gfenstermaker's blog

The True Value of Teleworking

If you were in Washington for the big snowstorm of February 2010, or Snowmageddon, then you remember over 20 inches of snow that reduced the city to a frozen standstill.  Streets were blocked with unplowed snow, electrical power was lost, supermarkets were laid bare, and schools were closed for days.  Among those impacted by the storm were the 2 million members of the Federal government workforce.  Most being commuters from adjoining jurisdictions in Maryland and Virginia, these employees found

In or Out of the Grid—Let’s Remember to Look before We Leap

A few weeks ago, I saw a young woman getting off a city bus, headphones in and engaged in a conversation on her mobile. Without looking, she proceeded to walk in front of the bus to cross the street. Normally, fine and dandy, except the bus had a green light. The bus driver was observant enough to see the woman and honk and stop in time, while many onlookers, myself included, yelled at her to look out. Impact averted, she looked at all of us as if we were crazy and asked what was wrong.

Pop Culture Diplomacy

How celebrities help and hurt national image

You may be sick and tired of the song “Gangnam Style,” but there is no denying that Korean pop artist Psy has become one of the ‘it’ stars of the past year—reportedly, even first daughters Sasha and Malia are fans. His status as a worldwide media sensation even scored him an invite to last weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. However temporary, the spotlight on Psy has positively promoted K-Pop and Korea.

The Boston Marathon: A Tragedy and Showcase about the Power of Social Media

I am a Qorvis transplant from Boston and like all other Bostonians, I was thrilled for Marathon Monday. It is a day that always makes me reflect back on my childhood when my family would plant ourselves on Beacon Street, order subs and set up a table to pass out water to the thousands of runners going by.

This Marathon Monday was different. As I was in a meeting, I heard my co-worker say “There was an explosion at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.”

My heart dropped.

Internet Lies and Truth—Can Anybody Really Tell the Difference These Days?

Did you hear the news about the evangelical preacher who decided to abandon his church? I know it’s true because I saw screen shots of major network sites reporting it!

Did you see the pic of how Justin Bieber has gone from scrawny to brawny by using a new steroid? The pictures were all over the blogs, though I must say his face looked a little weird somehow.

The Road to Women's Empowerment

The majority of the world's refugees are women and children, as Ann Richards (Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration) noted on March 7th. Eighty percent of Afghanistan's population is under the age of 40, remarked Myra Buvinic, a Senior Fellow with the United Nations (UN) Foundation and Vital Voices. These figures feed into a combination of powerful roadblocks that fight critical changes in behavior toward the empowerment of women.

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