Category Archives: Politics

Why fundamentalism will fail

Great article by Harvard professor Harvey Cox in the Boston Globe, here.

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The Economist: Mobile Marvels

Interesting special report in the Economist a couple of weeks ago — I’m forever behind in my reading — on the spread of mobile phones in emerging markets.  "In places with bad roads, unreliable postal services, few trains and parlous … Continue reading

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TED Talks: Parag Khanna maps the future of countries

Another great TED talk; this one given by Parag Khanna, author of The Second World.  In it, Khanna looks at our increasingly fragmented geopolitical map and suggests we focus less on borders and more on the lines that cross borders … Continue reading

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Gen. David Petraeus @ Seattle Town Hall

Gen. David Petraeus spoke this evening at Seattle Town Hall in an event sponsored by the Seattle World Affairs Council.  His talk, innocuously titled US Central Command Update, focused on lessons learned from the counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq, with an … Continue reading

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WSJ: Six scenarios for the outcome of the Iranian election

This WSJ article lays out six possible outcomes for the Iranian election.   Sadly, recent developments would suggest some combination of #3 and #4 taking place.

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TED Talk: How Twitter Can Make History

Excellent TED talk by Clay Shirky called “How Twitter Can Make History.”  Given earlier this month at the State Department, it succinctly summarizes the dramatic evolution of the media from one-to-one (telephone) or one-to-many communication (print, radio, television) to today’s … Continue reading

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The Last P-I

I had a paper route when I was a kid.  I delivered The Toronto Telegram, or The Telly as it was known, to about 25 homes in the subdivision where my family lived in Oakville, a bedroom community just west … Continue reading

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TED Talks: Hans Rosling Debunking Third World Myths

TED is a web site featuring talks from leading thinkers in the very broad fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design.  I think many of these talks are given at the annual TED conference.  If you’ve never visited TED it’s well … Continue reading

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Paul Krugman @ Seattle Town Hall

This evening we attended a talk given by Paul Krugman at Seattle Town Hall sponsored by the Seattle World Affairs Council.  Krugman is the 2008 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and a regular columnist at the New York … Continue reading

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Canadian election

I watched some of the coverage on CBC and, wow, nothing much has changed in Canada.  A Liberal elected in Vancouver Quadra, NDPers elected in Nickel Belt and Trinity-Spadina, Tories sweep (almost) Alberta Peter Mansbridge brought out of cryostasis to … Continue reading

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