The Rolling Stones knew it years ago.* Now we’re catching up. I’ve written about natural gas a few times, basically to the effect that it’s got enormous potential as a transition fuel for many purposes as we wend our way, sooner rather than later, toward a renewable future. This is what the prophetic Barry Commoner […]
Secret directive signed by General Petraeus in September gives U.S. military special forces the power to operate in friendly and hostile states in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Exposed by the New York Times on Monday, this order increases the power of U.S. armed forces abroad and authorizes clandestine military operations against terrorists and […]
Yesterday, I very cynically posted about the success in reducing child mortality rates that has been achieved since 1990. Gap Minder (a site that has kept me entertained for hours) has a graph that shows child mortality falling – watch it, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
U.S. administration officials arrived in Beijing today (Monday) for high-level talks between America and China, Beijing officials sought ahead of the newly formed annual strategic summit to avoid open disagreement on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) apparent sinking of a South Korean warship, exchange rates, currency reforms and other big issues that divide the two nations.
The debate over current tensions on the Korean peninsula raises a lot of questions. Is Lee Myung-bak to blame for raising inter-Korean tensions previous to the naval incident? Did he repudiate the Sunshine Policy? Did the investigation reach the correct conclusion that a North Korean torpedo sank the South Korean ship? How should we proceed? […]
I’ve just finished reading this terrific history of the American environmental movement by Phil Shabecoff. He was America’s first environmental reporter and he’s quite the historian too. The title comes from a line from Aldo Leopold’s poignant essay “Thinking Like a Mountain.” He recounts the grand sweep of how Americans have treated their air, lands […]
$4.1 trillion. That’s how much the world spends on health annually, which, if you divide by an estimated 6 billion people on planet earth, works out to a bit more than $650 per person. The United States spends the most per capita on health at a little more than $6000; Burundi is the lowest at just under $3 per person. […]
The research by Spot On Public Relations, a Dubai-based agency, says there are more than 15 million subscribers to the social network. The total number of newspaper copies in Arabic, English and French is just under 14 million. The findings seem to confirm the increasing popularity of the social interaction platforms in the region. The […]
Good news in the health world is a funny thing. For those of us working in the field, it makes us nervous. After nearly a decade working in HIV, I can uncomfortably say that I’m invested in the bad news: when the New York Times says the AIDS war is falling apart, I hope that people will mobilize. When […]
Last week I wrote broadly about the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and how it has caused an ugly collision of private companies, politicians, regulators and lobbyists. One week later, as the oil gushes on, little has improved both in the water and in Washington. To date, over 6 million gallons of […]
This movie is disappointing. Which is too bad, because its premise is intriguing: three American political consultants (i.e., spin doctors) are hired to help Russian President Boris Yeltsin with his campaign in 1996. While the comedy is fictional, it is based on a true story. The team, made up of George Gorton, Dick Dresner, and […]
According to UNICEF, “More than 70 per cent of almost 11 million child deaths every year are attributable to six causes: diarrhoea, malaria, neonatal infection, pneumonia, preterm delivery, or lack of oxygen at birth.” Recently there has been a lot of discussion on meeting the Millenium Development Goals (MDG) as the 2015 deadline grows increasingly near […]
This past weekend, President Obama delivered the commencement address to West Point’s graduating class of 2010. In it, he stressed to the cadets the importance of diplomatic engagement in addition to military might as part of U.S. national security, saying, “America’s armed forces are adapting to changing times, but your efforts have to be complemented. […]
Some fascinating things that I’ve read in the last week, related to the social determinants of health and policies to improve public health. Greg Lindsay at Fast Company charts the linkages between public health and urban sprawl, an association that was once deemed radical. He writes about Dr. Richard Jackson, former CDC Chief,’s realization that America’s urban […]