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4/7/2009 - PANJSHIR, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- For more than eight years, the government of Afghanistan has been building from the ground up, using millions of dollars in aid from foreign governments and private organizations. These funds impact both the central government in Kabul and the country's 34 provinces. Due to the unique relationships between American servicemembers of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team have with the people of the Panjshir province and the region's local government, progress is not measured merely in dollar signs and projects completed but by how well the Panjshir people can care for themselves. The PRT's commander...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, 2009 – In a recent meeting in downtown Gardez City with local government officials, Army Lt. Col. Donald Cullison struck an unintentional pose that symbolizes coalition efforts in eastern Afghanistan. A group of men stand outside the Sayed Karem district center waiting for humanitarian assistance to be distributed, Feb. 24, 2009. The civil affairs section of the Paktia Provincial Reconstruction Team distributes food, clothes and blankets during the winter as a sign of goodwill in the communities. DoD photo by Fred W. Baker III  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. In one...

CAMP VICTORY — Although Iraq has taken huge steps toward becoming a safe and democratic nation, there is still more to be done. To that end, The United States Agency for International Development is continuing its mission to bring peace and stability to Iraq through various community programs. “USAID has been in Iraq since 2003 and has spent over 6.1 billion dollars through various programs designed to promote peace and stability,” said Maj. Gita Velu, liaison officer to USAID. USAID is a branch of the State Department based in Washington D.C. with offices in developing countries all over the world....

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2009 – A relatively good security environment and hopes for more U.S. troops on the way are laying conditions for more development and economic opportunity in eastern Afghanistan, the commander of Task Force Warrior told Pentagon reporters today. Army Col. Scott A. Spellmon’s task force is responsible for improving provincial- and district-level Afghan government capacity in Afghanistan’s Regional Command East. Aggressive efforts to root out Taliban and other insurgent groups has brought a sense of security to much of his area of responsibility in Bamyan, Pervan, Panjshir and Kapisa provinces, he told reporters via teleconference from...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52778 Administration Calls on Other Branches to Help Combat Threats By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2009 – Top administration officials are calling on other branches of government to do their part in the fight against terrorism and extremism. “For too long we put the bulk of the burden, in my view, on our military,” Vice President Joe Biden said during a State Department event today. “That's a view not only shared by me, but by your secretary of defense, as well.” Biden said the military is “absolutely necessary,...

A high-ranking human rights worker with ties to the United Nations was nabbed at Kennedy Airport Tuesday with kiddie porn in his suitcase, officials said. Clarence Dias, 65, president of the International Center for Law in Development, whose offices are located at the UN, had the smut in his carry-on bag as he passed through security on his way to a flight bound for Bangkok, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. Transportation Security Administration officials doing a random bag check around 8:20a.m. allegedly found a DVD whose cover featured an apparently underage nude boy and an adult male in

Why freedom won't die in the 21st century When Bill Clinton assumed the presidency in 1993, few people had ever heard the term "sustainable development." When Barack Obama assumes the presidency on Jan. 20, sustainable development will guide the formulation of public policy in city councils, county commissions, state legislatures, the U.S. Congress and the U.N. General Assembly. (Sustainable development) is the reorganization of society around a body of principles and recommendations set forth in a document called ("Agenda 21,)" endorsed by 179 nations in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. Sustainable...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12, 2008 – More emphasis on “holistic development” of rural Afghanistan is needed to weaken the enemy, a recently redeployed officer told bloggers in a teleconference. Marine Corps Col. Jeffrey M. Haynes participated in the Defense Department’s bloggers roundtable program Dec. 9 to share observations from his nine-month tour in Afghanistan, where he led the Regional Corps Advisory Command Central. He redeployed from Afghanistan a month ago, and is now serving in Okinawa, Japan. Haynes pointed to rural populations as a source of strength for the insurgency in Afghanistan. “Sometimes I think we’re a little bit too focused...

China's Cities Fuel Global Warming By Michael Lelyveld 2008-11-25 China's urbanization is a major cause of climate change, the International Energy Agency says. BOSTON--China's cities will be major contributors to global warming in coming decades as the country's energy use doubles, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in an annual report. Energy use and urbanization are both growing at rapid rates in China, the Paris-based IEA said in its latest World Energy Outlook released on Nov. 12. China already consumes as much energy as the United States and will use twice as much by 2030, according to the agency's estimates....

