HMMM, IN CLASSIC centrist fashion, I was planning to split my vote in the U.S. presidential election Tuesday between Barack Romney and Mitt Obama. Sorry, neither side ever has a monopoly on the wisest policies for our nation. I'll take a merger of many approaches over dead-set dogma and doctrine.
But hearing an off-the-record panel talk involving White House politicos at Stanford the other night may have swayed me in one direction. The panelists were current and former national security and foreign policy advisors, including those involved in the biggest global issues and news events of recent years. Not surprisingly, they were clear and convincing that the President was the right man to lead our country into the new and scary global future. Having said that, policy-makers and public servants on both sides are well-schooled in posing and posturing for the public -- in this case, well-heeled Democratic donors. Political spin? Say it ain't so.
I'm convinced, though, after listening to these learned panelists and watching them in action at a reception. I plan to cast my precious ballot tomorrow morning for . . . .
HMMM, WHEN IT comes to the fate of the economy, I've always thought that casual, anecdotal signs beat the official data by months. Egghead economists may be smarter than this low-rent blogger, but I'll take my dismal soothsaying over their fancy forecasts any day. My totally unscientific take: I think the U.S. economy likely may might could lift off the rest of this year, through the holiday season.
SAYING THAT FALLEN soldiers make the "ultimate sacrifice" is a cliche, but sometimes cliches are spot-on, right-on, dead-on accurate. Instead of shopping on Memorial Day, thank our many veterans and soldiers for serving on our behalf, for a cause greater than a good holiday sale.
MOST OF US don't see the megatrends until they suddenly surface and smack us. Geopolitical experts have been saying for years, decades even, that the world economic order is shifting, that U.S. dominance will be challenged this century by our allies and rivals in Asia.Some in the West scoffed at the idea, or stayed stuck in denial. The latest blunt warning comes from former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. The era of Pax Americana will be succeeded by "Pax Pacifica," he recently told the Asia Society in New York.
"The world today is approaching a turning point of truly historic proportions," Rudd said. "Historical trends are by definition slow to emerge. They then gather pace, often with a sudden burst of momentum . . . often well before the political community and broader public opinion has fully woken up to the fact. And so it is with the global economic power of the United States of America. For the last 130 years the United States has been the world’s largest economy. Within the current decade, that will no longer be the case when China takes its place."
HERE'S A HUGE and possibly worrisome trend on the global education front. In the academic year 2010/2011, the number of international college students in the United States rose to a record high of 723,000, according to a recent report by the Institute of International Education. That's bigger than the populations of Seattle, Boston or Washington D.C. Most of the students hailed from China, India and South Korea, and most studied business, engineering, math and computer science, and the physical and life sciences.
AUTHOR JOHN KAO is the latest heavyweight business guru to weigh in on innovation in China, with a series of articles this week in CNN International's Global Public Square blog. In his 2007 book Innovation Nation: How America is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Kao defined such a nation as "a country that is mobilizing its resources in a pervasive and innovative way." After a long recent trip to Asia, Kao wonders if China -- not the United States -- will claim the crown as the first innnovation nation. He writes in CNN International:
Editor's note: This is a compilation of 9/11 photos from Flickr in recent years. Several have appeared in earlier blog posts, while others have been added September 2011.
Editor's note: A shorter version of this post ran last year on July 4th.
AS WE ENJOY fireworks, family and friends during the Fourth of July holiday in the United States, think of the billions of people abroad who suffer under authoritarian and repressive regimes. Under our flag, we can praise or curse our leaders, vote them in and out of office. We can pray to any god, or not pray at all. We can openly express our thoughts and opinions. We have the right to privacy, and the right to assemble. We can legally bear firearms. We can view any media of our liking. We can work for an employer, or work for ourselves. We can choose, when so many others cannot. And all because some old guys with extraordinary wisdom and foresight signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, breaking free of Great Britain and founding the world's finest nation. Chew on that this weekend as you chow down on burgers and guzzle your beer. And count your blessings that our borders harbor a free-market economy and rule-of-law democracy, with all of its strengths and flaws. It could be much worse. Happy Independence Day.
WELCOME, TURISTAS! Eat, spend, play! Despite the scary global economy, world tourism still is growing, says the United Nations. And Brazilian tourists alone are dropping $43 million a day around the globe, according to Time. Last year, they poured nearly $6 billion into the U.S. economy. Obrigado! "Indeed," writes Tim Rogers of Time, "despite U.S. visa policies that treat all Latinos as immigrants vying for American jobs and their piece of the American Dream, many are just tourists from down under who have already achieved their own Brazilian or Chilean dreams and just want to visit the U.S. and spend their money here."
