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Thursday, February 9, 2012   |  Miller-McCune Homepage

Michael Scott Moore

Michael Scott Moore was a 2006-2007 Fulbright fellow for journalism in Germany, and The Economist named his surf travelogue, "Sweetness and Blood," a book of the year in 2010. His first novel, "Too Much of Nothing," was published by Carroll & Graf in 2003, and he’s written about politics and travel for The Atlantic Monthly, Slate, the Los Angeles Times, and Spiegel Online in Berlin, where he serves as editor-at-large.

Lowering Flags of Convenience for Fish Poachers

New international measures to end fish poaching on the high seas would enforce laws where the poacher calls, not where their ships are registered.

Something’s Fishy About That Red Snapper

Preventing seafood fraud won’t be easy, but a new law has potential to stop fish poaching and laundering, which involves mislabeling fish in restaurants.

Neo-Nazis and ‘Defensive Democracy’

Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution, similar to America’s FBI, isn’t doing its job against all the threats its homeland faces.

America Edges to Brink of Armed Police Drones

Europeans are lagging the United States in using aerial drones for police work – and they don’t really mind.

Oklahoma Earthquakes and the Wages of Fracking

European experiences offer hints as to whether high seismicity in the U.S. oil patch is related to new gas extraction methods.

The Icelandic Model of Handling Debt Crises

Iceland did something right in the credit crisis, perhaps offering lessons both for Greece and Occupy Wall Street protesters

More Evidence That MDMA Could Ease PTSD

Researchers advance the idea that ecstasy and other controversial drugs could help treat traumatized combat vets.

Wood Pellets Energizing Europe, Timber Industry

A thriving transatlantic trade in compressed wood scraps is creating New World timber jobs and meeting Old World clean energy requirements.

Falling Cost of Renewables Softens Nuclear Shutdown

As renewable energy sources approach cost parity with traditional sources, phasing out nuclear power might in Germany be economically smart.

Greece, North Africa Promote Their Solar Projects

Competing solar projects are vying to supply Germany’s renewable desires, each one trying to push the other into the shade.

Germany’s Road to Natural Gas Has Coal Detour

Germany’s energy revolution makes a shift to natural gas likely all over Europe.

Russian Gas and the Cost of Germany’s Energy Revolution

Doing deals with the Russians to put a pipe under the North Sea gives Germany some flexibility in its post-nuclear future, but at what price?

Last Charge of the (Incandescent) Light Brigade

The movement to change your incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescents completed its successful European Union campaign. The United States is next.

German Conservatives Discover Populism In Euro Crisis

Like the homemakers in the book “Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay,” the bureaucrats running Germany’s financial house are saying enough is enough.

The Greening of Angela Merkel

German Chancellor (and physicist) Angela Merkel did a 180 on nuclear energy after Fukushima, setting off an “energy revolution” in the process.

Germany Crafts Its Nuclear Power Exit Strategy

Phasing out nuclear power around the world is easier said than done; the Germans (and Japanese) are, so far, the most serious about it.

Class of Antipsychotics Ineffective in PTSD Treatment

The future may hold a drug therapy for treating post-traumatic stress disorder, but some of the popular choices of the last few years, like Risperdal, won’t be part of it.

PTSD Therapy: Restoring Honor to the Enemy

The golden rule has some effectiveness as a therapeutic tool, even in treating combat stress.

A Brief History of Combat Trauma

Despite its martial traditions, Germany has lagged in coming to grips with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Addressing PTSD With Surf Therapy

“If everybody had an ocean …” perhaps Western militaries could start addressing cases of combat stress without medication, trading hang fire for hang 10.

Can PTSD Become Hereditary?

A glimpse at the epigenetics of post-traumatic stress disorder suggests that the physical markers for PTSD may show up across generations.

PTSD Brain Studies Look at Hippocampus

The hippocampus, a structure inside the brain, shrinks after psychological trauma, which hints that a pharmaceutical cure may address post-traumatic stress disorder.

PTSD’s Trauma Symptoms Ring Out Through Ages

While the term “post-traumatic stress disorder” hints at a modern invention, the ill effects of combat stress have been documented back to the Iliad and Samuel Pepys.

PTSD Affecting More U.S. Soldiers Than British

Why do so many American and so few British soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress?

High-Speed Rail Will Impact America’s Freight Trains

America’s very successful freight train system will have to make some compromises to accommodate high-speed rail, but those needn’t be the end of the world.

How High-Speed Rail Died in Texas, Thrived in Spain

In the late 1980s, both Texas and Spain proposed high-speed rail systems: Texas walked away from the idea, while Spain leapt in a little too exuberantly.

High-Speed Rail Can Cover Its Operating Costs

While paying for its hefty infrastructure costs may be ambitious, many high-speed rail systems cover their operating costs and even turn a small operating profit.

California’s High-Speed Rail Won’t Go Nowhere

German high-speed trains started in the provinces, too, but now have a fast, efficient and popular system crisscrossing the nation.

