“Power is perceived as a reward for high stocks of merit rather than an outgrowth of a popular mandate.” This quote comes from Sebastian Strangio’s Hun Sen’s Cambodia, in his description of the age-old power structure in Cambodia. A well-connected Cambodian billionaire may have become rich on the back of all sorts of ill-gotten gains, […]
Author: whatimnothearing
AVOIDING THE NATURE-NURTURE MINDSET
Identical twins have different fingerprints. Let that sink in. They have identical genes and DNA, and yet their bodies are different. Fingerprints are therefore not entirely determined by genes. On the other hand, those twins didn’t learn from society to have different fingerprints. Neither a ‘nature’ theory (i.e. genes) nor a ‘nurture’ theory (i.e. learning) can […]
‘INTERNATIONAL’ HIGHER EDUCATION
A friend of mine once told me, “If a school calls itself an International School, it isn’t.” Developing countries around the world have imitated the Western model of higher education. This imitation can go to extremes, such as the graduation procession of the professors in their caps and gowns (even accompanied by Elgar’s “Pomp and […]
UPDATE ON HAMAS April 23, 2024
I wrote the blog about Hamas’ objectives almost two months ago. In light of recent events, I want to examine how it is turning out. The recent Iranian attempt to bombard Israel is evidence that Hamas is succeeding in its mission to draw the international players into the anti-Israel fight. But maybe Hamas is failing. […]
HAMAS’ OBJECTIVES Feb. 27, 2024
Why did Hamas invade Israel? Surely they didn’t hope to take any territory, and even more surely, they didn’t hope to defeat Israel. After raping women and causing mayhem and as much Israel outrage as possible, they went back into Gaza. What did they hope to gain by that? Did anyone think that Israel would […]
DO EVANGELICALS HATE JESUS?
In recent years, the evangelical right wing has embraced attitudes and behaviors 180 degrees antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. Where Jesus taught people to ‘love their neighbor’, evangelicals hate blacks, Hispanics, Jews, LGBTQs, immigrants, and anyone who does not look or think exactly like them. This behavior is pointed out and condemned a lot […]
Some Thoughts on Good and Evil
In 1987, in Detroit, an airplane crashed, killing some 148 passengers and six crew. However, in the wreckage, a lone infant was found alive. Overnight, the world media were filled with expressions of “God is Great!”, “God is all-merciful,”, “Praise God.” Wait a minute! Almighty, all-loving, all-knowing God just murdered 154 people in cold […]
WHAT’S WRONG WITH AFRICA?
I love Africa. I spent 12 years there, living in 5 very different countries — Nigeria, Lesotho, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, and Uganda — and travelling in most of the rest. In each case, I left, disillusioned at the lack of progress, at how African countries seemed to be working against their own interests. But each […]
What I’m not hearing about Targeting
The word ‘targeting’ is being tossed around a lot lately, especially in light of the ‘targeted’ killing of the aid convoy in Gaza. The IDF apparently used AI to inform them that the convoy had Hamas fighters in it. They therefore ‘targeted’ the convoy, in the sense that they hit the convoy they were aiming […]