Archives for the 'International Affairs' Category
Blogging for Burma Day
Via Ionarts. Facebook joins in too with over 325,000 members, but as Richard Bailey writes: “Of course, joining a Facebook group is easy; doing something, sustaining a campaign and making a difference are harder tests.”
Another thought today
Just like last year.
Yes, a broad education…
Every once and a while these stories come rolling around, especially when schools are about to start. I normally read them and then rightfully forget them. But remember yesterday’s “a broad education is the best preparation?” Now read this:
“I actually visited the Berlin Wall with my parents when I was in fifth grade,” said Jacob [...]
Meet the Dutch in Chicago
You might have already seen the tulips, artsy bike installations and windmills on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile these past weeks. If you were wondering, yes, that’s the doing of us Dutch people, in partnership with the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association.
Last Monday I went to the Dutch Consulate’s celebration of Koninginnedag or Queen’s Day at the [...]
Biographies, storytelling and the hero’s journey
Ben Wallace-Wells writes a fantastic article for The New York Times featuring David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s chief strategist, or by his own description the “keeper of the message.” The article demonstrates the crucial role of biographies, storytelling and the hero’s journey.
Barack Obama has currently two memoirs in circulation. The first, Dreams From My Father, is [...]
Extracurricular differences, part II
I want to return to the extracurricular differences for a bit. As I explained, when there is poor funding, there are poor activities. But what about well-funded schools?
If the after-school activities are running like they should, such a system might be favorable over the European system. Music and the arts are much more accessible for [...]
Extracurricular differences
A post by Jim Hirsch on Chicago Classical Music on high school athletics versus music education made me think about the difference between Europe and the United States.
In the United States, sports are mostly associated with schools and therefore, rivalries are mostly between schools. In Europe, however, sports are mostly associated with villages or city [...]
Thanksgiving, Austin and election results
Thanksgiving was spent in Austin, Texas where my wife’s family lives. I love going to Texas in the colder Chicago months (even though I wouldn’t call the 60s close to cold in November) and any holiday shared with family is priceless.
On Sunday, I met up with a good friend of mine who is traveling through [...]
The slippery slope of the election exit poll
As the election is drawing to a close in the Netherlands today, I read a news story earlier mentioning that Hans Laroes, editor-in-chief of the NOS, sent an e-mail to his colleague Harm Taselaar at RTL regarding exit polls.
RTL is planning to air the results of their exit polls 10 minutes before the closing of [...]
Dutch burqa ban tackles issue, not root
She’s at it again. And this time it’s strategically happening just before the general elections. Rita Verdonk is the driving force behind the Dutch cabinet backing a proposal to ban the burqa from public spaces.
“The cabinet finds it undesirable that garments covering the face — including the burqa — should be worn in public in [...]
