I’ve written a lot about Syria these last several months, and if you’ve read any of my posts you know that I am not very optimistic about the situation. Al-Assad has repeatedly promised the Arab League that he will end the violence in his country, and yet every day there is another story in the …
Category: General Information
Feb 16
Weblebrity Fundraising – Do Famous Faces Help Campaigns?
Weblebrities are the new thing. They’re created when online fundraising campaigns use celebrities to enhance their image and monetary intake. Weblebrity: a celebrity on the web. You might have seen something like this before, notably in a campaign called NoH8, which was created in 2008 to fight Proposition 8 in California. For a while Facebook …
Feb 16
Hitting Close to Home
Last fall, I was having lunch with family friends during a stay in Fort Worth, Texas. Per usual, we were discussing, family, friends, and our projects at work. Our one friend began discussing her work for an energy company that was beginning to drill for natural gas. As she explained the drilling process and her …
Feb 15
Lights Out
Green, green, green. It’s the new black. It’s everywhere we turn. From LEED certified buildings to electric vehicles, efforts to be more environmentally friendly and energy efficient seem to be sprouting up everywhere. “Going green” has become so popular that it’s now trendy. Celebrities cruise around in their hybrid vehicles, supermarket shoppers carry around their …
Feb 15
Deadly Voyage Home
The Hardanis family, made up of Mohammad, his wife and two young girls were among the approximately 250 people on board a people-smuggling boat headed to Australia. The vessel carrying the migrants sank during the journey. Only 47 people survived. One of his daughters was rescued by a fishing boat that was in close proximity. …
Feb 15
Violence Without a Source
The high level of violence that Central Americans live everyday can be attributed to a million different factors, including one of the major problems, which is the poor infrastructure of their governments. However, it is not only the government intervention (or lack of) that has facilitated an extraordinary level of violence, but also the obscure …
Feb 14
MDG’S and the development of the new SDG’s
20 years ago, the Rio Earth Summit took place down in Brazil. Coming up on its anniversary in June, there will be another meting of nations where commitments will be renewed and progress will be evaluated. Two new focuses will be addressed: developing a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, …
Feb 14
Voting and political campaigns
How do political campaigns influence voting turnout? During electoral periods, the average citizen is encouraged to vote and make a political decision. Media and government encourage us all to vote. I claim that media and politicians should not be the ones responsible for encouraging voting because their encouragement is inherently biased. When politicians encourage voting, …
Feb 13
Achieving Global Sustainability: Women’s Rights
The UN Secretary General chose a 22 member panel in 2010 to create a new blueprint for global sustainable development. At the end of last month the report, “Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing,” was released to the public. Focus areas of the panel include the conservation of our planet, global equity, lessening …
Feb 13
The Education Changer
Education has been an issue that I have touched upon time and time again, and many times I have mentioned the ill reputed No Child Left Behind law. The law, which was revamped under former President George W. Bush’s term, has left a bitter mark on teachers and schools across the nation. Thousands of teachers, …