Plugging High-Speed Rail Into Germany’s Power Grid

Using rail lines for the energy grid may help a suddenly nuclear-shy Germany transition to wider use of renewable sources.

Terrorist Attacks on Railroads Would Be Difficult

Past experiences suggest that terrorists who want to derail a train are facing a much more complex task than just leaving a penny on the rail.

High-Speed Rail’s Weak Link Is Security

Keeping trains safe and keeping trains moving has been a balancing act in Germany, and so far all the weights are on the side of no waiting.

Start Slow With Bullet Trains

Will investing in speed and electrification create the “sparks effect” needed to convince Americans to ride high-speed rail?

Fighting Drug War Creates Drug War

When the United States starts talking about illicit drugs, why does the word “war” always makes its way into the conversation?

Where Does Amsterdam’s Marijuana Come From?

The Netherlands’ netherworld of tolerated-but-still-illegal marijuana has its homegrown critics who argue for outright prohibition or outright legalization.

Is a Dip in Cocaine Use a War on Drugs Victory?

Washington remains optimistic about the war on drugs based on dips in the importation of cocaine. But even the “good news” derived from comparisons with Europe is distressing.

Legalizing Pot: Will It End the Mexican Drug Cartels?

If pot were legal — not decriminalized, but legal — it likely would knock a few props from beneath rampaging Mexican drugs cartels, argues Michael Scott Moore.

Is U.S.A. Drug Tourism Likely After States Drug Legalization?

U.S. drug laws should be loosened, argues Michael Scott Moore, but Holland — where soft drugs are not legal but are tolerated — is probably not the right model.

A Smarter Way to Deal With Drug Offenders

Drug courts can help ease the U.S. prison population and usher America into the civilized world when it comes to prosecuting drug-use offenses.

Don’t Legalize Drugs, Decriminalize ’em

Portugal’s example suggests that de-escalating the war on drugs might create a new sort of peace dividend.

‘Shooting Galleries’ Take Aim at Illicit Drug Market

The idea that governments can reduce both addiction and street crime — and maybe bleed black markets dry — by managing drug distribution has gained momentum.

Contending With Afghan Heroin (And How Not To)

European governments have taken two divergent paths in dealing with the resurrected flow of narcotics from Afghanistan, legalization and an American-style war on drugs.

Why Should I Buy Health Insurance?

Europe has answered that question to its own satisfaction with a mandatory system that treats health care as a social insurance handled by private firms.

Britannia’s (Insurers) Rule the Waves

London’s new idea to fight pirates in the Indian Ocean: an insurance-led navy.

The Greatly Exaggerated Death of Multiculturalism

With Tunisian refugees streaming north, Europe’s vanguard of cultural gatekeepers start to refine their message.

Merkel May Have Rescued the Eurozone

Might Frau Nein’s tough love debt limits translate into the U.S. needing German discipline?

Please Don’t Give Our Money to Terrorists

The naval stalemate off Somalia has produced one positive — the pirates have so far brushed off getting cozy with terrorists.

Slashing Solar Subsidies, and Lighting Way for China

The fine balance in Germany between markets and green energy policy highlights the real-world challenges for moving away from traditional power sources.

The Swiss and Their Guns

The relationship may be changing in Europe’s best-armed nation, which next month votes on how to store guns for its standing militia.

Combining Heat and Power

An old American idea to capture and use waste heat from electricity generation, adopted by Europe, needs to come back home for a visit.

The Politics of a European Pat-Down

Airport security in Europe tends to be more discreet than in the U.S. But an industry group wants to change that.


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House Bill Puts Transportation in Partisan Crossfire

Transportation used to be one of the few guaranteed areas of agreement when ideology trumped pragmatism in D.C. But that’s no longer the case.

Pressure to Conform Can Inspire Creativity

New research suggests less-creative people do more innovative thinking when they are told individualism is the norm, and instructed to conform.

Better Super Bowl Makes for Better Ads

A lot of people say they watch the Super Bowl mostly for the ads. But it turns out a good game surrounding those ads makes them seem better.

Overseas Troops Finally Get Fair Shot at Voting

After decades of obstacles hindering the voting process, new laws will allow overseas and military voters to submit their votes in time for the 2012 election.

Neglected Tropical Diseases Neglected No More?

World health leaders announce coordinated push to eradicate or control neglected tropical diseases.

Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World

A survey of award-winning children’s picture books from 1938 to 2008 suggests our increasing estrangement from the natural environment.

Traffic Solution: Make Drivers Less Lonely

Rather than moaning about too many cars on the road, the Ridesharing Institute says the real key to battling traffic congestion and pollution is filling empty passenger seats.

Numerology Doesn’t Know the Score

Various ways of assigning numbers to events, people, and actions is an ancient parlor game, but let’s not take it beyond that.

Conservatives’ Politics of Fear a Biological Response

Researchers looking at how we fixate on threats uncover more evidence of a biological component to the red-blue divide.

Morning People May Be More Creative in the Afternoon

New research finds problems that require a flash of illumination to solve are best approached during the time of day when you’re not at your peak.