Have we run out of ideas, that we have run aground, lost in a dry technocratic language of governance? There is something of an irresistible horror in such quick decay ... Spare a thought for lost souls employed by huge organisations!!! Organisations run by invisible hands whose heart is no longer clear and head is plotting the next office politics...
In his book, Where Have the Intellectuals Gone?, Frank Ferudi laments this reduction of intellectuals into clerks and technocrats, sucking idealism out of national life: "Whatever reservations one has about such idealism, it has inspired many to see creative possibilities beyond the sober realities of everyday life."
In his magisterial book on leadership, James MacGregor Burns describes the intellectual as someone concerned with "values, purposes and ends that transcend immediate needs". West captured this existential quest for historical memory beyond everyday anxieties in his book, Race Matters: "People, especially poor and degraded people, are also hungry for meaning, identity and self-worth."
Ayi Kwei Armah's writes:
How horribly rapid everything has been, from the days when men were not ashamed to talk of souls and of suffering and of hope, to these low days of smiles that will never again be sly enough to hide the knowledge of betrayal and deceit. There is something of an irresistible horror in such quick decay
What do Europeans want from the United States? Op-eds on reinvigorating trans-Atlantic relations Winning Back Europe's Heart
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Crossroads: Slovakia is at the Heart of Europe
Slovaks see Russian President Vladimir Putin as more of a guarantor of democracy in the world than President George Bush, a poll revealed today Brother v Cousin
There are four capitol cities that sit along the Danube River, Bratislave is one of them.
Small nations often suffer from an invisibility complex. They know what it means to be tiny spots on the map, remembered only if embroiled in a terrible conflict that turns the whole region into a nest of unrest.
Of course, there are small nations with immense historical heritages that centuries ago likely influenced the heartbeat of whole continents. There are small nations that successfully struggled through the ages to stay alive.
When historians go to record human history over the last century, the rise and fall of communism and the expansion of American and capitalistic ideals may well be the dominant theme
• Walking the tightrope between identity and political necessity Where does Slovakia stand? [REVOLUTION! Revolúcia! Let the cry ring out again, and again, and again. Attendant to the upcoming summit in Bratislava between US President George Bush and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin is a protest titled "ani Putin ani Bush" - neither Putin nor Bush. What does the street roar? ; A serious moral-ideological-emotional bind Google: People, especially poor and degraded people, are also hungry for meaning, identity and self-worth ]
• · At the end of 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a powerful "fireside chat," a fitting backdrop to the visit to Europe this week by his successor, George W. Bush. Arsenals of tyranny ; Russia bashing reaches limits ; Google on Blava Summit ; I wonder how many more of these are never known to the public Man Accused of Plotting to Assassinate Bush
• · · Investigating historical mysteries is, possibly, one the most fascinating and rewarding aspects of the work of a skeptical researcher. Mysteries that appear to have no possible solutions, that could certainly be termed “cold,” can, sometimes, become clearer thanks to a more careful investigation of the original sources and also to the advancements of science Facts and Fiction in the Kennedy Assassination ; According to Greek legend, Poseidon's son Theseus sailed to Crete to slay the monster Minotaur Soul of Science
• · · · Cathy Young on how the right has no monopoly on morals--or on Moral Bullying
• · · · · The People’s Business: One does not have to look far in Washington these days to find evidence that government policy is being crafted with America’s biggest corporations in mind Controlling corporations and restoring democracy ; A remedy for executive branch lies about budget item costs: Should Congress pass a Sarbanes-Oxley Act for the government?
• · · · · · The Persian Puzzle The State of Iraq: An Update ; Our Mission Remains Vital, BY KOFI A. ANNAN The U.N. needs to be reformed, but it still performs a crucial function.