I have 3 fans: Become a Fan. You'll get emails whenever I post articles on OpEdNews
KEVIN STODA-has been blessed to have either traveled in or worked in nearly 100 countries on five continents over the past two and a half decades.--He sees himself as a peace educator and have been-- a promoter of good economic and social development--making-him an enemy of my homelands humongous DEFENSE SPENDING and its focus on using weapons to try and solve global issues.
"I am from Kansas so I also use the pseudonym 'Kansas' and 'alone' when I write and publish.- I-keep two blogs--one with BLOGGER and one with WORDPRESS.- My writings range from reviews to editorials or to travel observations.- I also make recommendations related to policy--having both a-strong background in teaching foreign languages and degrees in teaching in history and the social sciences.--As a Midwesterner, I also write on religion and living out ones faith whether it be as a Christian, Muslim or Buddhist perspective."
Sunday, February 12, 2012 "SUBCONTRACTING" and Teaching Word-Wide (5 comments)
Have you worked as a subcontractor? How have you been treated ? how secure have you felt? This article looks at the topic of subcontracting and education--world-wide.
Monday, January 23, 2012 (Part 2) Two Large Scale English Teacher Exchange Programs Compared in Japan and Taiwan (2 comments)
East Asian states are turning to foreign language education and foreign language teachers from abroad to empower their students. This second article, which focuses on the issue of grassroots and the need to empower local stakeholders early on, is part of a series of pieces comparing large-scale teacher exchange programs.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 Part 3: Teaching and Contrasting Cultures "Blowin' in the Wind" (1 comments)
In short, most of the class of Taiwanes students focused on the straining and stoic momentum expressed in the text, "Blowin' in the Wind". Well over the majority did not interpret it as a hopeful, marching, protest song.
In short, these students would concur with Bob Dylan himself, who had said, " "This here ain't no protest song or anything like that"."
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 End the 21st Century "Shoganaism" American-style--"Yes, We Can!"
America fought a WWII in order to set new standards and get rid of the dominate world paradigm. We created a Different World order with Nuremberg Trials, Geneva convention, Declaration of Human Rights. Over the past decades we have become like the Germans and Japanese of the 1930s-1940s who said "Shoganai" or "I couldn't do otherwise. I was just following orders or the status quo."
Friday, June 24, 2011 Teaching and Contrasting Cultures using "Dust in the Wind", "Winds of Change" and "Blowin' in the Wind"--Part 2
In the first part of this article, I wrote about how using the song "Dust in the Wind" in a junior high class here in Taiwan was one good way to teach culture--not just culture about my home state of Kansas--but about Western culture (to students in East Asia). In this Part 2 i look at how to use the Scorpion song "Wind of Change" to extend that comparative cultural practice while recycling the metaphor of "wind"
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 A Society without Orientation[s]
How does being a high-context culture make it hard for you to understand the need for having employee orientations and other orientation get-togethers? This is the third part in a series of articles contrasting how Westerners and East Asians handle relationship building. Special focus is made on Taiwanese and Chinese exceptionalism versus how the Japanese have adapted much better to embracing positive attributes of the West
Monday, June 20, 2011 It's About Face! (6 comments)
Many westerners have observed that Asians--as a whole--are very very concerned about "mianzi" [ - 子] or face. However, it is too rarely ever explained what sort of totality lies behind the concept of face. Liu notes, " Everything you do is about "face' here in Taiwan! How you give and save it for yourself and for others is extremely important, both professionally and socially."
Sunday, June 12, 2011 Is there a Rise of American Stoicism, American " Inshallah", and possibly American "Shoganai" (2 comments)
As an American, what do you expect of yourself, your destiny, your society? Are your choices limited, such as Middle Eastern and East Asian societies? How has America been changed by its decades of wars since WWII have we adapted limiting world views or will we fall back on the old German "Dolchstoss" stabbed in the back mentality when we bail out of the next two wars. What will be the new dominant typical American view?
