Tammy Swofford

Media organisations should never function as hatcheries for lies. When it happens they must be brought to account. Rolling Stone magazine took a rape fabrication and brought a world of hurt to the University of Virginia. One telephone call. Just one simple query would have begun the process of discrediting a false, inflammatory accusation. The […]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be the first of many future world leaders to live within the gates of the Ak Saray. Also known as the White Palace, the vast complex will provide both residential suites and a workplace environment for generations of Turkish leadership to come. However, the steep price tag has opened […]

In a startling confession of faith, Prince Charles stated, “I am a Christian.” His comments are part of a special recorded message coinciding with the publication of a new report. He speaks of the “indescribable tragedy” of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. Seeking to present a rational tone within an arena of […]

On November 4, 2014, US citizens voted in the 2014 midterm elections. Dependent on the state, we cast votes for members of Congress, gubernatorial candidates, special Senate and House elections and various ballot measures. Texans headed to the polls on Tuesday and I was in the queue with them. Our polling place is a mere […]

Even as I begin to formulate my thoughts for an ‘Open letter to Imran Khan’ there is a smile on my face. I am reminded of my own introspection whenever I read any open letter from a journalist to an influential individual. The journalist is invariably a miserable creature who has never met the subject […]

My prior column, ‘Communication bridge’ (Daily Times, October 17, 2014), reviewed cases of Muslims targeting non-Muslims in the name of a creed. The regional phenomena took place in the state of Oklahoma. The column concluded with the news of a young man in the Netherlands who envisioned beheading Jews. We are on the cusp of […]

“Everything wants to live.” My father draws from the wisdom of his generations. “Everything wants to live. Even a fly wants to live. Just pick up a flyswatter and watch the behaviour. It will not sit calmly and await death.” We were discussing the beheading of a French national in Algeria. I had shared my […]

The man moved with deliberate calm through the airport. He easily overcame the first hurdle. He falsified a legal document. He then moved quickly through a primitive health sensor platform. We are not talking anything on the scale of Waspmote, a triple axis accelerometer soldered on board with more than 70 integrated sensors with applications […]

Every dream begins with a map. We begin to map out our perceptions and act on them at a very young age. My oldest son had a dream of escaping his crib. He was a very young lad when he figured out how to climb over the rails and take evasive actions to avoid taking […]

At age 17 I moved 2,000 miles from the family hearth and started my life as a young adult. Essentially, I was an emancipated minor. Yes, I paid a bit of rent for the spacious bedroom that was my private space within a large residential home. However, now I was on my own. The decisions […]