Beyond the ABCs: Hamburgers and humvees (2002-12-12)
This just in from Al's Morning Meeting: Cash-strapped schools are hard put to stick to high ideals in the face of funding cuts or fundraising opportunities. As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, public and private schools that receive federal funds are required to turn over kid's contact information to military recruiters and must allow recruiters on campus. Forget that kids are taught to solve problems on campus nonviolently--we need more young folks to be all they can be in the army of one.

Al also brought attention to McDonalds' McTeacher's Night, which asks teachers to flip burgers for an evening in exchange for 20 percent of the profits from the night's sales. The idea, of course, is to get students and parents to go to Mickey D's for dinner and boost sales for the fundraiser. Nevermind that there's a childhood obesity epidemic.

Did I mention that nearly 240 school districts in 31 states have sold exclusive marketing rights to soda companies?

Girls, women and war (2002-12-06)
The current situation in Uganda and Southern Sudan is an example of how conflict affects women and girls differently than it affects men and boys and points to the lack of services to meet the needs of women affected by war.

The world according to UNDP (2002-12-05)
The United Nations Development Fund has more than 400 human development reports online, organized by nation, region, year and theme.