Reading List Until End of June 2013

I will probably end up reading more than these but I figured I would share what I am reading. It is my belief that no matter what occupational field you’re in, it is a good idea to read books that help you stay abreast in your field, but also read genres outside of it for some balance. Personally I like to mix in literature and philosophy into my reading repertoire. So here are a few:

Water: Asia’s New Battleground
by Brahma Chellaney

Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the World
by Dambisa Moyo

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson

The Land Grabbers: The New Fight for Who Owns the Earth
by Fred Pearce

China Goes Global: The Partial Power
by David Shambaugh

On the Shortness of Life
by Seneca

What is the What
by David Eggers

The Rubayat
by Omar Khayyam

Shahnameh (The Book of Kings)
by Abolgasem Ferdowsi

The Rebel
by Albert Camus

*The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World
by Kishore Mahbubani

Ok I already read this one so I guess it’s cheating. It’s worth a read and makes some interesting suggestions regarding global institutions and how to meet future challenges. It is not so dense that one cannot read it in 2-3 days. I only mention this because Mr. Mahbubani will be speaking at Asia Society on this book. You can watch it live for those who cannot make it at http://asiasociety.org

Filed under: Uncategorized, books, literature, politics, reading list

Open Letter to NYC Councilmembers on Brooklyn College

This is in regards to these series of articles:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/opinion/litmus-tests-for-israel.html
http://www.thenation.com/blog/172641/brooklyn-college-president-defends-bds-forum

I sent my open letter to the following NYC Councilmembers:

dgreenfield@council.nyc.gov
ljames@council.nyc.gov
MNelson1@council.nyc.gov
MWeprin@council.nyc.gov
gbrewer@council.nyc.gov
slevin@council.nyc.gov
joddo@council.nyc.gov
dhalloran@council.nyc.gov
sgonzalez@council.nyc.gov
jwilliams@council.nyc.gov

I encourage those of you who believe in academic freedom and the right to free speech to do the same.

February 5, 2013

Dear Councilmen and Councilwomen,

I am writing to express my outrage with the stance that many of you have taken in suppressing academic freedom at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. It is appalling that as public servants in a position of power, you would utilize your offices to actively intimidate those who disagree with you, but also engage in the old practice of injustice: hypocrisy.

I do not agree with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. I do not believe that it will be effective. I do not endorse, nor do I share the beliefs that some of the speakers who will be attending the event at Brooklyn College have. To put it simply, just like some of you, I do not agree.

But it does not matter. Councilmen and Councilwomen, I cannot speak for my fellow veterans and active duty service members in the military, but I did not serve to only protect the right to free speech that I agree with. Public discourse and academic freedom is not to be granted only to those who have the same belief system that you do. Not to mention, the event is not planning to incite violence.

If you are concerned that the event will offend people, so much so that some of you took it upon yourselves to implicitly threaten funding to the school*, then I do have a few questions.

How many of you wrote to the MTA in protest of the Pamela Geller advertisements that made bigoted statements implying that Muslims were not civilized? **

How many of you wrote to the MTA in protest of the ads that quote the Quran superimposed on the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11, which incites bigotry towards those who practice the Islamic faith? ***

Are we to believe that as long as the money comes from private sources, then the right to offend (and mind you this is not even academic) should be protected? Or is it because you agree with those bigoted statements? Perhaps both?

This is what I mean by hypocrisy. Either that or you are only interested in protecting the right to free speech for those who can pay for it. That is truly outrageous. That right has been paid for, and to this day there are still those who serve in the belief that they are paying for it. I am not going to assume that you know how they are paying for it due to your actions, but they are paying for it with their service.

Serve the people of New York City, including the ones you don’t agree with.

Joao Hwang
Former US Army (2000 – 2006)
Operation Enduring Freedom IV
Operation Iraqi Freedom IV

* http://www.scribd.com/doc/123394756/Letter-from-Lew-Fidler
** http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/10/anti-muslim-ads-return-to-nyc-subways/
*** http://observer.com/2012/12/pamela-geller-mta-new-anti-islam-ads-to-debut-this-month-now-with-25-more-mta-disclaimer/

Filed under: Governance, New York City Local, academic freedom, Free Speech, Rights, US Constitution