Category Archives: Authors

Diversity and Speech No. 46: The Art of Turning 90 – by Carlos Cortés 

I never really thought much about turning 90.  That is, until April 6, 2023, the day I turned 89.  That’s when my daughter, Alana, asked me the life-altering question:  “Dad, what are you going to do special for your 90th birthday?”

“As little as possible,” I responded in my best bah, humbug voice.  “Maybe Laurel and I will go to Del Taco.”  Anything to avoid the deluge of obligatory phone calls and discordant group renditions of “Happy Birthday.” 

Continue reading Diversity and Speech No. 46: The Art of Turning 90 – by Carlos Cortés 

Comparisons of Anti-Vietnam War Protests and Pro-Palestinian Protests – by Marc Brenman

Recently I was asked to compare and contrast the Anti-Vietnam War Protests of the mid to late 1960’s and early 1970’s with the current Pro-Palestinian, Pro-Gaza, and Anti-Israel protests, largely on college campuses. I was very active in activities against the War in Vietnam while in college and graduate school. I have some regrets at some of the stupid things I said and did. Therefore I try to understand the current demonstrators. I had a ox being gored—fear of being drafted. Thus, I had a personal stake in the actions. Today’s students have no such stake. It is especially notable that most of the groups opposing Israel’s stance in the Gaza War have no stake whatsoever in that part of the world. 

Continue reading Comparisons of Anti-Vietnam War Protests and Pro-Palestinian Protests – by Marc Brenman

Again, cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face – by Terry Howard

I chuckled at the news a few years ago about farmers who whined and bellyached about those “illegals” flooding the borders – southern borders, of course. Well, those tax-paying “illegals” apparently got the message because over a relatively short period of time their numbers of crossings plummeted. 

Well, to the surprise of those forward-looking farmers, that summer much of their crops rotted in the sun because “illegals” were no longer available to pick them, and “real Americans” took a pass on those jobs.

Continue reading Again, cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face – by Terry Howard

Catalyzing Inclusive Urban Economies- by Ainesh Dey

The Dynamics of Urban Economies in India 

 In the rapidly changing landscape of urban economies in India, nuanced civic engagement, enhanced transparency, accountability, and representation have come to the forefront as significant issues. This piece seeks to investigate the shift in the public administration’s discourse from a traditional solution to a more collaborative one  with the aim of creating  inclusive and sustainable policy frameworks.

The prospect of nuanced civic engagement in democratic processes plays an important role in spearheading transparency, accountability and representation. It also strengthens  the overall socio-political and economic character of contemporary administrative discourse. At a time when we are experiencing a paradigm shift from traditional redressal of grievances to instances of collaborative solution building, considerable emphasis has been laid on the effective streamlining of policy frameworks, thereby making them more inclusive and sustainable.

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Diversity and Speech Part 44: Generations of Gender Talk – by Carlos Cortés

Keeping up with the ongoing changes in diversity language has become a matter of lifelong learning.  For a near-nonagenarian  (I turn 90 on April 6), this means continuous learning as well as relentless unlearning.  That is, trying to unlearn old uses of language that decades of repetition have deeply wired into my brain.

Take gender.  Growing up in 1940’s Kansas City, Missouri, I learned that men were men and women were women.  I inhabited a world of man talk and woman talk, men’s jobs and women’s jobs, men’s clothes and women’s clothes.  It wasn’t much different in college during the 1950’s.   We were men and women, not cisgender or transgender men and women. 

Continue reading Diversity and Speech Part 44: Generations of Gender Talk – by Carlos Cortés

 DIPLOMACY IN THE INDO PACIFIC – by Ainesh Dey

 THE RISE OF MINILATERALISM    


INTRODUCTION

 The present geopolitical landscape has witnessed a seemingly drastic transition, with the widespread emergence of multifarious groupings, popularly referred to as “Minilaterals”, premised upon the imperative understanding of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and shared threat perceptions, with regards to numerous strategically viable areas. The growing realization of the virtual deficiencies of singular organizations in combating regional challenges through calibrated options and the pronounced infringements of broader strategic interests, have accentuated the need for the constitution of such multilateral organizations.    

