• VIDEO: Objects spotted in missing plane search• VIDEO: MH370: China rules out 11 locations• VIDEO: Malaysia: Flight 370 went down in ocean• VIDEO: Searching for plane… and answers• VIDEO: Iranian MH370 passenger ‘wanted freedom’• VIDEO: Looking to past for Flight 370 answers• VIDEO: Still no results in MH370 search• VIDEO: Communication issues hurt plane search?• VIDEO: Morale remains high...
The search for flight MH 370
The hunt for missing flight MH 370 proved quite the media-frenzy fodder for CNN. What a marathon that network put on, despite the scarcity of any real news. That didn’t stop CNN from tagging every insignificant nuisance “breaking news” or from reaching out to drag every retired aviation “expert” back into the talking-heads fray, and asking them the same question in a hundred...
Angry. Desperate. Outraged.
The demonstrations are invariably reported as a reaction to government austerity initiatives, as if the absence of those measures would leave demonstrators with no reason to protest. But look at these photos. Look at the faces. From the young, who have virtually nothing to lose — no jobs, no savings, no future — to pensioners, retirees, the out-of-work and the...
Venezuela
This South American country of 29 million, which the American public knows little about but learned to dislike during the 14-year rule of the late Hugo Chávez, is in the midst of economic calamity, political violence and social unrest. Inflation is galloping along at nearly 60 percent. There are widespread shortages of basic foods and products. And, since February, over...
Thailand
As with so many nations of the world, Thailand is the sum of many parts, cobbled together over time by foreign conquerors or invading neighbors. Protesters who have been “occupying Bangkok” for the past five months are, in part, rekindling regional and ethnic divisions that have been simmering for decades. Yet, beneath the ethnic strife, calls for secession and threats...
Ukraine
Victor Yanukovich was the democratically elected president of this nation who turned his back on the European Union in favor of closer ties with bordering Russia. The western, Europe-leaning portions of the country, long struggling with a depressed economy, exploded — quite literally — with anger after Yanukovych chose Russia over the EU as the remedy for a bankrupt economy....
Nigeria
More of the same story, just a different location, different creeds and color, Nigeria, is both a creation and victim of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century British colonization. The amalgamation of two neighboring so-called “British protectorates” in western Africa, Nigeria, which gained independence in 1960, like so many other artificially-created former colonies, has an ongoing history of regional, ethnic and...
Uprisings span four corners of the globe
Take a trip around the world. Add up the conflicts. With each passing day you’ll count a new round of violence. Political tensions, ethnic strife, regional divisions, religious differences … the issues are complex. But at the bottom of it all is the bottom line. From general strikes and unrest in Argentina and Venezuela, where inflation is galloping at a...
Trendpost
In the absence of new entrants from the established parties, a viable third-party challenger, and/or a major wild card event, we forecast a Hillary Clinton vs. Rand Paul race in 2016. And, if the election were to be held today, considering Rand Paul’s hard line anti-abortion stand and vacillating position on same sex marriage, we project that Hillary Clinton would...
Whoever wins, you lose
April 2014: The next “Presidential Reality Show” has already begun. While no party members have officially announced they are running in the 2016 race for the White House, the obvious suspects are jockeying for position. Americans are constantly told they live in the world’s greatest democracy. And, with fewer U.S. products to sell overseas, Washington justifies exporting its brand of...