The Goths and Emperor Valens
And there's no way to stop history. “There ought to be a solution” is the cry of newspaper editors, commentators and citizens unable to understand. No one explained in schools that History is not helped, but we lived and, at best, is read and studied to prevent phenomena that are never new, and as often happens in the history of humanity, the new is what once was forgotten. And what we forget is that not always is there a solution; sometimes things happen irremediably, purely by natural law: new times, new barbarians.
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The 10 Commandments of the American Religion
If I stood in the center of Times Square New York City and said something like “Moses didn’t part the Red Sea” or “Jesus never existed” everyone would just keep walking around me, ignoring what I said, etc.
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Breaking the Glass Ceiling
Marissa Mayer (President and CEO of Yahoo!) and Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) are certainly women at the top. But that doesn’t alter the fact that the men/women ratio in the US is pegged at 7:3 in favour of men (1) – and the gender gap is likely to be even greater in other parts of the world.
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Learn How to Make Money Work for You
Are you a slave to money? Do you wish you had more money, maybe just a little bit more at the end of the month? Does it seem your money has a mind of its own and magically disappears before the end of the month? Do you believe money controls you instead of the other way around? And do you think having more money is the key solution?
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Gay Marriage: Is the Struggle Finally Over, or is it Just Beginning?
On the 26th of June 2015, after 11 years of hot debate, the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS) passed a law that stated that gay couples have the right to get married. The vote was close, 5 to 4, but now, two consenting adults of either sex can get married in the US.
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Ten Arguments From Social Science Against Same-Sex Marriage
If we were asked to design a system for making sure that children's basic needs were met, we would probably come up with something quite similar to the two-parent ideal. Such a design, in theory, would not only ensure that children had access to the time and money of two adults, it also would provide a system of checks and balances that promoted quality parenting.
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Gay Marriage Facts & Figures
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The Forgotten White Slaves: It was not just Africans who were traded as slaves
We don't need to go through all of the gory details, do we? We know all too well the atrocities of the African slave trade. But are we talking about African slavery?
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Sketches of Spain
A poem by Joseph Th. Hart
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The Genius of our Caribbean writers: Why do we not know many of them better?
The Caribbean has produced two Nobel Prize laureates in literature in the persons of Sir. VS Naipaul (2001), and Derek Walcott (1992). Two opposite figures but equally brilliant craftsmen. But in our Euro-centered educational system, there was no room for more in-depth or, in some cases, even a superficial reading of these great masters, not to mention other writers of the region.
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Nostalgia
A poem by Enrique Muller from Libra
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Four Centuries: Jewish History of Suriname and Curaçao
The Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam presents the exhibition Jews in the Caribbean. It is a history of almost four hundred years where trading, plantations, slavery and mixing of cultures have played a major role. This is the first time an exhibition is dedicated to this topic. Visitors to the exhibition will explore the Jewish history of Suriname and Curaçao.
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Germany's Holocaust Against Black People: A History Unknown and Unacknowledged
Recently on 27th January the Holocaust Memorial Day was held to register the liberation of Auschwitz. The Germans also participated in this commemoration. They were/are fully aware of what was done to the Jewish people in their names. But do they/we know about a Namibian's Hollocaust when it was a German colony?
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7 Ways to Beat the Post-Vacation Blues
What was the point of all that pleasure, you might ask, when it seems life is doubly hard to face once you are headed back home after a spectacular trip abroad? The dreaded post-vacation blues' symptoms might include an overall lack of desire to do anything, and in some severe cases, anxiety attacks on your way to work that very first day after getting back.
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Discrimination 1 / Fair Play 0
Playing Offside Even Outside the Field
Football is one of the most popular sports world-wide. From the favelas of Brazil to the slums of Africa, via the giant stadiums of Europe, football is played, inspiring dreams, becoming a ritual and eradicating cultural and social barriers. The sport brings together millions of spectators. Although it enjoys exceptional public popularity and reinforces national cohesion, this sport at the same time allows some incredibly racist and violent events to be played out.
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Is Diversity Worth Pursuing?
For the naked eye it might seem that globalisation may not have brought forward all the benefits it has been heralded for. Notwithstanding, the diversity it has brought throughout the world shows tangible benefits – for personal development, communities and the economy as a whole. Immigration, the most visible sign of globalisation, has been a major force behind this blossoming diversity.
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When We Are Less than Human
Memories of death do not just disappear. If it is not what one went through, it's about the loss of the loved ones. It is about dehumanisation, discrimination, torture and emptiness.
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Genocides in the 20th Century
Modern technology, including the use of mass media to motivate the killers, made the 20th century a century of genocides, from Armenia and the Nazi Holocaust to Rwanda. The mass killings in Cambodia, Darfur and Southern Sudan have added other atrocities to the tragic list.
