two blocks away but lost in the water and breeze.
The nationals and the internationals
The earthquake in Nepal, which struck on 25 April 2015, created a new national context, replacing the peace process as the defining circumstance to which every secondary issue was drawn for almost a decade. If the current attempts to rapidly complete the constitution are successful, one of the earthquake’s first major consequences – beside the destruction it wrought – will be to formally end the transitional phase of national politics of the last nine years.
The Record - Ringside story
For six years, from the first Madhes Andolan through the collapse of the first Constituent Assembly, Prashant Jha became perhaps Nepal’s leading political reporter and analyst (certainly to judge by the attention he received). He was scrupulous and fair minded, rigorously factual, with superb access to all corners of the political scene, as well as to the Indian foreign policy establishment and its operatives.
What's really holding back reconstruction in Nepal
A year ago this weekend, an earthquake in Nepal killed around 9,000 people and destroyed three quarters of a million homes. There's been a lot of water under the bridge since then. The survivors may feel that not much has happened: around two million of them are still huddled miserably under tin sheets and tarpaulins, awaiting the onset of a second monsoon.
Analysis: Blockade politics in Nepal
Landlocked Nepal is overwhelmingly reliant upon imports from India, including much of its food, consumer goods, and 100 percent of its fuel - aviation fuel, petrol, diesel and cooking gas. India's unofficial blockade of Nepal - now in its third week - has, therefore, crippled life in this country of 30 million people. Things could get a lot worse. India denies that there is a blockade, and there is some room for ambiguity.
My football violence confession
There is nothing in this world which can match the weight of guilt upon your conscience, and it is with this at the forefront of my mind that I write this confession. On the 17th of May 2015, I, Thomas Bell, willingly and knowingly crossed Swan Street in Richmond some distance from the nearest set of traffic lights on my way to the A-League Grand Final.This sokkah hooligan is regretful of his antisocial behaviour.
The disaster in Nepal after the earthquake
The succession of earthquakes which continues to rock Nepal has created a humanitarian crisis of comparable scale to the country’s 10-year civil war, compressed into the space of less than three weeks. The first earthquake, on April 25, killed over 8,000 people, injured over 18,000, and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. Perhaps a million people were rendered homeless.
The disaster in Nepal after the earthquake
The succession of earthquakes which continues to rock Nepal has created a humanitarian crisis of comparable scale to the country's 10-year civil war, compressed into the space of less than three weeks. The first earthquake, on April 25, killed over 8,000 people, injured over 18,000, and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes. Perhaps a million people were rendered homeless.
Nepal's failed development
At the moment, 16-year-olds in Nepal are sitting exams for the School Leaving Certificate (SLC); the so-called "iron gate" which will decide whether they lead lives of uneducated futility, or are allowed to pass on to - possibly - better things. Most have little reason to be hopeful. Last year only 13 per cent of government school students who had enrolled 10 years earlier passed the SLC. The rest either failed or had already dropped out.
Nepal's fleeting moment of optimism
After years of trying, Nepal's Constituent Assembly was supposed to complete a new constitution this week. So the spectacle of elected members hurling chairs across the chamber was dismaying - indeed embarrassing - to many people who watched the TV news. However, this exhibition is the least of what Nepal's rulers have to be embarrassed about. Two factors lie at the heart of the chronic political dysfunction. First is the lust for power (and bitter rivalry) among the small club of party leaders.
Scores of rebels killed in Yemen fighting
Renewed fighting between Sunni tribesmen and Shia Houthi rebels advancing into a town in central Yemen has killed dozens of people, as part of a growing struggle over territory and influence between the two sides. Sources told Al Jazeera on Monday that clashes between Houthi fighters and Sunni tribes backed by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) killed 52 Houthis in the Radaa district of Bayda province, 130km south east of Sanaa.
Japan ministers quit over cash scandals
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has suffered a double setback after two female cabinet ministers resigned over claims they misused political funds. Industry Minister Yuko Obuchi and Justice Minister Midori Matsushima quit on Monday after days of allegations that they had misspent money in what opponents insisted was an attempt to buy votes.
Australia parliament reverses face veil rule
Australia's parliament has abandoned amid an outcry a controversial plan to make women wearing the niqab or the face veil sit in separate glassed public enclosure in the building due to security concerns. The backdown on Monday followed a decision on October 2 to seat people wearing face coverings in areas normally reserved for noisy school children while visiting parliament.
Deadly car bombings hit Iraq's Karbala
Five car bombings in the revered Iraqi city of Karbala have killed at least 15 people, Iraqi official have said. A police officer said on Monday that the explosives-laden cars were parked in commercial areas and parking lots near government offices. He says 48 others were wounded in the explosions. A medical official confirmed the casualty figures to the Associated Press news agency. Karbala is home to two revered Shia saints and is located about 90km south of the capital city of Baghdad.
