Welmer

As we go through yet another confusing transformation of our role in society as men, the question concerning our true nature rises yet again. It is clear that there is a rejection of the “traditional” role, which has really only been the standard since the Industrial Revolution swept up most of society about a century [...]

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The declining profits and looming failures of newspapers and record labels have launched a massive effort to figure out how to make money off digitized content, which is so easily copied that it seems impossible to control. Some software companies have been looking into Digital Rights Management technology (DRM), while music labels have been using [...]

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I have been expecting kidnapping to become more popular for some time now. Given rising inequality and the fact that many people living in America (whether citizens or not) have less to lose than they did before, it only makes sense. However, what I did not expect, and never even thought of, was state-sponsored kidnapping [...]

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Although much has already been written on this subject, I still think it’s important to remind the bloggers and readers in my audience about how media is changing. Most of what we hear and read in what remains of the fourth estate is a lament for the decline of traditional media, which from my point [...]

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I’ve spoken with a few cops recently, and for the most part they are nice, normal guys. They’re just like any other blue-collar guys, with similar interests, problems and outlooks. However, what really sets them apart is how much they get paid. Cops make a lot of money. In Seattle, a rookie cop will make [...]

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Globalization was a euphemism for progress for decades, but now that the world is coming face to face with the problems it has created people are beginning to see what they’ve lost as their connection to local communities weakens and loses relevance. The big issues created by globalization, such as outsourcing, loss of industry and [...]

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There are a number of political factors pointing towards an emerging alliance between the incoming administration and the dominant Hindu majority in India. For one thing, the opposition to fundamentalist Islam can now be applied from a largely non-Christian vector — an alliance of New-Age liberalism, Neoconservativism and Hindu nationalism. The plurality of the Democratic [...]

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The fundamental difference between the Democratic and Republican parties lies in the demographics of their constituencies. Where the Republican base is homogeneous, the Democrats’ is diverse. Republicans are overwhelmingly white and working to upper-middle-class. Some Republicans are very rich, to be sure, but only a tiny minority. Quite a few Asian Americans are Republicans, but [...]

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McCain is taking a beating in the polls lately, and that probably does have a lot to do with the economy, but there are plenty of other reasons people do not want to vote for him. For one thing, he is a disagreeable character who regularly displays aggression, lapses into sarcasm and tells cruel jokes. [...]

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(This clip was produced by a boy as a present to his father — very touching) The sustainability movement has a serious image problem, but to grasp this requires a shift in perspective. When one thinks of an ecologically-friendly and progressive society, what comes to mind are smart cars and Toyota hybrids gliding around hip [...]

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