BALANCE of CULTURE

Brazil's New Culture Stipend

While many countries have been deemphasizing the importance of culture by slashing arts budgets, Brazil has just announced a unique policy expansion from the well-known "Bolsa Familia" program--a stipend for culture. Under this program, workers who earn up to 5x the minimum wage are eligible to receive 50 real (25 USD) per month for cultural expenses such as movies, books, museums, music, DVDs, etc. 

The program has already been passed in Congress and approved by President Dilma Rousseff, and will probably begin later this year. As a result, Culture Minister Marta Suplicy projects a spending surge of nearly $3.5 billion in Brazil's culture sector. 

This program fits nicely with Brazil's recent efforts to increase its education investment, which has been significant but still lags below the OECD average. 

How Should Think Tanks Evolve?

"Think tank" may be one of the mainstream's most evolving--as well as overused and misused--terms of 2012 (and 2011, and 2010 for that matter). It's always entertaining to hear the public's differing opinions on think tanks simply because most people don't have much access to how a think tank works or what transpires within these research communities.

Public policy think tanks are obviously supported by tax payers, so last week's announcement of conservative think tank Heritage Foundation appointing Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has many observers wondering if senior politicians heading these organizations is a trend that will continue: in other words, the traditional Ph.D. requirement to flourish in the think tank world may be on the decline. (I should note that the progressive Center for American Progress also is run by a policy director, Neera Tanden.)

DeMint's annual salary will skyrocket from $174,000 (Senate) to $1,098,612 (Heritage Foundation). It's precisely this kind of monetary issue that may bring more accountability to think tanks that some believe already receive too much taxpayer subsidy in order to exert a certain political influence or agenda. But think tanks are accustomed to scrutiny by their self-imposed networks of policy experts to world leaders, and so far have largely avoided broad public investigations (essential for conducting research that is as unbiased as possible or even non-partisan).

Although Ph.D.'s will probably always have a big presence in any reputable think tank, such traditional backgrounds may increasingly be meshed with researchers who have less traditional frameworks, and this should have a robust impact on the quality of research we can expect in the future. 

Now whether or not you think senior politicians should be running policy think tanks is another issue entirely...

Illegal Poaching Rising at Alarming Rates

Illegal poaching of animals like rhinos and elephants (for their horns and ivory) is growing at an alarming rate in Africa right now--even to the point where the gruesome practice is being questioned as security threat to the US. (These crimes are becoming such an issue that Secretary Hillary Clinton and President Obama intend to discuss the subject with regional leaders in their Asia trip next week.) 

Luckily, more governments are recognizing this proliferating problem. A South African court recently sentenced Chumlong Lemtongthai to a record 40 years in prison for his leading role in international rhino poaching. But charges against his equally despicable cohort, game farmer Marnus Steyl, were withdrawn with Lemtongthai's guilty plea.

PLEASE take a moment with this quick petition to reinstate criminal charges against Steyl. None of these animals have any way to defend themselves; we must educate the public and protect these animals through policies that are actually enforced by high-level arrests and convictions. Once these animals are gone, they're gone for good. 

 

Australia Commits to an "Asian Century"

Is this kind of bold educational initiative the result of having a female leader in power? It's still early in the process, but Australia is clearly preparing for an "Asian century." PM Julia Gillard has committed to 25 ambitious goals over the next 13 years for her nation to integrate with the "unstoppable" and "staggering" growth of their regional neighbors. 

All schools in Australia will partner with schools throughout Asia, giving every Aussie student an opportunity to learn one of four "priority" Asian languages (Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Indonesian). By the time students graduate high school, they'll be expected to have a solid foundational understanding of Asia, similarly to how most Western educations have up until now focused primarily on a European-centric knowledge base. 

Thousands of scholarships for Asian students will be offered, a useful exchange for all of the new diplomatic posts that will be established. In addition, one-third of company higher-ups and senior civil workers will be required to have a "deep knowledge" of Asia. Gillard sounds really serious about this Asia-centric approach. 

This is a profoundly progressive way of broadening public student education--so cutting-edge that I wonder if we should attribute such innovation to the fact that the country's PM is a woman. Either way, I predict Australia's image and influence will enjoy a considerable boost as it attaches its values with an Asian perspective. 

