All posts tagged: Laos

“All’s Fair?” Considering Laos, the environment, and war

Published by Staff

Centuries ago, a writer penned the famous line “All’s fair in love and war,” which encouraged approaching romance and conflict with calculating Machiavellian sensibilities unhindered by inconvenient moral compunctions and scruples. This idea was readily embraced in Europe and the United States. You can see it presently expressed in popular culture such as “Flavor of Love,” or former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura’s tongue-in-cheek encouragement. “Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat.” But is that truly good advice, or are there limits to what we might tolerate, especially in the conduct of war? November 6th is recognized by the United Nations as the ‘World Day to Protect the Environment in War,’ first established in 2001 by the late U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (a 1961 graduate of Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota!). It is more formally known as the “International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.” Among the many of the things it addresses, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said one is the challenge to “keep the unsustainable …

Reflection Upon a White Lotus

Published by littlelaosontheprairie

In quiet reflection grows the white lotus Unfolding within and without on Nam Ou River Blossoming into perfection Surface stilled Motionless Ceasing to flow away in radiant expectation Shimmering Dazzling petals amongst the creative cosmos Earnestly waiting for the enlightenment of  a thoughtful divine breath Kaysone Syonesa, is a Lao American theatre artist and playwright with a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Minnesota. She has a theatre background as a performing artist/actor, director, set/costume designer and playwright. She has performed with various theatre companies in the Twin Cities with recent productions from Pangea World Theater, Teatro del Pueblo and Green T Productions. She has also directed and devised original theatre work called Sticky Rice Drama with artists and youth of color as a platform to uplift diverse and underrepresented voices in the Twin Cities. Kaysone has strengths in bringing communities together to create space and devise work to uncover and imaginatively tell stories that reflect the human experiences. In the past she was inspired to raise the artistic voices of women of …