Geoffrey M. Gluckman's Blog

Have you seen any of the images of a lone polar bear swimming in the Arctic Ocean?

For me, it is one of the saddest things I've ever seen, certainly equal to small baby seals being bludgeoned to death by humans wielding clubs. Why? Because of the desolation of an animal forsaken by circumstances that are beyond its control.

Nevertheless, he paddles on, passing small blobs of ice that are too insignificant to hold his weight. Fortunately, polar bears can swim up to 60 miles in a day, but even that

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It's that time of year again, Christmas in July for me. The Tour de France is happening July 4-26, 2009). With only a few days into racing, the excitement is fantastic. No, not because Lance Armstrong has returned after a three and a half year retirement, but he does add to the action.

To me, I think the Tour de France is the toughest sports event in the world. It requires tremendous individual athletic and mental ability, team unity and skill, and the strategic intelligence of a chess player. It

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Riding the Rails

The rocking motion is what you notice first, other than the freedom to move about at will. No seatbelt signs. No pressurized cabin and air. Just rocking and swaying. It lulls you and comforts you into its pace, a slower pace.

Train travel (www.amtrak.com) provides incredible comfort with seating at a fraction of the cost of comparable seating on an airplane. As a delicious added benefit, there are no security lines.

A train ride allows you to actually see the land upon which you ar

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The dismal economies across the globe continue to hold much of the world’s attention. Perhaps rightly so.
President Obama and his administration are hard at work to correct what they can within the U.S. The President has ventured across the seas to Europe in hopes of getting increased cooperation from leaders there. The mending of fences battered by Bush’s reign flowed forth with Obama’s forthrightness and charisma.

Nevertheless, European leaders balk at helping the new war efforts aimed at Afghan

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Haven't President Bush and his administration done enough harm to the country already?
One look at the economy and the answer is easy. Of course, he's not entirely to blame.
Yet, a continued military presence in Iraq at a cost of billions of dollars per month doesn't help. Are we safer? Perhaps. But still at the mercy of other types of terrorists--OPEC ones.
Bush's answer is to give away oil rights to companies in some of the most beautiful areas this country has left.
Is that the legacy he wants t

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<p align="center">FORMER FEDERAL AGENT USES EXPERIENCE
TO CRAFT ESPIONAGE THRILLER:
Abunga.com Features Author Geoffrey Gluckman to Chat with Fans Aug. 27</p> WHO:

Geoffrey Gluckman, author of the gripping spy novel “Deadly Exchange.” Drawing from his training experience as a federal agent and CIA recruit, Gluckman wrote “Deadly Exchange” with a genuine understanding of the criminal mind a

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Finally, someone within the Bush Administration has enough guts to speak the truth, at least of his experience. As former press secretary, Scott McClellan, may know something. In his memoir, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception, he reveals secret truths of the Bush Administration.
For instance, he's calling the Iraq War a sham and unnecessary, especially after no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found. He's identifying the Bush tactics as propaganda, su

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While the days of sitting in smoked-filled Parisian cafes are gone, it still thrives in Spain. At least in Galicia (the northwestern region above the border with Portugal). (Pictured: small plaza in Santiago de Compostela)

Being a non-smoker and coming from the homogenized North America (now including the UK, France, and other European countries that have joined the indoor smoking ban), I can’t say that it bothers me. I’ve always felt that it added to the European charm, except in a few Viennese

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Though it may come as a surprise, the true effects of the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001 have not yet been felt. The Bush administration’s plan for a safe America (and everywhere else) continues to unfold with the REAL ID Act. This act, passed in 2005, establishes a directive for a tamper proof ID system, hence the birth of a national identification card coming to your wallet very soon.

After years of careful deliberation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a decree to

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It strikes me as extremely odd that not a single country with athletes attending this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing have even hinted at a boycott.
Why a boycott?
Well, let's look at the history of invasion, repression, and torture, especially as far as Tibet is concerned. Of course, the U.S. would be hard pressed to boycott consider their track in wars waged in the last half century, especially the last five years in Iraq.
With China, we also have repression of media and access for journalists,

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