July 16, 2004
Searching For Bobby Fischer...
...is no longer necessary. Japanese officials arrested him today on passport violations and he may be deported to the U.S., where he's wanted on charges of sanction violations for playing a tournament in Yugoslavia in 1992. When I started playing chess, Bobby Fischer was the first chess "celebrity" I had ever heard of. And then as I got older I learned about his odd behavior and his virulent anti-Semitism. Now he strikes me as a sad, pathetic man who squandered any opportunity he might have had to achieve true greatness.
The UN has a list of ten stories that the world should know more about. One of the stories concerns work on an international treaty to protect the rights of people with disabilities. The article provides a good overview of past UN instruments dealing with the rights of PWD and how to the proposed treaty will be a more comprehensive declaration of their rights. The article also makes some interesting observations about rights as a function of a nation's economic resources. Can a PWD living in the United States and a PWD living in Cameroon or Syria expect the same rights and protections? If a country doesn't have the resources to make buildings accessible or to provide basic support services (like education), do those inadequacies constitute a fundamental violation of an individual's rights? These are fascinating questions and the policy wonk in me yearns to be involved in these discussions. I read that the UN may set up a monitoring body to oversee enforcement of the treaty once it's signed and I'd love a chance to interview for that kind of job. I'm well aware of the UN's shortcomings, but I respect the ideals for which it stands and I believe it has the capacity to work for real change in the world.
My friend is flying in tonight. Blogging may be more abbreviated over the next week, but should still proceed on schedule.
Posted by wintermute2_0 at July 16, 2004 07:07 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://WWW.the19thfloor.net/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/405
Comments
Why is he being arrested? He is completely mad, I heard him on a tv show couple of years ago, where he was blaming "The Jews" for everything that is wrong with the world. Icelanders are very interested in him because the Fischer vs. Spassky match took place in Reykjavik. But he's bonkers the poor bastard.
Posted by: gunnhildur at July 16, 2004 10:00 PM
Thanks for this link to the UN stories, and the earlier one to Dontblockmyvote.com.
Posted by: Eileen at July 17, 2004 06:11 AM
policy wonk? I encourage you to apply for the opportunity to make, enforce, and promote "basic" human rights for PWD. You can probably use your legal background to write catchy legalese. you go man!
Posted by: Anonymous at July 17, 2004 07:57 AM