Friday, February 10, 2012

Weekly Reading List [2.10.12]

This week's theme - "Things that make me nervous..."

1. U.S. AND ISRAEL SPLIT ON SPEED OF IRAN THREAT - There has been all kinds of rhetoric around Iran and the nuclear issue. I really admire the work that the Obama administration and the Treasury have been doing around sanctions. What I've read is that for the first time (ever, or in a long time) these seem to be having a true impact. So I'm a little confused, by the continued hype of the media around Iran. All that to say, I thought this was a great piece. Very informative, and expands on the issue a little bit.

2. DRONES GITMO & DRAWDOWN - First of all, this article has some great stats around the Obama administration's foreign policy and how it's perceived. One thing really stood out to me, "83% of Americans approve of the use of drones" This terrifies me!! Largely because it is terribly short sighted. I've read other articles describing out the US government is already using drones on U.S. soil. Also check out this article CONGRESS OKs FAA BILL ALLOWING DRONES IN US. Which requires the FAA "to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with expanded access to U.S. airspace currently reserved for manned aircraft by September 30, 2015. That means permitting unmanned drones controlled by remote operators on the ground to fly in the same airspace as airlines, cargo planes, business jets and private aircraft." Does anyone else see some potential problems?! I worry how far this can go, and what protections are in place around their use (so far, none that I know of).

3. OUSTING SYRIA'S ASSAD: WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY IS IT? - I love The Week magazine. If you are interested in current events, but don't have time/energy to weed through tons of info, check it out! Great concise articles, which are informative. They did a great piece on Syria this week. I also saw today, that a bipartisan group of Senators are calling for Support for the Syrian Opposition. I love what Secretary Clinton said, "The status quo is unsustainable...The longer the Assad regime continues its attacks on the Syrian people and stands in the way of peaceful transition, the greater the concern that instability will escalate and spill throughout the region."

4. Some pre-weekend awesomeness - check out this artist's work - http://katebingamanburt.com
She drew all of her purchases and credit card statements until her credit bills were all paid off. Her doodles are amazing! She also did some great work with IDEO, on a project to help educate teens about sex. Awesome work!


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