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An archaeologist says excavations in southern Georgia have turned up beads, metal tools and other artifacts that may pinpoint part of the elusive trail of the 16th-century Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto. Dennis Blanton of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta was scheduled to present his findings Thursday to the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Mobile, Ala. Excavations since 2006 in rural Telfair County uncovered remains of an Indian settlement along with nine pea-sized glass beads and six metal objects, including three iron tools and a silver pendant. Blanton says the artifacts are consistent with items Spanish explorers traded...

It was the bloodiest battle ever fought between Europeans and Native Americans on North American soil. It changed the course of history. And yet, after more than a century of theories, research and argument, the path of Spanish conquistador Hernando De Soto and the site of his watershed battle at Mabila remain mysteries buried somewhere in Alabama soil. During a conference that ends today at the University of Alabama, a team of folklorists and historians, archaeologists and linguists, geographers and geologists are once more poring over the evidence. They're using new technology and new insights in hopes of pinning down...

... There are said to be 11 million illegals in the country. .... Why are they here at all? Most of them come across the Mexican border. Now the truth is that the great majority of people, Mexicans included, would rather live and work in their native country. It is preferable to trekking across deserts, risking death by exposure and thirst, climbing fences and fording rivers in exchange for part-time labor in fields and sculleries in a land where they don't even speak the language. So why don't they stay in Mexico and work there? Because they can't find jobs,...

When Sam Bodman’s name appeared in the news as President Bush’s choice to lead the Department of Energy, the dominant reaction the press was to treat him as “unknown.” But he is a man of great accomplishment, as an engineer, a scholar, and businessman, and as a brilliant official in a sub-cabinet position. As it happens, I instantly recognized his name, because of the praise he had received from one of the intellectual giants of our age. Last May, I had the dazzling honor of interviewing the great economist, Hernando de Soto. He is my hero, so for me this...

By Vicente B. FozInquirer News Service Editor's Note: Published on page C3 of the August 3, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer THE RECENT appointment of Peruvian Hernando de Soto, a renowned social science expert, as one of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's economic advisers, is a significant step in the government's continuing effort to alleviate poverty and promote economic growth.Known as the "poor man's capitalist," De Soto has been successful in carrying out economic reforms that empower the poor. His specific advocacy: granting the poor legal rights over lands they occupy so these can be used as collaterals to borrow...

Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 160 January 29, 2004 No.160 The Beneficiaries of Saddam's Oil Vouchers: The List of 270 The following report from MEMRI's Baghdad office is a translation of an article which appeared in the Iraqi daily Al-Mada, [1] whichobtained lists of 270 companies, organizations, and individuals awarded allocations (vouchers) of crude oil by Saddam Hussein's regime. The beneficiaries reside in 50 countries: 16 Arab, 17 European, 9 Asian, and the rest from sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.Only a portion of the 270 recipients are listed and identified. BackgroundThe following points should be taken into consideration:...

Hernando de Soto: "The problem is not economic, but legal" ICA. One of the most awaited sessions at CADE 2003 was, without doubt, the president of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Hernando de Soto, concerning market economics. The economist affirmed that this system, which has been applied with success in many western nations, can not take hold in Latin America despite the fact that the majority of countries in the region fulfill all of the measures required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). De Soto said that to establish a market economy in Peru, it is not necessary to...

Michael Maren, a critic of Western development programs for poor countries, once called foreign aid in a magazine interview "a complete waste of money that succeeds primarily at keeping Westerners employed." Because Maren is a former aid worker and a Third World expert, the wisecrack reverberated in international development circles -- and it's surely what many of us suspect, deep down. But on the whole, we seem to persist in trusting that some fractional good is done with our aid dollars, somewhere, even if the odd dictator or armed lunatic must be enriched in the process.What we don't necessarily expect...

Midterm vote has a message for Vicente Fox07/11/2003By RUBEN NAVARRETTE / The Dallas Morning News Television talk-show host Dr. Phil has a cocky refrain for guests who fess up about some assumption that didn't hold up or a plan that went astray. Thought you could gamble away the family vacation money and replace it before anyone noticed? Dr. Phil will ask with a smirk, "How's that working for ya?" The guest I want to see in the hot seat is Vicente Fox. The Mexican president caved in to nationalism and stood on the sidelines after the attacks of Sept. 11,...

September 3, 2002 Reality Check for Redistributionists Why property rights are environmental rights By Ronald Bailey Johannesburg—Forward to Socialism," "W$$D Stop Bushing People," "Don't Owe, Won't Pay," "Israel USA UK—The Toxic Axis of Evil," "Osama Bomb Sandton Kill Bush and MBeki," and "No to Neoliberal policies and Capitalism" were just a few of the slogans that adorned banners and posters in Saturday's march on the World Summit on Sustainable Development. None of the banners or chants in the demonstration of more than 10,000 people mentioned any of the conventional environmental issues like climate change, population control, renewable resources, or...