Last time I wrote here about the need to say less about Iran, and here I am today, talking about the same subject again. Well, do as I say, not as I ... never mind.The recent meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposed the gap between the two leaders on the hottest issue: Military action to stop Iran from becoming nuclear. While the two leaders fully agree that “all options are on the table,” the differences evolve around the priority of the military action over

Viewpoints March 13, 2012

In his video message to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Violence and Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity (March 7, 2012), U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued the following plea with respect to LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) rights worldwide: “We must stop the violence, decriminalize same-sex relationships, ban discrimination, and educate the public.” Speaking directly to LGBTs, the secretary-general emphasized with a shake of a fist, “Let me say,

Viewpoints March 13, 2012

Last time I wrote here about the need to say less about Iran, and here I am today, talking about the same subject again. Well, do as I say, not as I ... never mind.The recent meeting between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposed the gap between the two leaders on the hottest issue: Military action to stop Iran from becoming nuclear. While the two leaders fully agree that “all options are on the table,” the differences evolve around the priority of the military action over

Viewpoints March 13, 2012

This year under the guidance of the Seoul Office of Education a new elementary school and a new high school were opened in the Seoul area. While generally the opening of new schools would not be cause for comment, in this case the new schools are specifically for children who come from “multicultural” backgrounds. The high school is designed to educate “multicultural” teenagers who have dropped out of regular public high schools, while the elementary school will operate as a regular school but w

Viewpoints March 13, 2012

Just as an economic recession destroys capital, jobs and livelihoods, a social recession undermines empathy, solidarity and humanity - qualities necessary to sustain inclusive and cohesive societies. A reference to recession in relation to community engagement, a concept associated with social psychologist David Myers, might not be in tune with the fiscal matters discussed during Budget debates in Parliament. But it is pertinent to a broader concern relating to the perception of the current buzz

Viewpoints March 13, 2012

It is now a year since the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima disaster, the largest nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Inevitably, the episode has prompted renewed debate about nuclear power. Since Fukushima, important developments have taken place. Germany has decided to shut down its fission plants. Moreover, in a referendum, 95 percent of the Italian public opposed plans to restart a nuclear program in the country. However, the United States (where public support

Viewpoints March 12, 2012

It seems the effort by billionaires Charles and David Koch to take control of the libertarian Cato Institute is going poorly. “We are not acting in a partisan manner, we seek no ‘takeover’ and this is not a hostile action,” Charles Koch told Bloomberg News. When you are denying partisanship, takeover ambitions and hostile intentions in one sentence, you probably need to rethink your PR strategy. The Koch brothers have long supported Cato, which they helped found in Washington in 1977. Recently,

Viewpoints March 12, 2012

The heavier-than-ever brake China will put on this year’s economy attests to its greater determination to bid farewell to the past GDP-dominated economic model and improve the quality of economic growth and its effects.In his government work report, delivered to the National People’s Congress on Monday, Premier Wen Jiabao announced that the country’s GDP growth will be set at 7.5 percent in 2012 to “expedite its economic transformation and increase the quality of its economic growth.”The slowest

Viewpoints March 12, 2012

Internal unity and national consensus should be greatly emphasized in the Republic of Korea which, as one half of a divided nation, confronts a most bellicose adversary across a volatile border. But South Korea is torn apart by too many social and political conflicts in which extremist attitudes defy reasonable solution. Elections escalate the differences, with parties making the incorrect assumption that only criticism can help them collect more votes.The central administration, local autonomou

Editorial March 12, 2012

The Internet is all agog these days to speak about the “racist” behavior of some K-Pop stars. Those comments, ranging from outright denunciation to admonition, reflect the rapidly increasing popularity of Korean entertainers, but warn of possible repercussions that could affect their popularity itself.Setting off the recent controversy was Jenny Hyun, a co-songwriter for Girls’ Generation and Chocolat, who made a series of racist tweets about black people. In her blog, she said she was incensed

Editorial March 12, 2012

What a difference four years makes if you’re Hillary Clinton. In March 2008, though she would remain a presidential candidate for several more months and win some big primaries, she was defeated and discredited. Barack Obama was sweeping most contests and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was unacceptable for then-Senator Clinton to try to use controversial rules to wrest the nomination. Obama’s campaign outperformed hers, starting with the Clinton miscalculation that her support for the Iraq W

Viewpoints March 12, 2012

Apparently, it is reckless to think that India could bring about a rapprochement between Iran and the U.S. That, at least, is the view of some readers of my last column on India’s lenient attitude toward Iran’s nuclear program. They reprimanded me for being naive. For Iran, run by Islamic fundamentalists committed to the destruction of Israel, desires no such reconciliation with the country Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini indelibly called the “Great Satan.” Alas, such a view, which sees fixed essenc

Viewpoints March 12, 2012

The futurist Ray Kurzweil has famously predicted that humanity is approaching a “singularity,” a fateful moment when our technology becomes smarter than us and able to learn faster than we can, when it becomes the principal creator of new technologies and machines race far ahead of us. Humans may effectively fall out of the loop ― a species demoted, if not eliminated. For now, this world remains science fiction, at least at the level of humanity. But finance is flirting with a similar transition

Viewpoints March 11, 2012