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Are Women Better Leaders than Men?
I recently read an excerpt from an article for the Harvard Business Review blog written by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman about a research study from 2011 where they looked at 7,280 leaders in a variety of positions – from very senior management to 'individual contributor'.
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The Role of Women in National Development
COLORS interviewed Josephine Bakhuis a Vice President i.o. Global Women's Affairs at International Third World Leaders Association and renown attorney, politician and motivational speaker. During our conversation Mrs Bakhuis shared her thoughts about women and leadership, women’s role in national development, the (in)famous glass ceiling, and power & authority.
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Carnival a Mutant Festivity
Carnival is a worldwide phenomenon, an outburst of tradition and joy that engulfs locals while providing photogenic entertainment for travellers lucky enough to crash the party.
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The Olympic Winter Games, a Barometer for Diversity
As the world comes to Sochi for one of the most expensive Olympic Winter Games in history, we need to question where we are today in living up to the Olympic spirit of inclusivity and diversity.
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New Year's Celebrations
The history of New Years Day is an interesting one. The date is one of the oldest celebrated holidays with origins dating back four thousand years ago to ancient Babylon, and since then has spread worldwide. Every country indulges in some form of annual celebrations from partying to giant bonfires. The stroke of midnight signals a time of celebrations, fireworks, confetti, champagne, and more, but was it always on December the 31st?
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Fun Facts About the New Year
Need a break from toy shopping and the Christmas hoopla? Pour yourself a drink and enlighten with some fun facts about the holiday season.
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Men in Red II: You say Sinterklaas, I say Santa Claus
In the mid 1800s, it was popular to draw St. Nick either in his bishop's robes or as a man with a pointed hat, long coat, and straight beard. Sometimes he even had black hair. But how did the kindly Christian saint, good Bishop Nicholas, become a roly-poly red-suited American symbol for merry holiday festivity and commercial activity?
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Men in Red
The man we know as Santa Claus has a history all his own. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red, but his story stretches all the way back to the third century. Find out more about the history of Santa Claus from his earliest origins to the shopping mall favorite of today.
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The Two Sides of Diversity Management
Does your workplace look like a holiday fair, with people from different backgrounds, religions, skin colour and even different languages and or dialects are spoken? Then you certainly work in a place where cultural diversity is a way off being.
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Country Culture Comparison
"Culture" can provide us with many answers on how and why people behave differently around the globe. One explanation it surely provides is that people have very different views on "What is a good boss", or on "how teams should be led". In the infographics below you can see how 6 countries compare on different relevant dimensions.
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Educating for Understanding and Peace
"How can there be peace without people understanding each other, and how can this be if they don't know each other?" Lester Bowles Pearson, Nobel Prize 1957.
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The Hard Core of the Pineapple’s Industry
You may be wondering how this can be possible, and why if the pineapple industry has the potential to bring great prosperity to the Filipinos in Mindanao it is not benefiting the workers on the ground.
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How Geniuses Generate Ideas
What made Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein such creative geniuses? It wasn't reading books about How To Be More Creative, that's for sure.
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Global Nomads
Have you ever met someone born in Brazil, who grew up in Scotland, graduated in Montreal and now works in Mumbai? People with a similar background are called third-culture kids – globally mobile youngsters whose life-style rivals that of any adult expat.
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The Fruit of Passion
"Rest in reason; move in passion.” – Khalil Gibran, Artist, Poet and Writer
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Modern Slavery - Find Out Who’s Enslaved to You
It's an easy lie to believe that slavery, that darkest of cruelties which has plagued us for as long as our species has existed, is now all but faded away.
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Celebrating Emancipation
Message of the United Nations Secretary-General
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A Change of Guard in the Dutch Kingdom
On Monday January 28th, 2013 Queen Beatrix announced that she will abdicate. She succeeded her mother Princess Juliana 33 years ago and now her eldest son, Prince Willem-Alexander, will succeed her as the new monarch of the Netherlands.
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Peace of Utrecht: A successful compromise that changed the world
The Peace of Utrecht (Vrede van Utrecht in Dutch) marks a turning point in world history. On 11 April 1713, after eighteen months of negotiations, diplomats from all over Europe concluded a peace treaty in the Utrecht city hall, which had enormous consequences for the countries involved and their possessions overseas. It ended a series of devastating wars in which religious persecution and the pursuit of political power went hand in hand.
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Only 500 Men Have Seen This!
Contrary to all of the other space crafts previously developed, including the Space Shuttle, the Lynx is equipped with a uniquely independent take-off and land system whereby the Lynx rocket engines can be switched off or on at will.
