Here’s the conclusion to my series on Afghanistan based on several Department of Defense sponsored Bloggers Roundtables I participated in over the last several weeks. On May 3rd, Major General Richard Mills, United States Marine Corp, spoke on the topic The Evolving Security Situation in Afghanistan. General Mills is the former commander, Regional Command Southwest. […]
There was a very important bit of reporting in the NY Times yesterday: A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself. Among the most important things it does is illustrate quite clearly how the extremes of temperature and precipitation that are becoming the norm are negatively affecting agricultural production. Productivity losses generate higher prices which, in […]
The idea that American leadership is civilian and accountable is a fallacy. Why is this important? The US war effort in Afghanistan is lacking true civilian leadership, and the existing leadership (military) is avoiding accountability through obfuscation, self-aggrandizement, and attempts to overly intellectualize the conflict. We need to examine why this has been allowed to happen, as well as what we can do about it.
“It’s like Platoon in the mountains.” That was a response by one viewer of this documentary. It’s a valid observation. Restrepo tells the story of the 2nd Platoon of Battle Company in the 173rd Airborne Combat Team on its deployment in Afghanistan in 2007 and 2008. The title refers to the platoon outpost, named after […]
Now that a recent outbreak of a deadly strain of E. Coli that hit Europe in late May has been contained by stepped up screening, governments and consumers are questioning how the outbreak of such a deadly bacteria emerged and how can future outbreaks be prevented. First, what is known: At the time of this […]
Farishta, Patricia McArdle’s first novel, is a compelling and readable book about the challenges faced by soldiers and civilians stationed in Afghanistan — the constant fear of attack; the unforgiving landscape; the hostile and often corrupt warlords; the uncertain loyalties of Afghan colleagues; the efficacy of their mission; and the constant isolation. See the rest of the review at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephenie-foster/farishta-a-compelling-nov_b_870080.html?ref=tw
It appears to me that President Obama has made another excellent choice for his administration for advancing the cause of clean tech and living up to the responsibility of fighting the climate crisis. He has named John Bryson, a founder of the seminal environmental organization, the Natural Resources Defense Council, as the new Secretary of […]
Since September 11, every now and then someone will bring up the Barbary Wars as a precedent to the United States’ post-9/11 military actions. (See this Washington Post piece from October 2001 and this National Review piece from 2005.) This time the phenomenon emerges with Marion Smith who, writing for the National Review, argues that […]
There’s a tricky gray area in the non-profit world around “mission creep” and funding when it comes to human rights. Non-profit organizations (and charitable foundations) obviously want to maximize their funding. And most NGOs, or people working for or supporting NGOs, care about more than one issue, even if they have a narrow focus: generally, […]
As Peter Mellgard of the FPA Current Conflicts blog noted last week, Thomas Friedman recently offered a perhaps seemingly novel proposal to the Palestinians. His proposal? A massive nonviolent protest movement advocating a two-state solution. Friedman writes: If Palestinians peacefully march to Jerusalem by the thousands every Friday with a clear peace message, it would […]
On Tuesday, May 31, 2011, delegates from various law enforcement agencies and NGO’s providing services to survivors of human trafficking filled a conference room at the Washington Dulles International Airport; to witness Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (R) signed three bills, all of which work to prevent human trafficking in the state. House Bill 1893 was […]
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the new Medicare initiative to reward hospitals with better performance metrics, and punish those with worse. On Monday, the New York Times published an article which gave greater detail about the proposed payment methodology. According to the article, the “plan has drawn fire from hospitals” due to a clause which requires […]
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