Blog


election
  • November 11, 2016

Post US Election Reflections of a non-American Citizen

The result of the US elections has shaken me to my core. I am surprised by my own reaction and the heartache I am feeling about the election of a country that is not even my own. I have been trying very hard to figure out the source of my disquiet and disappointment. I have […]

baby-hitler
  • November 30, 2015

The Ethics of Killing Baby Hitler

The New York Times’ question to its reader: would you kill baby Hitler if you could? I am on the ‘no’ camp because I reckon Hitler is merely a product of his time, what with Germany going through its worst ever economic slump. If not Hitler, it will be someone else. Nonetheless, still an interesting ethical […]

#!dcdisplay
fp\b0\i0\fs10Date~26.07.1999; Slug=Member_Showcase; Source=OBSERVER-DISPATCH; Time~14:01; Type=Picture;
ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
fs16\bNo Titlefs12\b0



<>

A man stands in front of a bonfire at the 1999 Woodstock Festival, Sunday, July 25, 1999, in Rome, N.Y. After almost 72 hours of peace and love, Woodstock '99 ended in blazing chaos Sunday night as hundreds of concertgoers turned into vandals, starting fires and looting. (AP Photo/Observer-Dispatch, Michael P. Doherty)
fp\b0\i0\fs10ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
fp\i0\b\fs16Digital Collections/IPTC

fp\b0\i0\fs10CREDIT~AP; Category~A; Municipality=Rome; Photographer=Michael_P._Doherty; State~New_York; TransRef~NYUTI101;
  • November 27, 2015

Thresholds of Violence

An interesting way to look at how school shootings catch on. Malcolm Gladwell, in his signature lead-with-facts-and-then-surprise-with-counter-intuitive-theory style tells the story of how people have different thresholds for carrying out certain actions. Social processes are driven by our thresholds, i.e. the number of people who need to be doing some activity before others agree to join them. […]

hebdo
  • January 7, 2015

Perspective

I was fretting over some personal stuff yesterday. And then Charlie Hebdo happened. And then suddenly my stuff doesn’t matter anymore. #JeSuisCharlie  

inequality
  • April 13, 2014

Wealth Inequality in America

Not only do the bottom 20% and the next 20%, the bottom 40% of Americans barely have any of the wealth. the top 1% has more of the country’s wealth than 9 out of 10 Americans believe the entire top 20% should have. The ideal we asked everyone about: We’ve got some incentive, as the […]

refugee
  • February 17, 2014

The Perfect Refugee Camp

The refugee camp in Kilis, Turkey for Syrian refugees is doing a great job at providing the refugees with a decent shelter, completed with basic amenities, food, security and even some entertainment. Some might say the Turkish government is making a shrew investment, “It needs to be seen in the context of Turkey’s policy to […]

inequality
  • February 11, 2014

Philanthropy by the Wealthiest

Fact: The richest eighty-five people in the world have the same combined wealth as the poorest half of the population. (source: Oxfam report) With wealth distribution so perversely skewed, does philanthropy by the most affluent among us make up for the negative consequences of inequality? Peter Buffet, Warren Buffet’s son, wrote: As more lives and […]

xmas
  • December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas?

Most of us 99-percenters couldn’t even let our dogs leave a dump on the sidewalk without feeling ashamed before our neighbors. It’s called having a conscience: even though there are plenty of things most of us could get away with doing, we just don’t do them, because, well, we live here. Most of us wouldn’t […]

speeches
  • December 18, 2008

Behind the Scenes

I was reading some news about Obama, marvelling over his charm and confidence when a thought hit me – self confidence is not a nature. It is rather, nurtured. I don’t think a person’s self worth and confidence come naturally. Well, maybe some people have the natural ability to shine and strut across a room […]