May 2010
114 posts
Will The BP Oil Spill Be Our Collective Zen Slap... →
The BP Deepwater Horzon oil rig, ablaze on April 22nd. Photo: US Coast Guard via flickr. Is this synchronicity or what? In the span of a several weeks we have not one, not two, not…
April 2010
163 posts
"We need to urgently transform the global energy... →
Video highlights from the roll out of a new UN report.
On Wednesday, I mentioned a new report from a UN advisory group that called for access to modern energy services for the…
Rape as a Weapon of War →
“If we can ban cluster bombs, we can ban rape as a weapon of conflict.”
Michel Martin of National Public Radio spotlights UN efforts to combat rape as a tactic of warfare. She interviews…
Morning Coffee - 30 April 2010 →
Summary: Six out of 10 migrant women raped en route to U.S.; UNSC must tackle impunity to end rape; Pentagon twigs that Karzai’s not as serious about ending corruption as he says.
Top Story:
Obama Bans New Offshore Drilling Until... →
image: NOAA As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to spread, and the Coast Guard investigating reports that oil has begun washing ashore in Louisiana, President Obama has banned…
Large-Scale Soy Farming Pushing Cattle Ranchers... →
photo: Jeff Belmonte/Creative Commons via flickr. Ah the tangled web… Report after report has detailed how both the beef and the leather industries have been major causes on …
Global Health Watch 3 Call for Contributors →
A broad alliance of public health professionals, health care practitioners and civil society, produces an alternate world health report every year.
The World Health Organizations publishes…
We Need New Rules Limiting a Little in the Arctic,... →
Considering that by all accounts the Arctic is decidedly getting warmer and trending towards at least ice-free summers, the world needs some new rules to govern the area. That’s what WWF…
World Governments Failing Their Biodiversity... →
Since 1970, non-human animal populations have declined by 30%. Photo: Photo8.com via flickr. If you regularly follow what often seems like a never-ending string of reports talking about…
Morning Coffee - 29 April 2010 →
Summary: IMF to bail out Greece; U.S. military to help contain massive Gulf oil spill; Nigerian senator denies his wife is 13; Palestinian refugee girls compete in major science fair.
Evacuating Haiti's IDPs From Flood Plains (Video) →
With the rainy season approaching, there is a massive effort underway to evacuate IDPs from flood-prone lands.
After the earthquake, parks, lawns and vacant lots became tent cities for…
Arctic Sea Ice Loss Confirmed As Main Cause of... →
Comparison of Arctic summer sea ice image: EPA It’s long been known that melting Arctic ice could help speed global warming. As the ice melts, surface reflectivity changes, more heat is…
Offshore Battles Go Big →
Today is a big day for energy policy and coastal areas in the United States.
What’s really big is the oil slick spreading in the Gulf of Mexico after last week’s BP oil rig explosion. The Coast…
The Five Things People Say to Aid Critics →
I noticed something today: the recent debate over the One Million Shirts Project sounds an awful lot like every other debate over a flawed aid project.
I noticed something today: the …
Top Twitter Users from the World of Diplomacy and... →
You may have noticed that we’ve revamped our DiploTweets feature on the right side-bar of the home page and interior pages. These are the Twitter feeds from some of the world’s top diplomats…
Global Warming For Dummies - EPA Releases New... →
all images: EPA The Environmental Protection Agency has just launched a new Climate Change Indicators in the United States report (and slideshow) that really breaks down the science…
African Cheetahs to be Introduced Into India in... →
photo: World Resources Institute via flickr. More on the ongoing efforts to re-establish the cheetah in India: The Hindu reports that Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, just…
UN Advisory Body Calls for Universal Access to... →
An exhaustive report details the challenges to energy access in the developing world—where more than 3 billion people still rely on traditional methods for heating and cooking and 1.5 billion…
Morning Coffee - 28 April 2010 →
Summary: Brown gets in trouble for calling a bigot “bigoted”; Contractor denies paying off Taliban; All eyes on Germany in Euro debt crisis; Another Chinese school stabbing spree.
Top Story:
Multi-Million Dollar Design Flaw Causes Hundreds... →
photo: Andy S-D via flickr. Take this one as a bump in the road more than a roadblock: Renewable Energy World reports that a design flaw in how some offshore wind turbines attach…
Ouroboros: The Story of Life From the Big Bang to... →
“In the age-old image of the Ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process, for it was clear to the more astute alchemists that the prima…
Hillary Clinton to Lead U.S. Delegation to NPT... →
In UN terms, this means the United States will be represented at the “ministerial level,” which is a reflection of the importance to which a country places a particular meeting.
The State…
AIDS Prevention Is More Than Condoms →
Fighting AIDS will require that we reduce its spread through dirty needles, not just through sex.
When we talk about HIV, we don’t call it a sexually transmitted disease. That’s not an…
Morning Coffee - 27 April 2010 →
Summary: UN moves foreign staff from Kandahar; South Africa fights HIV; Qatar grapples with obesity; Elephant poisoned in Ukraine; Noriega extradited to France.
Top Story:
Eight Former Secretaries of State Urge Congress to... →
Every living former Secretary of State have asked Congress not to cut the spending on international affairs.
