Wise Monkey News is here to provide young people an opportunity to discuss the issues that affect their lives. We hope that, through your participation, this website serves as a forum for the development, exchange, and expression of ideas that will prepare us to assume our positions as the leaders of tomorrow's world. Have something to say?

Siesta Lessons

by: Brooke Anderson - printed on 02-28-2001

Siesta. A time to think, to reflect, to slow down, to relax . . . moreover, a time to simply breathe. When I first arrived in Spain, I wasn’t aware how deeply ingrained siestas were in the Spanish culture. I had heard the term before, but never considered it a practiced tradition in any country. I quickly learned that in the south of Spain, a siesta was not only a tradition, but a daily ritual. At exactly 2:00 every day, the stores pulled down their chain-link barriers, offering a sign that the siesta was approaching.

-> Read More |

Struggles in the European Union - Farms

by: Mono Vergara - printed on 02-20-2002

With the introduction of the euro in January of 2002, the European Union has been cast into the spotlight once again. Though the development and implementation of the euro was a big step towards the unification of Europe, the EU still struggles over questions of funding and policy, searching for consensus among its economically and culturally diverse members and prospective members.

The EU squabbles over funding for farmers

The main problem the prospective members are facing is coming from the farms.

-> Read More |

Japanese pretzles

by: Mono Vergara - printed on 03-06-2002

The evil pretzel never left Mr. Bush's throat, but rather decided to twist around when he was speaking at a press conference in Tokyo. Mr. Bush said he had talked about "devaluation" with Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in a previous meeting. As always the "less ignorant ones" (Mr. Bush's staff) later clarified that Georgie had made a mistake: he meant to say deflation instead of devaluation.

-> Read More |

September 11th: A lost opportunity for awakening

by: Nathan Weiss - printed on 09-11-2002

Throughout the history of the human race, destruction, death and suffering have been inextricably bound to creation, rebirth and cleansing. We can find endless examples of this, from the mythological Phoenix rising from the ashes to the perpetual cycle of death and rebirth in Hinduism and ChristianityÂ’s promise of eternal life.

-> Read More |

Beer, wine, cigarettes and other dispatches from Spain

by: David Miller - printed on 02-28-2001

My flight from Portland to Madrid, Spain had a layover in Newark, New Jersey. As I had four hours to spend in Newark, I bought a premade, mushy Philly-steak-and-cheese sandwich and sat down to collect my thoughts. I was on my way to Spain to spend the next four months studying there, in Spanish, all in Spanish. It wasn’t like I hadn’t ever traveled before, I had. I wasn’t worried about that. It was the 15 credits of college courses .

-> Read More |

It's a Shame About Boz
Chapter three of five: setting the stage--workers fall ill and questions arise.

by: Jim McCandlish, J.D. - printed on 01-31-2001

Boz, as he’s known, was a man among men in the trades, a strapping 6' 4" millwright who loved his work. He’d joined the Local out of Pasco for the specific purpose of hiring on at the poison gas incinerator construction project near Umatilla. The cost projected at almost $600 million made it the largest employer that corner of northeastern Oregon had ever seen. The government was under an international treaty obligation to destroy its entire stockpile of war gases, 12% of which were stored at Umatilla.

-> Read More |