American Politics and the World… Post #149: Fighting Back 7 Feb 201727 Feb 2017 Since Inauguration Day, the streets of US cities have been filled with protesters. Major demonstrations are being planned to follow up on the hugely successful Women’s March. Environmental, science, human…
BLOG… Post #138: Food Politics: The GMO Conspiracy 3 Dec 201627 Feb 2017 One of the longest-standing tricks of the corporate trade is to produce an item that is dangerous, breakable, or soon to be obsolete and then produce another item that will…
BLOG… Post #104 –Engaging and Apologizing: Two Exercises, Different Results 18 Jan 201627 Feb 2017 The art and wisdom of engaging and apologizing to adversaries was on display in recent days in two very different settings, one in East Asia and the other in the…
BLOG… Post #92: Two Cheers for Humanity 17 Sep 201527 Feb 2017 In the last few days the notion of a common humanity, a cornerstone of human-interest thinking, has received strong support from two very different but highly visible sources: Pope Francis’…
BLOG… Post #85: We Apologize 23 Jul 201527 Feb 2017 The following article originally appeared in Global Asia, vol. 10, No. 2 (Summer 2015), pp. 112-117, under the title “'We Apologize': Two Words to Embrace to Right Injustices." Apologies are never easy—not between…
BLOG… Post #71 –Should We “Balance” Threats to the Environment? 23 Mar 201527 Feb 2017 How does a US administration promote greater energy independence, protect its fragile environment, and make both oil executives and environmentalists happy? President Obama’s answer is to give something to everyone,…
BLOG… Post #59 – What Works: Engaging Cuba 17 Dec 201427 Feb 2017 President Obama has finally reversed what he called the “failed policy” of isolating Cuba, announcing today (December 17) the start of normal relations. “These 50 years [without official relations] have…
BLOG… Post #46 – Scotland’s Vote, Our (Possible) Future 22 Sep 201427 Feb 2017 Scotland’s vote for independence fell well short of victory. But pro-independence Scots will surely try again, just like les Québecois. From a practical point…
BLOG… Post #39 – What Works? Microfinance: Financing Dignity 11 Aug 201427 Feb 2017 Back in the 1970s, Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh had a brilliant idea. He would found a bank to provide seed money to poor people who otherwise would have no way…
BLOG… Post #36 – What Works? Person- and Planet-centered Development 22 Jul 201427 Feb 2017 The usual script for international development is the provision of aid—mostly in loans, occasionally in outright grants—by a “developed” country or international institution to an “underdeveloped” one. The money goes…
BLOG… Post #31 – What Works? The Courage to Blow the Whistle 26 Jun 201427 Feb 2017 American heroes come in many forms, and historically, one of them is acting selflessly in the public interest and in defiance of established authority. Daniel Ellsberg did just that in…
BLOG… Post #28 – What Works? Saving Young Lives 17 Jun 201427 Feb 2017 While living in Tokyo back in 2001, my attention was captivated by a US public television program on a cardiovascular surgeon in Phoenix who was making annual trips to Sri…
BLOG… Post #26-What Works? Good Neighbors Find Common Ground 9 Jun 201427 Feb 2017 It’s a powerful story of grassroots organizing. “Jane Kleeb vs. Keystone” details the tenacious efforts of one person in Nebraska to reach across the usual environmentalist-conservative divide in order to…
In the Human Interest - Mel Gurtov 