With U.S. involvement in Iraq drawing down yet still under fire in Afghanistan, Americans are questioning the U.S. military’s role around the globe. International relations Professor Andrew Bacevich offers some proposals for the future in his new book, “Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War.” In a BU TodayQ&A, Bacevich outlines his 3-point shift in principles that would justify the cost in money and blood of our military role globally.
“There’s room for argument about what self-defense requires, and I’d like to see the argument engaged in by the American public and leadership. The point is to challenge the common practice and expectation that global policing defines the mission for the armed forces. That purpose vastly outstrips the capabilities of U.S. forces and implies demands on our resources as a nation that we are unwilling and probably unable to provide.”
According the latest report just released by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, most Americans are falling short of their daily potassium needs, which could be wrecking havoc their blood pressure. Over 55% of Americans have high blood pressure or are on their way to getting high blood pressure in the very near future. Individuals with chronic high blood pressure increase their risk of developing heart disease and stroke, two of the top three killers of Americans. While losing excess weight, reducing sodium in the diet, and being physically active all can reduce blood pressure, so can consuming adequate amounts of potassium-rich foods.
President Obama says the 7-year-old Iraq war soon will be shifting from a military to an diplomatic mission as U.S. troops are drawn down. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of "Only in America? American Politics in comparative Perspective," says Americans seem weary of the war and ready go see U.S. military engagement end.
“From indicators, such as failures in electricity supply and the inability of Iraqis to form a government following the last elections there, it’s clear that this isn’t ‘Mission Accomplished.’ But we’ve tacitly agreed it’s time to go. I don’t think there will be much national joy as this war winds down.”
Beginning in the fall, Boston University will give students a new lease on their sometimes budget-focused, hectic lives by offering a new textbook rental program designed to deliver maximum savings and convenience.
Designed by BU administrators and Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, the innovative rental program will allow students to rent their textbooks for less than 50 percent of the cost of purchasing a new book. Students will be able to rent books from Barnes & Noble at Boston University or from the bookstore’s website.
Other features of the rental program include:
· Students can pay the rental fees using any form of tender currently accepted by the bookstore – including student financial aid and campus debit cards.
· Students can highlight or mark the rented books just as they would if they purchased a book and planned to sell it back to the bookstore.
· Students have the option to convert their rental to a purchase during the first two weeks of class.
· The rental period is for the duration of the term/semester. Books are due back at the bookstore no later than 10 days after the last day of finals.
· Courtesy emails will go out as the end of the term/semester approaches reminding students to return their books. Books not returned, or returned in unusable condition, will be subject to replacement and processing fees.
“Barnes & Noble began piloting the rental program earlier this year at 25 campus bookstores across the country,” said Paul Maloney, Territory Vice President for Barnes & Noble. “The response from students where the program was piloted was tremendous.”
In particular, students liked having the option of getting their books immediately – as opposed to waiting for a shipment to arrive – and they appreciated knowing that the books they were renting were guaranteed to be the right books for the classes. More than 90 percent of the students surveyed said they would rent from their campus bookstore again.
On the heels of Congressional hearings in which e-mails from Goldman Sachs traders told of "sh***y deals" being offered to customers, the Wall Street bank has now banned profanity in company e-mail correspondence. School of Management master lecturer Mark Williams, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner and author of "Uncontrolled Risk" about the fall of Lehman Brothers, says profanity was never the problem at Goldman -- it was excessive risk taking with other people's money.
“Wall Street has been built on the backs of aggressive traders that talk tough and take sizable bets. Addressing swearing but ignoring excessive risk taking is simply a legal maneuver devised to protect Goldman Sachs, and leaves our economy exposed to its risky practices.”
Without admitting guilt, Citigroup will pay $75 million to settle federal civil claims that it failed to disclose vast holdings of subprime mortgage investments that crippled the bank during the financial crisis. Law Professor Cornelius Hurley, director of the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law and a former counsel to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, says it's pretty thin gruel for the government to take back $75 million from a bank in which it alaready owns a controlling interest since bailing it out.
“More meaningful from a policy perspective would be the clawing back of the obscene sums paid to the likes of Robert Rubin for his negligent oversight of the institution.”
Protesters stormed the streets of Phoenix objecting to Arizona's new immigration law, most of which was struck down by a federal court judge who ruled that the bulk of the law intruded on federal responsibilities for immigration control. Law Professor Susan Akram, an authority on immigration law, says the only way to keep states and Washington from fighting each other over this is for comprehensive immigration reform to be enacted by Congress because the reality is that 85 percent of the undocumented are working but drawing few government benefits.
“In other words, there is a net gain from immigrants and the undocumented, since they work and pay taxes but draw very few benefits. But the money they contribute often goes to federal and state coffers, while many services they benefit from -- such as health and law enforcement -- come out of local government budgets. That is the essence of the controversy between states such as Arizona and the federal government, with states claiming they are bearing the costs of the dysfunctional federal immigration policy. This cannot be resolved through the courts."
Intense lobbying is under way over the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform act, with federal agencies needing to fill in the details of at least 243 financial rules and conduct 67 studies before implementing the most sweeping such law since the 1930s. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of "Business and Politics," says citizens should be concerned that the interest-group system is massively biased towards representing business interests.
“The regulations that give shape to laws are always crucial. In this case, the massive complexity and detail involved makes the regulations all the more important -- and in this process the voices for consumer and taxpayer interests will be few in number compared with those for the financial industry."
The massive unauthorized leak by WikiLeaks to three newspapers, including The New York Times, of 91,000 classified documents related to the war in Afghanistan may cause a reassessment of the war effort by the Obama administration. It already has shown how times have changed in the Internet age since the leak of the Pentagon Papers by government insider Daniel Ellsberg in the '70s. College of Communication Dean Tom Fiedler, a former executive editor of the Miami Herald, says in a BU Todayinterview that the source of such a leak is less important than the vigilance of the newspaper publishing it.
"When a mainstream news organization gets information, the organization doesn’t say, 'Are you a good person?' The organization says, 'Is that information verifiable?' It doesn’t matter who WikiLeaks is."
There’s room for argument about what self-defense requires, and I’d like to see the argument engaged in by the American public and leadership. The point is to challenge the common practice and expectation that global policing defines the mission for the armed forces. That purpose vastly outstrips the capabilities of U.S. forces and implies demands on our resources as a nation that we are unwilling and probably unable to provide.”
President Obama says the 7-year-old Iraq war soon will be 
Beginning in the fall, Boston University will give students a new lease on their sometimes budget-focused, hectic lives by offering a new textbook rental program designed to deliver maximum savings and convenience.
On the heels of Congressional hearings in which e-mails from Goldman Sachs traders told of "sh***y deals" being offered to customers, the Wall Street bank has now 
Without admitting guilt, Citigroup will pay $75 million to 
Protesters 
Intense 
The massive unauthorized 
