For over a thousand years up to the 17th century the Indian Ocean was arguably the center of merchant activity. It was the Maritime route of the several Silk Roads. In the 15th century it became the lustful focus of the rising Portuguese Empire as they pushed East.  In a recent book, The Ocean of… Read More Back to the Future: the Indian Ocean Again a Center of Global Activity

There was a period in World History when for many centuries India and China dominated world commerce. Up to the start of the Industrial Revolution in Europe about 1750, India and China controlled approximately 45% of global wealth. In fact for a thousand years before, the major trade routes across Asia by land (the Silk… Read More India and China Once Dominated World Trade: Will it Happen Again?

This is the 100th post of this blog, started in July, 2015. Thanks to all of you who have read, commented, liked or shared one or more of the posts. So far there have been over 15,200 overall views and almost 9,000 visitors from 135 nations. I have averaged about one post a week, sometimes… Read More 100th Post! Thanks for Reading!! The Art of Curation

Ever notice old, dead stumps? I do. In fact I’ve noticed them in various places around the world. Sometimes I even take photos of them, like the one pictured. I saw this one two weeks ago in a western state of India. Now the reader may find this strange, but remember I also love to… Read More What good can come from an old, dead stump?

Yesterday here in India I saw a jarring pair of articles on top of each other in the Hindustan Times. The first detailed a report on the rise last year in persecution of Christians in some states in India, according to the Mumbai-based Catholic Secular Forum. In Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in India with… Read More Beware of a Church too close to political power

I’ve been planning this week to write a year ending post on how we carry pain. It started with sitting in a bookstore coffee shop last weekend, waiting for my wife and daughter to come back from exchanging Christmas gifts. (thankfully I’ve learned not to buy clothes for my all-female family, as they would just… Read More ‘Fences’: What do you do with pain entering 2017?