Internet Censorship in China
May 30, 2013 4 min. read

Across the world, internet users remain concerned — probably increasingly so — about what it might mean to lose control over their personal information online. In the United States, these fears may translate into efforts to make personal data more secure and even less permanent, through efforts such as the Do Not Track movement and […]

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Governments Race to Delink Rigby Murder from Support for Free Syrian Army & al Nusra
May 30, 2013 13 min. read

Am I lucky or what? Made it through Heathrow, UK airport security, and onto the plane headed back for the US a measly 48 hours before a British-born Islamic extremist of Nigerian extraction drove his car over a British soldier outside the Woolwich Artillery Barracks and then tried to hack the victim’s head off with a rusty meat cleaver. Across the pond, before the UK went into shock, and Cameron’s government into an emergency meeting designed to address what common-sense suggests might be the response of the British people: rage and retaliation. . .

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Reducing “Food-prints” on World Environmental Day
May 28, 2013 6 min. read

The U.N. Environmental Programme (UNEP) recently highlighted some appalling figures pertaining to issues of food waste in a somewhat unexpected and innovative manner. The UNEP’s 2013 theme for World Environment Day on June 5, “Think.East.Save,” reports the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization’s (FAO) data concluding 1.3 billion tons of food, or the equivalent of all […]

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Doubts about Data (and Debt)
May 27, 2013 3 min. read

  In a 2010 study, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff identified a 90 percent debt/GDP threshold as a “red line” national economies crossed only at the cost of impeding their growth. That study garnered a great deal of attention among debt hawks. More has been written about the impact of recent academic work discrediting Reinhart/Rogoff’s core conclusion […]

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GailForce: President Obama’s Terrorism and National Security Strategy
May 27, 2013 6 min. read

Photo: Getty Images On 23 May, President Obama gave a long awaited and much overdue talk on his strategy for conducting the war on terrorism.  I thought it was one of the best speeches he’s given.  He did a great job laying out his view points, justification for his terrorism strategy and what he sees […]

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A Death in London and Extremism Within
May 24, 2013 5 min. read
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A colorful mosaic of flower petals brightens an otherwise grim corner in the Woolwich section of London.  Its mirror image rests outside a quiet home in Middleton, Greater Manchester.  Each bouquet serves as a worthy tribute to both the beautifully adorned uniform of an Army Drummer and the character of a young man who filled […]

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Obama in the Middle East: Fading Red Lines and Eroding Credibility
May 22, 2013 7 min. read

A post last month argued that President Obama was fast approaching a defining moment for his foreign policy in view of the mounting evidence that the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria used sarin, a lethal nerve gas, in violation of Mr. Obama’s numerous warnings not to do so.  The day of reckoning has now arrived […]

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“Self-Radicalization,” the Boston Bombings, and Why Nobody is to Blame
May 16, 2013 11 min. read

I like to write my own blogs, and too often have too much to say to readers who want it short and sweet. But the push to attribute past and future attacks on U.S. citizens on U.S. to “self-radicalization” is the kind of linguistic legerdemain too sweet not to invite more than one response. The […]

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Will Ghana Overcome its New Energy Challenge?
May 16, 2013 5 min. read

Ghana has been forced to cope with increased energy shortages as a result of damages to the West African Gas Pipeline, dating back to Aug. 28, 2012. The $1 billion, 650 kilometer long pipeline, built to carry gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana, was severely damaged during an incident between a Togolese Navy […]

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Call Me, Maybe
May 16, 2013 5 min. read

When asked what items they never leave the house without, many people (in the West at least) would likely answer, “my mobile (cell) phone.” It would be pretty difficult for people in the U.K., for example, to adjust to a world where their handset didn’t accompany them everywhere; where they were unable to receive SMSs […]

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No clear path for Maldives
May 15, 2013 3 min. read

  Last April I wrote about the tiny island nation of Maldvies, and its embattled former President Mohamed Nasheed. After a brief foray into democracy, it seems that Maldives has slid back to the political bullying of its past. Nasheed claims to have been deposed by force in February 2012; the current government — which […]

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Benghazi and Hillary Clinton’s Day of Dissonance
May 13, 2013 10 min. read

Last Wednesday was a day of extremes for the former Secretary of State, who was in Beverly Hills to pick up a public service award from a private foreign policy organization.  There her tenure at the State Department was lauded as activists from a group called “Ready for Hillary 2016” gathered nearby to round out the […]

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