The New York Times commented yesterday (registration required) on the problem that humanitarian NGOs such as the Red Cross are having with earmarked donations. When too many donors say that 100% of their money has to go to a specific cause, NGOs aren't able to react to sudden issues or less-publicized crises. They also have […]
On Friday the State Department announced that Nicholas Burns, Undersecretary for Political Affairs, will be retiring from the number 3 post in the Department. Burns said he was leaving because it is “time for me to meet my obligations to my wife and three daughters, and it's time to pursue other ventures outside the government.” Click below to watch […]
Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see. – The Measure of a Man, 1958 Those words ring as true today as it did then, we still walk around in the light failing to to see the shadows that are all around us, ignoring the children of the […]
The U.S. District Court in New York sentenced a 25-year-old Canadian of Kuwaiti descent to life in prison for plotting in 2001 a bombing of the U.S. embassies in Manila and Singapore. The FBI in May 2002 arrested Mohammed Mansour Jabarah at a FBI-run safe-house in Oman for alleged al-Qaida suspects fleeing Afghanistan following the […]
Most anyone knows that the first two years in a child's life key to adult development, and it is the undernourishment of children and pregnant mothers that is the underlying cause of some 3.5 million preventable child deaths each year. After the age of two much of a child's life is already permanently imprinted upon […]
So, we're back from Arizona. Observations? A few. First, sprawl and mall culture are scary, no matter how relatively upscale they're played. From a little Scottsdale-area mountain called Pinnacle Peak, you could see the surrounding country for miles. Nothing, but nothing, is built up. It's all built out. And why, I wondered, wasn't every single […]
Yesterday, Google.org announced the five core activies that they will pursue for the next five to ten years. All are intimately connected to technology. The dollar amounts announced today are small when compared with those the Gates Foundation throws around – only $25 million in new grants and $175 million over 3 years – but […]
Recently, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates criticized NATO troops in Afghanistan for not understanding how to fight a counter-insurgency campaign. Now that 3,200 US Marines will be deploying to the country, Gates is saying they are there to help the overall war effort and the move is not intended to be a statement about NATO's efforts. However, the Marines are considered to […]
While the bruises of the body fade in time, the scars of child abuse never fade. Children are never the same again after an abuser has entered their lives, they loose not only the innocence of childhood, but also the chance at a normal future. One cannot erase the memories of abuse, they live in […]
Guatemala: Alvaro Colom was sworn in yesterday as Guatemala's new president. Colom pledged to alleviate poverty in the country, where half the people live on an estimated $1 per day. Afghanistan: Due to an increase in prices, more than 1 million people in rural Afghanistan are at risk of food shortages, says the United Nations […]
There are some 27 million slaves in the world today, making the already horrendous crime one one of the There is no corner of the world untouched by this unspeakable crime, which preys mostly on women and children. The United States has taken the issues with the utmost seriousness, and over the last 8 years […]
Here's the bad news. The Washington Post reports that the State Department will be cutting 10 percent of diplomatic posts next year. Veteran diplomatic correspondent Karen DeYoung reports: "Nearly one-quarter of all diplomatic posts are vacant after hundreds of Foreign Service officers were sent to embassies in Baghdad and Kabul, and Congress has not provided […]
According to new research published in The Lancet, early childhood nutrition has even more impact on an individual's lifetime health, education, and earning potential than previously thought. The journal published a series of five reports on the topic. They are available for free download. I recommend the executive summary, which is only 12 pages long […]
The Guardian reports that many multibillionaires choose to give their money to charity for the sake of their children. They feel that to inherit such vast fortunes would ruin their children's lives in a Hilton-esque way. This feeling is behind William Barron Hilton's recent donations as well as Warren Buffet's. Buffet gave a great quote: […]
On Tuesday, an American Embassy vehicle was the target of a bombing in Beirut. The explosion left two US Embassy officials with light injures. An American citizen, not affiliated with the US Embassy, was also injured. At least three people died and more than twenty were wounded. The attack was the first on American interests […]