Sunday, April 30, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
France leads the way in economic education
What a great idea! This type of game should be offered by every country. I think it is telling that one of the most socially democratic states in the world was the one to come up with this.
I have, for some time, been trying to enlighten people that in order to spend more you have to either increase the pie or cut from somewhere else. For instance, W cut taxes and raised spending. It doesn't take a genius to see how that fails to work out. Likewise, those who push for national healthcare don't have a way to fund it (other than taxing the rich).
I have, for some time, been trying to enlighten people that in order to spend more you have to either increase the pie or cut from somewhere else. For instance, W cut taxes and raised spending. It doesn't take a genius to see how that fails to work out. Likewise, those who push for national healthcare don't have a way to fund it (other than taxing the rich).
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen...
I give you Glenn Hubbard, Dean of Columbia Business School!
(click on the Dean Dean Baby link at the bottom)
(click on the Dean Dean Baby link at the bottom)
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Some interesting stuff
Courtesy Marginal Revolution...
This is great...someone should examine the behavior behind these transactions.
I'm not sure what this says about this country...see for yourself.
I haven't read it yet, but this seems like a very interesting study. I will comment later.
This is great...someone should examine the behavior behind these transactions.
I'm not sure what this says about this country...see for yourself.
I haven't read it yet, but this seems like a very interesting study. I will comment later.
Nigeria rising
Nigeria has paid off its Paris Club debt and will undoubtably pay off its World Bank debt in the next few years. This is very exciting as it will give us a chance to see whether debt is a truly limiting factor. Nigeria is an anomaly however because it holds great oil wealth and has produced some sustainable growth despite large debts. I shall watch the proceedings with great interest. I only hope President Obasanjo does not rewrite the constitution to run for a 3rd term. The consequences can only be bad.
Sister Karen
I think she was my fifth grade math teacher at Mt. St. Joseph's. I am having a hard time remembering exactly what capacity she held. I remember that she was one of the teachers who wouldn't let you get away with messing around. She may not have touched my life much, but she certainly touched a few others.
I guess I am jaded by living in a city with hundreds of murders a year, so when the Buffalo News reports 50 or so murders is a problem, I have a hard time believing it. But, every one of those is sad and senseless and Sister Karen's passing even more so.
What an extraordinary woman she was. The rest of us can only hope someone has something half as nice to say about us when we are gone.
I guess I am jaded by living in a city with hundreds of murders a year, so when the Buffalo News reports 50 or so murders is a problem, I have a hard time believing it. But, every one of those is sad and senseless and Sister Karen's passing even more so.
What an extraordinary woman she was. The rest of us can only hope someone has something half as nice to say about us when we are gone.
Friday, April 21, 2006
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Good show on mental illness
I have been fortunate to have done a lot of work with the National Alliance on Mental Illness over the past few years. They do some of the most important advocacy work in the world. Yesterday, there was a really great show on Fresh Air on mental illness. I have included a link here. It was on a subject I have thought about a lot: society's drive to protect privacy and personal choice in medical matters has driven us to a point where those with mental illness cannot get help because they do not believe they are ill. So they end up in jail etc. Listen to it...you'll learn how hard it is for familes of those with mental illness.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
The Jasons and more
Some interesting stuff I have read:
I came across this article which is about a semi-secret organization of mathematicians and scientists who help run policy decisions. Rather like the Rand Corporation (for realists) and the illuminati (for conspiracy theorists).
This paper in the upcoming Cato Journal is very interesting. It questions the usefulness of aid in development. I would argue that certain types of aid are necessary. We struggled with this issue at the NAFAC conference. Aid has a tendency to cause dependency and does not promote self sufficiency. However, when a state has no infrastructure and no credit, what can it do?
An article from the Atlantic Monthly about Chavez, courtesy Jackie. I am very interested in Chavez and had some great discussion with Midshipman Paul Angelo about it. I think it is interesting, given all of his methods, that he was able to topple the oligarchy. The argument is that he is creating his own. The realy interesting part is the question it raises: being that he has been pretty much the only leader who has managed to radically change the social structure of a developing state in post colonial Africa and South America, is this the only way to really affect change?
I came across this article which is about a semi-secret organization of mathematicians and scientists who help run policy decisions. Rather like the Rand Corporation (for realists) and the illuminati (for conspiracy theorists).
This paper in the upcoming Cato Journal is very interesting. It questions the usefulness of aid in development. I would argue that certain types of aid are necessary. We struggled with this issue at the NAFAC conference. Aid has a tendency to cause dependency and does not promote self sufficiency. However, when a state has no infrastructure and no credit, what can it do?
An article from the Atlantic Monthly about Chavez, courtesy Jackie. I am very interested in Chavez and had some great discussion with Midshipman Paul Angelo about it. I think it is interesting, given all of his methods, that he was able to topple the oligarchy. The argument is that he is creating his own. The realy interesting part is the question it raises: being that he has been pretty much the only leader who has managed to radically change the social structure of a developing state in post colonial Africa and South America, is this the only way to really affect change?