Sunday, June 5, 2011 Calling for a National Holiday in Recognition of Whistle Blowers and Profiles in Courage! (8 comments)
Taiwan, China, and several governments around the world technically have a national holiday to promote the region's most honorable civil servant, Chu Yuan,who was also a poet and whistle-blower some 2300 years ago. His legend is part of tomorrow's DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL and legend--which is even celebrated in Washington, D.C. I would like to use this occasion to encourage America to recognize its real profiles in courage, too.
Sunday, June 5, 2011 Building Connections and Gaining International Perspectives in Taiwan and East Asia (1 comments)
Amy C. Liu does a great job in defining on pages 84 & 85 of your book.In TAWAIN A TO Z: The Essential Cultural Guide, she writes that guanxi (----係) is "[f]undamental to doing business with the locals." i believe this to be a more universal case of building connections and relationships. The Taiwanese and East Asian cultures are not really that different than others--just simply more closed to foreigners or wall-building.
Sunday, June 5, 2011 Why are the Taiwanese workers of today hyper-focused on Mainland China? Is it inevitable or a bad bias to be overcome/? (2 comments)
According to the TAIWAN NEWS ( May 27, 20110 , in an article entitled ¡§China becomes a hot destination for Taiwan¡¦s workers: Poll¡¨, 77 percent of Taiwanese employees are willing to explore further job opportunities on the mainland [People¡¦s Republic or communist China].¡¨ I wonder who undertook this unnamed poll because the article seems to be spun towards a PRO-unification and AT-ALL-COST friendly relations with China.
Monday, May 23, 2011 Here is what young East Asians are studying in order to live more harmoniously with the West? What has the West learnt?
Taiwan, like China and japan before it, is reaching out to learn about the world. They are trying to introduce bits and pieces of traditional Western Education to their offspring--even at the elementary school level. This writing may give you some insight into why the East is Rising and the USA is not. Comments are encouraged, please.
Sunday, May 22, 2011 Continued Lack of Testing Partnerships in East Asia as decades roll on
Shouldn't language teachers in Taiwan, therefore, demand that tests--and contests--more appropriately support good learning habits, good teaching, and good language acquisition and langugage practices? Of course, teachers need to be involved in such advocacy all of the time.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Americans, it is High Time to Repeal the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (2 comments)
Why should these banks and ill-run financiers--and the firms they trade our debt with-around-the-clock ¡Xbe allowed to continue to harrass Americans with penalties while they were bailed out in the trillions of dollars by the USA government with our tax money over the past 4 years?It is insanely unfair not to grant reprieves to the Americans suffering under the thumbs of these goliaths.
Monday, April 25, 2011 Comparison of Two Large Foreign English Teacher and Internationalization Projects in East Asia
In the 1980s--in order to improve Japanese foreign relaions and image in the world, Japan set out to create the world's largest teachers exchange project, a project largely focused on goals of related to improving international communication. Now, Taiwan is on such a journey--having recently created a modest Foreign English Teacher project. The author has been involved in both projects.
Sunday, April 24, 2011 Sense of Safety here in Taiwan (4 comments)
I hope that back in the USA, there are still some parts of the country which provide similar senses of safety for indidividuals and crimes.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 Could a better focus on TONE improve our (U.S.A.) international relations with Asian states? (2 comments)
Westerners working in the East have to be attuned to the spoken tone used. In contrast, Eastern and Southeastern Asians need to be aware of vocal tone--and the fact that it is often ignored or used differently by many Western speakers. Moreover, they will have to put more weight on the meaning of the spoken word than on the tone or context in which it might be used.
Friday, April 8, 2011 Why Universities which try to GO PAPERLESS are often making it hard for older and disabled (4 comments)
I'm about 49 years old but in today's economy I plan to work at least 30 or more years. So, I decided to apply for a doctorate. I was accepted but over the past 15 years universities have tried to go paperless. It is overkill and dehumanizing--not to mention unfair for older, new, and disabled students.
