Archive for March, 2011
More God in America – Or More Money in God?
This article discusses the relationship between God and Money with America as an example of how Money and God influences our daily lives. From Australia to Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland, there is an increasing number of people who identify themselves as “non-affiliated” with religion. However this [...]
The Morphing of Obama
If you think there’s a difference between Republican and Democrat, if you think the choice is real, think again. Barack Obama won the presidency and the hearts of billions around the world by pledging to bring peace. His humanitarian rhetoric promised a new era in American foreign policy, away from armed confrontation and towards cooperation. But since taking office he has increased combat forces in Afghanistan, expanded our air strikes in Pakistan, shifted the fighting in Iraq onto hired mercenaries and local soldiers, and pledged his “full support” to the “heroic” CIA. Ah the huddles masses, hooped again. When will we learn?
Wealth and Inequality in America
Sociology looks at income and wealth and one of the repetitive insights of sociology is that wealth in unequally distributed, more so today than perhaps ever before. In these modern times we generate more wealth than at any time in history, yet we concentrate that into fewer and fewer hands. A few people live high, high, high on the hog while the vast majority suffer and struggle to even buy food. I suppose the growing number of poor people on the planet could always eat cake…
Pouring Gas on the Fire: Chavez Reaches out to Qaddafi
Libya is being torn apart by an intransigent tyrant who can’t see the writing on the wall. If Qaddafi can no longer remain in power, then he has decided to murder as many Libyans as possible before waltzing into retirement. Old habits die hard. Sensing that his comrade might be in hot water, Hugo Chavez [...]
Bill Gates is an Idiot: A Recipe for Educational Failure
In truth, Bill Gates probably isn’t an idiot. He did build one of the most successful software companies in the world after all. At the same time however his ability to prognosticate on post-secondary education seems questionable at best. The problems we, as university educators, face are well understood. We can’t do our jobs while the government is cutting our resources. This is like applying the logic of the assembly line to education. More product, less resources, more profit, less cost. Makes sense maybe in the business world but when we’re dealing with human minds does it pay to cut corners. If we want to remain competitive in a global economy, probably not.
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