Is there a tradeoff between economic development and environmental conservation? I have just returned from Vietnam, where it is easy to believe there is. Modern tourists to Vietnam are often lured by the lush green scenery and pastoral lifestyle. The sharp green hills and women tending rice fields in conical hats are there, but today […]
BOLD NEWS today out of Ethiopia: President Meles Zenawi has declared that “Ethiopia will no longer need food aid by 2015.” Meles was referring to a “Growth and Transformation” plan seeking to achieve 15 percent economic growth over five years. Ethiopia has increased its agricultural output in recent years, but has not been able to […]
All talk in the aid community this month is the lead up to the Millennium Development Goals summit in New York from September 20-22. The goal of the summit it to assess general progress since the MDGs began, and consider a push toward meeting the deadline of 2015 (which most development professionals would agree is […]
Report in NY Times about the impending lay-off of over 500,000 employees was jarring in the context of our own stagnant economy. The junior Castro brother, Raúl, is following through on his previous pledges to make Cuba’s centralized, Socialist economy more efficient and to open up opportunities to its enterprising citizens. This begs the question if Cuba will replicate China’s success with its State capitalism model.
The military has a process called “Lessons Learned”. Basically after the conduct of a major operation, be it an exercise or real world conflict, you study what worked and what didn’t. The purpose of the process is to constantly improve the way you do business by documenting what worked and what didn’t work. The hope […]
Last month I brought you news that the UN Denounced Wartime Rape, which had followed a 2008 denouncement of the practice of rape warfare by the Security Council, who unanimously adopted a resolution which acknowledged the use of rape as ‘a tactic of war and an impediment to peace’. Much of the move by the UN was […]
The two UN organization’s aiming to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halve hunger by 2015, will publish a report detailing a improvement in global hunger numbers from 2009 to 2010. The overall number of hungry people around the globe, however, remains remarkably high. Anticipating the release of the joint report in October from […]
Sue me: I love the FT. It has comprehensive, smart and deep coverage of energy and the environment. I subscribe to the paper and to the “Energy Source” blog feed. Once again, they’re hitting on all cylinders with this special report, Modern Energy. There are articles here on oil, gas, power demand, biofuels, the state […]
This is the new face of global organized crime–a criminal smorgasbord in which players energized by shifting motives still cooperate at intersections in their operational journeys, ‘hooking up’ for a day or an extra dollar when there are benefits all around.
According to Washington Trade Daly The United Steelworks Union has recently filed a unfair trade practices petition with the office of the US Trade Representative. The letter maintains that several Chinese policies and practices are “illegal” and threatens the U.S. economy. In particular they maintain that the U.S. alternative and renewable energy sectors are being […]
On Clean Energy, China Skirts Rules was a front-page story at the NY Times this past week. The gist: China is cranking up its exports of wind turbines and PV, eclipsing other leaders like the US and Germany. However, they’re doing it largely on the strength of subsidies illegal under international trade agreements, namely the […]
Today marks the 9th anniversary of the unforgettable tragedy of September 11, 2001, which took the lives of 2,974 people, not including the 19 hijackers. Of those who lost their lives, 8 where children: 5 on American 77 ranging in age from 3 to 11, 3 on United 175 ages 2, 3, and 4. In the towers, the […]
Like many people I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing as those tragic events unfolded that day in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. On this the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks it seems clear that our national media have chosen to filter this anniversary through the […]
The “Friday Spotlight” has rapidly become a “Saturday Spotlight,” but bear with me. Today Johnson & Johnson announced a plan to donate $200 million in cash to women and children in the developing world. The company will donate its medicine for treating intestinal worms in children, send pregnant women messages on prenatal health on their cell […]
As Congress comes back to session after a their long August break, many items are on the agenda, including the very-delayed food safety bill. Many are looking forward to seeing an amendment which may be put into place in the food-safety bill to ensure Bisphenol A (BPA), potentially dangerous and toxic chemical is banned. BPA […]