Monday, April 4, 2011 April 4 as children's or our children's-future day? (3 comments)
For Jim Wallis, this is a time to fast for America. For Maya Angelou, it was her birthday. For MLK, it was a pair of bookends to a traumatic year. For Buchenwald, it meant liberation. For Taiwan, it means a celebration of children. What does April 4 mean to you and how do you celebrate it?
Friday, March 25, 2011 What's a Filipino? What's a Revolution? What's a Filipino Revolution? (1 comments)
Cruz explains that when the Spaniards first came to colonize the Philippines over 400 years ago, the children of the Spaniards who were born on the archipelago, newly named after a King of Spain, Felipe II, were called "Filipinos". In Mexico or Latin America the term would have been "criollos" for such children of direct Spanish descent. In contrast, "the Spanish called the natives of the island "indios'".
Thursday, March 24, 2011 Are You Gamed Enough? (1 comments)
Another way that movies are almost fully reflecting our world or reality comes from Gerald Butler's GAMER, FOX Corp., the USA military and the American military and prison complexes.
Monday, March 21, 2011 HBO GETS IT, DO YOU--AMERICA??? GOTTA BE A REVOLUTION (12 comments)
HBO seems to have gotten the spirit of the age. It decided to show the film, TAKING WOODSTOCK, this March while most of the country is fixated on the abuses on "American Working and Poor Peoples' that newly elected state legislatures in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio have been carrying out in the name of the Koch Brothers and the GOP this 2011.
Thursday, March 17, 2011 Mitigation of Tsunami's and Earthquakes--Has JAPAN DONE ENOUGH?
This means that if Asian countries continue to reclaim land from the sea in their ocean side construction projects, as Japan does, they need to do so while respecting the other ecologically sound demands of our more natural ecosystem. For example, contractors also need to develop or create (and maintain where possible) natural barriers, such as coral reefs and mangroves.
Thursday, March 17, 2011 Muhammed Ali Joins Cause for Freeing the Hikers--Will Tehran finally Listen? (14 comments)
Mohammed Ali is still the most famous boxer among most Muslim communities anywhere in the world. Let's hope the Greatest will be listened to in Tehran. Free the hiker hostages, today, please, Iran!!!
Monday, March 7, 2011 WHY IS THIS TALE on Airport Murders in Frankfurt NOT GETTING MORE REPORTING?
Two U.S. airmen were killed and two others were wounded at Frankfurt airport Wednesday when a man opened fire on them at close range with a handgun, the first such attack on American forces in Germany in a quarter century.
Monday, March 7, 2011 5 things that EVERY TAXPAYER IN AMERICA NEEDS TO COMPREHEND (1 comments)
Governor, today liberals are demonstrating all over the country in what CBS has called a liberal version of the Tea Party. Their main complaint is that a lot of corporations aren't paying their fair share. For example, Bank of America in 2009 paid nothing in corporate income taxes.
Monday, March 7, 2011 The Bourne Ultimatum and What the World is Wanting (Looking for) from America
President Obama continues to permit assasination units target both Non-American and Americans around the globe. The director of the Bourne Ultimatum got it right. The world is tiring of this sort of American super-patriot garbage. Viewers around the world expect such junk in action films but not as official USA foreign policy. I too, as an American, am against these rogue elements having sanction from America. Aren't U?
Thursday, March 3, 2011 More on Blue Butterflies and Teaching Kids
As I watched the first minutes of the film, I could hardly believe that the tale was even vaguely based upon a true story, but I was wrong. Apparently, the film is, indeed, based on the life of a the Quebec-born, David Marenger, who at the age of six was diagnosed with cancer and given only a few months to live.
Thursday, March 3, 2011 2-28 Day in Taiwan (Formosa)
During the prior decade, the date 2-28 began to be commemorated in Taiwan, but sadly most Taiwanese residents do not openly take this date to reflect on what there fore-fathers faced in terms of the erasing of Formosan memories from the 1950s onwards.
Meanwhile, thousands of statues and busts of the so-called founding father of the KMT--Chiang Kai Shek--remain throughout the country.
