Apparently, we live in a time when fixing the nation’s ills are now up to the tech developers. Forget about the legislators of our country. We’re going to have to blanket ourselves in war tech, literally. Enter the Bodyguard Blanket™. Continue reading
Politics
846 posts
Monica Lewinsky, she of the infamous blue stained dress, has penned what some may label an explosive essay for Vanity Fair of which critics and other scandal-rubberneckers are mining for scurrilous admissions of guilt, guile, or other verifiable sins, and maybe, just maybe, a little vinegar thrown onto the honeyed path of one Hillary Rodham Clinton. After all, what could this would-be homewrecker have to say after fifteen years of self-appointed media exile that could be worth more than the briefest of romps through the pages of glorified tabloid fodder? Continue reading
I have watched a lot of movies where Americans visit in a foreign country, run into serious trouble, and inevitably go to the American Embassy for help. Usually these are in war or action movies where people fear for their lives, but even so, such movies have I think, instilled in my imagination an unrealistic picture of what an embassy, and particularly the American Embassy can and can’t do. A recent (actually on going) experience in a foreign country, lets call it Bangladesh Pleasantville, made me realize how truly naive I am about how helpful the embassy would or could be for its citizens (well in my case I am a permanent resident with an American family). Continue reading
Recently Facebook has radically altered the way that organization pages reach their followers. This is big trouble for nonprofits and activist groups that rely on the platform to reach supporters and organize action campaigns.
This isn’t news for folks who run activist or nonprofit pages, the changes have been rolling out for a while. However, in the last few weeks post reach has been reduced dramatically, creating a crisis for many organizations that have spent a lot of time, effort, and yes, money, building big communities on Facebook. What the hell is going on? Continue reading
Could the art of George W. Bush wherein he depicts world leaders in sophomoric renderings that read more “quaint cute” as in the eagerly water colored masterpieces a child shoves at a parent for admiration on their office wall, rather than a trove of Picasso’s best, be more about politics than hobby-making?
Now that we are several years away from the Bush era of rule in this country, much has been made in the last few to “paint” Dubya not as a war-mongering cowboy, and epic failure of a world leader, but as a soft-spoken man who may have been misunderstood in his political assertions. Not about his convictions per se, but about the amount of caring for his fellow man that went sorely unnoticed. Continue reading
There are two countries that are always going to be linked in the Southeast Asia region due to their similarities, and the key choices that turned one into an economic powerhouse. Brunei and Singapore are the two smallest and wealthiest Southeast Asian nations, and have a currency interchange agreement. Sixty years ago, both set out to diversify their economies and become leaders in the region. The result is a real-world model lesson for developing nations. Continue reading
The uprising currently happening in Ukraine is heart-stopping. Things are happening fast there. Please use this post to share the latest news reports, your feelings, hopes and fears for the people there. Continue reading
Canada and the United States are in many respects two very similar countries. Founded as white colonial settler societies, both are now developed capitalist democracies, with functioning multi-party (more or less) politics. In some very important ways, though, Canada and the US are very different countries. The United States has developed a national attitude of rugged individualism, premised on distrust of government and the notion that everyone can succeed and climb through society if they work hard enough. Canada is much more communitarian, turning more to society as a whole, with an attitude of trust in, and deference to, government. Why is this? What made our two countries so similar yet so different?
As you have probably already heard Nelson Mandela has passed away at the age of 95. I am not going to try and give you a full biography of his amazing life and career, I will leave that to the proper biographers. Instead, I will just give you a few thoughts from a person who is an ordinary, sometimes activist who is blessed enough to be surrounded by good people who want to make the world a better place. Continue reading