by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

“The one thing you can never ask yourself is ‘why’, because with suicide there is never an answer.” Though my 83 year-old grandmother’s advice rings true, the question haunts me nonetheless: why did my cousin Kevin, a 26-year old Marine Lance Corporal, take his own life after returning from his second tour in Iraq?

I search for answers with his immediate family, but few clues are forthcoming. My father’s brother, a retired Navy pilot, is grieving quietly. My aunt, so proud of my cousin when he wore his dress uniform, is angry at him for being “so stupid.” Meanwhile, my own family stands lamely on the periphery – wanting to show our love and support, but incapable of entering that inner sanctum shared by those in the armed forces.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

“I just thought our life would be different.”

My mother Deborah Cruze is reflecting on the devastation this recession has wrought on her generation. In her view, the rules of the game changed when the baby boomers were half-way up the ladder – too invested in the old system and too inflexible to adjust, but still years away from retirement. Whereas her parents’ generation (born in the 1930s) was able to ride the wave of the American dream; and her children’s generation (born in the 1980s) still has time to adapt to haphazard careers of contract work and declining benefits; her generation is perilously trapped.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

“They start arriving an hour before we open, and by the time we unlock the doors at 9 am there is a crowd of people waiting to get in. Within seconds, all of the computers are taken – and they are full for the next twelve hours until we close.” That’s how my husband Michael Hahn, Technology Coordinator, describes the need for free computers and Internet in this Phoenix suburb of around 250,000. It doesn’t surprise him that upon my arrival just before opening, I nearly trip over a middle-aged man and his son who are sitting on the sidewalk, hovering intently over a laptop.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA –

On January 20th, John Marshall* joined the ranks of US homeowners who have foreclosed on their homes. The thirty-year old African-American is struggling to make sense of his surreal situation.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

Charles Kapuscak and his wife Sharon moved to the Phoenix metropolitan area from Pennsylvania over thirty years ago. They installed low-flow toilets, a low-water-usage washing machine, and they under-water their plants. Unlike many transplants to the “Valley of the Sun,” they also embraced desert landscaping – meaning no grassy yard, the symbol of the American dream.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

John McCain is the one constant in my life, elected for the first time the year that I was born. Voters from Arizona continue to re-elect him by a landslide, and yet most citizens would be hard-pressed to tell you what, exactly, he has done for the state.

Hardly a public figure, McCain is associated with Arizona by commentators in a way that locals would never consider. Calling himself a Washington outsider, he actually is one in Arizona. McCain moved here upon his second marriage and through Cindy, the daughter of an influential Phoenix magnate, he acquired the connections and resources to fund a political campaign. Residing here barely long enough to qualify for the ballot, he soon returned to his real comfort zone: the Beltway.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

On August 20th, 2008, Polish and American officials signed a missile defense agreement long pursued by Washington and strongly decried by Moscow.

American officials argue that the deal to locate ten ground-based ballistic missile interceptors in Poland is a necessary step to protect the US and Europe from attacks by “rogue states” such as Iran and North Korea. Still awaiting ratification by the Polish Sejm, the deal allows the United States to build and maintain a military base on Polish territory. The installation is part of a broader global network of radar stations and anti-missile missiles (interceptors), including a radar station planned in the Czech Republic.

Outraged at what they see as America’s attempt to establish a permanent foothold in the region under the guise of the War on Terror, Moscow has responded quickly and without mincing words. According to the BBC, Russia’s foreign ministry stated that they "will be forced to react, and not only through diplomatic demarches."

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

The stunning Caucasus soar nobly over their valleys, sheltering quilt squares of villages below. Sadly, this bucolic landscape harbors ancient animosities and modern hostilities in its crags; a simmering violence which this month threatened to escalate into full-scale war.

On August 7th, Russian peacekeeping troops responded to a Georgian military action in the latter’s breakaway province of South Ossetia. Before a French-brokered cease-fire could be reached five days later, 1,500 people had died, with 100,000 more displaced. Only hours after the agreement’s announcement, fresh allegations re-emerged from both sides, dampening international hopes for peace.

With South Ossetia seizing the opportunity for self-determination, Georgia battling to escape its geographic reality, and Russia striving to regain its influence in the “near-abroad,” each refuses to back down without a fight.

by Melissa Hahn
- USA -

Just before Christmas, we locked up our apartment in Krakow and walked across the Rynek towards the train station. Crossing the main square in the early morning drizzle, overburdened by our luggage and breathless from our brisk pace, I was about to turn the corner onto ulica Floriańska when something pulled at my reins. For a moment, I looked back at Kościół Mariacki (St. Mary’s Cathedral), and found myself frozen in place, unable to continue. Sparkling in the silence, it captivated me as if I was seeing its red brick and uneven turrets for the last time.