Israeli Minister of Finance and leader of National Zionism, Bezalel Smotrich, speaks to the press during a party meeting in Jerusalem on 5 February 2024. I give Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich credit for one thing: his brutal honesty. No code or dog whistle, just speaking candidly about the "Greater Israel" project. I first saw … Continue reading Smotrich: Israel’s future is ‘to expand to Damascus’
Author: Mark A. Ashwill
I Had a Dream: From Vietnam to Gaza
Click on the image for a video slideshow I created set to Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. And now a word from my conscience and a clarion call from my moral compass... My latest for CounterPunch. Here's how I kick off this 3000+-word essay. Israel has reached an unimaginable peak of evil. And indeed many … Continue reading I Had a Dream: From Vietnam to Gaza
Evanescent Queen of the Night Lights Up the Evening
Like a shooting star, this divine miracle of nature blooms but one night once a year, resplendent in all of her beauty and glory. One plant can have many flowers but each blooms for only one mysterious and special night. Her snow-white petals, which symbolize innocence and purity, emit a sweet, subtle, spicy, and intoxicating … Continue reading Evanescent Queen of the Night Lights Up the Evening
10 Key Lessons from “The Happiest Man on Earth”
These lessons on resilience, gratitude, and hope are from The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie Jaku, a Holocaust survivor who was born as Abraham Salomon Jakubowicz in 1920 in Leipzig, Germany. He died in 2021 at the age of 101 in Sydney, Australia. There's nothing original about … Continue reading 10 Key Lessons from “The Happiest Man on Earth”
That’s a Wrap: Another Fair Series Becomes History
This is an especially exciting and meaningful year for Capstone Education, a full-service educational consulting company I founded 15 years ago last month. We recently finished our fall 2024 StudyGlobal Education Fairs in Haiphong, Hanoi, HCMC, and Danang. Secondary and postsecondary institutions from seven countries, and Hong Kong joined one of more events. I was … Continue reading That’s a Wrap: Another Fair Series Becomes History
Latest Report About “Vietnam Consumer Trends 2024” from Cimigo
This is a copy/paste from an email I (and many others) received from Richard Burrage at Cimigo. I wanted to share this with you not because I'm a Cimigo agent but because Richard and his staff do good work. I always learn something from these reports.Peace, MAADear Mark, As we look ahead to the next decade, … Continue reading Latest Report About “Vietnam Consumer Trends 2024” from Cimigo
Summer of Sorrow: A Tale of Two Fathers
It was July 1967, another sultry Delaware summer. While I'm sure there were fun times (it was summer vacation after all), I can only remember heat, humidity, and a deep sadness that paralyzed my soul. Another memory is of the riots in cities across the US that I watched on the news from my safe … Continue reading Summer of Sorrow: A Tale of Two Fathers
Genocide in Gaza
I created a slideshow of injured, dying, displaced, and dead Palestinians set to Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. It’s my way of reflecting on and processing the Israeli-planned and -executed carnage that is occurring in Gaza. Click on the image below to access the video. Follow this link to access the video on my Vimeo … Continue reading Genocide in Gaza
Rhetorical Checkmate
Source: Wikipedia LinkedIn is becoming like Facebook except I reserve non-business posts and comments for truly serious and literally existential issues like the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. You can start with my comment followed by Johanna's indignant response, and my response to her response. Crickets after the latter. Like many, you'll notice she trots … Continue reading Rhetorical Checkmate
The Hustling Culture of International Education: Conference Sessions for Sale
Below is an article I pitched to a well-known international higher education media outlet that has published my work in the past. The initial answer was YES but later changed to NO. I did some checking using the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and found that this company has taken advertising dollars from NAFSA. This is … Continue reading The Hustling Culture of International Education: Conference Sessions for Sale
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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