Nepal to end trekker disaster rescue effort
An injured avalanche victim from Israel lies inside an ambulance to head home[AP] Rescue operations in the northern mountains of Nepal are due to end after all the hikers stranded because of a series of blizzards and avalanches were rescued. Three more bodies, including one of an Israeli national, were recovered from the snow on Monday. More than 500 people have been evacuated so far.
Nigeria officially declared Ebola free
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Nigeria Ebola free, after a 42 day period with no new cases. "Nigeria is now free of Ebola," WHO representative Rui Gama Vaz told a news conference in the capital Abuja on Monday. "The virus is gone for now. The outbreak in Nigeria has been defeated. This is a spectacular success story that shows to the world that Ebola can be contained," Vaz said. Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa, reporting from Abuja, said the news had been welcomed by Nigerians.
Stop blaming the Nepali guides
Thomas Bell has reported on Nepal for over a decade. His new book of history and reportage, 'Kathmandu', is published by Random House India. It often happens that foreign mountaineers or trekkers, and their local guides or porters, die in the Nepal Himalaya. Last week's blizzards in the Annapurna region - which left almost 40 dead, 80 missing and hundreds in need of rescue - are the worst incident yet in a familiar annual tragedy.
Turkey to help Iraqi Kurds join Kobane battle
Turkey has said it is assisting Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters to cross its borders to join Syrian Kurdish forces battling ISIL for the Syrian town of Kobane. "We are assisting peshmerga forces to cross into Kobane," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara on Monday, adding that talks on the issue were ongoing but without giving further details.
Indonesia's President Widodo sworn in
Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has been inaugurated as Indonesia's new president, facing the challenges of rebooting a slowing economy and working with a potentially hostile opposition that has already landed some blows against him.
Diary of a disastrous campaign
The history of the British East India Company was mostly written by the Company itself. It emphasises military victories, such as the late-eighteenth-century campaigns against the Marathas or the Kingdom of Mysore; and it dwells on episodes of heroism and tragedy which serve to expose the perfidy of the natives (the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’). Although they are now seen in a different light, such events still mark the way. There is little space in the story for Captain Kinloch’s invasion of Nepal.
View Askew
There's this quandary among cosmologists regarding what they call the "arrow of time." Einstein showed that time was just another dimension, more or less coequal with the three familiar spatial dimensions and subject to the same mathematics. Brilliant, great, only a problem arose: We can easily retrace our steps in the spatial dimensions, returning to whence we have come. But we don't seem to be able to do the same along the dimension of time.
Of South Africa and the South
Rare is the writer who can write, through personal memoir, the histories both of the American Civil Rights Movement and of the dismantling of South African Apartheid. David Houze, author of Twilight People: One Man's Journey To Find His Roots, is just such a rarity. Born in Durban, South Africa, to a "coloured" (mixed race) mother, Houze moved to Meridian, MS, in 1966, while still a toddler, taken there by his mother's new black-American merchant marine husband, ostensibly Houze's father.
Narrating Through the Pain
With apologies to the author, I sincerely hope that Lifetime never makes a movie out of Lee Merrill Byrd's novel Riley's Fire. I know that the premise is just begging for a TV movie treatment, and with what I hear about what Hollywood types mean when they say they've "read" a book, they might entirely miss all that makes this novel a superb example of what literature can do when it's not trying to be cinematic.
Full Color
Angela Nissel is on a mission to bring together all the multiracial people of the world. Like Colin Powell, Halle Berry and David Hasselhoff. What? You didn't know the Knight Rider was mixed? Come on, look at that curly hair. And I hear KITT was actually half Cray and one-quarter Yugo. What'd you say? Are you calling Angie's mom a liar? Better be careful, because you know she was a Black Panther, right?
Intellectual bickering
We sometimes speak of it as a phenomenon unique to the Internet era: You befriend a virtual acquaintance in a chat room or on a bulletin board. You have shared interests, similar complaints and you both have a facility with the written word. Then you meet in meatspace, and it turns out your high-minded friend is socially inept, abrasive, cold or emotionally fragile. Face-to-face, you hear imagined insults and whispered conspiracies.
The Tale of Tony the Templar
Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail Although there are no Knights Who Say "Ni" in Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail, author Christopher Dawes was clearly channeling Monty Python (along with an unlikely mix of Umberto Eco, Dan Brown and Indiana Jones) in his real-life quest aimed at "converting [my] loft and/or finding Holy Grail." Dawes (a British music journalist when he's not on the hunt for holy relics) gets drawn into the mystery surrounding the French village of Rennes-le-Chateau and its...
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