I knew I could count on Michael Pollan for this tweet: “No scientific consensus on GMO safety”: statement by European Network of Scientists for S and E responsibility http://t.co/2p3hqerMtV — Michael Pollan (@michaelpollan) October 21, 2013 Of course, there is a scientific consensus, just as there is for the safety of childhood vaccines and the…Continue Reading…
One of biotechnology’s most articulate allies has laid down the gauntlet: My challenge to the biotechnology industry – the whole food industry in general in fact – is very clear. You have to stop opposing labelling. Instead, you have to embrace the consumer right to know. To lose this entire debate to a motley coalition…Continue Reading…
As one political scientist recently noted, a “fundamental difficulty” for counterterrorist operations in collapsed states like Somalia is the ever-shifting landscape of loyalties: Local authorities collaborate with the insurgents that they fight. Armed groups unify and then suddenly split. This is a treacherous environment for outsiders to navigate, particularly someone who poses as a humanitarian…Continue Reading…
Oh great, the Daily Mail has cannibalized my Washington Post magazine story about Michele Ballarin, the Virginia woman who fancies herself the savior of Somalia. As I’ve hinted in earlier posts, there is much more to her than I could fit into my story (Even Mark Mazzetti’s excellent work only scratches at the surface). For example,…Continue Reading…
Several weeks ago, this was the headline for a press release: Mayor Bloomberg announces New York City’s air quality has reached the cleanest levels in more than 50 years. That’s quite a claim. Most media outlets reporting this story cut and pasted from the press release; few bothered to delve into the report Bloomberg was…Continue Reading…
Somalia is much in the headlines these days. There is the big weekend news of a Navy Seal operation that was in response to the horrific terrorist attack on a Kenyan mall several weeks ago. Additionally, the 20th anniversary of Black Hawk Down has triggered media remembrances and new details of that searing event. Then there is…Continue Reading…
Depending on who you talk to, Michele Ballarin, a North Virginia businesswoman, is a ruthless mercenary, a covert operative, or a grandiose but well-intentioned humanitarian. In my profile of her for this week’s Washington Post magazine, I uncovered evidence for all of these persons. She juggles these guises on a daily basis. One morning Ballarin will be on the…Continue Reading…
The woman who I profile in this Sunday’s Washington Post magazine enjoyed a brief flurry of media attention in late 2008. Several news outlets reported that Somalia pirates had turned to Michele Ballarin, a North Virginia businesswoman, to help negotiate the release of two ships that had been seized off the coast of Somalia. How…Continue Reading…
A story that I have been working on for some time is being published this Sunday in the Washington Post magazine. “The Princess of Somalia” is a long feature with a great photo spread. If you live in the Beltway area, be sure to have a look. The piece, which is unlike anything I have…Continue Reading…
If you thought that the U.S. government shutdown was the top story at the Wall Street Journal today (print edition), you would be wrong. Instead, this headline took the honor: U.S. Rises to No. 1 Energy Producer Whoa. This wasn’t supposed to happen until 2017, according to recent projections by the International Energy Agency. But some…Continue Reading…