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Kudos to the NYT, at least this time, for profiling David Brenner at my alma mater, Columbia University, who is trying to spread accurate information about radiation in the context of Fukushima. I commend this piece to all. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/29/science/earth/29brenner.html?src=recg

One of the enduring security threats to the US is its dependence on imported oil. President Obama was at Georgetown University this morning to address the problem. He noted that in 2008, the US imported 11 million barrels of oil per day. His ambition is to cut that by 1/3 by 2025. I hesitate to […]

Here’s a terrific book from the sustainability pioneer Lester Brown that I used in my Clean Tech class last Fall.  It touches on everything that needs examination.  It shows the state of the climate system and the impacts we’ve been experiencing, and it looks closely at all the other environmental insults we’ve been visiting on […]

No, I am absolutely not downplaying the potential contamination and exposures that are arising as a result of the ongoing mess at Fukushima. I have seen ample photos of severe radiation burns resulting from exposure to powerful strontium-90 sources discarded by Soviet authorities and stumbled upon by hapless woodsmen in the Republic of Georgia.  I […]

On March 29, 2011, India and Pakistan concluded bilateral talks in New Delhi which are expected to lead to a formal investigation into the Mumbai terror attacks. The talks were the first formal dialogue since the 2008 attacks, which halted the two countries’ highly unstable peace process and stunted the joint terror investigation. Pakistan has […]

Some 1,000 women die each day from complications of pregnancy or birth and more than eight million children under the age of 5 years-old die each year, from mostly preventable and treatable conditions. If key drugs were made available, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), those grave figures would drastically improve. The WHO released […]

Everyone would agree that the United States needs to take their enemies seriously, know who they are, and what they stand for. This is why I get so frustrated when the Obama administration has gone out of the way to not use the words ‘terrorism’, ‘Islamism’, and now, even ‘war’. It should also be noted […]

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the one that has jurisdiction over both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy, held a Member Meeting to hear updates from both agencies regarding the ongoing nuclear messiness at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.  You will recall that three of the […]

The Carnegie Nuclear Policy program has released two nice papers worthy of a look-see. The first, entitled “Gambit or Endgame? The New State of Arms Control”, is written by Alexei Arbatov, a scholar-in-residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Nonproliferation Program and a former member of the Russian State Duma.  The paper ponders the future of […]

I’m pleased to post this release from the Carnegie Corporation, which has announced $3.15 million in grants to eight nonprofit projects aimed at preventing nuclear proliferation and securing vulnerable fissile materials.   Worthy expenditures indeed! Carnegie Corporation Gives $3.15 Million to Prevent Nuclear Proliferation, Secure Vulnerable Fissile Material Japan Crisis Highlights Need to Re-Think Energy As […]

(From The Phnom Penh Post) By James O’Toole and Cheang Sokha Appeals in the case of former S-21 prison chief Kaing Guek Eav began at the Khmer Rouge tribunal yesterday with a contentious debate on the court’s jurisdiction and its right to try the accused, better known as Duch. Prosecutors, the defence and civil party […]

Bill O’Reilly said it was logical.   Donald Trump said it made no sense.  Sarah Palin called it disappointing. Regardless of one’s opinion of President Obama’s speech last night on the U.S. military intervention in Libya, though,  there no doubt seemed to be hints of an emerging “Obama Doctrine” in his remarks. There will be times, […]