For Americans of the Greatest Generation that fought World War II and of the Silent Generation that came of age in the 1950s, the great moral and ideological cause was the Cold War.
It gave purpose and clarity to our politics and foreign policy, and our lives.
From the fall of Berlin in 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, that Cold War was waged by two generations, and with its end Americans faced a fundamental question:
If the historic struggle between communism and freedom is over, if the Soviet Empire and Soviet Union no longer exist, if the Russians wish to befriend us and the Maoists have taken the capitalist road, what is our new mission in the world? What do we do now?
The debate was suspended when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. George H.W. Bush assembled a mighty coalition and won a war that required but 100 hours of ground combat.
We had found our mission.
The United States was the last superpower and a triumphant Bush declared that we would build the "New World Order." Neoconservatives rhapsodized over America's "unipolar moment" and coming "global hegemony."
But Americans were unpersuaded and uninspired. They rejected the victor of Desert Storm ? for Bill Clinton. By Y2K, the Republican Party was backing another Bush who was promising a "more humble" America.
Came then 9/11 and the midlife conversion of George W. to Wilsonian interventionism. After the rout of the Taliban in December 2001, Bush decided to remake Afghanistan in the image of Iowa and to go crusading against an axis of evil. In his second inaugural, he declared that America's mission was to "end tyranny in our world."
The world declined to oblige. By the end of 2006, the Taliban were back and America seemed in an endless war in Iraq. Republicans had lost Congress and Bush's democracy crusade was producing electoral victories for Hamas and Hezbollah.
In November 2008, the crusaders were sent packing.
Came then Barack Obama. With the "Arab Spring" beginning in 2010, with dictators being toppled in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria, Obama embraced the movement as his own.
But Obama received a rude awakening. As the Arab dictators began, one by one, to fall, also unleashed and now surging and spreading through the lands they had ruled were the four horsemen of the Arab apocalypse: tribalism, ethno-nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism and anti-Americanism. So we come to an elementary question:
If the Islamic world is so suffused with rage and hatred of us ? for our wars, occupations, drone attacks, support of Israel, decadent culture, and tolerance of insults to Islam and the Prophet ? why should we call for free elections, when the people will use those elections to vote into power rulers hostile to the United States?
If the probable or inevitable result of dethroning dictator-allies is to raise to power Islamist enemies, why help dethrone the dictators?
During the Cold War, the United States took its friends where it found them. If they were willing to cast their lot with us, from the Shah to Gen. Pinochet, we welcomed them. Democratic dissidents like Jawaharlal Nehru in India and Olof Palme in Sweden got the back of our hand.
During the Cold War and World War II, the critical question was not whether you came to power through free elections ? after all, Adolf Hitler did that ? but are you with us or against us?
Ideology, as Russell Kirk admonished us, is political religion, and democracy worship is a form of idolatry, the worshiping of a false god, a golden calf, an idol.
And ? while this may border on a hate crime ? some countries are unfit for democracy. As Edmund Burke remonstrated: "It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters."
With hatred of America rampant across the Arab and Islamic world, we face anew a defining moment. What now is our mission in the world? What now should be the great goal of U.S. foreign policy?
What global objective should we pursue with our trillion-dollar defense, intel and foreign aid budgets, and pervasive diplomatic and military presence on every continent and in most countries of the world? Bush I's New World Order is history, given our strategic decline and the resistance of Russia, China and the Islamic world.
Bush II's democracy crusade and Obama's embrace of the Arab Spring have unleashed and empowered forces less receptive to America's wishes and will than the despots and dictators deposed with our approval.
All three visions proved to be illusions. With America headed for bankruptcy, with new debt of $1 trillion piled up each year, perhaps John Quincy Adams' counsel may commend itself to a country weary from a century of crusades.
"America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."
Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?" To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
There is virtually no marriage that does not have its challenges at one point or the other. This is why couples begin to ask the question ?how to save a marriage??There are many common threads in marriage problems and they?re always along the lines of:
Communication ? it is necessary for couples to communicate well. If a partner does not know what?s going on inside the life of the second partner, they won?t discover how to address the issue which is causing conflict and save their marriage
Sex ? not enough sexual joy in a marriage may make either partner go astray and search for sexual for sexual satisfaction outside the marriage. Sex brings the pair close together and keeps the chemistry on a healthy level.