Where I come from in West Africa, we have a saying: "A fool at 40 is a fool forever", and most African countries have now been independent for over 40 years.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2008 – Five districts in the southern portion of Afghanistan’s Konar province all differ in quality of governance and development, and they suffer from a lack of security, power and infrastructure. The 451st Civil Affairs Battalion is working to improve the situation in Narang, Nurgul, Sarkani, Khas Konar and Chowkay districts. Army Capt. Roman Skaskiw, 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, talks to Mohd Wali, police chief for the Chowkay district of Afghanistan’s Konar province. Skaskiw and Wali met to discuss development and security in the area. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "The overall security...

KONAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, July 7, 2008 – As the security situation becomes more stable in five of this Afghan province’s southern districts, coalition civil affairs teams are helping improve governance and infrastructure. Army Capt. Roman Skaskiw (left), 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, dines with Mohd Wali, Chowkay police chief, at the Chowkay district center in Afghanistan’s Konar province, June 21, 2008. Courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Capt. Roman Skaskiw, 451st Civil Affairs Battalion, is responsible for the five southern Konar districts. Although these districts differ in the quality of governance and development, they all suffer...

Think there's no such thing as too much parking? Take a look at Tysons Corner, where there's more parking than jobs, more parking than office space, more parking than in downtown Washington. That must change, said advocates and politicians seeking to transform Virginia's largest business hub from suburb to city. Reducing parking, charging for parking and finding new uses for the acres of parking that separate Tysons' buildings and the people inside is at the heart of plans to remake the area.... "Who wants parking spaces to be the hallmark of a development?" said Clark Tyler, chairman of a Fairfax...

Edith Macefield died at home, just the way she wanted. The Ballard woman who captured hearts and admirers around the world when she stubbornly turned down $1 million to sell her home to make way for a commercial development died Sunday of pancreatic cancer. She was 86. "I don't want to move. I don't need the money. Money doesn't mean anything," she told the Seattle P-I in October. She continued living in the little old house in the 1400 block of Northwest 46th Street even after concrete walls rose around her, coming within a few feet of her kitchen window....

The U.S. Supreme Court created a huge political backlash when it ruled that local governments could use eminent domain to seize private property and transfer it to other private owners for "economic development." Since the Kelo ruling in 2005, 42 states have enacted limitations on eminent domain — not always effective ones. But like lawmakers in many other states, some California officials are trying to block real eminent domain reform. On June 3, Californians will vote on Proposition 99, a ballot initiative sponsored by groups representing cities, counties, redevelopment agencies and other pro-condemnation interests. It purports to protect property rights...

Minutes south of Interstate 10 and Sealy, the pastures along FM 1458 are their own silent world in the morning. Mists lift to reveal black cattle, brown and spotted horses, snow-white egrets underfoot in lush green grass. Then a concrete mixer comes churning down the blacktop. Just up the road is a small subdivision. More are sure to come as city dwellers, including weekenders and retirees, move out in search of a quieter, simpler life — and relief from city traffic. Although the gradual influx may bring greater changes in the long run, what disturbs residents most is the planned...

Omega-3 Intake During Last Months Of Pregnancy Boosts An Infant's Cognitive And Motor Development ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2008) — A study supervised by Université Laval researchers Gina Muckle and Éric Dewailly reveals that omega-3 intake during the last months of pregnancy boosts an infant's sensory, cognitive, and motor development. The details of this finding are published in a recent edition of the Journal of Pediatrics. To come to this conclusion, researchers first measured docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentration--a type of omega-3 fatty acid involved in the development of neurons and retinas--in the umbilical cord blood of 109 infants. "DHA concentration in...

State wildlife officials have told city planners that an approved development slated to be built on Bakersfield's northeast bluffs threatens an endangered cactus. The California Department of Fish and Game says a planned housing subdivision known as The Canyons would wipe out about 100 Bakersfield cactus plants, a species found only around the city. The agency said the cactus could not recover from the loss. If the project goes forward, the agency has threatened to void a 1994 agreement with the city allowing developers to destroy some endangered species in exchange for fees to conserve habitat elsewhere.

On a drizzly Tuesday night in late January, 200 people came out to hear a psychiatrist talk rhapsodically about play — not just the intense, joyous play of children, but play for all people, at all ages, at all times. (All species too; the lecture featured touching photos of a polar bear and a husky engaging playfully at a snowy outpost in northern Canada.) Stuart Brown, president of the National Institute for Play, was speaking at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street. He created the institute in 1996, after more than 20 years of psychiatric practice...

Several years ago I began working to create a visual depiction of the grand threat facing liberty in America. The sketch was a shape that looked like a weed and its root. With study I came to learn that the shape reflected a dialectic process. Dialectic is the process of synthesis or resolution that arises out of the conflict between a thesis and an anti-thesis. First, understand the difference between a natural dialectic and a man made or artificial dialectic. A naturally occurring dialectic arises from historical events. For instance; In 1776 King George represented the thesis in a natural...