Friday, April 14, 2006
NAFAC 46
So I just got back from a week in Annapolis at the Naval Academy Conference on Foreign Affairs. This year's theme was Africa-Turning Attention into Action. I attended The Student Conference on United States' Affairs at West Point in November 2004 and ever since then I have lobbied to go to NAFAC. Leading up to this I was worried because I have so much work to do, including my thesis, but I am really glad I went.
SCUSA and this conference are among the best highlights of my professional life. The people I met and the speakers I heard were some of the most intellectually stimulating people I have ever been around. Unlike most conferences, the central part of these events are the roundtables that we are split into daily. There were 12 roundtables and we had 7 roundtable sessions at NAFAC. Each roundtable has a theme; mine was economic development, surprise! Our table included: Helen Adeosun from Notre Dame, Weston Lemay from Claremont McKennna, Mellissa Hargleroad from Boston College, Midshipman Joe Carrelli, Clark Rachfal from Towson, Alex Cree from USC, Padden Murphy from Tufts, Jon Kording from Waynesboro College, Midshipman Tim O'Connor, Midshipman David Haines, Major Grant Goodrich USMC, Anastasysia Kutelvas a student at College of Staten Island from Uzebekistan, and Jared Licina a Fulbright Scholar from South Africa studying at NYU. We spent 2 hours each session hashing over the various economic and development issues facing African states.
What really made this so unique was the intellectualism that went on. Each roundtable session was followed by various speakers and events. In between sessions we continued to debate and discuss, not only with each other, but with members of other tables to see what they had been discussing. Just an example of how great this was...I came back from the bars at 1 AM the last night. We were finished with the conference and everyone was departing in the morning. I found myself at 4AM sitting in the lobby of the hotel, passing a bottle of wine, with 20 people or so discussing the presence of China in Africa and the US's real motivations in its dealings with China in Africa.
The speakers included:
Vice Admiral Rodney P Rempt, Superintendent of the Naval Academy. He spoke at the banquet on Africa's relevance to national security. He also hosted us at his house for a reception for National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, whom I met!
Dr. William Miller, Dean and Provost of the Naval Academy. His speech was general and intended as a brief welcome to NAFAC and the Academy.
Dr. Robert Rothberg: Director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He was fairly good and made some good points about corruption.
The keynote address was General Carlton Fulford, USMC Ret. The Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. He was very good and spoke to the unique problems in Africa such as the disparate languages, most in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.
The Egyptian Ambassador Nabil Fahmy. Who was brief and vague.
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. His speech was the same crap you have heard from Bush over and over. I think he has the same writer. But the questioning was good and he made some really good points about the importance of empowering women, although Olumide, a Nigerian delegate told me that women's roles in many African states are different and wield a lot of power in non-Muslim states where they operate within certain social norms. It was a bit of a surprise that no one asked about domestic spying though!
The panel discussion sucked. The moderator did not keep the panelists on track and spent so much time on his own questions that none of the mids or delegates got to ask any questions. Also, one of the panelists asked the audience, like a bunch of grade schoolers: Does anyone know where Darfur is? Know your audience asshole.
Moderator: Dr Stephen Wrage
Panelists included Dr Umunna Orijiako, Ambassador from Nigeria.
The final Banquet address was by far the best part of the conference. The speaker was Dr Princeton Lyman, former ambassador to South Africa and Nigera and currently the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
I had a wonderful time and did not want to leave. I made many friends and met tons of unbelieveably interesting people from the US, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Niger, India, Pakistan, Japan, China, Mexico, France, El Salvador, DR Congo, Canada, UK, etc etc. Also, Midshipman Paul Angelo, 2006 Rhodes Scholar.
SCUSA and this conference are among the best highlights of my professional life. The people I met and the speakers I heard were some of the most intellectually stimulating people I have ever been around. Unlike most conferences, the central part of these events are the roundtables that we are split into daily. There were 12 roundtables and we had 7 roundtable sessions at NAFAC. Each roundtable has a theme; mine was economic development, surprise! Our table included: Helen Adeosun from Notre Dame, Weston Lemay from Claremont McKennna, Mellissa Hargleroad from Boston College, Midshipman Joe Carrelli, Clark Rachfal from Towson, Alex Cree from USC, Padden Murphy from Tufts, Jon Kording from Waynesboro College, Midshipman Tim O'Connor, Midshipman David Haines, Major Grant Goodrich USMC, Anastasysia Kutelvas a student at College of Staten Island from Uzebekistan, and Jared Licina a Fulbright Scholar from South Africa studying at NYU. We spent 2 hours each session hashing over the various economic and development issues facing African states.
