The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has paved the way to end years of blocking approval of genetically modified (GM) salmon, making it the first GM animal introduced into the U.S. food supply. GM animals like the salmon, which can grow faster and larger than in nature, have raised public concern, not only for […]
What if there were a product that could beat back the costly effects of malnutrition? What if this product could be made cheaply, anywhere in the world and have a near-indefinite shelf life? The New York Times Magazine’s recent article “The Peanut Solution” describes how this product may have already been created. Plumpy’nut, “…an edible […]
A few months ago, I discussed how China’s dominance of the global rare earths market threatens the ability of the U.S. to become a green technology leader. Now it seems that American steelworker unions are petitioning the U.S. government to open talks with China on the matter, and they are requesting that the Obama Administration […]
And likewise, the Iraq War is still not over. Earlier this week, reports came out about the first U.S. combat operation since U.S. combat operations in Iraq ended. Such stories will continue, even after the withdrawal of the remaining so-called “advise-and-assist brigades” in 2011. As the New York Times reported last month, in 2011, the […]
The situation in Haiti is quietly, exhaustedly unstable. People I talk to in camps complain of flooding when it rains, and children get fevers and diarrhea for lack of clean water. Port-au-Prince has never had universal potable water, but now that over a million people are homeless and unemployed, many cannot afford to buy clean […]
You may have heard that a Florida minister is planning to hold a a Quran-burning protest this weekend. Many prominent Americans have weighed in and encouraged the minister to cancel his event, including Gen. David Petraeus, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and even President Obama. The general is concerned for the safety of our men and women […]
That’s the title of this special report from the Financial Times. (You can register for free for limited monthly access to the FT online. It’s worth it. See also their many RSS feeds. I subscribe to “Energy Source,” a highly useful blog.) There are articles here on adaptation to climate change, dealing with the critical […]
Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars to a welcome reception for former President of Botswana Festus Mogae, who has joined the center for 4 months as a visiting scholar. This was pretty exciting for me, given the Botswana connection, though, I didn’t really know what […]
Machiavelli, more than any thinker in history, made his name synonymous with a type of human behavior — self-interested, cunning, ruthless. He wrote about ancient Rome as well as Italy and the Mediterranean world of the 15th-16th centuries, extolling such leaders as Ferdinand of Aragon, the successful king of Spain who oversaw his empire’s aggrandizement, as well […]
As William Sweet of FPA Arms Control and Proliferation noted last week, India’s parliament approved a key portion of the U.S.-India nuclear pact but altered the deal to leave open the possibility of holding nuclear suppliers liable for damages resulting from accidents. This was the Bhopal tragedy rearing its ugly head, as Sweet notes. This […]
The making of this film is more interesting than the film itself. The makers solicited many non actors to star in this movie about the realities facing the people of Ajami, a neighborhood in Jaffa which is home to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. The film is very much like a documentary in part because of […]
Fitch Ratings today published a press release revising the “Outlook” on its “BBB” rating of Russian government bonds to positive from stable (see a Fitch press release below). Rating agencies – Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch – have been under fire since their high structured real estate ratings were downgraded rapidly during the recent financial […]
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