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It’s Christmas Eve, and we’re in the middle of a recession. And if the pundits are right, it’s the worst economic slide since the Great Depression. In it, we’re spending less: Christmas sales are down, even online. For many, that merely reinforces the fact that our economy is hitting the brakes, which leads to despair. [...]

Perhaps it’s my Gen X sensibilities, but I don’t trust politicians or the American political process that much. I don’t publicly endorse candidates for any office, thinking that one day they’ll let us down. And after the 2000 elections, my trust in the American political process was buried deep in the sands of the ocean [...]

I just watched Sicko last night. Whenever I watch a Michael Moore film, I get riled up. I don’t have my wife’s gift of instantly picking up on faulty logic. And now you can see why I can’t win an argument with her either. So with Moore, I get taken in. I want something to [...]

A good friend found this fun article in the latest issue of Fast Company. It’s titled, “The Napkin Sketch,” and talks about how large corporations — such as Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Infosys, and Peet’s Coffee and Tea — are using napkin sketches to communicate large, complex ideas. Sound familiar?
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It’s refreshing to see the record participation of voters during the primaries. It gives this oft-cynical Xer slightly more hope for the country, as people care and weigh in to choose the next president. It makes me wish that I lived in a state that had caucuses, to hear a healthy back-and-forth about candidates and [...]

Okay, this entry may signal the beginning of this blog’s sharp decline….
But I just finished watching The Bourne Ultimatum, and it was amazing. It’s a smart, taut espionage movie in a great series, and I’m a sucker for spy movies. (Did you all know that I was named after James Bond? No joke, ask my [...]

I love a good spectacle. So now that Black Friday’s come around, I really want to go. At midnight. It seems that would be the best time for viewing. Perhaps I could find a tram or something to get a closer look: I’d get to see ravenous consumers roaming the mall from store to store, [...]

Jinhee and I were on top of our bed covers, staring up at the popcorn-stucco ceiling. We held each other, and said nothing. We were trying unsuccessfully to make sense of it all: 33 murdered at Virginia Tech. We mourned and prayed for the victims families and friends — and for the campus.
The ones who [...]

Remember the Emergency Broadcast System? When I was a kid, that eerie, creepy sound sent chills up and down my spine. We wondered if someone in the Kremlin pushed the button, and if we were all going to have to fight radiation-enlarged cockroaches for the last scraps of food on the blistered planet. All until [...]

BANGKOK, Thailand — For the past month, I lived in a kingdom. And there, they revere their king. Not Elvis, but rather the King of Thailand. At every movie theater or sporting event, the King’s song is played and everyone stands in respect. It’s hard to pass a street corner without seeing a picture of [...]

I’ve been unable to sleep well these days. So after about 15 minutes, if I’m not asleep, I wander back to the living room and start surfing channels. Sometimes, the remote takes me to FOX news — and like a bad car accident, I have to linger and catch a glimpse.
As I watched, a commentator [...]

With gas prices topping $3 per gallon out here in San Diego, it’s hard to hear that Exxon had a year of record profit, raking in $36 billion. And no matter where your political allegiances lie, when American servicemen and Iraqi civilians are being killed in a drawn-out war that has less ties to WMD’s [...]