Cardow, The Ottawa Citizen This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

There was something about Jack Layton’s optimism which caused you to believe he would beat cancer. After all, he had done it once before. His passion for life and for social justice seemed like the perfect antidote. But, of course, cancer can only be held at bay. While it may retreat, it never really leaves the field. What was shocking was how quickly Layton’s cancer returned — and how quickly...

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Were the London riots just a hint of what is to come in the United States? Hafez al-Barghouty of the Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah in the Palestinian Territories writes that in the West, democracy is a thin veneer ‘without soul’ that cannot endure in the presence of scarcity, and that as prosperity diminishes, so will a way of life Americans take such pride in. For the Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, Hafez al-Barghouty...

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Game up for Gaddafi? Another video animation from Taiwan’s Next Media Animation:

Our linkfest offering you a buffet of different takes on issues by a variety of websites. The Dictator is Falling in Libya and some folks can’t say “I told you so” and in fact will want people to forget their words. And the question Republicans face now is how to respond: to cheer or not to cheer. I predict talk show hosts will not cheer and find some negatives and therefore most Republican...

It is gratifying that another Middle Eastern henchman appears about to get his just desserts, and that despite extensive U.S. involvement in the NATO mission not a single American life has been lost in the civil war. (How about them apples, Michele Bachmann? Time to retract your statement that President Obama “is not on our side” because the U.S. intervened? Of course you won’t.) But let’s...

Our Quote of the Day comes from Steve Clemons, Washington editor at large for The Atlantic and editor in chief of Atlantic LIVE, on the meaning of Libya if — as expected — Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi and his regime are toppled. Here’s a chunk of the must-read-in-full post: I was skeptical of the Libyan intervention by the US and the rest — but the Tuesday night when President Obama...

As a major holder of U.S. debt, Beijing is frustrated over its lack of leverage over U.S. monetary policy, since as the dollar depreciates, China’s dollar holdings lose value. But according to this editorial from China’s state-controlled Global Times, Beijing still has a card to play. This editorial suggests that unless the U.S. halts arms sales to democratic Taiwan, another issue it considers...

UPDATE, 21:30 CST, Aug. 23 The BBC reports that Col Muammar Gaddafi has vowed death or victory in the fight against “aggression.” Some excerpts from the report: Pro-Gaddafi al-Urubah TV said the colonel – whose whereabouts remain unknown – made an audio speech, saying the retreat from the Bab al-Aziziya compound was a “tactical move”. The compound was one of the final areas...

Is it possible that Michele Bachmann could be the next president of the United States? Columnist Levente Sitkei of Hungary’s Magyar Nemzet writes that while it might be said that President Obama – through no fault of his own – was in the wrong place at the wrong time, just the opposite could be true of Bachmann. Hinting at what might happen if the economy worsens and Bachmann wins, Sitkei...

This sentence in Iran can only be interpreted as the country throwing down the gauntlet to the Obama administration, saying in effect: “I dare you to try and do something about it.” Truly a sad and disgusting verdict — but in the end some believe they will not serve the full time: Iranian authorities sentenced two Americans arrested and detained along the Iran-Iraq border to eight years in...

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

In “How much is that F-35 in the window,” I wrote about the difficulty of pinning down the true cost of a single F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft or, for that matter, of the entire Joint Strike Fighter Program. Multiply the uncertainties, vagaries, and red tape of pinning down the cost of this aircraft— this program—a thousand fold and one gets an idea of the complexities of coming up with...

While Germany is regarded as an axis power that has really confronted its behavior and activities during World War II, Japan is not. That is what makes this editorial from Japan’s Asahi Shimbun so eye-opening. According to Asahi, Japan’s failure to acknowledge and alter the organization of Japanese society since its defeat 66 years ago has led not only to economic crisis, but the post-tsunami nuclear...

Paresh Nath, The National Herald, India This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Is it time for a full-throated reform of our ‘current economic model’? This editorial from Mexico’s La Jornada expresses just as much derision for America’s current economic policies as any Tea Party member – but comes to dramatically different conclusions. The La Jornada editorial says in part: In the best case, warnings by economic specialists about the beginning of a deceleration...

NBC News reports that Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi is getting ready to leave the country: Moammar Gadhafi is making preparations for a departure from Libya with his family for possible exile in Tunisia, U.S. officials have told NBC News, citing intelligence reports. One official suggested it was possible that Gadhafi would leave within days, NBC News reported. The information obtained by NBC News follows...

When Wickileaks dumped those American diplomatic cables onto the Internet, we learned that Stephen Harper “likes to see fear in [the] eyes” of his employees. How disconcerting it must be, then, for him to encounter Michaela Keyserlingk, who is neither an employee or — in Harper’s universe — an important person. In 2009, Mrs. Keyserlink’s husband of forty-seven years died...

Have the United States and the West hit such a dead end in terms of economic policy that war, as a way of economic recovery, is inevitable? Columnist K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran warns his readers that given the dire economic state of the world and America’s huge military, it is time to prepare for a new world war. For the Le Quotidien d’Oran, K. Selim writes in part: The colossal...

Which is worse: the debt crisis and partisan bickering in the United States, or the debt crisis and dysfunctional confluence of national political systems in Europe? This editorial from Brazil’s O Globo asserts that despite the dark clouds over America, Europe lacks the historic dynamism and resilience repeatedly demonstrated by America. The O Globo editorial says in part: Although the wrestling match...

Cardow, The Ottawa Citizen This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Anna Hazare, 73, is no ordinary social activist. Hazare has emerged as a sort of national hero battling against the government that has been reeling under mind-boggling corruption scandals. An Indian government attempt to head off a political crisis by arresting him appeared to backfire Tuesday when parliament’s opposition members walked out and demonstrations broke out across the country. See here… (UPDATE:...

When it comes to social media, are officials in the United States once again following a policy of ‘do as we say, not as we do’? La Stampa columnist Juan Carlos De Martin warns U.S. and British officials that shutting down cell phone service and social media to prevent protest is precisely what the Chinas and Irans of the world are hoping for. For Italy’s La Stampa, Juan Carlos De Martin writes...