Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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With some short-term relief work in Asia/Africa and long stint in Telecom, Thang also earned a B.A. at Pennsylvania State University. M.A. in Communication at Wheaton Graduate School, M.A. in Cross-Cultural Communication at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Boston. In addition, he earned a CELTA – classes taken in Hanoi for cultural re-immersion.

Author: Thang Nguyen 555

  • I am “FONT” of you

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: The New Zealand health-care admin lady wanted to go for broke with her emphatic mode (ALL CAPS). She got what she had wanted: people’s and the court’s attention. Fired, compensated but out of a job. http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/148175 To make sure forms were filled correctly, she applied a new tactic, ALL…

  • Old music New machine

    Lighter weight, more affordable, but not necessarily more moving. Those new I-pods. Or I phones. Even on those new devices, you still download your favorite oldies any way. Just make sure your kids don’t see the play list. Or view your 80’s music video, with singers whose jean jacket sleeves were cut-off , while hair…

  • The new leisure class

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Pre-industrialized aristocrats  took a stroll on paved streets, attended theaters and stoked the fireplace. Now, the top billion thumb their smart phones, while driving  . The opportunity costs are too high for them to attend PTA meetings or volunteer at a Patch Adams free clinic. Leisure or sabbatical year…

  • Left, Right, Gone!

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Jody Powell, Press Secretary under the Carter Administration, died a few years ago. William Safire, speech writer for President Nixon, also passed away soon afterwards. These two men left a legacy of words. Mr Safire was remembered more than his B/W iconic PR photo of the Cold War: He…

  • Free mind Free man

    If we just sit on the track, pretty soon we will be run over by the oncoming train. If we just sit and not think at all, we outsource the thinking to others. Inadvertently, we fall back to the default position, that of inertia. Or give in to herd mentality, bubble mania, tulip mania and…

  • Haiyan and Hyatt

    The world’s poor seem to bear the brunt of typhoon destruction more than the  world’s rich. They live in The Ring of Fire. Can’t afford to move anywhere and now can’t go home. Disaster relief is needed. But long-term and sustained recovery takes time. We have come up with pre-fab housing that can withstand heavy…

  • Improve your like-ability

    It’s common sense that when we are liked, we have more influence and opportunities. Jackson Brown says “Opportunity likes to dance with those already are on the dance floor”. Sometimes, to improve your like-ability, all you have to do is to show up. Frequent exposure increases your chances (conversely “scarcity” increases your values). Something about…

  • K-atastrophe

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: Whether it’s Ketsana or Katrina, human suffering are the same: things and people once so attached are now gone. Loss. Grief. Anger (at governmental slow responses). After Katrina, I went to the refugee shelters in Houston to hand out free calling cards. I remember the cover of TIME showing…

  • Learner-in-Chief

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: If my memory serves me right, both First Ladies Bush, and their husbands read to school children (Ex-President G W Bush was sitting at one of those school chairs when he first heard about 9/11.) So it is hard for me to understand the uproar about President Obama’s Back-to-School…

  • facebook lite

    Originally posted on Thang Nguyen 555: On Facebook Lite, people with mobile devices can just send a quick comment and get on with hearing the President Speech. http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/09/11/with-facebook-lite-a-step-deeper-into-twitter-terrain/ Social networking not “for here” but “to go”. It’s the equivalent of talking to friends while on a moving train or automobile, or  while paying at the…