Jun 28
News on our involvement in Libya has taken a backseat recently after all the drama with Congressman Weiner and President Obama’s announcement about the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, but the conflict has been raging on despite the lack of US news media interest. It’s been raging on here in the states, too; specifically, the …
Jun 27
First of all, I’d like to thank all of you who took the time to give me feedback on my recent post on suicide. Whether you commented on the article on this site, tweeted me about it, retweeted it to your followers, or talked to me about in person, your actions meant a lot to …
Jun 24
Teaching Children to Accept Differences in Society One of the most important tools a child needs in his or her social toolbox is the ability to be tolerant of others. The world is composed of people from different backgrounds who speak various languages, and follow diverse customs and religions. Any child, whether in the United …
Jun 24
President Obama’s announcement on Wednesday night of his intention to withdraw around 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer is a much-needed precursor to the end of our military engagement there. The nation-building that needs to be done in Afghanistan is not something we are able to make happen with the sword: …
Jun 22
The University of Oregon and the Global Oregon Initiative recently announced an interesting—and controversial—partnership: a partnership with the government of Gabon. This one-of-a-kind cooperative agreement has a noble purpose: to establish joint research centers in Eugene and Libreville in order to study sustainability, economic development, and natural resource management. However, the union is problematic because of …
Jun 21
In my last post, I remarked that I believe most people intend to be kind. Yet sometimes, because they often lack the awareness of what it takes to be kind, they fall short of fulfilling this lofty goal. Our lack of awareness of what it takes to be kind is not the only thing that …
Jun 21
The opium industry in Afghanistan is booming! But will it remain this way? The poppy plant, from which opium is derived, has been a staple crop of Afghan farmers for many years now. And for good reason, for poppy is relatively easy to take care of and fetches a lot of money. However, only 10% …
Jun 21
Leer la versión en Español Scarcity or inequality? We live in a world with economic inequalities, divided between the “developed” and the “developing” countries, the North and the South. As citizens of the world, we deal with those economic inequalities in different ways. Developed nations and individuals feel the need to carry on with the …
Jun 20
Some would scoff at the idea of living with an alternate identity in a virtual world, as in the popular Sims games, or the widely-played “massively-multiplayer online role-playing games” (MMORPG). However, since it was introduced in 2003, the online virtual world called Second Life has completely transformed self-expression. Because of its user-friendliness and a multitude …
Jun 20
Last week, I wrote about how nonprofits should work together to make sustainable change. Rather than organizations focusing on specific issues individually, I think that establishing a type of “nonprofit team” to address multiple aspects of a complex problem could really make a huge impact. Theoretically, I really think this could work – but there …