Eight former Secretaries of State serving both Democratic and Republican…
US & Canada Lose Higher Percentage of Forests Than... →
photo: Owen Renn via flickr. All I can say is wow! Mongabay is highlighting a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences which reveals that between 2000 and…
UN Evacuates Some Staff From Embattled Kandahar:... →
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced today that it has temporarily moved some of its international staff in Kandahar to Kabul and instructed its national staff…
Soils May Release Less Carbon Than Thought As... →
photo: Brandon Fick via flickr. In some tentative (as in, more research is needed) global warming science good news, scientists from UC Irvine, and Colorado State and Yale universities…
A Picture is Worth... NASA Photos Show Massive Oil... →
Click here to view this image large. All images: NASA. What you’re looking at above is a photo taken by NASA of the oil slick created by the explosion and sinking of the oil rig…
Members of U.S. Congress Circulate Anti-ICC Letter →
Members of the U.S. Congress are circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter to oppose the Obama administration’s decision to participate in a conference of the International Criminal Court.
…
Economic Recovery for Africa? →
The news today brings us two optimistic articles on the African economy.
The news today brings us two optimistic articles on the African economy. Businessweek reports that “Inflation is…
Largest Developing Nations Want 2011 Deadline for... →
photo: Wikimedia Commons In what seems like a case of unintentionally perfect timing, the BASIC bloc of nations (Brazil, South Africa, India, and China), meeting in Cape Town, have…
Chimpanzees Feel Death Like People - Are Even More... →
The opposite emotions to those felt after death here… photo: Shiny Things via flickr. One more piece of evidence that chimpanzees are far more like humans than we tend to, and probably…
Morning Coffee - 24 April 2010 →
Summary: Greece may restructure debts; Bad news for COIN in Afghanistan; UN trains Ivorian cops CSI-style; Gunmen attack Mexican border crossing.
Top Story: …
Indonesia to Add 4000 MW of Geothermal Power by... →
Geothermal doesn’t draw power directly from volcanoes, but Indonesia’s volcanic activity is just a sign of the underlying potential waiting to be tapped. Photo: flydime via flickr.…
Bolivia to Have a Mother Nature Ministry, Held... →
Bolivian leader Evo Morales, photo: Sebastian Baryli via flickr. Take this as a sign of how wide a gap exists when it comes to the international discussion of climate change: While the…
Ban Ki Moon on American Idol (Video) →
Last week the United Nations made its debut on American Idol when Ban Ki Moon offered a video message to Idol’s sizable audience.
Last week the United Nations made its debut on American…
Mass Sickness of Afghan Schoolgirls Raises... →
Dozens of schoolgirls in northern Afghanistan have mysteriously fallen ill after reporting a strange smell in their classrooms. The mysterious epidemic is raising fears of poisoning by…
Americas Energy and Climate Partnership Gains... →
On April 15, energy ministers from across the Americas gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas, or ECPA. Initiated last year by U.S. President…
UNICEF: Justice for Afghan Girls in Prison for... →
A powerful video from UNICEF of Afghan girls struggling for rights in a violently patriarchal society.
The video opens with footage from a “juvenile rehabilitation facility” for Afghan…
Morning Coffee - 23 April 2010 →
Summary: Rescue powers: Activate?;
Top Story: GREECE: RESCUE POWERS, ACTIVATE
Greece is calling upon the European Union to activate the financial…
Whaling in the Southern Ocean to be Legalized for... →
Humpback whale breaching via Wikipedia Last week we got word that a compromise plan on international whaling, which would attempt to bring Japan, Iceland, and Norway back into the…
S&P 100 Falling Short on Emission Cuts +... →
photo: David Oliver via flickr Earlier in the week the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impacts Research called nation’s climate commitments “unambitious” and “paltry”, noting that…
Climate Science is Complicated →
A week of clear skies over Europe has given scientists another rare glimpse into the effects of aviation on the Earth’s climate.
According to Reuters, a week of clear skies over…
The Australian Government's Senseless Asylum... →
Canberra limits the options of Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
The Australian Government temporarily suspended processing of asylum claims from Afghan and Sri Lankan nationals earlier…
Let Slip the Dogs of Data →
Stat-heads perk up. The World Bank just released its 2010 World Development Indicators in a format that will surely please.
Stat-heads perk up. The World Bank just released its 2010…
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Discusses How... →
Photo via wikipedia Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the EPA, is a key person to chat with on Earth Day. It is, after all, her job to run one of the most important government…
Watch the United States Get Interrupted With... →
I guess I should be getting used to this by now, but here you have Susan Rice being interrupted with applause as she announces an American policy shift toward a UN body.
I guess I should be…
James Cameron and the Na'vi Come to the UN →
AVATAR director James Cameron will host a screening of the film at the UN on Saturday, to coincide with an annual meeting of the UN permanent forum on indigenous issues.
In the midst of…
Morning Coffee - 22 April 2010 →
Summary: Eurostat: Greece is even more broke than we thought; Syrian TV psychic will not be beheaded for withcraft; Art vs. graft in Uganda; Kyrgyztan to vote in June, October.
Top…