 The Indo Pacific replete with a wider array of opportunities to broaden international partnerships, has emerged as the bastion of profound diplomatic engagements thereby taking shape as one of the most coveted realms of contemporary international relations . Kicking off proceedings with the actively revamped  Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD), a brainchild of the United States, integrating presently developing  proponents of India, Japan and Australia into the fold of strengthened commitment against Chinese belligerence, this rapidly evolving phenomenon of “Minilateralism”, has remained manifest in the recently constituted AUKUS (Australia, UK and the US ) and the renewed fervour of the  Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), skewed towards pursuing narrow and monolithic interests of international consolidation.     Continue reading  DIPLOMACY IN THE INDO PACIFIC – by Ainesh Dey

Why not a “Sully” Sullenberger for President? – by Terry Howard

Some voters are burned out on outrage!” 

That’s the recent headline in a national publication. That outrage? The eyebrow raising rancor, silliness and general awfulness surrounding the upcoming presidential election.

And the truth is that if we strike out the first four letters in the word “outrage” what’s left are three letters many voters are particularly burned out on…. age…as in President Joe Biden’s age! Count yours truly among them. Shucks, if I had a dollar for every time Biden’s age is cited in the news, I could purchase a luxurious mansion in Miami, Malibu (or, eh, Mar-a-Lago). 

Continue reading Why not a “Sully” Sullenberger for President? – by Terry Howard

Uncovering the Green Truth: The Role of Espionage in Environmental Politics – by Ainesh Dey and Jhanvi Jain

The Geo-strategic Premise of Environmental Espionage – Abstract

In current times with the rise in environmental crises like global warming, deforestation, and wildfires in the geopolitical scenario, it becomes imperative to collaborate and cooperate with other nations to find solutions to such crises at the global level. However, with every nation’s ulterior motive being involved, sharing environment or resource-related information can prove to be hazardous for the various nations and states especially in the international sphere.

The larger relationship between environment-related information, global partnership, and the possibility of espionage then becomes intertwined. Moreover, this delicate intertwining of these seamlessly connected dynamics of international relations, yet the divergently different motives with which each nation-state might be cooperating highlights the transition in international relations, the changing nature of espionage and the need to keep pace with these spaces.

Continue reading Uncovering the Green Truth: The Role of Espionage in Environmental Politics – by Ainesh Dey and Jhanvi Jain

Jewish Allies in African-American History – by Terry Howard

Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer are some of the many leaders who paved the way through the rocky history of the Civil Rights movement in the United States. But the movement would not have succeeded without the contributions of people from all races, among them philanthropist Julius P. Rosenwald, whose name is associated with hundreds of schools for Black students throughout the south.

But first, we should remember the many largely unreported Black/Jewish American partnerships in that history. Case in point is the relationship between Dr. King and close friend and advisor Stanley Levinson, a Jewish American.

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DEI, Religion, and Hate Crimes – by Deborah Ashton, Ph.D.

Introduction

Deborah Levine requested that I join her group on Black and Jewish Dialogue in 2021. Given today’s atmosphere, dialogue is crucial. Levine is the editor-in-chief of the American Diversity Report (ADR). She is a Holocaust documentarian (Courter, 2023; Levine, Untold Stories of a World War II Liberator, 2023), whom I am sure when she launched ADR never anticipated that diversity and DEI would be equated with anti-Semitism. Yet the cry has been aimed at academia and business (Cohen, 2023; Notheis, 2024) I am baffled by the cry to silence and dismantle DEI. 

Through my DEI journey and practice since 1991 in corporate America, DEI has been inclusive and provides respect and dignity to all across religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, physical and mental ability, and other demographics. I will provide some examples later in the article.

Continue reading DEI, Religion, and Hate Crimes – by Deborah Ashton, Ph.D.