“The true measure of a nation's standing is how well it attends to its children , their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born.” -UNICEF What is really a better life for a […]
We looked at the Senate energy legislation from June 15 to 22. (See various posts below.) Now the ball is very much in the court of the House. Yesterday, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, led a press conference of leading Democratic committee chairs to “Announce America’s “Energy Independence Day’ Legislation.” Frankly, the package, […]
An independent commission has reached an official death toll from the Bosnian war in the 1990's. The study from the Norwegian Research and Documentation Center in Sarajevo – called the “The Bosnian Book of the Dead” – has reached a figure of 97, 207, far less than United Nations estimates. UN estimates cite a figure […]
Children so often suffer unjustly, just because they are children, for the world too often sees them as less worthy to have a voice. However all children have the right to be heard, and they have so much to say and contribute to the world. With age and power we so often forget the wisdom […]
The tribunal established to investigate allegations of war crimes for members of Saddam Hussein's former regime has stated it will begin prosecuting individuals accused of launching a campaign against a Shi’ite uprising following the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. Following the defeat of Iraq in the first Gulf War, Shi’ites in southern Iraq and Kurds […]
The chief war crimes prosecutor for the United Nations, Carla del Ponte, said that the European Union should not proceed on negotiations with Serbia until all war crimes suspects have been arrested. Del Ponte has stated that, despite positive assessments by the EU, Serbia should not be perceived as meeting its full obligations to join […]
This past year the media brought one particular issue of child trafficking and slavery to the public’s attention, camel jockeys. This year alone 43 children have already been recovered in the Middle East. Many of the children have been taken from poorer areas of Pakistan and many with the consent of their parents, as traffickers […]
Five weeks into his presidency, Nicolas Sarkozy – the new French premier – hosted an international conference on Darfur in Paris. Among those in attendance was U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleeeza Rice, who spoke of the need for a renewed effort at the crisis in the troubled region in Sudan and its regional effects. The […]
I'm on a short vacation now between the end of my daughter's school year and the beginning of day camp. We're in the Florida Keys and the whole experience makes one mindful of a number of things: technology, for one thing. Checking destinations and flights out on the web, making reservations by phone (the old […]
Charles Taylor once again boycotted his trial at The Hague today. He is claiming that he is not given fair representation for his trial after sacking his legal consul, claiming he was ‘outgunned’ by the prosecution. He is charged with 11 counts of war crimes for atrocities committed during the civil conflict in Sierra Leone […]
Education is a basic right for all children around the world, yet in the developing world there are almost two billion children, most of which are not receiving an a proper education, or any education at all. According to the Global Fund for Children one in five children, 120 to 125 million children, are not […]
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as “Chemical Ali”, was sentenced to death by hanging on Sunday for masterminding genocide against Iraq's Kurds in the 1980s, an Iraqi court said.
Isaac Kamali, a former senior member of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND) in Rwanda, was arrested trying to enter the United States. Kamali, who was detained in Philadelphia, is suspected of participating in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where roughly a half-million Tutsi minorities were slaughtered. Interpol had issued a Red […]
After I posted last night, the Senate came back for a late session in which they approved a complete package. The final result was that the CAFE improvements were in, as was a huge boost in ethanol production and a requirement for ethanol use in vehicles, a frankly feel-good provision on price gouging was included, the tax […]