Saturday, February 26, 2011 STOP THE APPEASEMENT OF THE LIBYAN HITLER, EUROPE
Europe has watched a bloodbath going on across the Mediterranean for far too long. In fact, over the past decade, European nations and the European Union had even cozied up to the Ghadaffi Regime. Enough is enough Europe. Start helping the victims of Ghadaffi's dictatorship before a lot mor people get killed.
Friday, February 25, 2011 GULF CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM calls for Gulf Monarchies to abandon absolutism and to adopt European-style Parliaments
In the midst of the rising unrest and popular arrest in North Africa, the Gulf Civil Society Forum had met in Qatar from January 11 through 13 of this year and had had the purpose of gathering "together around 250 representatives from democracy advocates and civil society activists from the MENA Region, was to prepare a common Civil Society platform of principles and goals".
Friday, February 25, 2011 Taiwan has moved closer to becoming a smoke-free country by lowering cigarette sales by 13 percent over the past year (6 comments)
Out of 23 million Taiwanese, there are approximately 5 million smokers. I suspect that the numbers are lower than this--as that particular article was written two years ago and the national and local campaigns continue. Moreover, visibility of cigarettes and smoking are becoming almost null through fairly draconian media rules and self-imposed political correctness campaigns run by editorialists in major newspapers.
Monday, February 14, 2011 Missouri case needs to be reviewed by the Supreme Court
Missouri Public Defenders have gone on strike this past year due to the fact they cannot handle the current caseload making it even harder for those charged with crimes to get a fair trial in Missouri. The same situation reigns in Texas and numerous other USA states.
Saturday, January 15, 2011 IF THIS SPEECH WERE GIVEN TODAY BY MLK (2 comments)
Nor does the human spirit [WITHIN US] move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, [I.E. THE SOCALLED WAR ON TERROR] we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But we must move on.
Friday, January 14, 2011 HISTORY--THE WAY IT OUGHT TO BE RECALLED: THE FLIGHT OF MATHIAS RUST FOR PEACE (1 comments)
One reader has said, "This had to be one of the top 10 most remarkable flights accomplished in the history of aviation: Orville Wright at Kittyhawk Glenn Curtiss from Albany to New York Charles Lindbergh to Paris Chuck Yeager breaking the soundbarrier Jimmy Dolittle's Tokyo raid Mathias Rust to Red Square The Enola Gay to Hiroshima Dick Rutan & Jena Yeager around the world ..."
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 DEMAND CORPORATE TAX ON MILITARY INDUSTRIAL WELFARE RECIPIENTS IN 2011 (5 comments)
The situation has gotten worse.
Consider refusing to allow the federal government to keep our income taxes if this keeps up and likewise demand corporate taxes on military industrial welfare recipients in 2011-2100!
Monday, January 10, 2011 "Religion and Preferences for Redistributive Policies in an East Asian Country" i.e. Taiwan
There is a lot of confusion about religion in the world today and how it effects, imperils, or even ahs little influence on politics. Here is an important issue raised in Taiwan concerning secularizing or religion oriented trends in Asian political economic developments
Monday, January 10, 2011 COLD
As an oral historian for over three decades, I have been interested in having peoples of my and my parents generations passing down the realities of history. I think that our children do carry what we pass down to them. I want to share--what a lot of folks my age and older take for granted--our history of cold and struggle for fuel efficiency in our liftime. Read and pass on your own story.
Saturday, January 8, 2011 Over 51+ million Americans Living in Poverty (7 comments)
David DeGraw, who wrote this cited Public Record article, went on to say, "Let's also consider the staggering amount of Americans -" 52 million, roughly 17% of the population -" who are currently enrolled in "anti-poverty" programs. Over 50 million are on Medicaid, 41 million are on food stamps, 10 million are on unemployment, 4.4 million receive welfare. Not counted in this "anti-poverty" total are 30 million children
Friday, December 31, 2010 CHANGING CALENDARS, CHANGING WEEKENDS, CHANGING CENTENNIALS (2 comments)
Just a few years back we were all hoping that fex-time would be the way of the future for all employees and students. The benefits to our mental and physcial health were to be enormous. Now with the economies in many lands to be providing few jobs. There is too little serious talk about flexible calendars in education and work. This article reminds us that multiple calendars are already present in much of the world.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 Feast of the Holy Innocents is Today--WHAT ARE YOU MOURNING AMERICA?
