As European countries deal with the fourth day of disruptions and cancellations of flights due to the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Kenya is feeling the effects of the volcano is an unexpected way. Kenya, which exports roses, “…beans, sugar snap peas and other vegetables” to Europe, is finding its exportable crops in danger of […]
A story last week in the Washington Post gave me a jolt: Pentagon objections hold up Oregon wind farm. Two weeks prior to breaking ground on an 845-megawatt, $2 billion project in Oregon, the Department of Defense has blocked construction owing to concerns about radar. Two weeks! The project has been on the drawing boards […]
Last week, on April 15, South Africa launched the largest HIV testing campaign in the world, aiming to have 15 million South Africans tested by June 2011. This initiative is evidence that the recent budgetary increase of over $1 billion in funds available for HIV prevention and treatment are having an impact on the ground, and it […]
The Israeli media has been on edge in recent weeks over the unprecedented case of journalists privy to sensitive military documents. Uri Blau, a reporter for the left-wing Haaretz newspaper, got about 2,000 pages of documents from a former Israeli soldier who leaked the information to him illegally. Blau is currently in London, where he […]
Jessica D’Itri I am reading The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why it Matters by B.R. Myers, an associate professor at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea. The book purports to explain the national myth that informs the worldviews of North Koreans. The author refutes the standard trope that North Korea is […]
Recently I posted the piece Yemen Fights to Ban Child Marriages, for which a law to set the minimum age for marriage in Yemen at 17 years-old is under heavy debate and protest. While the battle to pass the law rages on the situation of child brides in Yemen has turned deadly. A 12-year-old Yemeni […]
In order to better understand what the recent Nuclear Security Summit was all about and what will come next, it makes sense to begin by examining the Obama Administration’s strategy for dealing with the global challenges posed by nuclear weapons. This is clearly an issue upon which President Obama plans to build his legacy as […]
Among my grandmother’s many expressions, this was one of the better ones. I must’ve taken it very much to heart, as leftovers get eaten in our household and I’m pretty scrupulous about recycling. I’ve written here numerous times about waste management issues, including referencing my modest proposal for managing New York City’s 25,000 tons a […]
Hold on to your hats. In my last post I mentioned that the US and Russia were in complete agreement over one of the core problems of the Internet. From the same Times story: During a panel discussion on computer crime, Col. Gen. Boris N. Miroshnikov, an official with the Russian Interior Ministry, and Stewart […]
Governmental cyber officials from around the world met up in Germany this week to discuss international Internet security. The US hasn’t played a significant role in this hootenanny in the past. There are some huge differences between the US and Russia on the role of the Internet. We’re concerned about online crime, espionage and hacker […]
Charles Krauthammer tears into the Nuclear Security Summit. Max Bergmann tears into Krauthammer. Enjoy.
North Koreans are increasingly defying their government to tap into foreign radio broadcasts, according to Peter Beck of the Wall Street Journal. In his recent article, Beck highlighted the high barriers that North Korean civilians face to receive information from foreign sources. All radios sold in North Korea have their dials permanently fixed to the […]
President Obama visited NASA today to present his vision for America’s space program. In doing so he responded to critics who said that his plan would endanger America’s status as a preeminent space power. In his speech, Obama provided an overview of past U.S. space efforts before moving on to describe his plans for the […]
It is true that the world is shrinking, but that doesn’t mean we’ve all caught up with the pace that our global world is moving in. Our daily lives preceded that of what is happening across the pond and in the far reaching corners of the world we have often yet to hear of. However […]
On this day in 1914 a God was born. His name was Kim II Sung, born to a Christian family; his father a preacher. For more than 60 years, the Kim dynasty has ruled North Korea. For all these years and even today, April 15th is celebrated as the day of the flower. The flower […]