Masarrat Misbah is a woman who brought hope, who inspired many around the world to contribute to her foundation, Depilex Smile Again. Depilex Smile Again was set up to help women disfigured by acid burns. It would find them a new life and help pay for expensive reconstructive surgery. Her foundation captured the imagination. The […]
Global Engagement as a concept and component of foreign policy can often seem like inside baseball, a potentially wonky set of topics reserved for inside-the-Beltway Washington types whose jobs its is to formulate and implement foreign policy. But is should not be so limited in its scope – and it cannot if it is going […]
Many of us fail to think that in today’s modern society there is truly a caste system and that populations, including children, would be deemed ‘untouchable’. For me what first comes to mind is the Biblical references to the Lepers, or how our society once condemned most with mental or learning disabilities to a life […]
The leading Central Bankers and Finance Ministers of the world’s seven major industrial nations, known as the G-7, wrapped up their first meeting of the year by pledging today to work to calm global markets and maintain government stimulus in order to help sustain a global economic recovery. Speaking for the group, Canadian Finance Minister […]
Feeding America (fromerly known as America’s Second Harvest) is developing a “Child Hunger Corps,” setting up positions for corps members to be responsible for developing the capacity and capability of food banks in selected U.S. cities, to execute program models targeted toward the alleviation of child hunger. Each corps member would serve for two years, […]
According to the BBC, it was announced yesterday that Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua would soon write a letter handing over power to his vice president. Yar’Adua has been hospitalized in Saudi Arabia since November with heart and kidney ailments — there was even speculation he was dead. It was news many had been dreading even […]
Spearphishing (v): To catch or try to catch one particular VIP target in a cyberscam in an attempt to gain access to their (presumably high-value) networks and information. E.g., a cleverly-crafted Trojan Horse PDF regarding an actual event using zero-day exploits to hand over the keys to the kingdom to a nefarious agent.
New vaccine might protect children from malaria An experimental malaria vaccine that boosts immune responses has produced powerful antibodies in young children during initial trials, U.S. researchers say. Scientists hope the vaccine can be used to bring an end to the 1 million deaths a year associated with malaria. Polio survivors face new threats Post-polio […]
In a story yesterday in the “NY Times” about the Europeans upgrading their factories – and saving jobs while doing it – a Siemens operation in Berlin was highlighted. Because of the commitment by this 163-year-old company to sustainability, they have spent $700 million to develop new, low carbon turbines. The kicker for me comes […]
An update on BAE: It has pled guilty to charges in both the United States and Britain. It will pay nearly $450 million in penalties.
Back to the NYT article on Cyberwar. William J. Lynn III was quoted as saying that modern cybersecurity is like the French Maginot Line “A fortress mentality will not work in cyber,” he said. “We cannot retreat behind a Maginot Line of firewalls. We must also keep maneuvering. If we stand still for a minute, […]
Haiti housing concerns mounting Haitian authorities and aid groups are in a race against time to ensure earthquake survivors have shelter before the rainy season begins in March. Aid groups are hoping to encourage the use of transitional shelters that can later be reinforced into more permanent structures over tents. Some food aid sold via […]
People like the analogy. The rise of Germany after 1890, mismanaged by Germany and its adversaries, and the rise of China today — mismanaged or well-managed? A NYTimes article today discusses the conflicting claims over rich offshore oil resources in the South China Sea among China and its much smaller neighbors, notably Vietnam, with which China fought […]
After the U.S. made a heroic effort to help the people of Haiti recover from their recent major earthquake, events on the ground have taken an odd turn. Even after millions of dollars in aid money was donated by American citizens, corporations and the federal government, and direct on-the-ground help from private U.S. aid groups […]