Testifying before Congress last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced the Department’s intent to reduce defense spending by $78 billion in addition to the forthcoming $100 billion in spending cuts over the next five years through new efficiencies. Tamir Eschel of Defense Update provides an overview of the proposed reductions: Bowing under budget […]
I gave a lesson, Temperature 101, about a year ago. It garnered a lot of comments – for this blog anyway. It is truly astonishing, I thought then, how obtuse the Denialists are, and how marvelously blithely indifferent they are to the sources of their Flat Earth thinking: the paid shills of the fossil fuel […]
Could a survey of 33 questions be the difference between whether a person qualifies for food aid or not? We often talk about food aid organizations and the projects they implement to combat food crises or the chronic challenges to food security. But who are the people who make these projects happen? How do they […]
There’s a video today from Reuters describing how London is piloting an advanced hydrogen hybrid bus, complete with a waste-to-energy hydrogen production facility. This reminded me of a really great little TV show from Nova that I flagged to you a few years back: Car of the Future. Nova visited Iceland for the segment of […]
by Sheila Jasanoff In May 2003, the United States and several cooperating countries filed a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO) charging the European Union (EU) with maintaining an illegal, non-science based moratorium on genetically modified (GM) food and crops. Almost three years later, in February 2006, the WTO concluded that EU inaction between […]
Today in Tunisia, amid government blackouts and Western apathy among the press and government bureaucracy, social media and second generation journalism through blogs is emerging as one of the only methods for demonstrators to tell their tale for those willing to listen.
Beginning this week, Odwalla plans to donate 10 cents from every purchase of Mango Tango Smoothies to the Haiti relief effort. The money is intended to promote training and better market access for Haiti’s mango farmers. “With the one-year anniversary of the earthquake upon us, we wanted to renew our commitment to the important reconstruction […]
I had an opportunity to preview a new documentary that will premier on PBS entitled, After the Wall: A World United, which focuses on the political challenges that had to be overcome in order to reunify Germany at the end of the Cold War. It’s a fascinating look at one of the most critical events […]
Global food prices have surpassed the peak reached during the 2007-2008 Global Food Crisis, according to the BBC. The new information comes from the Food Price Index, compiled by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) to track global food prices by measuring monthly price changes for a food basket composed of dairy, meat and […]
Dioxin contamination of eggs and poultry originating from small farms in Germany have led to products being pulled from shelves as an expanding investigation continues. A growing fear of food laced with the carcinogenic compound have led some countries to scrutinize or even block German food imports. The source of the contamination is thought to […]
At the start of every year, we celebrate and wonder what the next 365 days will bring. We know that there will be ups and downs, things we didn’t expect, public scandals we never anticipated, tragedies of some sort that will unfold on our television sets, and a whole lot of everyday distractions in between. […]
The Pentagon announced this week that more Marines will be heading to Afghanistan to help maintain momentum there as Obama continues with his surge policy with the long-term goal of withdrawing American forces: The United States will send more than 1,000 additional Marines to Afghanistan this month to try to solidify progress in the south […]
President Obama appointed Bill Daley as White House Chief of Staff this week. I see this as a very positive development from a trade perspective as he has a history of being pro business and pro trade. I am hoping this will mean a new pushed on trade issues that have been all but ignored […]
