February 2010 - Foreign Policy Public Health Blog

What We're Reading: Snowmaggedon Edition

What the Foreign Policy staff are reading while trapped in the blizzard: Preeti Aroon: “War in Iran: British Join Soviet Allies,” on page 39 of the Jan. 26, 1942, issue of Life magazine. Google Books let’s you browse old issues of Life , and it’s fun...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 3:42 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: What We're Reading

Oh, Canada!

The Gaggle blog over on our sister site Newsweek notes that Canada's parliament has shut down for two months (?!) for the winter Olympic games. For those of you who have gotten behind on your Canadian politics, here’s a basic rundown . Prime Minster...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 1:30 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: North America, Sports, Olympics, Canada

Iran: mistrust and verify

Writing about a new opinion poll suggesting that Iranians support their country's nuclear program, but not the development of atomic weapons, Robert Wright asks : Why don’t we offer Iran something its public cherishes — the acknowledged right to enrich...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 10:00 AM by FP Passport

Xinjiang opens up Internet access.... to thirty websites

China's Xinjiang province has been without Internet access since anti-government riots last summer. At the end of 2009, the government began allowing access to a handful of government-run sites. This week the bans were lifted on a whopping 27 websites...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 9:58 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China, Internet

How bad is Greece's debt?

Here are a chart and a graph showing the PIIGS' and the United States' indebtedness -- more specifically, their public debt and 2009 deficit relative to GDP. Just glancing at the chart, and remembering that the PIIGS are among the weakest economies...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 8:48 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Economics

Would better bonuses make better bankers?

Barack Obama is catching some heat for saying that he doesn't "begrudge" the bonuses paid to Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon ($9 and $17 million, respectively). I don't see what the fuss is all...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 8:33 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Finance

Michelle Obama: Americans getting too fat to fight

The first lady argues that the U.S. obesity epidemic is becoming a national security problem: “A recent study put the health care cost of obesity-related diseases at $147 billion a year,” Mrs. Obama said. “This epidemic also impacts the nation’s security...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 8:24 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Health

The PIIGS Sty

The sign reads: I'm not paying. Greece, the weakest member of the so-called PIIGS -- Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain, the most highly indebted members of the European Monetary Union -- is on strike . Public sector workers have taken to...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 7:42 AM by FP Passport

Sigh. Another 'China dumping dollars' story

Stories about Chinese officials threatening to dump the dollar, no matter how implausible, are always great Internet fodder. Today's entry: This Reuters report about a couple senior PLA officers who are pushing the idea that China should retaliate...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 7:28 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: China

More evidence that no one knows who's in charge in Europe

I continue to find the "Obama is ignoring Europe" meme pretty tiresome. A case in point is this Der Spiegel article which argues that "By declining to come to Spain for a trans-Atlantic summit, President Barack Obama made it clear that...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 6:59 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe

Haiti death toll matches Asian Tsunami

With the Haitian government raising the death toll from last month's earthquake to 230,000, the count now matches the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Considering that the tsunami damage was spread out over eight countries as opposed to one country the...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 6:32 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Haiti's Disaster

Morning Brief: Honda recalls 437,700 cars as Japan's auto woes continue

Honda recalls 437,700 cars as Japan's auto woes continue Top story: Adding to the recent woes of the Japanese auto industry, Honda is recalling 437,700 cars over airbag inflation problems.The latest announcement, an expansion of a recall announced...

Published Wed, Feb 10 2010 5:31 AM by FP Passport

Filed under: Morning Brief

Andrew Sullivan vs. TNR: Please shoot me now

I was expecting fireworks after reading Leon Wieseltier's 4,250-word attack piece on blogger and former New Republic editor Andrew Sullivan , and the Internet did not disappoint. Here's the quick and dirty summary: Wieseltier uses a W.H. Auden...

Published Tue, Feb 09 2010 6:48 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Media, Internet, Israel/Palestine

Vote in your pajamas in sunny Catalunya

For the past few months, a cynical observer might think, Washington has carried out a long piece of performance art detailing the many ways in which passing legislation is hard, even with the White House and Congress in one party's hands. There are...

Published Tue, Feb 09 2010 3:10 PM by FP Passport

Filed under: Europe, Law, Environment, Elections

Weather: the lowest form of news

Here in D.C. this week, the big topic of conversation this week isn't healthcare reform, terrorism policy, or even Sarah Palin. It's the fact that -- heavens to Betsy -- it's snowing! Yes, the snowpocalypse/snowmageddon/snOMG/Snowtorious B...

Published Tue, Feb 09 2010 1:45 PM by FP Passport