Tag: social issues

Who shoulders the refugee burden?

Another week, another UN holiday commemorating a global social issue. This week we had World Refugee Day on June 20th, a day to “honor the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, conflict and violence.” With the situations ongoing in the Middle …

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The Rise of Brazil: Part 1

Have you noticed lately that Brazil has been in the international spotlight… a lot? It seems like every week I see some new headline about Brazil in relation to:1) a major international convention, 2) a major international sports event or 3) an issue involving development in the Amazon. The attention is good, bad and/ or …

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The Connection Between Human Trafficking and Terrorism

Human trafficking and terrorism are two huge social and political issues which plague our society with the responsibility to identify and eliminate the root causes.  As I stated in my first blog earlier this week, it is not enough to just educate society, monitor progress and sanction countries who do not fall into compliance with …

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Chaplin’s World

A few nights ago, just as I had closed the books and decided to go to sleep, I stumbled upon a clip of Charlie Chaplin’s impressionable speech at the end of his 1940 film The Great Dictator. In his speech, he made an emotional appeal against the direction the world was headed. He acknowledged that …

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Good Men Doing Something

I have learned a lot over the past 7 months. The lesson that sticks out the most coincides with the name of this blog – that wanting to “do good” is not enough. Good intentions can only solve a problem to some degree. We need to develop sustainable solutions to efficiently make things better. I …

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He’s Done More than Win 903

Last night was a significant moment in college basketball history. Mike Krzyzewski, dubbed “Coach K” by his Cameron Crazie faithful, reached 903 wins and passed Bobby Knight to become the all-time leader in wins among NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches. This achievement is just another feather in the cap in K’s long and illustrious …

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No Shortcuts to Friendship

The world is shrinking. That’s not shocking news to anyone, I know. Mail used to travel via the Pony Express. Explorers had to take ships across oceans. Communication between two people in distant places was often limited to telegrams. It’s amazing how far we’ve come in such a short time. In just over a century, …

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Indebted to Debt?

Just over a decade ago, public debt was just under $3 trillion and the US was running a budget surplus. Two wars, two recessions, and eleven years later, the debt has skyrocketed to $14.94 trillion, $10.20 trillion of which is public debt (debt held by investors outside the federal government, the Fed, foreign, state, and …

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#OccupyWashington

Chances are, if you haven’t been living under a rock for the past month, you’ve heard about Occupy Wall Street – a burgeoning movement that protests against economic inequality and corporate greed and has spread not only around the country but around the world. Although the concrete goals of the protestors are not completely clear, …

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Too Many Choices

I remember being a kid and going to the mall with my mom to pick a birthday gift. Did I want the new Madden game or the new Fifa game? The Barry Sanders jersey or the Chauncey Billups one? I remember agonizing over this decision, worrying that I’d make one I’d regret at a later …

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