It’s a lowdown dirty allegation, but is it true? Have the large multinationals concluded that a little global warming wouldn’t be bad for their bottom lines? Furthermore, are their actions based on the belief that people in the developing world would be hurt the most? That is precisely what K. Selim of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran charges in this hard-hitting attack on Western vested...

Army cadets during the invocation before President Obama addressed them on his decision to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, at West Point, December 1. So what do Iraqis have to say about President Obama’s newest surge — in Afghanistan? Writing for the Iraqi News Agency, Mahmoud Ibrahim Al Hoyan has penned a reaction reminiscent of the kind of content we were translating back in the...

The narrative on the Copenhagen climate summit coming out of the developing world might be summarized this way: on the one hand you have the destiny of the planet as a whole, and on the other, the capitalist financial system. Which is more important to save? The vast majority of comment in the third world finds the sum spent on Western bankers to be obscene when compared to the resources offered at Copenhagen...

French disappointment over the Copenhagen Climate Talks is palpable today, judging by this pair of articles from the country. According to Liberation’s Laurent Joffrin, the talks put paid to the idea that real global governance was imminent: “One must make the bitter observation: when it came to rescuing the banking system, cooperation was determined and effective. Apparently, it’s much easier...

STATEMENT OF SENATORS BOXER AND MURRAY ON THE ABORTION COMPROMISE Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today made the following statement on the abortion compromise language included in the manager’s package: “We said all along that we wanted to ensure there was a firewall between private and public funds—this compromise achieves that. We said we would not accept...

I don’t know what fumes the folks on the Hill are living off of but Senator Harry Reid has introduced the Manager’s Amendment (#3276) and word is that Senator Ben Nelson, a Democratic holdout, will support the overall health care reform bill. How they got Nelson: Mr. Reid’s amendment includes major restrictions on abortion that were intended to win support for the bill from Mr. Nelson. Under Mr....

Hot on the heels of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s announcement of plans to ‘Administer the World’ and continuing with our coverage of the diplomatic falling-out between Brazil and the United States over Brasilia’s embrace of Ahmadinejad, we have this slap-in-the-face editorial from Brazil’s Estadao, which warns Brazil’s Foreign Ministry and chief executive about...

Taking a break from earth-shaking issues like climate change, war and the never-ending difficulties in the Middle East, columnist Nazmiye Oral of de Volkskrant of The Netherlands writes that the troubles of Tiger Woods are a metaphor for life in the modern world – a period in history in which everyone seems to want to live life in public – as long as no blemishes appear on the perfect portrait...

Just when you thought Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad couldn’t say anything more outrageous, he tops himself again. According to this analysis from Germany’s Die Welt of the Iranian leader’s comments during a visit to Isfahan, the site of four China-built nuclear reactors, Ahmadinejad not only claims to have “documents” proving that Washington seeks to prevent the emergence...

ElectWomen.com has the links and a list for “…the top, most viable female gubernatorial candidates…” and an asterisk after some of the names indicates that in addition to the women listed, there are also female primary challengers for some of the candidates. The number of states involved: 16!  Currently, just six states (Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, Washington, Connecticut and...

Whether you’re surprised by this story or not is beside the point, which is that this kind of thing and variations on the same thing happen with shocking regularity.  From Why James Chartrand Wears Women’s Underpants: You know me as James Chartrand of Men with Pens, a regular Copyblogger contributor for just shy of two years. And yet, I’m a woman. This is not a joke or an angle or an analogy —...

Chiding his former colleagues to act and to act now, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last head of state of the USSR, has weighed in on the climate debate with this op-ed published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta, a newspaper that he partly owns. For Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Gorbachev writes in part: “The latest scientific data on climate change is extremely disturbing. This is the last call. But even more alarming is the...

Continuing with our translated foreign press coverage of how the United States is being portrayed at the Climate Summit in Copenhagen, this editorial from Estadao of Brazil illustrates the rupture that a leaked document, which originated in Denmark and seems to favor wealthy nations, has created between the developed and developing worlds. The Estadao editorial says in part: “The executive secretary of...

