What, no barbarity from Trump today? Is he still breathing?

There are schools in Missouri that only have a 4-day week. Because public education funds have been slashed. 

I read an article recently about a woman who travels the country, giving lectures on cultural awareness to college students. To illustrate how she keeps learning about other cultures, she told a story about meeting a man from Cuba.

“I thought he was black but he turned out to be Cuban!” the woman gushed. Because, apparently, the existence of Afro-Cubans escaped her completely and the categories of “Cuban” and “black” couldn’t possibly include the same person.

If professors don’t do it, colleges will waste money on quacks who will charge crazy sums to share their ridiculous prejudices with students. 

Here is one of the activities I will conduct:

Students have to imagine they are traveling overseas and come up with responses to the following statements:

■“You are American? Hey I know somebody who’s American! He’s name is Paul.”

■“American? Ah! MacDonald’s! Statue of Liberty! Hollywood!”

■“My friend’s cousin’s girlfriend is also American. She is very mean. She borrowed my dictionary and never gave it back.”

■“I knew you were American! It was obvious from the way you dress. I was like, ‘Hey, he is SO American!”

My lecture on cross-cultural awareness in the workplace that I’m preparing for the Leadership Institute is coming along very nicely. The central idea is that the culture you need to be aware of is your own. Because that will allow you to avoid seeing it as some sort of a universal standard. 

I’m not the person who came up with the weird “cross-cultural awareness” title. But I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got. 

I’ve got to say, it’s bizarre for Obama to be on the stump for Hillary. Doesn’t he have a job? That we are paying him to do? Isn’t that job to be everybody’s president? 

Michelle is campaigning, that’s great. She doesn’t hold public office. But for Obama to be traveling the country to give stump speeches. . . doesn’t smell right. 

Back in 1996, everybody in Russia thought that it was OK to flub a bit on electoral ethics for a very very good and important cause. And look how that turned out (see previous post). 

If only you could see the joy that Trump’s comments about rigged elections are producing in Russia. 

“American elections are rigged! Just like ours!” people celebrate. “ALL elections are fake!”

The relief of people who believe they have found evidence that they are completely normal is sad to see.