Ph.D., LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT-Austin
In Season 2 of House of Cards, our Congressman and anti-hero Frank Underwood pulls into his office Jackie Sharp, an ambitious younger representative. On his computer, he pulls up the opposition research he has on every other member of Congress--including her. As I watched that episode of House of Cards, I knew in a flash what …
Continue reading "On Frank Underwood, Zen and philosophical pragmatism"
Should an academic write non-academically? I’ve gotten both of these pieces of advice in my first semester of graduate school: Don’t have a blog. When you look for academic jobs, people will wonder why you wasted your time writing a blog instead of publishing papers. Have a blog. Writing publicly is the only way to sharpen …
After three months a handful of stops and starts, I've finally finished Sean Wilentz's The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. It is a beast - a beast - of a book, and I'm quite proud of myself for getting through it, however well-written it is.My dad always says that when you study something …
Anxiously, I've been tracking from afar the movements of Hurricane Gustav. From the e-coverage, I draw an encouraging note: Americans of all stripes are demonstrating their concern for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. State governments are at the ready, the GOP convention is turned upside down, and Gustav dominates the electronic print media. There …
"The question should be whether McCain—and all the other Republicans who have been going on for months about Obama's dangerous lack of foreign policy experience—ever meant a word of it. And the answer is apparently not."-www.Slate.com (see article)
In his "New Partnership for the Americas," Barack Obama's Latin America team proposes doubling foreign assistance to Latin America to $50 billion. I'll put aside for now the questions of where that money will from, or what good it will do if coupled with his annoying protectionist pandering, and focus on a positive note.* The …
But maybe The Economist will give me a pass since I'm such a big fan. Below, the latest from the magazine on Ecuador's constitutional politics.-------------------The good life Jul 31st 2008 | QUITOFrom The Economist print editionFor the president and for lawyers Correa dictates his socialist credoIF ONLY size, novelty and good intentions were everything when …
A couple links my parents found on the lawsuit between Ecuador's Amazon tribes and Chevron. First, a 2003 press release from Chevron; second, the transcript of a Democracy Now radio show that discusses Chevron's actions in Myanmar, Ecuador and DC.When I studied abroad at St. Andrews, I took an International Political Economy course with Ben …
So far I know next to nothing about the current lawsuit between Ecuador and Chevron-Texaco. Can anybody give me some solid background on it?
If you know me well, you know most of my information comes from The Economist. As I've started to think past Manna Project, I've kept my eyes peeled for job ideas. Found two in the July 5 edition. Speaking on Kofi Annan's recent efforts to diffuse the political crisis in Kenya:Originally, Mr Annan had flown …
Mark Clayton Hand 