Find another great article Photovoltaic Panels ? Solar PV Panels
Finances ? money troubles are not uncommon in marriages.It may even start prior to the wedding occurs if the couple have overspent on the wedding celebrations. When children arise the added expenses them may create more financial pressure.
Housework ? because in this particular day and age often both spouses go to work, the matter of who does what when it comes to housework could become a major problem. Both spouses should choose what each one will be doing in the home to help with housework.
Non-prioritisation of relationship ? some spouses take each other in addition to their relationship for granted. They may fail to appreciate one another and they may let their romance die.
Constant conflict ? some couples are normally getting into one type of conflict or another. They are always arguing: you should try to control yourself and your reactions. Think it through for about one minute first before you react. Once you realise you happen to be wrong, apologise.
Trust ? trust is very important in a relationship. Should there be some concerns between the both of you, try to settle it amicably. If you make a promise to your partner, you have to try to keep to your word. Be sensible in a marriage: don?t imagine that your partner will usually know what your requirements are. Be humorous ? let things go, as opposed to harbouring it as well as becoming resentful about it. It is not a smart idea to believe that opting out is invariably your next available option. Attempt to get through it.
Marriage is not a bed of roses as the saying goes but every effort you make towards figuring out how to save a married relationship will be worthwhile.
Looking to find the best deal on how to save my marriage, then visit topwaystosaveamarriage.com to find the best advice on save my marriage for you.
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Filed under: Marriage by Mary Forrester
Tagged with: family ? Marriage ? relationships
Student Retention: Learner Analytics at Loughborough University
The JISC funded Pedestal for Progression project at Loughborough University has focussed on bringing together information from their in-house Co-Tutor dashboard and other systems to help tutors be pro-active in their response to ?at risk? students.
Challenges
The project team found that having access to the data is not enough, there needs to be a balance between automated and human interventions, for example:
educational data mining is complex and will be unsuccessful if used solely to identify ?at risk? students without human intervention processes being designed
incorporating more student-centred approaches into the development of exisiting systems (such as VLEs, student data systems, attendance recording systems etc) can be challenging
changes in processes and the introduction of new software systems can be seen as threatening to staff.
Benefits
The project team looked at both staff and student needs by:
using service design techniques to help identify learner needs, such as flexibility of study, planning of deadlines for coursework, and employability, for example
providing more and better quality learner information to help a tutor be more active in identifying and supporting ?at risk? students; for example teaching sessions where attendance is taken electronically are designated as being ?critical? or not, so e-mails are sent only to students missing ?critical? sessions
developing a standardised process for managing placements across three departments in order to reduce student anxiety around the process.
Recommendations
The relationships that students have with staff are vital to the enhancement of the student experience, but the relationships that staff have within in the organisation are also important. For example:
provide staff with access to learner data to help them identify any human interventions that need to be made
use the student voice to influence improvements
sincere management buy-in is critical, otherwise an institution?s organisational structure will remain a barrier no matter what improvements are suggested.
Further Information
If you would like to find out more about this project, the following resources may help:
This entry was posted on Monday, September 24th, 2012 at 17:03 and is filed under SLRM, relationship management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Rice launches sweeping Energy and Environment InitiativePublic release date: 20-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Ruth david@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University
Rice University today announced the Energy and Environment Initiative (E2I), a sweeping plan to support interdisciplinary research that will draw experts from every corner of the university to work with Houston's energy industry to overcome barriers to the sustainable development and use of current and alternative forms of energy.
"One of the most critical global issues of our time is the challenge of meeting the world population's escalating need for energy and simultaneously safeguarding the environment," said Rice President David Leebron. "Rice's location in Houston, the global energy capital, uniquely positions us to serve both our city and our world by offering rich insights and practical but innovative solutions to this daunting challenge. Not only will we explore issues related to the safe harvesting and use of traditional hydrocarbons, but also advance the next generation of energy sources, from biofuels to solar. These efforts will draw on our deep strengths and capabilities from across the university, including in basic science, engineering, nanotechnology, informatics, social sciences, humanities and public policy."
