Feb 09
Immigration in the U.S. is a very hot topic that often gets simplified to one word: poverty. It can very well be that poverty is one of the key issues that has increased immigration trends to the U.S. However, it is often too easy to compile all the structural and political problems into one big …
Feb 08
Ever since the recession of 2008, we have seen an incline in homeless Americans. The contradiction to this trend is that we have more vacant houses than ever in the U.S. as homes slide into foreclosure and people can’t afford to maintain a mortgage with an outrageous interest rate. When the housing bubble of 2008 …
Feb 08
The education system in Cambodia used to be the envy of most other Asian countries. Going as far back as the thirteenth century, Cambodians have valued knowledge and schooling and the power that they bring with them. In pre-revolutionary times, six levels of grade school existed, followed by four years of what would be the …
Feb 07
Last year a province in China called Guangdong made headlines as the residents rioted over a land dispute with the local officials in December 2011. The village residents of Wukan were upset that local officials were taking their farmlands and selling them to large companies for profit. The month long protests led to the corrupt …
Feb 06
Khalil, a six year old in first grade, attends elementary school in Southeast D.C. We just finished reading The Little Engine That Could, and began discussing what it means to overcome obstacles and believe in oneself. Khalil is one of the sweetest kids I know, with overwhelming positivity and optimism for the future. He always …
Feb 03
Prosecuting human trafficking offenders in the United States is a difficult task at best as public policy does not always support the criminal justice system. Over the past ten years the United States implemented strong public policy measures to address human trafficking and implemented sentencing guidelines to punish traffickers. Prosecution is what I would call …
Feb 02
You might not think it, but I bet that almost everyone reading this will make use of corn today. I’m not necessarily talking about chowing down on a buttered corn on the cob. Corn is a component of about 25% of groceries from the supermarket. It is also a major component in almost all fast …
Feb 02
Two weeks ago I wrote about a burgeoning responsible tourism initiative in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and how it could benefit the Bedouin community and Egypt as a whole. Today, while I was on the elliptical (which I do about once every month or so… I like to stay healthy.) I happened to flip to CNN …
Jan 27
Renewable energy, the wave of the future, right? Yes and no. What if I told you that I think we should curb production of renewable resource technology such as wind turbines and solar panels? Most people would think I’m crazy even environmentally irresponsible. However, I have an alternative to the immediate deployment of our current …
Jan 26
Several months ago I wrote a post about the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, which, to refresh your memory, operates on the basis of gross national happiness, or GNH. GNH replaced GDP and GNP (gross domestic product and gross national product) as the measure of development for the country in 1972 when then King Jigme …
