"If you drink beer or liquor, don't drive. Safety for you and society." On my drive home the other night after an evening event, I chose a route that I figured would have a police checkpoint at that time of night on the lookout for drunk drivers. Let me modify that: drivers who had even … Continue reading Zero Tolerance, No Exceptions
Author: Mark A. Ashwill
Mary, Queen of Peace, in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
This is one of the nicer "Marys" I've seen in a HCMC taxi or rideshare car I've seen. I immediately know if my driver is Catholic, a legacy of French colonialism and pre-colonial influence, or Buddhist, based on what's on their dashboard. (7% of Vietnam's population identifies with the former. About 1% are Protestant.) My … Continue reading Mary, Queen of Peace, in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
The Purpose of Writing
While I'm not in James Baldwin's literary league, we both share a love of writing. Those of us who embrace persuasive writing do it for precisely this reason. It is our admittedly modest contribution to changing the world for the better. Since high school, what I have read - both required and in my leisure … Continue reading The Purpose of Writing
A Small Business Role Model: Kudos to Pizza 4P’s!
I've eaten a lot of pizza and related dishes in my time and I can say without exaggeration that Pizza 4Ps is the most delicious I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. I'm impressed by the consistent quality across locations and over time. It's one reason why Pizza 4P's now has 31 restaurants in Vietnam, … Continue reading A Small Business Role Model: Kudos to Pizza 4P’s!
Just Say NO to APCs!
It's time to unsubscribe from these pay-to-play come-ons that I receive because I once contributed a chapter to a book published by this company. Good riddance to bad rubbish! Shalom (שלום), MAA
George William Cooper (1948-2023): Requiescat in Pace
(Courtesy: Kathy Cooper Kogut) Our own life has to be our message. -Thích Nhất Hạnh Longtime friend George Cooper passed away yesterday morning at his home in Phnom Penh. As is often the case with this wretched disease, the lung cancer for which he was successfully treated returned with a vengeance and metastasized to his brain. … Continue reading George William Cooper (1948-2023): Requiescat in Pace
The Bloodstained Legacy of Henry Kissinger (1923-2023)
Or serving on the board of trustees of a former employer... (Read the linked article below to find out which one.) Coincidentally, I recently returned from a trip to Cambodia, a country I first traveled to in 1999, to visit a friend, one of the truly good ones, who lay dying of cancer. (He passed … Continue reading The Bloodstained Legacy of Henry Kissinger (1923-2023)
The Little Darlings Are Still Hard at Work
Defacing Public and Private Property as a Form of "Personal Expression" These two photos, which I took on a recent trip to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), are examples of graffiti/tagging and street art. In the first example, young people run around at night, spray paint cans in hand, "expressing themselves" wherever they find a … Continue reading The Little Darlings Are Still Hard at Work
The Overlap of Family & US History
With US Thanksgiving quickly approaching (23.11.23) and as one of the more eccentric members of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants (GSMD), I thought this might be a good time to share this meme, the kind that people post like to post, again and again, in genealogy Facebook groups. (Full disclosure: Genealogy is one of … Continue reading The Overlap of Family & US History
The Lasting Legacy of Good Teachers
This is a blog post that I originally uploaded in 2021 and was published in Vietnamese by Zing. The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. -Mark Van Doren Teacher’s Day is a special day for the appreciation of teachers, a once-a-year opportunity to remember, honor, and thank them for their contributions to … Continue reading The Lasting Legacy of Good Teachers
An International Educator in Vietnam 
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