Monday, September 30th, 2013
“Breaking rocks in the hot sun. I fought the law and the law won.” That’s how the song goes. And many men find themselves working for nothing, by ignoring the law. But most had no idea “what” the law was or that there even was one. I didn’t. No one even told me, no book
Wednesday, September 25th, 2013
Long before the word was invented, the world has been “multicultural.” And what’s more, it’s been multicultural in a real and meaningful way. Different peoples going about their lives in different ways. Each culture emphasizing a unique...
Thursday, September 19th, 2013
In my work, I sometimes rub elbows with the rich and powerful. Not long ago, I was doing some work for a multinational corporation based in Mexico and discovered something that perplexed me. The founder of this...
Wednesday, September 18th, 2013
Khun Anuphan, a 76-year-old Muslim fisherman from Rawai, sold a piece of ancestral land to developers for ten million dollars. He and his son, who brokered the deal, took the papers to his wife, Noina, for her...
Friday, August 30th, 2013
She was in her late twenties, with flowing brown hair and clear pale skin. I met her on my morning commute. The 880 from Oakland to San Jose is one of the worst commutes in the Bay...
Friday, August 23rd, 2013
“As a first step, I would see to it that things are called by their right names.” That was what Confucius said would be his first act if he were to govern a just society. He further...
Tuesday, August 20th, 2013
The Dickens of Detroit passed away yesterday. Perhaps the greatest writer of dialogue, even if you had never read one of his books, chances are high that you’d seen a movie created from one of them. They...
Monday, August 19th, 2013
I didn’t plan to get in a fight. I didn’t go looking for trouble either, but somehow trouble seems to find me. Well, that’s not exactly true, maybe I was looking for it just a little bit....
Friday, August 16th, 2013
When George Ayittey saw rock star Bono in the audience at a conference, he made a special effort to rip into the foreign aid establishment. Bono later told Ayittey that he liked his speech but did not...
Tuesday, July 30th, 2013
When I was a kid, my friends and I built a tree fort in the woods out behind the last suburb of town. On the front door we hung a sign that said, “No girls allowed.” Why...
Monday, July 29th, 2013
Apparently kids were pretty smart back in the day. At least at this Kentucky school, they were expected to know a bit more than ‘reading, writing, and rithmetic.’ Not only that, but I have it on good...
Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013
Evansdale playground had a brand new slide that went round and round like a corkscrew. It was so cool. I was standing at the top, and I could hardly wait for my turn I was so excited....
Saturday, July 20th, 2013
Man can live and satisfy his wants in one of two ways: either by his own labor, or by plundering the labor of others. Labor is the creation of wealth – it creates something which was not...
Thursday, July 18th, 2013
Why do people lie? I never thought about it much, but this past week I was put to the test. I forced myself to bite my tongue and not speak what I believed to be true. There...
Sunday, September 29th, 2013
The Diner from Hell
Majority rule isn’t all its cracked up to be. And why should the will of the many impact the will of the few, if the few cause no harm to the many? Is it freedom of choice...