Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Digital Social Contract, Part 1

The Internet King A lot of writers talk the web’s effect on how we communicate and collaborate and all kinds of other things. I’m more concerned with how the web is changing society and what it means for our future togetherness and apartness. Let’s drag up the old term “social contract” and stick the word [...]

Terrorism, poverty, and violence

It’s not that poverty doesn’t move them, but more correctly it is an interpretation of poverty that radicalizes (and is itself radical). When I started my studies at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies, I made the mistake of joking with a German colleague. We were discussing “terrorism” as a theoretical [...]

Five myths around disaster relief

Edward Brown, relief director for World Vision, debunks five myths around disaster relief. I offer my thoughts on each point in place of Brown’s remarks. This came in the form of a Facebook note: 1. Collecting blankets, shoes and clothing is a cost-effective way to help – When I worked with The 1010 Project, we [...]

Just peacemaking

This might be a bit like stream-of-consciousness, but I don’t want to spend time re-editing this later. It’s a workshop on the just peacemaking paradigm. Susan Brooks-Thistlethwaite (Interfaith Youth Core board member and former seminary president) gave us a brief history of the transition of the United Church of Christ into a pacifist church. The [...]

Kyrgyzstan Deux

Update: I’ve posted the Democracy in Kyrgyzstan research paper, in its entirety, on Google Docs. Given the current upheaval in the country, I thought it reasonable to finally get my keister in gear and display it. The research apparently did its job – I received an “A” in the course. Now it’s a matter of [...]