Few of us are shocked by the mention of porn, or even blink at the mention of internet porn, not for the fact that one likes it presence, but the mention of child porn is another story in its own self. Yet while we are shocked and outraged by its existence it is the widest […]
As President Barack Obama announces his ‘New Financial Foundation’ package of banking and financial industry reform, skepticism about the plan; and whether the administration is squandering political capital on a missed opportunity for BOLD changes is coming from every quarter.
“Everyone on the face of the Earth has a treasure that lies waiting for them” – Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist There is truly a treasure waiting for each of child, and the greatest of all treasures that awaits them is simply the future. For many children the future is something they will never know, for […]
By Klara Moradkhan Imagine having a strong desire to help others, and finally getting the opportunity to do so in the country you take pride in and love. Then imagine that same country suddenly imprisoning you, taking you away from your family, your friends and your humanitarian work. This happened to my dear cousin and […]
I went to GreenBuildingsNY 2009 the other day and had a fine time. The show had everything from windows and doors, to toilets and garbage disposals, to solar PV and green roofs – and beyond. Knowledgeable vendors, great stuff. Green building, for my money, has nothing but upside. As I wrote in my article for […]
Access to food, restricted by conditions related to the Global Financial Crisis, has exacerbated the Global Food Crisis, says the UN Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) new estimate. The full report will be released in October. With global food markets still recovering from the 2008 food crisis, lower incomes and unemployment have pushed more people […]
Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (H.R. 2410) that provides funding for the State Department and the Peace Corps as well as oversight for new programs. As the the companion bill works its way through the Senate and the two versions get […]
This is a riveting account of the arrest and prosecution of one of Nazi Germany’s biggest critics. Sophie Scholl was part of a group known as the White Rose, an organization bent on ending Hitler’s war machine (particularly on the eastern front). [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/XM5A4ETW_Io” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] It is 1943 and Scholl is arrested […]
China-Russia relations have markedly improved since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but potential problems between the neighboring giants loom on the horizon. David Shambaugh, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University, published an opinion piece this week in The New York Times saying that […]
In an op-ed published in papers in Brazil, Russia, India and China, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva argued that the BRIC Summit demonstrated a “commitment to help provide fresh answers to old problems and to offer bold leadership in the face of inertia and indecision.” “BRIC is more than just a grouping of […]
Deutsche Bank yesterday unveiled an enormous display outside New York’s Madison Square Garden/Penn Station complex. What’s it show? “The current quantity of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere as shown by the Carbon Counter is 3.64 trillion metric tons, increasing by approximately 2 billion metric tons per month,” according to DB’s release. “‘The Carbon Counter […]
I applaud his hands-off approach, really quite unique for an American president, ensuring that conservatives in Iran have the least possible evidence of American interference in Iran’s affairs as possible. Yet the president should be careful in holding forth on foreign policy analytics, as he is not some snarky blogger seeking to impress readers, but rather the President of the United States…[…]
Displacement crisis poses major challenges The number of people displaced from their homes is set to reach 45 million this year, the highest number in a decade, United Nations refugee chief Antonio Guterres says. The protracted nature of the displacements and the need for humanitarian efforts undertaken in areas still home to conflict are among […]
One of my fellow FPA bloggers has invited me to note a new film that may be of interest to the U.S. Role readership. Sean Patrick Murphy’s Global Film Review blog recently screened the “Battle for Haditha” film, directed by Nick Broomfield, and recommends the film as a dramatic and insightful portrayal of a roadside […]
Brewing anger among the hundreds of thousands peaceful protesters in central Tehran has the Iranian government on edge. Behind the scenes, arrests of prominent individuals backing the opposition are underway. Yesterday, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the Secretary-General of Nehzat e Azadi (Freedom Movement) Ebrahim Yzdi was arrested while in […]