A Promised Land

America as a Developing Country

American Nero

Trump's actions are execrable. His inaction is even worse.

If the Shoe Fits

Though dictator Ferdinand Marcos was deposed in the Philippines back in 1986, to this day many foreigners know him best for the 3,000 pairs of shoes accumulated by his insatiable clotheshorse of a wife, Imelda. Her collection was so bizarre, her greed so brazen, that it still astounds.

Imelda Marcos’s footwear symbolized so much about a duo that stole $10 billion from their country’s coffers: their corruption, arrogance, human rights abuses and indifference to the poverty and suffering of their fellow Filipinos. To top it all off, many of those ripped off by the rapacious couple remain loyal to their memory and family to this day.

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Enemies of the People

Health officials bear the hateful brunt of Covid lies. But finally the real enemy is on his way out.

From Norway to the Congo…

In Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, An Enemy of the People, a Norwegian doctor finds himself excoriated by his fellow citizens for informing them that the town spa’s waters are contaminated and put people’s lives at risk. Because revealing this information beyond the community could crush the local economy, he suffers scorn and abuse.

He and his daughter lose their jobs. His house is vandalized. His family faces eviction. He’s advised to leave town.

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A Thanksgiving Like No Other

Grief, giving, ambivalence and blessings, all at once.

A Thanksgiving for Giving

For many Americans, this Thanksgiving arrives with pain, loss, isolation and hardship. Covid cases and deaths are skyrocketing. One in eight adults report not having enough to eat in the past week; the figure is one in six for households with children in them. The situation in numerous other nations is yet worse.

For folks much more fortunate, Covid and Trump’s legacy (even in defeat) still make this a time of grief and ambivalence. In view of the unprecedented plight of so many in 2020, it might be particularly appropriate for the more fortunate to mark Thanksgiving with giving to worthy causes this year. So, for those able and interested…

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Secret Trump Video: “I Don’t Want to Go”

What really forced Trump to agree to the transition.

You’ve probably heard that Donald Trump has finally allowed the presidential transition to go ahead. He’s effectively conceding the election, though he will never admit it and will doubtless fill his time until January 20 with an extended temper tantrum.

What you may not realize is how this decision came about. The shift came in a heated meeting with Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s top aides, over the president’s strenuous objections.

This video shows what transpired.

Coup

We've been warned.

The First is One Too Many

I first witnessed a coup attempt in the Philippines on the morning of August 28, 1987, a couple of months after I arrived in Manila to work for the democracy-promoting, San Francisco-based Asia Foundation. On that day, a well-armed group of military dissidents nearly toppled the duly elected government of President Corazon Aquino. As tanks and armed personnel carriers rumbled by our office, my colleagues and I had no idea whose side they were on.

Just weeks earlier, a Filipino co-worker had proudly told me about joining the massive “People Power” demonstration that helped depose the country’s dictator in February of 1986. Now he and his fellow Filipinos began to look broken. How had so much turned so bad so fast for their democracy?

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