Neither Western donor countries like the U.S. nor poor recipients like Cameroon care much about Africans who are poor, rural and female

A few countries like Sri Lanka and Honduras have led the way in slashing maternal mortality.

Guilt-tripping people does not work; they tend to be turned off.

Our nearly century-long experiment in banning marijuana has failed as abysmally as Prohibition did... In contrast, legalizing and taxing marijuana would bring in substantial sums that could be used to pay for schools, libraries or early childhood education.

Solar power is one of the most hopeful technologies but still produces about 0.01 percent of U.S. electricity. The U.S. allocates just $159 million for solar research per year - about what we spend in Iraq every nine hours.

It really is quite remarkable that Darfur has become a household name. I am gratified that's the case.

Abortion politics have distracted all sides from what is really essential: a major aid campaign to improve midwifery, prenatal care and emergency obstetric services in poor countries.