Pope Francis, who is known for his ecumenical perspective, “reached out to Rome’s Jewish community at the very start of his pontificate, pledging to continue to strengthen the increasingly close ties between Catholics and Jews”—and his overtures were received with high hopes (Associated Press, March 16, 2013). As archbishop of Buenos Aires, then Cardinal Bergoglio was known as an “ally” of the Jews.

Two weeks ago, Dr. Tom Frieden, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, held a press conference “to ‘sound an alarm’ on the advance of CRE, a highly drug-resistant bacteria” (CDC.gov, March 5, 2013; NPR, March 7, 2013). Dr.

“Two trends in the international arms trade, in particular, have caught the attention of Western governments. For one, for the first time since the Cold War, the ranking of the world’s five largest arms exporters has changed. China has pushed Britain out of the Top Five. And secondly, military expenditures in Asia in 2012 exceeded those of the European Union for the first time ever” (Deutsche Welle, March 18, 2013).

Europe’s top trade unionist, Ms. Bernadette Segol, recently stated, “Rising unemployment, bleak economic prospects and continued austerity is making people question the benefits of the EU” (EU Observer, March 14, 2013). Speaking about the negative impacts of austerity measures, Ms. Segol also said “doubts about the benefits of the European Union [are] showing more and more” (ibid.).

The extended drought in the U.S. Plains states has caused beef cattle producers to sell cows. In the short term this sell-off has kept beef prices steady, but eventually this will end and beef prices will increase as fewer cows means fewer calves born to be fattened.  U.S. beef cow inventory declined 3.1 percent in 2011 and the decline continued throughout 2012. Last April, the 2012 U.S.