(Meanwhile in the US, many are still debating if our schools should teach creationism or evolution.)

Candy Checks Mitt

Regardless of our opinions on whether Candy Crowley overstepped her role as moderator (or "facilitator") during the Libya portion of the presidential debate last night, the bottom line remains: the facts do matter.

 

 

Irish Perspective on The Korean Peninsula

Although Irish culture can be readily found around South Korea at this point (that's a popular restaurant in Seoul in the photo), this sounds like a first: a five-person delegation from Ireland will arrive in Seoul to discuss North-South relations with senior officials at South Korea's unification ministry next week. 

Makes sense--not only are the Irish familiar with living a divided existence both physically and politically (Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), Koreans have been casually referred to as the "Asian Irish" for quite some time now (though I've also heard of other comparisons such as the "Asian Italians" and recently even the "Asian Dutch"). The reasons for these comparisons, especially the Irish example, extend from similarities in the food/drink culture to geopolitical parallels. 

No doubt the Irish peace agreement from the 1990s will be utilized as an important reference for the delegation, but Irish ambassador to Korea Eamonn McKee stresses that a key point for his delegation's approach would be to refrain from extending examples from other international conflicts on to the Korean peninsula's situation by simply presenting "what we did." I think this approach reveals a certain level of sophistication in terms of context. 

On my first trip to Ireland I decided it's one of the most beautiful (and underrated) countries in Europe and even the entire world. The people there share a vigorous sense of humor very similar to Koreans which will only aid in the sharing of perspectives on unification. This is an important conversation as both Ireland and South Korea have relatively recent, dramatic political and economic experiences. 

A Question for Tonight's Presidential Debate

UPDATE 10/4/12: Presidential debate fact-check list; Jim Lehrer's job as moderator a disappointment

Finally! Tonight is the first presidential debate (as well as the Obamas' wedding anniversary) and although these things tend to be high-level memorized presentations for the most part, I can't help but be super excited for this one.

I don't think I have ever witnessed such an extreme case of divergent values in two candidates, even compared to 2008. Sure there are eerie similarities such as Romney's team picking Paul Ryan as running mate, which gives me a confused case of Sarah Palin-deja vu. But tonight we'll all be focused on the two main men: Obama, who is trying to maintain his lead (and not give the GOP any more fodder to misuse), and Romney, who must know how much this debate will mean for the last stretch of his so-far tepid and uninformative campaign. 

One of my favorite photos ever--Senator Barack Obama before the first presidential debate on September 26, 2008

Our economy and foreign policy aside, it would be simply amazing if tonight's moderator Jim Lehrer dared to ask one of the most important questions regarding our domestic politics today: Shouldn't we scrap the filibuster and restore majority rule? It's clearly an "ideal" debate question since it's a bipartisan problem that truly does affect the lives of citizens.

Or is our political discourse simply too diluted and hollow at this point to incorporate such a pertinent question?

Western Tourists Fuel Endangered Asian Elephant Trade

Tourists in Thailand who have their hearts set on a photo op of their elephant joyrides may think twice if they knew about the highly disturbing baby elephant trade going on. With less demand for elephant-based entertainment, these beautiful and rare Asian elephants wouldn't have to endure an unnatural life of force and abuse. 

While it's easy to think of traveling as a means to get your money's and time's worth once you get to your destination, arriving is just the beginning.

We (especially as Westerners!) have a huge responsibility to travel with a conscience no matter where we go--too much of the global tourism industry is based upon our interests to ignore this fact. And while we enjoy showing off our photographs atop an exotic jungle creature when we get home, generations of these animals will continue to suffer for our trifling moments. 

See more on how to protect our Asian elephants.

Help Protect Our Cetaceans

I'm so sick and saddened of humans messing with our amazing aquatic mammals…the US Navy's underwater sounds system will kill 1,800 whales and dolphins and deafen 15,900 more of these marine mammals. This move is totally disgusting and contradicts the Helsinki Group's Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans. Please take a moment to help stop this program today! 

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