
Theoretically enough water exists for everyone on the planet, yet all too often it is in the wrong place at the wrong time and in the wrong amounts. And there is no shortage of humanitarian crises when this happens.
Half the world's population lives in countries where water is scarce.

Almost 250 thefts of nuclear or radioactive material
were reported last year. The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency explained this week: “The possibility of terrorists obtaining nuclear or other radioactive material remains a grave threat. Equally troubling is the fact that much of this material is not subsequently recovered.”
Experts say health consequences of a dirty bomb are minimal compared to the panic that it would cause.
Vintage War Propaganda Posters — Are We Repeating History? Some of the themes championed in these beautifully designed posters of food conservation, using resources carefully, sticking with the service no matter what, and encouraging women to do their part sound like wildly familiar themes today. I mean, carpooling! As applicable as some of the World War I and World War II sentiments may be, of course the rampant use of racist images to dehumanize the enemy renders some of the images shocking to a modern eye.

Warships from 10 countries are
joining together to take on some of the world's most dangerous, and successful, pirates. (Can you say "arrrrrrrr" in 10 languages?) Not even the presence of US military vessels is enough to prevent these
hijackers from seizing commerce ships, grabbing booting, and demanding ransoms.
Since 250 international ships use the pirate-infested waters to move goods each day, the world's trading powers worry that it could be too expensive to conduct business.

The other night, I watched
Stop-Loss holding my sleeping son. Without giving anything away, there was a poignant scene when a mother drives her son who has been "stop- lossed" to the border, because his options are to run or return to war. If he crosses, she will never see him again.

The
Dominic Wilcox War Bowl ($400) for Areaware is an art piece made from melted and partially melted plastic toy soldiers, that makes "a statement on the futility of war." It's also available in red, white, or blue. Coincidence?

I remember drawing them on my notebook during the first Gulf War and not really knowing what they meant — and now the peace sign is turning the big 5-0. The famous symbol made its first official public appearance in 1958 to advocate nuclear disarmament, and has since been used to graphically support a range of efforts from economic justice to environmentalism. Nearly every altruistic group has
used this iconic logo as a way to communicate the idea of universal brotherhood.

World Wars I and II left us with not only a global landscape changed forever politically and historically, but two of the biggest events in the 20th century left us with a wealth of propaganda artifacts that almost tell the story better than any history book. Some of the themes championed in these beautifully designed posters of
food conservation,
using resources carefully, sticking
with the service no matter what, and
encouraging women to do their part sound like wildly familiar themes today. I mean, carpooling!

Both assumed presidential candidates had scenes from their respective personal histories appear this weekend, giving a retrospective peek into the shaping of their contemporary philosophies.
Barack Obama used Father's Day to
unleash a sharp criticism on the topic of fatherhood in the African American community, Bill Cosby-style. Obama, recalling being abandoned by his own father at age 2, said, "I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls."

This morning Beirut, Lebanon has devolved into heavy gunfire as Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah
said of statements against Hezbollah's telecommunications network, "the decision is tantamount to a declaration of war. . .