This is the second part of a set of FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS remembrance articles (i.e. a show of support for the poor and innocent victims of mindless war-economics) and a protest roll-call
at, by, & for, military families in the USA and abroad.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS IS TODAY--ACT TODAY AND PROTECT MORE INNOCENTS IN 2011 (1 comments)
This is the 3rd of three articles connecting innocents and victimhood to war and costs. It is advocated with this peice that the peace movments around the world adopt cyclical calendars to keep us focused and in touch with older traditions as we call for newer and more invigorated mass movements. This invigoration has inspired many longterm movements, memories and disciplined reforms in the past. We can teach our children.
Sunday, December 26, 2010 WILL AMERICA CONTINUE TO MISEDUCATE ITS CHILDREN ABOUT REAL COSTS OF WAR???? (6 comments)
I wrote a lengthy blog on how the USA always fails its youthful soldiers and then asks the future, current, and older generations to keep paying the costs--over and over. That article was called, " SOME PARENTS OF VETERANS COMING HOME FROM IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE HAVING TO GIVE UP RETIREMENT TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR BRAVE OFFSPRING ." I want to weave the main gist of that article into the Feast of Holy Innocents Day Protests
Monday, December 20, 2010 NOTES ON HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN TAIWAN AS REPORTED IN TAIWAN PRESS (3 comments)
Rarely have I come across such a mixed menagerie of human rights stories, i.e. as the Taipei Times, put out on the day after Human Rights Day 2010. Learn a lot about Taiwan in 2010-2011 by reviewing the news, too.
Sunday, November 28, 2010 More Serendipity: BIODIVERSITY plus our ONGOING MELT-DOWN-in-ECONOMICS, and Need for Better Education
EDUCATION will be one of the keys to turning around the world from the abyss. It is like the matter of biodiversity itself. Active educators and grown consciousness of the importance of survival of biological diverse ecosystems are the only way to focus action. Stupidity is the act of doing what you know to be wrong. The world is acting stupidly on many fronts. Better action oriented education is needed.
Saturday, November 27, 2010 Serendipity: Fighting and Singing Insects
Till-our-present-day, international cricket combat championships are still held in Beijing, the traditional seat of the Chinese empires. However, crickets and their do-jo masters have made the trip from Japan, Taiwan and the Koreas. Naturally, poets and other romantics have also sung odes to the joy of listening to crickets in the evening. Most of us consider crickets therapeutic and relaxing to listen to.
Monday, November 15, 2010 WHERE IS THE PROGRESSIVE BUDGET? (7 comments)
the bottom line for progressives should be: WHERE ARE OUR LONG-TERM AND SHORT-TERM BUDGET PROPOSALS?
Saturday, November 13, 2010 THE ANTI-PRIVATE CITIZEN APPROACH OF THE U.S. SENATE
" If you want to be heard by your senator, you'd better hire a lobbyist!!!!"
PUBLIC CITIZEN has written its readers recently of an important experiment for political scientists to follow-up on.
Will political scientists follow-up on this? Will Progressives get a bigger stick and get American governments to change the status-Quo?
Saturday, November 13, 2010 MEET s REAL ECONOMIST: HA-JOON CHANG
In one recent interview Chang notes that a strange academic culture has been dominate for the past half century. Good economists were considered those who were good at econometrics. Theorists and activists among economists are considered the lower-standard economists. (The same situation functions in schools of political science in the USA and in Europe in this same period.)
Saturday, November 13, 2010 A Suggestion for the Thousands of Native-English Speakers Teaching Abroad: Why not create weekly Newsletters?
