Since despite having angered President Obama, the Israelis have succeeded in rejecting his demand that they halt settlements on Palestinian land, is it time the Palestinians took a page from Israel’s book and anger President Obama as well? According to K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran, by failing to reject Obama’s request to have his photo taken with Israeli Leader Benjamin Netanyahu...

On my way back from a trip abroad, I generally try to pick up the best honey for my close relations. During the past decade I have been hearing that the supply of honey may become scarce with the bees vanishing at an alarming rate. It’s a question that has baffled the worlds of agriculture and science – what is it that has caused the mysterious deaths of honey bees all over the world in the last five...

Here’s Part 1 and Part II of Fox News video now up on You Tube of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama making their pitch to the Olympic committee for Chicago as the 2016 Olympics city: Here’s the text of Obama’s comments. Here’s the text of Michelle Obama’s comments. FOOTNOTE: My satellite radio (the device that lets me escape regular talk radio) was on the blink...

Today – October 2 – is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s (or Mahatma Gandhi’s) birth anniversary . Gandhi once said that if we are not careful then seven “deadly sins” will destroy us. They are: a) “Wealth Without Work”; b) “Pleasure Without Conscience”; c) “Knowledge Without Character; d) Commerce (Business) Without Morality (Ethics); e) Science...

Rick Sanchez says it well: Embedded video from CNN Video I blogged about this at my personal blog, too.

RJ Matson, Roll Call This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

As reported by our friend Dave Schuler at Outside the Beltway, the North Koreans have revamped their constitution and abandoned communism. SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has officially made Kim Jong-il its “supreme leader” and his “military first” policy its guiding ideology, according to the text of the country’s newly revised Constitution made available on Monday. The Constitution also...

Continuing our foreign press coverage of the Roman Polanski saga, this news item from Switzerland’s Le Temps reports that an embarrassed Swiss foreign ministry is denying any deal related to the UBS scandal and that the people of Switzerland ‘can be proud’ that Polanski has been nabbed by Swiss authorities. The article also offers a description of how Polanski’s arrest was set in motion. By...

I always admired Prof John K. Galbraith, the US ambassador to India, for his remarkable insight, professionalism and warmth. His son, Peter W. Galbraith, until recently the top American in the UN mission in Afghanistan, appears to have inherited the same wonderful qualities of his no-nonsense dad. Peter Galbraith was fired yesterday after refusing to take part in what he called “a cover-up” of...

The Iraqi Army Diaries, Entry 1 (First in a series) By S.D. Liddick In the spring of 2009 I embedded with the U.S. Army’s 1-63 Combined Arms Battalion, in the small town of Mahmudiyah, 20 miles south of Baghdad. The town is a cardinal point on what American soldiers have termed the Triangle of Death. Within a month I was offered a de facto embed spot with the Iraqi Army (IA), by General Mohammed, commander...

For those who have been following the European reaction to President Obama’s decision to ditch the Bush-era anti-missile shield, you know that the divide between East and West Europe has been stark. This article by Bartosz Weglarczyk of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza, in very cool-eyed fashion, councils Poles on some down home truths and urges people in that nation to accept the inevitable end of a...

Guest post by John Malone John Malone, a VP/Senior Analyst with John S. Herold, an energy investment research firm in Connecticut, is a Truman National Security Project fellow. ********** Given the threats we as a nation have faced since 9/11, it’s reasonable to think in terms of how climate change will affect societies that are already under stress – how countries could quickly degenerate from fragile...

As this article from the Romanian newspaper Romania Liberia shows once again – the divide between East and West Europe over President Obama’s decision to cancel the Bush-era missile shield couldn’t be starker. What West Europe regards as a reasoned and rational decision to bring Moscow more into the fold, Eastern Europe regards as naive if not betrayal. For Romania Liberia, Cristian Campeanu...

My last post took note of American arms sellers camping in New Delhi (see here). This post is about the increasing number of expats/professionals (including Americans) who are making India their home, and feel more than welcome here. Dave Prager and Jenny Steeves (photo above), who arrived in New Delhi from Brooklyn in 2007, say: “Unlike most countries in the world, Indians love Americans.” Their...

As you may know, famed Polish-French director Roman Polanski was recently arrested in Switzerland. In 1977, he was convicted in the U.S. of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” (a disturbing euphemism). He has been on the run ever since, avoiding extradition in Europe while continuing with his career. Polanski has many fans and admirers, of course. I especially like Chinatown and The Pianist,...

Is the Polanski case an example of the Euro-American cultural divide striking again? Or is it about Switzerland, worried about its relations with the United States after the UBS debacle, trying to curry favor with Washington? Whatever the cause, the controversy triggered by the arrest and possible extradition to the United States of famed film director and pedophile Roman Polanski is fierce. For France’s...

One of the stories behind the story of the demise of the F-22 Raptor fighter is the “developing story” of the increasingly important role unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are playing in today’s and certainly in tomorrow’s Air Force. In my story behind the story of the F-22 demise, I quoted Fred Kaplan’s comments that, during the most intense period of the Cold War, “much higher...

Iran is reportedly throwing down the gauntlet again: Iran’s nuclear chief says his country will not discuss anything related to its right to enrich uranium. Ali Akbar Salehi made his remarks two days before Iran is to discuss its atomic program with world powers in Geneva. He said Iran will never abandon its nuclear program. Earlier, Salehi told state-run television Iran will soon tell the U.N. nuclear...

The British tabloid The Daily Express is reporting that the Saudi government has told the head of British intelligence that it’s fine with them if Israel bombs an Iranian nuclear site.

There is a huge controversy building over something that should not be controversial at all: the arrest of 76-year-old film director Roman Polanski on charges going back to his rape of a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Image courtesy of Chicago Ray Report - http://chicagoray.blogspot.com Ok… Ok… The title is a bit over the top but President Obama is going to be the first U.S. President to appear before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to lobby for the Olympics (via The Huffington Post): WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s decision to fly to Denmark to support Chicago’s Olympics bid elevates...

Four years ago, I wrote a six-part series at The Reaction — “Democracy in Deutschland” — on the German federal election. It was a fascinating election and a fascinating time in German politics, culminating in the creation of a so-called “Grand Coalition” between Angela Merkel’s center-right CDU (along with its Bavarian sister party, the right-wing CSU) and the incumbent...

Michael Keefe, The Denver Post This cartoon is copyrighted and licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Australian town of Bundanoon has become the first in the world to ban commercially-bottled water. The ban, which is supported by local shopkeepers, means water in plastic bottles can no longer be bought in the town in the Southern Highlands, two hours from Sydney. Instead, reusable bottles have gone on sale, which can be refilled for free at new drinking fountains (photo above), reports The Independent. “Bottled...

“Future news from September, 2012: After eight infuriated, highly-armed polar bears seize the U.N. General Assembly, the world suddenly realizes it confronts a new form of terrorism.” As the climate Change Summit in Copenhagen draws ever closer, pessimism is growing over whether the biggest gas emitters will take action to stop what most scientists assure us will be a catastrophe. And in the minds...