Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s arrival to Mexico this week came amidst a war of accusations between Mexican and U.S. government officials regarding drug trafficking violence at the border. Most contentious was the report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command which recommended the monitoring of Mexico as a “failing” state, one that could ultimately prove […]
The cherry blossoms are in bloom in Washington, D.C., and I am especially cheery because the March/April issue of Moment Magazine is out on newsstands. There is a lot of good stuff in this one, and I hope that you will check it out. First, we tackle the whole Bernand Madoff mess. The former NASDAQ […]
“War may sometimes be a necessary evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.” – Jimmy Carter Those who suffer disproportionately from all violent conflicts are women and children. War not only kills children […]
Yesterday, March 25th, the UN marked the second annual International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The story of the end of the slave trade deserves to be told here at the United Nations. Indeed, the defense of human rights is at the heart of this Organization’s global […]
Sri Lanka’s conflict is now longer breaking headlines or shocking news in the mainstream media, but the crisis is far from over, in fact the humanitarian crisis is headed for a catastrophe, especially in the northern Wanni region. The Wanni region according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) an estimated 150,000 civilians continue to be […]
The international group Human Rights Watch says the use by the Israeli military of white phosphorus shells over populated areas in the Gaza Strip constitutes war crimes. “In Gaza, the Israeli military didn’t just use white phosphorus in open areas as a screen for its troops,” said HRW’s Fred Abrahams. “It fired white phosphorus repeatedly […]
27 Member States and others are lining up to join this exclusive club where a treaty, binding all together, is anchored in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. But there is a disturbing paradox. There are cases of Eastern bloc countries having to actually weaken their human rights mandates in order to join the EU. How […]
CINCINNATI, March 24 (Reuters) – The U.S. government said on Tuesday it has sought travel documents to deport 88-year-old U.S. resident John Demjanjuk to Germany to face charges he helped murder at least 29,000 Jews as a Nazi death camp guard. The travel documents are one of the last steps required to deport the ailing […]
It’s been almost a week now since the Pope told a reporter that condoms increase the number of AIDS cases. And yet the evidence is incontrovertible, the science sound, the facts are there. Condoms prevent the spread of infectious disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is explicit Latex condoms, when used consistently and […]
More than 1 billion people live without access to safe water and 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. Today is World Water Day, and as was stated in post earlier this month, Life or Death in Each Drop, that while we in developing nations take each sip of life saving water […]
Namibia declares emergency in areas hit by floods Namibia’s president has declared a state of emergency in areas hit by what he said could be some of the worst floods in recent memory. President Hifikepunye Pohamba told reporters 92 people had drowned since flooding began in early February and 5,032 people had been left homeless. […]
Children’s mouths speak the truth. -Chinese proverb. Listen to the words that come out of the mouths of babes and you will hear the truth. Just ask any parent who has shuddered in horror as their child asks an overweight person if they are pregnant, or just yelled “mommy, that guy is fat”. When I […]
The spiralling Syrian regime is yet again imposing its heavy hand on pro-democracy activists. People who dare challenge Damascus, the brave individuals who face persecution and yet persist to tell the truth, are being rounded up and thrown in jail. And to imagine, that at one point in 2000, political prisoners were released and reforms […]
On February 26th, following the Oscar and media hype over the film Slumdog Millionaire, I post the piece, The Reality of Slumdog Millionaire’, in which I highlighted the extreme difficulty in escaping India’s slums, and the harsh reality that money is only a band-aid solution to solving the problem’s of poverty. Money alone cannot bring […]
The legacy of President George Bush is in the making. His ‘war on terror’ ad hominem seem to belong to another time, distant. But as the months and eventually years unfold, the secrets of his administration will come to light. As will all the associated horrors. So Mark Danner writes in the New York Review […]