It appears Paraguay (as I covered last month) is not the only country embroiled in an impeachment scandal. Last Friday July 6 Romania’s parliament voted to impeach President Traian Basescu, who has violated the Constitution and acted as a dictator according to opponents (note: all news-related information and quotes in this article derive from […]
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally approved a rapid, over-the-counter, and at-home test for HIV. The test, called OraQuick and made by OraSure, allows people to check their serostatus in the convenience and privacy of their own homes and illustrates the change in perception around HIV ever since it became an epidemic […]
The United Nation’s most recent report on progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows that Pakistan’s food security has declined in the last four years. “The report expressed fears that Pakistan was lagging behind the target of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and indicators show that the target would not be achieved by 2015, […]
A video slideshow from the BBC illustrates the circumstances of two Ethiopian women, each dealing with food insecurity. Fitsum Birhan Tadele is a 20-year old mother of two who lives in Ethiopia’a arid Hintalo Wajerat district, whose people rely on food aid each dry season. The slideshow also shows how a food-for-work irrigation project can […]
After more than a year of planning, much diplomatic hype, and thousands of attendees, last month’s UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro produced what one activist called a “failure of epic proportions.” The few agreements—including yet another “universal intergovernmental high level political forum” to talk some more—seemed to fall well short of the challenge […]
1776: The Musical (1969; movie 1972) “Waiting for the chirp, chirp, chirp. Of an eaglet being born. Waiting for the chirp, chirp, chirp. On this humid Monday Morning in this Congressional incubator.” The Guardian, probably rightfully, declared that 1776 was “[f]ar too long and mostly terrible, but hilarious.” Now, the real question–why would anyone ever decide to make the Second Continental […]
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has drawn a ban in New York City’s watershed, and the New Jersey legislature is contemplating to prevent the transport of wastewater from fracking through the Garden State. What do we need to know about “fracking” to join an informed discussion? In general, all natural gas wells have their highest production rates once brought […]
Why does ground meat not get a more “respected place” at the table? Do too many calories cause obesity, or does the type of calorie matter more? These are questions asked in opinion pieces from this weekend’s New York Times. Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg write in “The Kindest Cut of Meat is Ground” that ground […]
While much of what is immediately important about a democratic election is whether it was sufficiently free from corruption and interference for voters to decide the outcome, the devil is sometimes in the details. Seemingly minor bureaucratic and logistical concerns can threaten the value of an otherwise legitimate democratic exercise. Even in the United States, […]
Family planning is a controversial frontier in the maternal health field. Almost everyone can get behind saving mothers and babies from preventable death–be it from hemorrhages, anemia, preeclampsia, or logistical barriers to doctors and health care. But granting women control of their reproductive choices is as controversial in the developing world as in the US. […]
I want to provide an update on my story about Mexico’s presidential election, which takes place today, July 1. It seems this election is as much a referendum on democracy and the openness of the Mexican political system itself as it is about any one candidate. After 12 years of struggle to move Mexico forward under […]
Why is it that the media in the West seem to fixate on some stories while completely ignoring others? The strategic analysis firm Stratfor recently sent their subscribers a report by Robert Kaplan that contained the following quote that provides an insightful answer: The media love people stories; they love to humanize everything about a […]
By Jim Wynn Unemployment is currently a burning issue in this country as it is across the globe. Discussions about how best to create jobs feed our headline news fuel fierce political debate and will be a key factor in determining the outcome of our presidential election in November. Although unemployment in the US has fallen […]
After the shooting down of a Turkish F4, supposedly unarmed, last Friday, Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recently declared that Turkey considers Syria as a “clear and present danger.” However, he went further and claimed that “we [Turkey] won’t be trapped into a war of provocation, but we won’t be silent and do nothing […]
Egypt is getting most of the headlines this week for its historic and dramatic change in leadership. But it is not the only country testing the strength of its democracy. Last Friday (June 22), the legislature of Paraguay removed President Fernando Lugo from office following an impeachment trial. Lugo referred to the act as an […]