I've allowed myself to get too busy to blog very much for weeks now. And I've kept my mind away from politics for even longer (for the most part). Ok, that is not really completely true - it is something that I think about. But I've been far too depressed in the period immediately following the mid-term elections to put too much effort into it. Always the optimist (at least underneath), I had thought that we might see some changes after the current administration had an opportunity to learn through the elections.
No such luck. So rather than get too depressed about it, I just stopped spending very much energy on it all.
It will be a long time down the road before I have any idea on who I would support to be the nation's next chief executive. I have no idea if that will be Ms. Clinton. But in the meantime, I at least got to read something intelligent recently from a politician:
" 'I know how difficult the last six years have been, particularly because of this president’s foreign policy, his preemptive war in Iraq, his management of the war and his stubborn refusal to change course,” she said. “We have to get the balance right between defending our country and deterring those who wish us ill, as they still do, and ending the alienation toward us in the rest of the world.' " (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/us/politics/28clinton.html?em&ex=1170219600&en=cc8bfcb00fca2c3f&ei=5087%0A)
Earlier in that same article , I laughed at the following:
" 'When you’re attacked, you have to deck your opponents,” Mrs. Clinton said to some laughter and applause. “You can count on me to stand my ground and fight back.' " Somehow, I suspect that regardless of where we find ourselves in two years, I'll be entertained along the way. Though I'll probably be doing more crying at the ridiculous assault on American civil liberty until the time comes when we have the opportunity to elect someone who will defend something so precious.
"Instead of beer-bash Fridays, [VinaGame] hosts cafeteria karaoke contests...'We do that so people will stay in the office," joked chief executive officer and Santa Cruz, Calif., native Bryan Pelz.' " (http://www.thanhniennews.com/features/?catid=10&newsid=24747).
Vietnam is a relative newcomer to the World Trade Organization, and its economy is growing. And " ''[f]rom an American perspective, the last thing you think about is an Internet culture in Vietnam," said Henry Nguyen, managing general partner of IDG Ventures Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City, which invests in tech companies, including VinaGame. "This illustrates what modern Vietnam is like."
And it's not just in gaming and internet culture that places like Vietnam are seeing growth and change. Country after country is becoming high tech. Another recent article discusses the prevalence of cell pones in Vietnam - about two-thirds of the phones in the country are mobile phones. (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/01/29/news/nation/12807150356.txt)
In Vietnam and around the globe, the world continues to change. But as we know by now, change is the one constant that we can always count on.
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-LBEWpjdp_4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-LBEWpjdp_4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>