Is there any reason to believe that American troops will begin leaving Afghanistan in 18 months, as President Obama announced last week? Or, as this surprisingly forthright article from China’s state-controlled Guangzhou Daily asserts, was this just an eloquent rhetorical fig leaf to hide the fact that America won’t leave anytime soon? Implying shamelessness on Obama’s part, Columnist Dong...

Senator Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, asserted himself as a major voice in the debate over health care reform almost immediately after last November’s election. He has argued for cost containment and frugality throughout the intervening months and used his powerful position to make his arguments stick. Now, we learn that the Senator isn’t nearly so frugal as he would have us...

Was Great Britain a democracy during the War of 1812? Given that in 1812, neither US Senators or the President were elected by direct vote of the electorate, can it be argued that the United States was a democracy back then? And, given that the electorate was composed only of white males, the notion that the US was a democracy in 1812, isn’t tenable, except in relative terms. Not to put too fine a point...

That’s what Kevin Kuwik’s story caused me to ask myself this morning. He was in Washington today lobbying for greater air travel safety, a positive response to an air crash that took the life of his fiance. And that’s just one of several adverse experiences he’s dealt with positively. Read his whole story.

Pets, such as dogs and cats, evoke strong and diverse emotions even within the family members. Of course, there are individuals who love all animals/pets. What happens when “dog people” and “cat people” each passionately express their belief that their preferred pet is superior? With researchers now doing some serious work on the subject, could it be time for a showdown? The News Scientist...

Continuing with our coverage of NATO reaction to President Obama’s Afghanistan troop surge, this article from Poland’s Rceczpospolita demonstrates more determination to continue to assist the United States than we’ve seen from newspapers in any other U.S. ally – barring, perhaps, Great Britain. But along with a staunch statement in support for the Alliance, the article also contains...

U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski is disgusted with the Nelson Amendment and she is letting everyone know it. “[This bill] allows women to purchase an abortion rider. Oh, boy. Is this supposed to be big deal? Is this supposed to be the kind of thing that’s supposed to make us happy? What an insulting, humiliating thing to say: if you want an abortion, go buy a rider.” Watch the videos for yourself: And...

‘OBAMA GOES TO WAR’ As we have seen over recent days, the pressure on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to come out in favor the Obama surge is rapidly increasing – particularly after his proclamation to the French people that he “wouldn’t send another man to Kabul.” Offering a glimpse of the French political terrain, Olivier Picard writes for France’s Les Dernieres...

‘NEW COURSE’ Continuing with our global look at reaction to President Obama’s Afghan strategy, particularly within NATO, this article from Italy’s La Stampa will warm the hearts of those who believe that President Bush was on the right track. With some startling statistics, columnist Lucia Annunziata lays out the case for why Obama must follow the course laid out by the much-disliked...

What’s a country to do? According to Germany’s Berliner Zeitung, eight years into what by most accounts has been a badly-run invasion, Afghanistan is such a mess that it has no choice but to trust NATO – most importantly President Obama – to do the right thing. For the Berliner Zeitung, columnist Damir Fras criticizes Germany for its woeful training of the Afghanistan police, and in...

As always, with just a smattering of what Germans call schadenfreude, this article by Vladislav Vorobyev of Russia’s Rossiyskaya Gazeta lays out what, from Moscow’s point of view, NATO still doesn’t understand. First – that it isn’t Russia that NATO needs to worry about. And second – that the battle for Afghanistan hinges in no small measure on whether Washington can get...

Martha’s Big Adventure – ‘Tis the Season By Martha Randolph Carr The holiday season is the time of year when we are all reminded to treat each other with a bit more respect and a lot more love. We take the time to give to those who do their best to make our lives a little easier like the mailman or the doorman and we volunteer to wrap presents or feed the hungry. All of the outpouring comes from a place...