My unsolicited advice: Become and expert on a few things, then you know a lot about a lot of things.

One day I was expounding on something I thought was a big deal that day (moi!).  My oldest daughter looked at me with frustration and sighed, "I'll never be able to learn about what is going on in so many places." I couldn't agree more. If you are not Noam Chomsky, it is impossible to keep up with everything. Impossible! I did, however, have a suggestion. I suggested that she take one or two countries and review their history. Take El Salvador and Iran or Guatemala and Vietnam or Nicaragua and Iraq or Haiti and Sri Lanka. Look closely at how their history has unfolded.

 In many cases, the USA has overthrown democratically elected governments, ( Chile, Guatemala, Iran and so on) and replaced them with horrid murderous puppets. The people have suffered until there was no hope and then staged a revolution in which we have pitted the most powerful nation in the world against 'the people' and caused untold suffering, often sufficiently terrorizing or decimating the people until we lose heart. Something like that.

My point was not that I know it all or that it is possible to know it all, but there are a few models that have been repeated throughout history. The Roman Empire, the Huns, any successful raping, pillaging, marauding power are all pretty much the same story. This is the stuff history is made of. This is the stuff that is going on right now. If you learn one story well, you can often change the names of the players and the geography and the 'interests' which are sought and know a very lot about a lot of places.

In the same vein, I think that we can know a tremendous amount about how corporations function by learning a lot about one. Take Monsanto, for instance, when I study the history of that company, it is not a huge leap to know pretty much the story of Chevron, Exxon, BP, the tobacco industry, certain pharma companies. It is the same story with different details.

None of this is any surprise to anyone who cares about such stuff, but it is a helpful hint from Eloise for those who find it a bit overwhelming.

Hasta pronto, amigos.