I have worked teaching English for 25 years and know that well over 100,000 Natives Speakers of English are now teaching abroad in over 100 lands delivering English training and teacher training. Several years ago in Japan I started using newsletters to help staff and students touch base with me more often. Here is a recent example of length and content I use.
Saturday, November 6, 2010 Many Pacquiao--Great Asian Hope (2 comments)
Not since Jose Rizal has the Philippines seen such a talented fighter.
Thursday, November 4, 2010 FOX and OTHER FICTIONAL BUT FIENDISH PROPAGANDA--Stop the Billionaires and Propagandists Today (1 comments)
Sane voices have been to hard to find. I wish to share a saner view of our country, of how to view the world, and how to ask the right questions about war, i.e. as we get ready to vote today. I conclude with a suggestion to follow the examples of good dialogue used by Keith Ellis in a recent interview.
Monday, November 1, 2010 I Agree that the US Wealthy Demand TOO MUCH CODDLING!! Don't you? (1 comments)
Why does the USA Chamber of Commerce and Some Multinational Corporations not like Clinton??? Obama's criticism of large companies for using tax breaks to ship jobs overseas. That's it.
Monday, November 1, 2010 Will anyone be remembering Chung Shan (Sun Yat-sen) in China in 2011-2012? (3 comments)
Americans need to know more about Chinese history, culture, language and national beliefs. This article talks about all four of these topics in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the 1911-1912 Revolution in China. Read on please if you are novice and want to know more about China (and US) history or culture.
Monday, October 4, 2010 "Heaven and Earth" Meets Afghanistan--Another American and Asian Story-- (1 comments)
If America is ever learn from its continuing involvement in Asian wars, Americans are going to have to start watching this older Oliver Stone film and reading non-fiction works like Le Ly Hayslip's tales now. Hopefully, redemption in Afghanistan and Iraq will not have to wait till future generation learn and grow up to the facts and horrors of becoming one's own worst enemy come war-time.
Monday, October 4, 2010 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS & continuing need for 100% Universal Health Care Coverage Pronto, Sportsfans (6 comments)
I'm sure cultures of peoples around the globe are busy dissecting Americana via cinema and such a film is great for doing just that. By watching, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, the avid viewers from around the planet are observing the priorities and ideals displayed in this piece of Americana directed by Peter Berg and Josh Pate.Without good universal medical care, American youth and victims of FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS are to continue.
Friday, October 1, 2010 WILL U.S. SUPREME COURT EXEMPT CORPORATIONS FROM ALIEN TORT LAW--EVEN AS U.S. STATES CAN STILL BE BROUGHT TO COURT? (9 comments)
"So long as they incorporate, businesses will now be free to trade in or exploit slaves, employ mercenary armies to do dirty work for despots, perform genocides or operate torture prisons for a despot's political opponents, or engage in piracy--all without civil liability to victims." This statement came from Judge Pierre Leval in his dissention to his own 2nd COURTS decision early in September on the ATS.
Sunday, September 26, 2010 CSI (only a tv series) vs. OSBI (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations) --in a Warning to Potential Jurists & to Our C (9 comments)
Potential Jurors absolutely need to note this. TV Series, like CSI and NUMBERS, are largely fictional in what they portrays as the real world of investigation, law, order, and justice in America is totally under-funded agencies (personnel) or filled with bullies, ill-equipped, and incompetents. In short, our non-fiction is still sadly too often the realm of false arrests and bad policing (or investigating) in America.
Friday, September 24, 2010 TIDBIT ON ELISE (4 comments)
How would a nation of garbage trucks playing a classical tune going to make Beethoven feel?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010 WILL THE BORDERS BETWEEN CANADA, THE USA, AND MEXICO BECOME HARDER AND HARDER TO CROSS OVER THIS NEXT DECADE? (16 comments)
Are Canadian, American and Mexican borders going to continue to close? Has the neo-con, neo-liberal approach to political economic developemtn plus security issues and xenophobia set a course for a North America of walled fortresses over the next decade? here is a model to provoke some discussion. We need a better vision than we have now for borders and border towns in NAFTA states.