What really made this so unique was the intellectualism that went on. Each roundtable session was followed by various speakers and events. In between sessions we continued to debate and discuss, not only with each other, but with members of other tables to see what they had been discussing. Just an example of how great this was...I came back from the bars at 1 AM the last night. We were finished with the conference and everyone was departing in the morning. I found myself at 4AM sitting in the lobby of the hotel, passing a bottle of wine, with 20 people or so discussing the presence of China in Africa and the US's real motivations in its dealings with China in Africa.
The speakers included:
Vice Admiral Rodney P Rempt, Superintendent of the Naval Academy. He spoke at the banquet on Africa's relevance to national security. He also hosted us at his house for a reception for National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, whom I met!
Dr. William Miller, Dean and Provost of the Naval Academy. His speech was general and intended as a brief welcome to NAFAC and the Academy.
Dr. Robert Rothberg: Director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He was fairly good and made some good points about corruption.
The keynote address was General Carlton Fulford, USMC Ret. The Director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. He was very good and spoke to the unique problems in Africa such as the disparate languages, most in Sub-Saharan Africa alone.
The Egyptian Ambassador Nabil Fahmy. Who was brief and vague.
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. His speech was the same crap you have heard from Bush over and over. I think he has the same writer. But the questioning was good and he made some really good points about the importance of empowering women, although Olumide, a Nigerian delegate told me that women's roles in many African states are different and wield a lot of power in non-Muslim states where they operate within certain social norms. It was a bit of a surprise that no one asked about domestic spying though!
The panel discussion sucked. The moderator did not keep the panelists on track and spent so much time on his own questions that none of the mids or delegates got to ask any questions. Also, one of the panelists asked the audience, like a bunch of grade schoolers: Does anyone know where Darfur is? Know your audience asshole.
Moderator: Dr Stephen Wrage
Panelists included Dr Umunna Orijiako, Ambassador from Nigeria.
The final Banquet address was by far the best part of the conference. The speaker was Dr Princeton Lyman, former ambassador to South Africa and Nigera and currently the Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
I had a wonderful time and did not want to leave. I made many friends and met tons of unbelieveably interesting people from the US, Germany, Sweden, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Niger, India, Pakistan, Japan, China, Mexico, France, El Salvador, DR Congo, Canada, UK, etc etc. Also, Midshipman Paul Angelo, 2006 Rhodes Scholar.
Friday, April 07, 2006
United 93
I was tooling around on Slate and found this article on the coming movie United 93. I did not read it first, but jumped straight to the clip. I have to say that I was unprepared for the emotions that it raised in me. I immediately knew that it was an account of one of the 9/11 planes, but by the end I found myself running through the emotions I felt that day. I did not think that I still harbored such strong feelings about it.
Having said that I was amazed at how close this movie follows on the heels of an event like that. The Slate article points out that Pearl Harbor came out 50 years after the event. Although I think that this move is bold and provacative (in a good way), it really cuts through some of the barriers of what we consider appropriate. I can only imagine that people with a much more personal connection to the events of 9/11 would feel much more than I did.
I might see this movie. As some of you know I don't say that often. I think that its value lies in the fact that it forces you to confront feelings still raw and makes one reflect upon the past 5 years in terms of what has and has not been done to prevent terrorism by the Bush Administration. On the other hand, this movie could also spark a new upwelling of xenophobia and anti-foreign sentiment leading to further debacles such as the Dubai ports deal.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
Having said that I was amazed at how close this movie follows on the heels of an event like that. The Slate article points out that Pearl Harbor came out 50 years after the event. Although I think that this move is bold and provacative (in a good way), it really cuts through some of the barriers of what we consider appropriate. I can only imagine that people with a much more personal connection to the events of 9/11 would feel much more than I did.
I might see this movie. As some of you know I don't say that often. I think that its value lies in the fact that it forces you to confront feelings still raw and makes one reflect upon the past 5 years in terms of what has and has not been done to prevent terrorism by the Bush Administration. On the other hand, this movie could also spark a new upwelling of xenophobia and anti-foreign sentiment leading to further debacles such as the Dubai ports deal.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Women's NCAA Basketball Championship
Although I have my problems with Title IX, the Maryland's women's basketball team has been so much more fun lately to watch than the men. Actually, Brenda Frese's team reminds me of Gary Williams' scrappy, overachieving national champion Terps.
So the number 1 team in the country, North Carolina, ended their season 33-2. Not a bad year! Their only two losses come at the hands of the Terps. So Maryland bounced them in the Final Four and will go on to play Duke for the national championship. Duck Fuke!!
So the number 1 team in the country, North Carolina, ended their season 33-2. Not a bad year! Their only two losses come at the hands of the Terps. So Maryland bounced them in the Final Four and will go on to play Duke for the national championship. Duck Fuke!!
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Thought of the day....
Grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Yeah its a cliche, but when you really think about it...
to accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Yeah its a cliche, but when you really think about it...
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