Rice Provost George McLendon said E2I is unique among university activities in this space because it recognizes that addressing challenges in energy requires more than just technological solutions. Building on a strong foundation, E2I researchers will study energy policy and markets, finance and management, as well as the cultural and societal values that underpin and sometimes undermine public discussion about energy and the environment. Rice's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy is already an internationally recognized leader in energy economics and policy. Rice laboratories conduct about $40 million in energy-related research each year, and McLendon said Rice will invest about $1 million this fiscal year to start E2I seed-funding programs and establish an infrastructure to link existing activities across departments and schools. Future investments will be linked to research growth.
"E2I sprang partly from a realization that Rice is already doing excellent energy-related research and education," McLendon said. "We have significant federal support for research on topics as diverse as enhanced oil recovery, carbon sequestration and next-generation solar power. Rice's research in energy economics and energy policy is globally recognized. Our top-ranked Jones Graduate School of Business serves the energy industry through its MBA concentration in energy and its executive education program. We have existing relationships with companies such as Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Total, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger and Apache. Finally, Rice partnered with the Mellon Foundation last year to pioneer the field of 'energy humanities' research."
McLendon said a central focus of E2I will be the diverse issues associated with managing society's current reliance on hydrocarbons while also preparing for a future where conventional and alternative sources of energy coexist.
"This is about building a bridge from today's fossil fuel economy to an all-of-the-above energy future in which all sources of energy are used in concert," he said. "Building this bridge is as much a political, economic and social challenge as a technical one."
E2I will be led by a committee chaired by Pedro Alvarez, Rice's George R. Brown Professor and chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. The committee members are Ken Medlock, the James A. Baker III and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute and adjunct assistant professor in economics; Alan Levander, Rice's Carey Croneis Professor of Earth Science and director of Rice's data analysis and visualization cyberinfrastructure (DAVinCI) project; Dominic Boyer, associate professor of anthropology; and William Arnold, professor in the practice of energy management at the Jones School. A national search for a permanent faculty director will begin in 2013.
Medlock said balancing the goals of energy security and sustainability is critical to ensuring the welfare of future generations.
"Energy demands and the environmental impacts of energy development and use are now a central theme in policy discourse, largely due to the rapid growth of domestic shale gas and shale oil production," Medlock said. "Understanding the consequence of actions taken today on future generations is critical to understanding the direction of energy prices, fuel choice and environmental impact, all of which are vital to formulating informed policy."
Alvarez said part of E2I's initial focus will include the enhanced discovery and recovery of conventional hydrocarbons as well as the responsible development of shale gas and unconventional hydrocarbons. In all of these areas, innovative technologies that increase the efficiency and performance of both hydrocarbons and water processing are vital -- a broad topic termed the "water-energy nexus."
"Water is used either directly or indirectly in virtually every form of energy production and generation, and a significant fraction of urban energy demand relates to treating and moving water," said Alvarez, an award-winning environmental engineer and member of the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board. "We can significantly change the impact of energy production and use by applying the latest developments in biotechnology, adaptation and nanotechnology to the problems of water."
E2I will also spur new technical research in fields as diverse as nanotechnology, geophysics and computer science.
"The search for oil and gas relies heavily on supercomputers, and Rice's faculty have long been at the forefront of computational geophysics and computer science," said Levander, faculty director of the DAVinCI project's new Chevron Visualization Laboratory, a 3-D visualization studio that is connected to one of Rice's newest and fastest high performance computers (HPC). Levander said E2I will allow Rice to initiate new lines of computationally based energy-related research from seismic imaging to modeling fluid flow in oil reservoirs. It will also allow Rice to expand programs like the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology's Rice Oil and Gas HPC Workshop, which has doubled in attendance in less than five years.
