BAGHDAD–Marwa Jasim has two children and a pair of metal rods in her legs. The latter are a result of injuries she received when a mortar shell crashed through the roof of her house, blowing out the windows and killing her husband. Read the rest of this entry »

BAGHDAD–Around 10 a.m. on a Friday morning, a small group of American soldiers driving armored humvees pulled into Joint Security Station Casino in the Ghazaliya. Capt. Garrett Hooper and his team were understandably mum about their mission–slung over Hooper’s left shoulder was an ordinary-looking backpack with more than $110,000 in neatly bound packets of greenbacks. Read the rest of this entry »

Five years ago, starches were persona non grata in the United States. The Atkins diet was the rage, and prospects for the potato were dim. As Maine farmer Don Thibodeau sowed another crop of spud seeds and watched wholesale prices fall, he and friend Bob Harkin had an idea. They launched a distillery using potatoes to make vodka. “Vodka was first made with potatoes, but as grains took over, spuds were pushed to the wayside,” says Harkin. But now, the potato is making a comeback, both as a driver of economic development and as an important and nutritious food. Read the rest of this entry »