Cartoon: Feasting at the Trough
A recent poll showed just about half of Americans think capitalism is better than socialism. With the collapse of the financial system and the economy, the ideology of the free market has fewer and fewer adherents.
Book Review: The Hot ‘Cold War’: The USSR in Southern Africa
The conventional wisdom in the North Atlantic community nowadays is that the Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR was a disaster for an Africa that was squeezed by both sides. Actually, as this informative memoir cum history suggests, the reality was that – for example in apartheid South Africa – Washington was supportive of the white minority regime, while Moscow backed those fighting this illegal government.
Treating Addiction Can Prevent HIV
Alcohol and drug addiction are major drivers of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in many parts of the world, but for political and ideological reasons, scientists and clinicians have tended to shy away from this area of HIV research, while governments and donors have been reluctant to fund programs targeting addicts.
The Moon: Promise or Threat?
The beginning of the week was the fortieth anniversary of the successful outcome of the Apollo project to put a man on the Moon. (And doesn’t it make those of us who watched it live on TV feel old?)
NAM to Boost Role in Peace and Security
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit wrapped up yesterday (July 16) in the Egyptian town of Sharm El Sheikh, where a final document was released affirming the need to heighten the role and the activity of the movement in contributing to world peace and security.
Less Money, Less Food, More Hungry
If the global economy were to rebound in 2010, sub-Saharan Africa would still be one of the world's poorest and most vulnerable regions, and have more than half its food insecure people, says an examination of the impact of the economic slowdown on food security. 

Call for Unity of 'Non-aligned' Countries
The Non-Aligned Movement has overcome the difficult moments of the last decade of the twentieth century when, after the end of the so-called Cold War, the relevance of this organization was put to the question.
Falling Global Family Planning Funding Threatens Poverty Fight
A dramatic plunge in international donor funding for family planning is threatening to undermine other humanitarian goals such as fighting poverty and hunger, as well as efforts to counter global warming.
Clean Energy to be Focus of China-US Talks
Stronger China-US cooperation on clean energy will be the goal of two US officials who will be visiting China this week. US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be in China from Tuesday to Friday.
Population Growth and Climate Change
No doubt human population growth is a major contributor to global warming, given that humans use fossil fuels to power their increasingly mechanized lifestyles. More people means more demand for oil, gas, coal and other fuels mined or drilled from below the Earth’s surface.
