With the UN-enforced no-fly zone over Libya in place since Saturday, Western forces have taken greater military action against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces by air and sea. Following the international military intervention, questions like how long attacks will persist and whether Gaddafi will relinquish power naturally arise. As pressing as these current questions are, however, I … [Read more...] about Flight of the Foreign Worker: Vietnam to Libya?
The Japanese Scatological Sensibility: Making Sense of a Nuclear Situation
News across the world has been solemn and unsettling lately. In Libya, what began as a civil uprising against a long-ruling dictator has escalated into a civil war, and much of the rest of the Middle East remains in violent incertitude. In the Ivory Coast, the possibility of wide-scale civil war looms as the country struggles to find political harmony. And, in Japan, as we … [Read more...] about The Japanese Scatological Sensibility: Making Sense of a Nuclear Situation
Room to Read & Why Universal Literacy and Education Matter
Last weekend, I had the opportunity of attending the TEDxBerkeley conference at UC Berkeley. It was my first TEDx event, and it pretty much lived up to my expectations of what a TEDx event should be: insightful and entertaining, a reminder that humanity isn’t really as doomed as the ubiquity of Snooki-like figures in this world might suggest, and an impetus to get out there … [Read more...] about Room to Read & Why Universal Literacy and Education Matter
Model spotting: Magali An B, Winner of United Colors of Benetton Contest
I didn’t mean to make multiple posts highlighting half-Vietnamese belles, and I didn’t mean to momentarily turn VTP into a blog in which I gush over fashionable ladies I’ll never be like. It just kind of happened that way. Further internet prowling has led me to Magali An B. Like Melanie Huynh, Magali An B is a half-Vietnamese, half-French Parisian. Last year, she was one … [Read more...] about Model spotting: Magali An B, Winner of United Colors of Benetton Contest
Fashion Icon: Melanie Huynh, formerly of Vogue Paris
I'm nothing of a fashionista, and this is not a fashion blog. On most days, I go around looking like I've just emerged from a four-hour proctored exam, or a swamp. My mother is constantly threatening to nominate me for that slightly obnoxious wardrobe fix-up show What Not to Wear, and my hair is in a perpetual state of messy. Despite my lack of personal style though, I think … [Read more...] about Fashion Icon: Melanie Huynh, formerly of Vogue Paris