Update

Hey readers, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I will try to squeeze in a few posts in the coming days, but on Friday I leave for a two week trip to London. Expect July and August to be good post months!

A note on the current state of affairs

It's so easy to get lost in they hype of the US election season. Yes, it's exciting, and yes this is the most important election in years, but there are other issues that are being overlooked (Gaza, Kenya, climate change, etc.), glossed over with often-shallow primary coverage and political entertainment stories ('What's Hillary wearing today?')...

Anyway I'll be posting with a higher frequency than I have in the past couple months. Look for coverage of the '08 election, as well as other pressing news and issues.

More posts coming soon...

I would like to apologize to all my readers for not posting much the past month or so, but expect regular postings from today on! I am also working on a series of essays about religion and other fundamental topics, and I hope we can have an open debate about these pressing philosophical issues. In addition, more eco-tips will be coming as we enter March.

Taking a break

I am taking a break from blogging. My life is currently very busy but I am drafting future blog posts, and will continue to do so during my break. Look for new posts a week from Friday (i.e., the 1st of February), although I may blog a bit before then.

I'm back

My flight was delayed (we ended up waiting four hours for a flight only a bit over four hours) so I got back home at 4:30 AM last night. Needless to say I haven't had a great amount of time for blogging in the past couple days, but I do have some plans for posts in the last few days of this year...

Conflict Map (Iraq slightly downgraded; Lebanon political turmoil; Afghanistan steady...)

[The ever-popular] 2008 US election poll leaders Pre-primary edition. this will probably be the last post on polls until the January party primaries (the rise of Huckabee the Baptist minister/Arkansas governor/homophobe, weightloss guru, etc. in Iowa, the vulnerability of Dem still-leader Clinton, the hope for Edwards in Iowa, GOP hopeful Thompson doesn't live up to dying hype; Edwards strong against Republicans in Iowa; Romney's religion factor)

Pakistan

Religion in US politics (Romney and the religion test; past couple decades of religious lobby)
http://economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10277230

305 men in legal limbo, the fates of whom will be decided by Americas highest court (Gitmo)

EU-Africa

McCain comeback

Ron Paul

Putin: Time's Man of the Year

My China trip:
-environment
-developing cities
-civilian population
-political freedom
-sites to see/landmarks/touristy stuff
-food/culture/history/etc

More messed up US foreign aid

Thailand's return to democracy (?)

Kenya and other elections

Israel-Palestine

Hope you all had a merry Christmas — if you celebrated it. I look forward to a new year of blogging.

Two week hiatus!

My trip to China
Today, Friday, I leave for my two week long trip to the People's Republic of China. I cannot assure any posts until the 16th of November. I don't know whether I will have the time or the internet access to blog while I am in China. (Check back a couple times during the later part of the trip and I may have some posts up courtesy of Beijing's internet cafes.)

My visit comes as the country is experiencing extreme economic growth, but also continuing practices that lead to environmental degradation and the violation of human rights and political freedoms. In addition China will be hosting the Olympics next summer.

At first I will be in the coastal city of Qinhuangdao; then ancient capital Xi'an to see the Terracotta Army and climb a mountain; then current capital Beijing to do and see a number of things. I'll post some of my experiences — including photos and analysis of the country's change and what I observed — after the trip.

Zai jian (再见) for now!

Blog Action Day + Bush's inept global warming policy

Today is Blog Action Day, a day for bloggers to focus on the pressing issue of the environment.

http://www.blogactionday.org/resources

Tomorrow, as usual, I will do an "Earth-friendly living tip of the week"; but today I will focus on the political, as opposed to practical, side of global warming...

Mr. President, define 'flexible'
At his own climate change meeting a couple of weeks ago, President Bush stated a vague plan that is far from a compromise with even the moderates on the global warming issue. The American president's biggest step to meeting in the middle with the rational people who believe in scientific data instead of what lobbyists and pastors tell them — and this should be an indicator of not only how stubborn this man and his administration are, but how blind their policy is — was speaking of 'flexible' (i.e. industry-written) greenhouse gas targets, which mean nothing. Bush is sticking with White House policy of denying global warming and the human impact on the earth, and occasionally making a side-comment on how America shouldn't have to save the world if no one else will. (Perhaps the last thing he wanted to do was start a scientific debate against him, but that's what happened.)

Mr Bush stressed that combating climate change should not damage the economy.

And he again hinted that the US would not commit itself to mandatory CO2 cuts.

