Article: Bono berates NATO over aid delay in Pakistan

I wish this was the Bono of U2 we are all too familiar with now, but the Bono this International Herald Tribune article refers to is the Spanish Defense Minister. I had read earlier accounts of slow aid distribution and mis-coordination, mostly because of these organizations who were sending manpower to the country, and later not doing much because they didnt know what to do.

After reading the article, it's a confirmation of the problems of bureacracy. NATO has agreed not to continue humanitarian relief operations in Pakistan, but will continue to stay on in regions like the former Yugoslavia where they should have withdrawn long ago.

Article: Pentagon rolls out stealth PR

These people will stop at nothing for PR. Notice how I didnt write "good PR". The fact is, no matter how much money one spends on PR, it will never make a difference if the heart and soul of incorrect policies arent changed. Can one's negative viewpoints of a country really change when the policies of that country help another stay in miserable shape?

This article from USA Today tells us that the Bush administration is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on yet another PR campsign, this time again using the very company (among others) that was involved in paying off local Iraqis to publish positive material about the Americans and their intervention in Iraq. How foolish can one be? This firm is still under investigation for that fiasco, but its services are being used again? Wow...

Article: Nuclear Monitoring of Muslims Done Without Search Warrants

Wow, you can really expect anything from Bush and his comrades. I would never have known about this US News and World Report article, if it werent for my friends over at the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).

CAIR is pretty good with their lobbying tactics and activism efforts, but it's gonna take a lot more than just emails to get the word out about how demeaning these searches for "nuclear radiation" are. And as usual, it's always the Muslims. The article even mentions some high level spokesman who says they do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion or ethnicity. But then why are mosques being screened?

This is beyond my intelligence. Im interested in knowing what becomes of this.

Article: UN Foundation establishes Earthquake Response Fund

This is really phenomenal news. There are very few organizations out there that are actually keeping the momentum strong and striving to accomplish something in the still devastated region. I'm glad the United Nations Foundation has taken the lead.

While many are still reeling from the aftermath of the Southeast Asian tsunami, the Pakistani earthquake is too recent for anyone to forget. The media is doing a great disservice by not covering any aspect of it: the celebrities making visits, the heroic stories of survivors and the progress being made in relief efforts. None of it seems worthy of news coverage...

Free Carnegie Council Dove Poster

The Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs (CCEIA) based in New York City is offering a beautiful 18" x 24" poster of a dove - for free!

Click here for more information...