E2I will also allow Rice to grow its energy humanities program, a new field Rice helped launch during the past year with the Cultures of Energy Initiative supported by the Mellon Foundation.
"As much as understanding our energy landscape today and planning for a better tomorrow are about developing excellent science, engineering and policy, it is also vital to understand the values, choices, meanings and institutions that help explain how humans use energy and why," said Boyer, a founding member of the Cultures of Energy Initiative. "E2I is the only energy and environmental initiative in the world that truly takes the skills and input of the humanities and social sciences seriously, and that input is much needed because it helps us answer a number of important questions: What makes one form of energy seem 'dirty' and another 'clean'? How do our desires and self-image translate into certain kinds of environmental action or inaction? How do culture and power contribute to the challenges of developing international responses to global warming?"
McLendon said building the bridge from today to tomorrow's energy future will require all of the resources that universities can bring to bear.
"E2I is visionary because it is the first initiative in energy research that truly leverages all the intellectual resources of a university," he said. "E2I will engage government, the corporate world and everyday citizens in its efforts to better understand how we use energy today and how we are going to use it tomorrow."
###
A high-resolution image is available for download at:
http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/0921_NRG_LG2.jpg
CAPTION: Rice University's Energy and Environment Initiative will engage researchers and scholars from every corner of campus to address the complex challenges of energy in the 21st century.
CREDIT: Rice University
This release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 4 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/Rice.pdf.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Rice launches sweeping Energy and Environment InitiativePublic release date: 20-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: David Ruth david@rice.edu 713-348-6327 Rice University
Rice University today announced the Energy and Environment Initiative (E2I), a sweeping plan to support interdisciplinary research that will draw experts from every corner of the university to work with Houston's energy industry to overcome barriers to the sustainable development and use of current and alternative forms of energy.
"One of the most critical global issues of our time is the challenge of meeting the world population's escalating need for energy and simultaneously safeguarding the environment," said Rice President David Leebron. "Rice's location in Houston, the global energy capital, uniquely positions us to serve both our city and our world by offering rich insights and practical but innovative solutions to this daunting challenge. Not only will we explore issues related to the safe harvesting and use of traditional hydrocarbons, but also advance the next generation of energy sources, from biofuels to solar. These efforts will draw on our deep strengths and capabilities from across the university, including in basic science, engineering, nanotechnology, informatics, social sciences, humanities and public policy."
Rice Provost George McLendon said E2I is unique among university activities in this space because it recognizes that addressing challenges in energy requires more than just technological solutions. Building on a strong foundation, E2I researchers will study energy policy and markets, finance and management, as well as the cultural and societal values that underpin and sometimes undermine public discussion about energy and the environment. Rice's James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy is already an internationally recognized leader in energy economics and policy. Rice laboratories conduct about $40 million in energy-related research each year, and McLendon said Rice will invest about $1 million this fiscal year to start E2I seed-funding programs and establish an infrastructure to link existing activities across departments and schools. Future investments will be linked to research growth.
"E2I sprang partly from a realization that Rice is already doing excellent energy-related research and education," McLendon said. "We have significant federal support for research on topics as diverse as enhanced oil recovery, carbon sequestration and next-generation solar power. Rice's research in energy economics and energy policy is globally recognized. Our top-ranked Jones Graduate School of Business serves the energy industry through its MBA concentration in energy and its executive education program. We have existing relationships with companies such as Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Total, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger and Apache. Finally, Rice partnered with the Mellon Foundation last year to pioneer the field of 'energy humanities' research."
McLendon said a central focus of E2I will be the diverse issues associated with managing society's current reliance on hydrocarbons while also preparing for a future where conventional and alternative sources of energy coexist.
"This is about building a bridge from today's fossil fuel economy to an all-of-the-above energy future in which all sources of energy are used in concert," he said. "Building this bridge is as much a political, economic and social challenge as a technical one."
