Secretary of State Testifies before House Foreign Affairs Committee
February 18, 2008 3 min. read

(Associated Press photo) Secretary Rice gave her last testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week. The hearing began with a moment of silence in memory of the recently-deceased California Democrat and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Tom Lantos. Howard L. Berman, another California Democrat, was appointed as the Committee's Acting Chairman. He began […]

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UN Urges Call to the Poor
February 18, 2008 2 min. read

Last week, on February 12th, UNICEF issued a press release urging donors to give some $856 million to aid women and children and women who have been victimized by such emergencies as the conflicts in Chad and Kenya, to natural disasters such as the floods in Mozambique. Launching its Humanitarian Action Report 2008, UNICEF stated […]

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Educational Reform Needed in the Middle East and North Africa
February 18, 2008 2 min. read

A recent report published on February 5th, by the World Bank has found that those countries in the Middle East and North Africa need drastic improvements and repairs to their education systems in order to meet the demands the global world. "The Road Not Traveled: Education Reform in the Middle East and North Africa”, takes […]

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An Endorsement for Obama from Across the Pond
February 17, 2008 2 min. read

Last week Anthony Barnett, the British social entrepreneur and political comentarist, recently authored an article on the webzine he founded, Open Democracy.net, exploring Senator Barak Obama's campaign. If you are not familiar with OpenDemocracy, I highly reccomend browsing through its pages. It is a London-based webzine/opinion forum that offers “stimulating, critical analysis, promoting dialogue and […]

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Does Gates's Money Buy Too Much Influence?
February 17, 2008 1 min. read

The fiesty WHO malaria chief, Dr. Arata Kochi, thinks that the Gates Foundation's $1.2 billion supporting for malaria research gives them too much influence over the field. He believes that it is now becoming difficult to find non-biased scientists to peer review research, and that the Foundation using its weight to to ensure that research […]

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Remittances Linked to Corruption
February 17, 2008 1 min. read

A new IMF Working Paper has found an association between remittances a country receives, and the deterioration of institutional quality in that country. It seems counter intuitive but basically they are saying that if citizens have more non-taxable income, there is less incentive for the government to spend its own resources on those citizens. The […]

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Are Biofuels A Bummer?
February 15, 2008 4 min. read

Two recent important studies, published in “Science,” are saying that biofuels are causing quite a bit more harm than good.  The A.P.’s H. Josef Hebert wrote this article (appearing in “USA Today”) on one of the studies.  “The researchers said that farmers under economic pressure to produce biofuels will increasingly “plow up more forest or […]

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Update on Taxes
February 15, 2008 1 min. read

I wrote a few days ago that the word from The Hill was that the Democrats were going to revive the rescission of tax breaks for the oil industry and try again to extend tax credits for renewables.  Reuters reports that this is definitely on for after the Presidents' week break.  See this in which […]

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Iran Postpones Meeting with the United States
February 15, 2008 2 min. read

The fourth round of talks between Iran and the United States concerning security issues in Iraq have been postponed, at the behest of Iran. “It had originally been slated for December 18 with Iraqi authorities touting it as a 'technical meeting’ at experts level rather than a meeting of ambassadors. However it was postponed, again […]

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Burma Keeping Do-Gooders in Check
February 15, 2008 1 min. read

Like a lot of non-democratic governments (and some democratic ones as well), the junta that rules Burma likes to keep track of the international NGOs operating in its country. You never know when they’re going to be stirring up an insurrection. This article gives a brief description of the policies they have put in place […]

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Aid to Africa Serves Many Purposes
February 15, 2008 1 min. read

One of the recurring themes here is that public and private philanthropy have many driving purposes. There probably isn't a better example of this than the US current aid policy in Africa. Not only is aid is the dominant feature of US foreign policy on the continent, but we also see the three major purposes […]

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If we desire a kinder nation, seeing it through the eyes of children is an eminently sensible endeavor: A city that is pro-child, for example, is also a more humane place for adults. – Richard Louv, from 'Childhood's Future', part 1, ch. 3 (1991).
February 15, 2008 1 min. read

More than a city that is pro-child we must work to see a world that is pro child, a world where children no longer have to live in fear. A world in which children are not the pawns of war, the heartless victims of political roulette, the unwitting legacies of ruthless leaders…the children for which […]

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