A few points on President George Bush's climate change policy:

Bush doesn't to justice to the climate change issue;

He pussyfoots the important issue of global greenhouse gas caps;

He is trying to appear somewhat eco-friendly to an increasingly aware American and global audience

Bush does know that global warming will hurt the economy more in the long run than can even be imagined now, right? The costs will be much greater the longer America and the world wait to take action. It's amazing, but not altogether surprising, that such a person of power can value money, an artificial human creation, over nature, a target of man's massive destructive powers.

Pundits have asked if Bush's latest environmental moves are stunts or real, albeit very small, progress; for now I'm erring on the side of the former.

In Perspective featured in Slate article

In Perspective was featured in yesterday's Slate blog round-up!

... liberal "Clearthought" at In Perspective thinks Israel is only blaming victims, not the militants they're most threatened by: "Why do they think Gaza has grown so hostile? It was in part a result of Israel's horrendous policy towards the Palestinian territories. Yes, Hamas has brought Gaza to a new low, but why should regular people pay?"

Final results of the security v. freedom poll

Over a period of about one month, 11 votes were cast (see background). Nine voted that freedom was overall more important than security; two voted that security took priority over freedom.



One reason I suppose the vote count was so low was because of some technical errors. The poll usually didn't work when I tested it on several computers. I think Blogger (i.e. Google) still has some work to do on their Polls add-on. Technical problems and low voter turnout aside, this poll outcome illustrates that the majority of In Perspective readers — at least those who were able to get the poll to work and vote — favor freedom over security, a classic liberal mark. I will find a more functional, non-buggy polling service that works for everyone to use for future polls.

In Perspective turns 1!

It's hard to believe that one whole year has passed since the first post here on In Perspective. Over 530 posts have appeared on this blog, with many more to come. Thanks to all the readers; and here's to another good year!

More posts coming soon...

I've been really busy the past week or so. Expect September to be an active month for In Perspective, though.

Blog notes

I have re-enabled comments for this blog. Your thoughts or suggestions are always welcome!

You can vote in an unofficial 2008 American election straw-poll set up by Pajamas Media at In Perspective's "precinct". If you have a favorite Republican and/or Democrat for the '08 presidential election, this is a great way to see how they're doing with the blog-reading demographic.

I'll be continuing my series of summer vacations with a trip lasting from this Saturday the 30th (last day of June!) to the 7th or 8th of July. I do not know if I will have internet access where I'm going and I hope to relax regardless — hence this will be my relaxation trip. I will continue on blog post series Ideas about Democracy (see here) and intend to pick up on How to Talk to a Closed-Minded Person (see here) after my vacation.

My vacation schedule

Seeing as its already June 3rd, I want to let readers know when to expect fewer postings during this busy summer travel season. I'll be making a trip to New York City and Washington, DC on 7 June or so to visit family and explore the cities; I'll get back on the 16th. Also throughout the season — till mid-August — I will make several trips to upper Michigan (my relaxation trip) and Los Angeles (my culturally-minded trip). On most of those trips I'll be able to post to the blog. And now that it's summer time, I'll have more time overall to devote to the blog.

Thanks to all the readers. I will be picking up again on "How to talk to a closed-minded person" soon, along with other essays and projects. Feel free to email me with questions or comments.

2006, we hardly knew ye

Well, not really. But in remembrance of [what is now] yesteryear, check out a very long list made by RefDesk, a "2006: Year in Review". One of the most broad of those featured in that list is Infoplease's Review. Harper's has also published its Yearly Review.

Until I can make a good PDF of In Perspective: 2006 — aka "2006, in perspective" — you can download to your computer, here is the complete online, original compilation of all of In Perspective's posts — from 12 September to 31 December 2006. In the PDF version, I will also include some goodies (e.g. original writing).

Welcome, all, to 2007 (see this post too).

Indonesia always seems to have some kind of big disasters and news at the end of the year. This year, they had the plane crash and ferry sinking. Combined, the disasters have [probably] claimed hundreds of lives.

Also in international news, new United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has taken office, replacing Kofi Annan's 10-year reign at the top diplomatic post. The 110th United States Congress will be sworn in on 4 January.

technorati tags: ban+ki-moon, indonesia, java, indonesia+ferry, indonesia+plane, plane+crash, news, in+the+news, current+affairs, commentary, in+perspective, blog, year, 2007, 2006, new+year, year+in+review, united+nationa, UN+secretary-general, 110th+congress

2007

'Tis New Year's eve. I did not prepare anything special to celebrate and recognize the new year of 2007 and this past year of 2006. Tomorrow will be the first day of the first month of the 2007th year following the birth of Christ: 1 January 2007 AD. Wow.

Too many things have happened in 2006; and too many things are going to happen in 2007 — for me to prepare what would have to be a massive outline of the year and upcoming year's events, issues, etc.