E2I will be led by a committee chaired by Pedro Alvarez, Rice's George R. Brown Professor and chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. The committee members are Ken Medlock, the James A. Baker III and Susan G. Baker Fellow in Energy and Resource Economics at the Baker Institute and adjunct assistant professor in economics; Alan Levander, Rice's Carey Croneis Professor of Earth Science and director of Rice's data analysis and visualization cyberinfrastructure (DAVinCI) project; Dominic Boyer, associate professor of anthropology; and William Arnold, professor in the practice of energy management at the Jones School. A national search for a permanent faculty director will begin in 2013.
Medlock said balancing the goals of energy security and sustainability is critical to ensuring the welfare of future generations.
"Energy demands and the environmental impacts of energy development and use are now a central theme in policy discourse, largely due to the rapid growth of domestic shale gas and shale oil production," Medlock said. "Understanding the consequence of actions taken today on future generations is critical to understanding the direction of energy prices, fuel choice and environmental impact, all of which are vital to formulating informed policy."
Alvarez said part of E2I's initial focus will include the enhanced discovery and recovery of conventional hydrocarbons as well as the responsible development of shale gas and unconventional hydrocarbons. In all of these areas, innovative technologies that increase the efficiency and performance of both hydrocarbons and water processing are vital -- a broad topic termed the "water-energy nexus."
"Water is used either directly or indirectly in virtually every form of energy production and generation, and a significant fraction of urban energy demand relates to treating and moving water," said Alvarez, an award-winning environmental engineer and member of the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board. "We can significantly change the impact of energy production and use by applying the latest developments in biotechnology, adaptation and nanotechnology to the problems of water."
E2I will also spur new technical research in fields as diverse as nanotechnology, geophysics and computer science.
"The search for oil and gas relies heavily on supercomputers, and Rice's faculty have long been at the forefront of computational geophysics and computer science," said Levander, faculty director of the DAVinCI project's new Chevron Visualization Laboratory, a 3-D visualization studio that is connected to one of Rice's newest and fastest high performance computers (HPC). Levander said E2I will allow Rice to initiate new lines of computationally based energy-related research from seismic imaging to modeling fluid flow in oil reservoirs. It will also allow Rice to expand programs like the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology's Rice Oil and Gas HPC Workshop, which has doubled in attendance in less than five years.
E2I will also allow Rice to grow its energy humanities program, a new field Rice helped launch during the past year with the Cultures of Energy Initiative supported by the Mellon Foundation.
"As much as understanding our energy landscape today and planning for a better tomorrow are about developing excellent science, engineering and policy, it is also vital to understand the values, choices, meanings and institutions that help explain how humans use energy and why," said Boyer, a founding member of the Cultures of Energy Initiative. "E2I is the only energy and environmental initiative in the world that truly takes the skills and input of the humanities and social sciences seriously, and that input is much needed because it helps us answer a number of important questions: What makes one form of energy seem 'dirty' and another 'clean'? How do our desires and self-image translate into certain kinds of environmental action or inaction? How do culture and power contribute to the challenges of developing international responses to global warming?"
McLendon said building the bridge from today to tomorrow's energy future will require all of the resources that universities can bring to bear.
"E2I is visionary because it is the first initiative in energy research that truly leverages all the intellectual resources of a university," he said. "E2I will engage government, the corporate world and everyday citizens in its efforts to better understand how we use energy today and how we are going to use it tomorrow."
###
A high-resolution image is available for download at:
http://news.rice.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/0921_NRG_LG2.jpg
CAPTION: Rice University's Energy and Environment Initiative will engage researchers and scholars from every corner of campus to address the complex challenges of energy in the 21st century.
CREDIT: Rice University
This release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu.
Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews
Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,708 undergraduates and 2,374 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 4 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to www.rice.edu/nationalmedia/Rice.pdf.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The JISC funded Pedestal for Progression project at Loughborough University has focussed on bringing together information from their in-house Co-Tutor dashboard and other systems to help tutors be pro-active in their response to ?at risk? students. ![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v2bA7uI5rcHGRqU20sCmMBxwvi-jTDkHi_jxj5c8EmIv8mGTJ-KrpTgvpSNbcYfqMP4kYs0Df0_WDreOQr51F_DeOhcI98uPM3c2N_TJY=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 20-Sep-2012
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