Saturday, September 11, 2010 TAXING THE CEOs & OTHER HOARDERS to JUMPSTART THE ECONOMY NOW--THIS IS A NO BRAINER (1 comments)
D.C. Johnston, author of FREE LUNCH, a book on how the wealthiest corporate leaders are milking the government of its money, stated last week in DN that if Obama is not re-elected president, it will be largely because he did not put enough money behind the stimulus packages in 2009-2010.
Obama's last chance to jumpstart the economy for next year is before us this autumn election.
Thursday, September 9, 2010 It's about Consumers & Families, Stupid! (1 comments)
Warren has stated unequivocally that ALL IMPORTANT meetings on how business regulations, government plans, and policies are to be created, structured, and implemented in the good-old-USA need to have this question raised in their midst.
"How does this X affect American families?"
Note: X can stand for policy, regulation, maneuver, practice, trend, project, law, or business activity.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 Naomi Klein & John Grisham versus Bankers, Lawyers, Milton Friedman and the Skewed Thinking of Modern Business (4 comments)
Have the tenets of Naomi Klein's book, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, affected Americans view of the world and how does her work fir in with our age and memories of America? This article begins to explore the shifting paradigms in America's social and political education. The article looks at the works of sociologist William Cecil Headrick and the writings of John Grisham as well.
Monday, September 6, 2010 Employers Who Fire the Most Workers Receive 42% Higher Salaries, America Wake Up!! (11 comments)
Please, America, listen to good stories and circulate them in your emails--instead of all the junk and propaganda that is out their by BIG BUSINESS AND LOBBY INTERESTS against your best interests. Study: CEOs Who Fired Most Workers Earned Highest Pay
Friday, September 3, 2010 Filipino OFWs may NOT be Discriminated Against, Says Hong Kong Commission: Meanwhile in Philippines All Investigations a (1 comments)
In the wake of the crazy ex-policeman in Manila taking hostage a busload of tourist and killing 8 from Hong Kong, there were announcements of layoffs and firings of Filipino workers in Hong Kong and elsewhere in late August. Meanwhile, the Filipino government has hardly been very trustworthy in carrying out investigations--leaving neighboring states to wonder if justice will be served by Filipino government.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Which damages our children first? the media or fuzzy thinking in society???? (6 comments)
Which damages our children first? the media or fuzzy thinking in society????
As many readers know, I became a father last spring, so I am gong to be increasingly concerned with the issue of media and family, child & home. My wife and I, for example, have decided to not have a TV at home for the first few years of our daughter's life. Are we overprotecting our child?
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 Taiwan also Has a High Rate of Boys to Girls (1 comments)
Shelly Huang wrote on Taiwans attempt to punish hospitals working against thee nation of Tawian's demographic interests. She notes, "The nation's relatively high average of 1.11 boys born for every girl puts Taiwan at No. 9 behind countries such as China, India and Vietnam that traditionally value male children more than female children, statistics by the department's Bureau of Health Promotion showed."
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 A WORLD OF PRETENDERS: Partial Review of the Filipino Novel, THE PRETENDERS by F. Sionil Jose (1 comments)
When we talk of world literature in the 20th Century, almost the only Filipino author of great fame in Asia is F. Sionil Jose. It is about time to sit down and study his works--as reform may finally be on the way in the Philippines, a land somewhat frozen still by its colonial and tribal past.
The book THE PRETENDERS is a good place for Western educators and academics to start.
Thursday, August 5, 2010 The Obituary of Joey Velasco and the Table of Hope (1 comments)
Velasco's magnum opus, Hapag ng Pa-asa, was seen by the author Lo on the wall of a souvenir store over the St. Nino Shrine in Cebu City several years ago. The tale of this most thought-provoking version of The Last Supper by Velasco had already become the source of sermons and legends.
