BRICS: Builds Bridges Back Better
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” —Mother Teresa The BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, was a success. It was by far the largest event that Russia has hosted in years, attended by more than two dozen nations, including…
Pacta Sunt Servanda (promises are made to be kept)
There are so many things happening right now, I don’t know how much I’ll be able to cover in this post, but let’s begin with the most fundamental principle in international law: Pacta Sunt Servanda. It’s Latin for “agreements must be kept,” which is one of the oldest moral and…
Unity is strength
“A leader must inspire or his team will expire.” —Orrin Woodward It is 3 o’clock in the morning, Sunday, and I’m speaking into my phone (voice to text) while I am laying in bed with a heating pad on my elbows. I’m supposed to heat them for fifteen minutes, massage…
Do you see what I see?
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” —Marcel Proust When I was a child, I could fly (in my dreams). I’d close my eyes and look within. Then I’d spread my arms and run. I don’t know how it worked, but…
Why does gold keep rising?
Less than a week after I was born, Nixon ended the Bretton Woods International Monetary System, whereby the dollar was backed by gold. Watch his speech televised on August 15, 1971, or read it here. Otherwise referred to as the “Nixon Shock Speech” or the “Bretton Woods Speech,” Nixon outlined…
My Story is about Belonging
My presentation went well, but not as well as I would have liked. I forgot to say certain things, and I totally blanked on my last critical sentence. “As Maya Angelou said…” I fumbled around searching for it in my head. “Oh goodness, she said…oh goodness, she said…” My slides…
Peace Corps: The Pinnacle of the Democratic Party
“Too often we… enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”—John F. Kennedy I’m back! My boys are settled into college, and I’m still struggling with elbow tendinosis and SI joint pain. So I’ve had to quit the gym and stopped running for now. Instead, I’ve been walking…
Time for a rest
“I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have, and I want to administer it intelligently.” –Ernest Hemingway I have medial epicondylitis on both elbows and only rest can heal me. I thought I could push through and…
Real Estate v. Nature
“Nature is the source of all true knowledge. She has her own logic, her own laws, she has no effect without cause nor invention without necessity.” —Leonardo da Vinci There are endless things to read, watch, learn, and understand. Sometimes it’s our choice to learn things, just for fun, and…
The Oedipus complex in society
“Our city—look around you, see with your own eyes—our ship pitches wildly, cannot lift her head from the depths, the red waves of death . . . Thebes is dying.”—Oedipus the King I didn’t watch the presidential debate, as I was prepping for my son’s graduation party. I heard about…