Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

recent posts

about

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.

Tag: Barack Obama

  • War’s reluctant start

    It’s true a century ago with the assassination of an Austrian baron. It’s true half a century ago with one ( or two) incidents in the Gulf of Tonkin. It’s true this very Labor weekend, even when we all saw photos of little bodies – dead by chemically induced weapon. Labor Day traditionally meant as…

  • White fence to White House

    In-your-face campaign slogans. Last-minute push. Local, State and National level. Voter drive in full drive. From Alfred Smith (Catholic) to Kennedy (Catholic) onto Romney (Mormon). Religion on the fringe, now got NYT full-page endorsement by Billy Graham. I thought the Reverend was supposed to play neutral, and be wise-man to Presidents, Red or Blue. It’s great…

  • Learning by failing

    NYT Opinion Page wants to debate about being informed vs being educated. With the dcline of Newsweek, readers have moved on to Google News (ironically, today celebrates National Print Day) and other mobile content. Short bursts: Obama won the debate. The Giants got chemistry. We will someday think that a tweet, 140 characters, is too long. Just like the…

  • Alternate Dream

    American Dream has undergone a makeover of late (maybe because the Chinese economy itself was heading for a cliff, so it needed to apply a break on lending). Whatever the underlying reason, America middle class is contracting not because of shrinking population , but mostly because of declining income and consumption. In short, the good old time…

  • Ennobling

    You don’t have to be rich or poor.  Nobility is a choice. A willful act of service. A realization that your words, which might injure someone, be best left unsaid. WWII servicemen, having seen and heard all there was to be experienced, have put themselves through school (GI Bills) and affected the change we see…

  • Ma Belle

    She hit all the right notes. Struck the chords. Evoked the emotion. Great speech arouses. Got the audience on their feet. They were waiting to hear, not for a hand-out but for a herald. Together we can. But the disconnect is when it comes to action: People simply don’t believe either side i.e. the propaganda, the…

  • On Persuasion

    Lights, sound, camera, ACTION! He is back, still with “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow” for an entrance and an exit punch line “the Union, as conceived and committed to by the Founding Fathers.” He systematically laid out the choices, an either-or. He mentioned the opponent’s alternate universe , where 2+2 might not = 4. Or…4 more…

  • Anchor kids

    Although “Last Men Out” tells a story about the last Marines on the last day of Vietnam, readers still learn a great deal about the Vietnamese “group culture”. Many workers of the former US  embassy were on the list to be “chopper” out (Operation Frequent Wind). It just so happened that the gardener of the embassy came…

  • Trading down: Gap to Goodwill

    You know how good the economy is by seeing how many Hummers are on the street. But we 2.5 per cent growth 1Q 2013, we go from Hummers to Hyundai, from Gap to Goodwill. With 90% debt level, half-a-million debt per man woman and child, trading down is the least of our worries (Patriotic millionaires asked to pay more tax,…

  • Traditions: collide and compromise

    East meets West. New Year and Valentine’s. Families vs lovers. In Vietnam, with a strong Confucian foundation, filial quality stands above all else. So on that first day of this year of the Tiger, sons and daughters are expected to show up first thing at the parents’ door steps. Then, in the evening, this year…