During the run-up to a U.S. Presidential election, millions of Americans become deeply involved in the political process, and millions more follow the campaign in the U.S. mass media. So complete is the U.S. focus on its election that it is easy to overlook the impact that this major event has on world opinion. In […]
The unwitting victims of war are the children, often caught in the crossfire and used a pawns, however the risks effects of war linger on for children. The war never ends the day the news cameras quit rolling and the troops pull out. The images of war remain forever etched in a child's mind, shaping […]
This week, Defense Secretary Gates and Secretary of State Rice combined efforts on improving the dampening European support for NATO troops in Afghanistan. Gates warned the Senate Armed Services Committee, "I worry a great deal about the alliance evolving into a two-tiered alliance, in which you have some allies willing to fight and die […]
A lead prosecutor for the war crimes tribunal at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay said the U.S. military lost a year's worth of records pertaining to the detention of Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Ahmed Hamdan. Hamdan's legal counsel requested access to the records to support their claim that his detention left him […]
Let us then forget not to seek and search for truth and see the beauty in all that surrounds us. The truth is the key to the future, beauty is the knowing and seeing a peaceful future for all the worlds children.
Economic Stimulus – In the U.S. Senate yesterday, they tried to get a vote on the economic stimulus package. See this from the A.P. The measure couldn’t get the votes necessary for cloture – the magic 60 necessary for a bill to be fully considered on the Senate floor. What’s this got to do with […]
When the Rafah border was broken open by Hamas, food and goods were certainly not the only items brought back into the Gaza Strip. It's more than likely that weapons, normally snuck into the territory through underground tunnels, were also brought over. This is particularly troubling after Hamas claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in […]
No one needs to tell us that children who have proper diets of nutritious food from an early age will have opportunities at a more prosperous life than their malnourished counter parts. Nutrition directly relates to a child's health, but what about a child's future wealth? According to a recent study in The Lancet, a […]
For the most part I don't notice when the dollar is weak or strong. Unless I’m travelling it just doesn't register with the prices of things I buy. Economics isn't my best subject, so I can't really say why. Maybe it is the pegged Yuan, or the fact that oil is priced in dollars? Maybe […]
This nice overview of CSR begins with an illustrative short anecdote that shows how “creative capitalism” has been around for a while. “Like many people in Guatemala, Dona Blanca grows crops which are exported to companies in North America and Europe. But unlike most of them, she is paid fairly for her work. That's because […]
The Department of Defense released its figure for the 2009 budget: $518.3 billion. As this article points out, that number is only the military portion of the budget. There are other expenditures that could be easily classified as funding national security also. First, the $70 billion the DOD requested to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Secondly, […]
The FY09 budget request is out. Foreign aid comes under international affairs. In addition to the staffing increases I wrote about earlier, here are some highlights I picked out from the press release: $2.3 billion to help Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and West Bank/Gaza achieve necessary economic, democratic, security and political stabilization and to advance their […]
Henrietta Fore, Director of Foreign Assistance and USAID Administrator, has announced her plan for reforming the US Foreign Aid system. The Center For Global Development gives a solid analysis of what she had to say. The CGD tracks this issue closely, and just started a new project on modernizing foreign assistance. The four main points […]
After the gloomy report this blog gave last January that the State Department would be forced to cut its diplomatic posts by 10%, good news comes through the wire: “Bush Aims To Hire More Diplomats“ February 4, 2008–President Bush wants to hire nearly 1,100 new diplomats to address severe staffing shortages and put the State […]
In addition to adding 1,000 new diplomats to the State Department, the President's new budget calls for 300 new USAID Foreign Service Officers and 250 people for the Active Response Corps – a group of pre-vetted civilians to respond to emergency situations. As someone who may one day want to take one of these new […]