2006 has also been the maiden year for this blog. In Perspective officially started on 13 September 2006, after I decided I did not want to hold in all my thoughts and opinions anymore — especially after the five-year anniversary of 9/11 just days before — and wanted to let them be known to the world. Thanks for sticking with me as we enter a new year, of, to push the cliche envelope, new beginnings, new opportunities. A fresh 365 days.

More has been found out than ever before about the incompetence and events unfolding in Iraq, with books like Fiasco (which I own), State of Denial (which I also own), Hubris, Looming Tower, The One Percent Doctrine, and many others revealing American policy at home and abroad (namely in Iraq).

This has also been a significant year for me, personally, though I won't elabourate for fear of becoming like many of the touchy-feely ultra-personal blogs I despise. If you want all the content over the past few months, plus more, you can download the In Perspective 2006 ebook (COMING SOON).

More postings of blog post series/ebook "How to talk to a closed-minded person" will begin this new year, though I have not set a target date for the final product because I do not even know how long it will end up being. Oh, one more thing: apparently I won the Time magazine Person of the Year award for 2006. Of course, so did everyone else. The winner: "you", largely because of user-generated content out of the mainstream from things like blogs and YouTube and Digg.

As far as current conflicts go as we prepare to set our mental clocks one year ahead... I introduce the new Conflict Meter:

Somalia is up in both news coverage and strife intensity;

Iraq is up in news coverage and up in strife intensity;

Israel-Palestine is up or level in news coverage, down in strife intensity;

Afghanistan is down in news coverage and level in strife intensity;

India-Pakistan is up in news coverage and level in strife intensity.

Shifting focus to American civil liberties — which are corroding — Slate has an article that lists the top 10 civil liberty violations [in the US] of 2006. Also, the very cool legal blog Balkinization has listed a compilation of its posts on "civil liberties, the War on Terror, and presidential power". It is great to have a blog that not only talks about important issues, but does so in an educated and in-depth fashion.

The buzz wrapping up this year is sure to be about Saddam Hussein, recently executed and still a hot topic. Not bad considering his PR guy probably got knocked down along with the Baathist government following the US-led 2003 invasion. He is still A1, front page material, and is the topic of enough tags and searches on the Web to make even Britney Spears or Tom Cruise (or their publicists) blush.

My New Year's resolutions are:

To continue to blog ( );

to blog better and more frequently with more targeted posts;

continue writing "How to talk to a closed minded person (if you must)" ebook/blog post series — which I lost the draft too;

to be more productive with my spare time; be better at time management;

introduce bog features like My Zeitgeist and develop In Perspective further;

and whatever else...

What are your New Year's resolutions?

Feel free to share by commenting or emailing me.

technorati tags: year, 2006, 2007, new+year, new+years, holidays, christmas, conflict, news, politics, blog, in+perspective, blog, resolutions, saddam, saddam+hussein, execution, saddam+execution, current, hussein, zeitgeist, clearthought, blogging, new+years+resolutions, personal, conflict+meter, ebook, in+the+news, iraq, iraq+books, civil+liberties, balkinization, slate

Blame it all on a rush of blood to the head...

Regretfully, I am sick — which is why I have not been posting as much lately. I know many readers will probably be out of town for the winter holidays, but I will be posting over the next few weeks, so when those readers come back, I may have some goodies posted. I just need to continue to work on my "How to talk to a closed-minded person (if you must)" blog post series/ebook. I am researching John Stuart Mill, especially the views expressed in his On Liberty and the ideology of Utilitarianism. If anyone has any special knowledge in this area, please send me an email. (For feedback, one can always reach me at my alternate email address by clicking here.) I want to bump my lengthy essay (et al) on the Democrats and the United States elections, so, if you have not read it already, check it out here. See most of my "recommended" posts here. One thing I forgot to add to my post giving the hindsight scoop on the midterm elections was that illegal immigration did not seem to be nearly as big of a deal as was thought, just thought I'd mention that.

Song stuck in my head right now: "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay; recently: "Imagine" by John Lennon.

UPDATE 16 December 2006 (1:19 AM EST): Well, still feeling bad. I just finished watching Chicago (the movie), which I had TiVo-ed a while back. I do wonder why we root for Roxie Hart even though we know she is guilty, self-centered, and corrupted by the pop celebrity atmosphere. I guess that's how Hollywood frames it; maybe its just modern pop culture's impression on us as viewers. Surely we are not free from prejudice...

A little feedback?

