It’s been a long and strange year. During the last 12 months, we saw Arabs rebel against their tyrants, the European Union (EU) badly mishandle a currency and debt crisis — and the U.S. government almost default on its debts. While the United States hardly has a monopoly on political dysfunc[...]
Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
December 7th, 2011 - 01:00 § in Foreign Affairs, Travel
Burma – The Golden Land, Part II
This week’s article continues a description of Burma started last week at: http://www.et1964.com/2011/11/burma-the-golden-land-part-i/ The Purpose of Money Nearby Shwedagon was a pedestrian bridge that led to another beautiful golden zedi, the Maha Wizaya Paya. Built in 1980 with the sup[...]
November 30th, 2011 - 23:59 § in Foreign Affairs, Travel
Burma – The Golden Land, Part I
Burma is a strange place. It is a deeply Buddhist country ruled by superstitious Socialists. It is both amazingly rich culturally and plagued by deep poverty. It held a democratic election in 1990 with results that were then completely ignored. Even more oddly, the winning party, the Nationa[...]
The Axis of Hugo
Earlier this year, I visited two countries that have distanced themselves from the United States — Bolivia and Ecuador. Their governments have aligned themselves with Hugo Chavez ‘s Venezuela — with mixed results. Although Soviet communism died more than two decades ago, the ba[...]
September 28th, 2011 - 01:15 § in Foreign Affairs, Travel
Nigeria: Beyond 419
For those who don't know the number, 419 refers to the section of the Nigerian penal code related to fraud. Unfortunately, Nigeria has become famous worldwide for scams, the abuse of oil money and endemic corruption. As always, the reality behind the image is much more complex.[...]
September 25th, 2011 - 01:23 § in Travel
Away in South America
My apologies for missing last week’s entry. I was away in Ecuador and Bolivia and unable to write/post. I will be back with a new article next Wednesday. Share on Facebook[...]
