Apr 22
Regular readers of this blog will know that Myanmar has long been one of my favorite topics. I’ve written many times, often quite hopefully, about what the future may hold for this isolated country as it begins to open up economically and socially. New president Thein Sein has made serious moves towards reforming the military-ruled country, …
Mar 29
I’ve written a lot about immigration as well as prison in my time with the SISGI Group. However, it never occurred to me to discuss the two issues together. Which was a huge oversight on my part. Because they often go hand in hand. Immigrants who are here without proper documentation or have visa issues …
Mar 25
I’ve written a lot about the opening up of Myanmar and Bhutan and their possibilities for sustainable tourism, so today I thought I would look at another isolated country: Cuba. Travel between the United States and Cuba has been forbidden since February 8th, 1969, just a few months after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis. …
Mar 07
There is no doubt that that the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., has heightened the political debate on gun control in the United States. The Obama-backed gun bills are considered a long shot in Congress. This is due to the opposing views on gun control in congress. One group in Congress is standing behind the …
Feb 28
In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the country’s focus is on stricter gun control. This week Congress is expected to debate the broadest the broadest gun control legislation in a generation. However, I think ammunition control should be at the forefront of this debate. It is essential to focus on the gun control, but …
Feb 25
In the 1970s Richard Easterlin wrote an article titled “Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence,” in which he described what is now known as the Easterlin Paradox and became the father of happiness economics. The Easterlin Paradox, simply stated, suggests that people do not get happier as they get richer. …
Jan 28
Jordan has largely stayed out of the news since the start of the Arab Spring, as the country has–so far–managed to avoid any major shake-ups or protests. This may be about to change, however. Resentment against King Abdullah II has been building for some time, and these elections were a way for his government to show …
Jan 25
I realized today that I tend to write solely about negative issues. Or at least only about things I think we need to fix. I don’t have a problem with that in general. However, for this particular post I’d like to approach things a little differently. Instead, I’d like to celebrate a recent success in …
Nov 28
The election is finally over. And I must say I feel a little forlorn now that all the excitement has begun dying down. But luckily there were some pretty important things that happened to keep me occupied. Unfortunately, I can’t talk about everything that came out of the election (as much as I wish I …
Nov 06
Have you noticed any news recently about America’s prison system? Maybe you haven’t, but I have. And what I’ve seen is incredibly contradictory. On one hand you have politicians touting the reforms they’ve made by raising the minimum juvenile age or increasing the number of prison alternatives. But on the other, we see massive overcrowding …