As you can see on the top and middle parts of the blog's right-hand sidebar, I have added two new things. One, on the top, is a link to a poll (I could not get the code to work) on what political ideology you view yourself as. The second change is in about the middle of the sidebar. I have added a little thing that tells you five of the stories I star (i.e. I think are cool).

Number one, is the placement of these items [or anything else on the blog] alright? Do you think I should get rid of them or anything else on the blog? If anyone has constructive feedback on layout, content, etc. than feel free to comment on this post.

Thanks.

My status; "Is the Swede a Human Being"

I finished Kite Runner and I am working on a blog post series — and eventually ebook — called How to Talk to a Closed-Minded Person (If You Must). I will be taking a short holiday the end of next week (Thanksgiving time, in the US); I can't guarantee I will be blogging then.

Here is an interesting International Herald Tribune article — talking about the book Is the Swede a Human Being? — on how Sweden's socialist-like welfare system (as talked about in this post) may actually make Swedes more individualized than those in a different governmental system (e.g. that of the United States).

Ever since the idea of nations and nationality gained serious popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries, peoples across the world have asked themselves that most basic of questions: Who are we? For Swedes, the answer has, for the last 50 years, included some kind of notion of collectivist semi-socialism, with their country the epitome of a high- tax, strong-state, cradle-to-grave welfare society.

But that self-image is being turned on its head. A recently published and widely discussed book, provocatively titled "Is the Swede a Human Being?" ("Ar svensken manniska?"), contends that Swedes are the opposite of collectivists: they are deeply individualistic.

As the authors point out, American individualism is more a matter of anti-statism than this Swedish striving for intrapersonal independence).

But the book's conclusion is that, in the end, the Swedish project has been surprisingly successful. As for the question posed in the title, the answer is: Yes, the Swede is a human being.

technorati tags: sweden, welfare+system, socialism, individualism, usa, united+states, swede, is+the+swede+a+human+being, ideology, governmental+system, government, personal, kite+runner, blog, blogging, blogger, weblog, in+perspective, clearthought, international+herald+tribune, book

Open thread & current blogging ideas

Intelligent conversation is welcome.
Talk about anything (just no spam!) by commenting on this post.

Questions or comments about topics or things in the news, feedback for me, general conversation, ideas and opinions... whatever is appropriate.


Just some of the topics I am looking at right now:

Democratic Republic of Congo (elections)

Iraq (war in; US roll in, Iraq Study Group; insurgency and gov't)

Borat (movie)

Bush administration

Terrorism (MI5 report of)

Middle East (Israel-Palestine/Arab conflict; Iran; Iraq)

US national politics (Congress; 2006 elections, 2008 elections; Dems and GOP)

Darfur, Sudan (crisis in)

Microsoft (Zune music player; Vista OS)

Global warming/climate change (politics of; science of; in general)

Afghanistan (Taliban resurgence; NATO in)

_______________________________________
Here is a more full list:
Blogging Ideas (as of mid-Nov 2006)

• 2008 US elections
  • Wrap-up of 2006 elections
  • Players in, factors of
  • Predictions and my views
    
• Iraq
  
  • Iraq Study Group and US policy
    
  • Insurgency and occupation
  • Humanitarian and govt.
    
• Afghanistan
  • Humanitarian and govt.
  • External/internal factors in strife
  • Ignoring of problem
    
    • Expecially in US and US media
      
• US foreign policy
  
  • Iraq
    
    • Relating to Iraq in general
      
  • Iran
    
  • N. Korea
  • Rest of Middle East
  • Etc.
    
• Democratic Party's road map for US; future of US politics
  
  • Dems and GOP; ideological and otherwise climate
    
• Fire paradox applied to terrorism
  
  • Especially in Mid East and terrorism, occupation
• Climate change/global warming
  • Small environmental problems (historical) compared to larger scale of climate change (modern)
    
  • Politics of

• 
  

technorati tags: open, thread, in+perspective, clearthought, blog, open+thread

Cloudy thought: the state of "clearthought" (I blame Hosseini and books)

My 'thought' is not as 'clear' as it usually is at the moment...

Right now I am immersed in a book called The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. It is a good book, but when I get into a good fiction book, I become very engrossed in the story. As a result, I am unable to do much else with my spare time — including blogging. I have not read a fiction book in a little while so this could just be a syndrome from withdraw of fine fiction. Anyway, I have made a list of topics I will be blogging about the rest of November. I will try to keep a balance between blogging about those fairly specific topics and the ever-changing current of events flowing through the river of news.

technorati tags: blog, blogger, blogging, weblog, in+perspective, kite+runner, khaled+hosseini, hosseini, book, fiction, current, in+perspective, personal, clearthought