Monday, July 26, 2010 IN A LAND THAT LEADS THE WORLD IN JOURNALIST DEATHS ALMOST EVERY YEAR, CRITICISM CAN ONLY BE LABLED amadomacasaet@yahoo (1 comments)
I was perusing national newspapers this past weekend came across a section called the "Business Circuit" in the THE MALAYA BUSINESS INSIGHT. In four short vignettes or stories the author, unnamed (but using the email address of amadomacasaet@yahoo.com ) detailed the status of political-economic development in the Philippines, nearly 25 years after the last dictator of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos.
Sunday, July 18, 2010 DEAR ARIZONA AND YOU DEMAGOGUE-WANNABEES (3 comments)
I am not certain if any of class of demagoguery in Arizona (and in the GOP) we see today will ever reach the heights of John R. Brinkley or Father Coughlin, but I wanted to write you all this letter and warn you about how the wind is blowing. I should know because I lived most of my life in the land of the goat doctor.
Saturday, July 3, 2010 Memories of Jobs and Non-Payment by Employers (1 comments)
These first few weeks in July 2010 some 2.5 million Americans will not receive unemployment checks because U. S. Senators from across the Land could not take their wealthy salaries, perks, and insurance and donate them all to the pool of money needed to protect families across America from weeks with no income.
Friday, July 2, 2010 The Real McChrystal FINALLY Gets Raked through the Coals (1 comments)
Many parts of the USA still do not have access to basic good news sources, like Democracy Now. Today, I heard several good stories from Democracy Now Online that I want to share to real Americans facing censorship of sorts. T"he Real McChrystal FINALLY Gets Raked through the Coals" is the focus of this short summary of a great piece
Friday, June 25, 2010 McChrystal, USA FLAG and Miscommunication Skills (2 comments)
Social conflicts often involve some misunderstanding.Parties in conflict communicate by what they say (or do not say) and how they behave toward each other. Even normal interaction may involve faulty communication, but conflict seems to worsen the problem. Was General McChrystal just looking to get fired or did he really want to communicate more than incompetence in leadership style? Let's look at metaphor of misunderstanding
Friday, June 25, 2010 Key Judge in Lousiana Fails to Recuse Himself--Should He be Impeached? (13 comments)
According to Democracy Now and other national media, the judge who stopped the Obama's Administration's 6-month moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico this week likely should have had to recuse himself before taking part in the case.Judge Feldman may have been correct in his decision, but he was not the judge who should have made such an injunction--his hands and bank account are bloodied and well-oiled
Friday, June 18, 2010 For Our World Literature Teacher Friends this Summer
Occasionally, the author and teacher, Kevin A. Stoda, likes to make teaching lessons or units available to his peers around the globe. Here is one such unit. It focuses on modern literature and how to get students to do research and put diverse ideas together overa semester. It focuses on literary trends and Nobel laureates. Feel free to share and pass on. HAVE GREAT SUMMER, TEACHERS wherever you are!
Thursday, May 13, 2010 CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION and Me--A PETITION
The European Union has a Charter of Human Rights but does not really have much enforcement going on, especially on behalf of immigrant labor--who live by the thousands and millions in Europe. The author is providing an example claim to the EU Ombudsman--as individual states can delay justice for over 5 years before foreign labor receive their right to access these supposedly universal rights in the EU.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010 EURO LEADERS SPEND BILLIONS; GERMAN GOVERNMENT SHAKIER THAN EVER; STUDENTS IN THE STREETS BY THE THOUSANDS
This was the worst election result in the history of the conservative party (CDU/CSU) in Germany since WWII. It was obviously a sign that the German citizenry are becoming tired, too, of the status quo and this rise in youthful (and voter) protests is likely to be a sign of a long hot summer in German politics.
Sunday, May 9, 2010 JEREMY LAURANCE WRITES that MOST BABIES BORN IN BRITAIN TODAY WILL LIVE TO BE 120 (4 comments)
I came across a Jeremy Laurance article that really made me think positively about the fact that Europe's population is continuing to get much older each year. The article was in the WORD AND PRESS (Feb. 1, 2009) and was entitled, " Most Babies Born in Britain will live to be 120". This demographic shift is already being perceived in Eastern Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea. Retirement ages of 70+ are
