Posts Tagged ‘politics’
Riel World photo – Monticello, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia A view of Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, near Charlottesville, Virginia.
Take a presidential road trip through Virginia
There has been a lot of politics in the news lately, and President Obama’s State of the Union speech is scheduled for Wednesday. So if you’ve got politics on your mind, or even if you’re just a fan of history, you might consider taking a presidential road trip through Virginia. That’s the topic of may [...]
How Twitter (and technology) can change a culture
There is no doubt that Twitter has its fans and its detractors. There is also no doubt that this social networking phenomenon is affecting the way that millions of people interact online, as well as the means by which information is distributed. But can Twitter also be having an impact on a culture’s communication styles? [...]
Twitter helps spur Iranian protesters
Wow. Just last Friday, I had a post about the role that the Internet and social media were playing in the Iranian election. Little did anyone know how this would truly explode in the days after the apparently fraudulent results of Iran’s voting were announced. Tens of thousands of Iranians have been protesting in the streets daily and [...]
The internet and social media have important role in Iranian election
It’s not news anymore that use of the Internet and social media was a key factor in propelling the U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama. In fact, Obama was so successful with these tactics, and social media is now so ingrained in the lives of millions of Americans, that it would be inconceivable for a future [...]
Travel is good training for politics
I’m a big believer in the benefits of spending time abroad. I think it’s pretty much a necessity nowadays for anyone who wants to work at the top echelons of a major corporation, and it really should be a requirement for anyone who aspires to national political office. Here is what I wrote about the topic in my travel memoir: [...]
Sufi Muslims and Islam
Could the West gain a foothold in the battle against Islamic terrorism by working to strengthen Islam? Yes, under certain conditions, suggests this intriguing essay in the Boston Globe. According to the author, Philip Jenkins, the West has a natural ally in the Sufi Muslim movement, which is a more mystical branch of Islam that has [...]
Why reading matters
Today, Barack Obama is being inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. Yesterday, though, there was a fascinating article in the NY Times about Obama’s reading habits. Written by the paper’s book critic, Michiko Kakutani, the piece explores how Obama has been shaped by the books he has read and, by extension, how books [...]
A new leader, a new era
What an election night! When was the last time that we saw spontaneous electoral celebrations breaking out in city streets, with horns honking and people dancing, hugging, and high-fiving strangers? Part of the celebration was due to the historic nature of yesterday’s election, but I also think part of it was a national release of [...]
2008 = 1980, 1948 or 1932?
A few months ago, I was of the opinion that this presidential election would shape up like the one in 1980. That year, voters wanted change but weren’t sure they were comfortable with the change they were being offered – that is, Ronald Reagan. Consequently, Reagan and Jimmy Carter ran close in the polls until near the [...]
Link between your decorating habits and your politics?
Does the look of your workplace or your living space reveal anything about your political ideology? According to this story in Live Science, it just might. A person may hide their political ideology from others, including from pollsters, but the researchers were delighted to learn that a peek into subjects’ living quarters or even workspaces [...]
How the French see America
It’s no surprise that the French have a complicated relationship with the United States. One that is certainly reciprocated, as the Americans and the French seem to both love and detest what is most unique about the other’s country. This love-hate dynamic is uniquely examined through the prism of politics in a recent essayby Steven Erlanger in the [...]
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Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.
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