I have frequently written on patriotism, “supporting the troops,” the cost of war as measured in “bullets and dollars” and, most important, on the cost of war as measured by the sweat, blood, tears and lives of our valiant troops. This, while Americans back home are not asked to sacrifice in any meaningful manner, and are even encouraged to “go shopping.” My words, however, are woefully inadequate...

Can President Obama persuade China not to be so dependent on growth, particularly trade-dependent growth? Likening Beijing’s obsession with growth to a Chinese version of the ‘Berlin Wall,’ Feng Mengyun of China’s state-run Global Geographic Times expresses his hope that President Obama can do something to talk the Beijing leadership into turning over a new leaf. With some surprising...

Republican House member (from North Carolina) Virginia Foxx, it is pretty safe to say, has never met a fact she could not challenge.  This morning, Rep. Foxx launched an attack on what she calls “revisionist history” about which political party should get the credit for passing historic  civil rights legislation in the 1960s….. by engaging in her own revisionist history — which was...

According to this blog entry from the Web site of China’s Global Geographic Times, a U.S. Embassy request that China use a new spelling of Obama’s Chinese name has been met with suspicion among that nation’s ‘Netizens.’ So what’s in a name, one might ask? For the Global Geographic Times, Scholar Jiang Huai writes in part: “On November 12, officials at the U.S. Embassy...

On my trips abroad, I have rarely found an Indian restaurant that would satisfy my native taste buds. In the West, there has been a “curry” revolution and its impact has been the most in Britain. However, there is a growing realization that Indian cooking is not just meant to set your tongue on fire or titillate the palate, it actually mixes common sense with the ancient science of Ayurveda, gaining...

Jackson Diehl: [After months of deliberation in 2006], no one accused George W. Bush of dithering. So why does Barack Obama keep hearing the taunt as he deliberates about Afghanistan — and why do even some who sympathize with his dilemma find it hard to shake the feeling that this commander in chief lacks resolve? One part of the answer is easy: Bush was renowned for summoning plenty of resolve, and not...

The media will continue to speculate about the outcome of President Barack Obama’s visit to China. However, small gestures matter. The Times of London observes that Obama carrying his own umbrella while alighting from the Air Force One “may be just the right stick for China”. “Perhaps that simple umbrella moment really mattered. It showed China’s people that the arrogant America of...

Over the weekend, I wrote a lighthearted piece on one of the ways the Aggies are preparing for the big Thanksgiving football game against their archrival, the University of Texas. Exactly 10 years ago tonight, the Aggies were also preparing for the game, when tragedy struck. One of the great traditions at Texas A& M—a 90-year-old tradition—has been to build a huge bonfire stack and to burn...

In the years that we have pursued this project, today’s posting is one of the strangest international press articles I can recall. And while it indicates that Hamas may be allowing more press freedom than we thought – the conclusions of the author are anything but comforting. Keeping in mind that the accused killer is of Palestinian origin, the author of this article from the Al Watan Voice, a newspaper...

There has been a lot of angst, criticism and just plain political hysteria surrounding the Obama administration’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind, and other terrorists, in a federal civilian court, just blocks from Ground Zero. I will be the last one to pass judgment on the emotions and feelings—pro or con this decision—of relatives and friends of New York’s...

According to China’s state-run Global Geographic Times, the state-controlled Internet chat rooms are filled with tough questions for, and sharp criticism of, President Obama. On his Global Geographic Times blog page, a man named Tian Yifeng lays out some of the comments and explains why they show the insight of Chinese Netizens. The topics of the comments run the gamut, from economics, to history, to...

Make a decision — any decision. That is the Dean of Washington Journalism’s advice to Pres. Obama on Afghanistan:

Well, Ok, yesterday the Longhorns got lucky, again, and beat the Baylor Bears 47-14. And yes, yesterday the Aggies happened to face some misfortune, again, and lost against the Oklahoma Sooners by a mere 55 points. (My local newspaper said something about “atrocious,” but what do they know.) While for some reason, the Aggies don’t appear in the Top 25 rankings this week, I understand that...

Once again, Barack Obama has demonstrated his appalling hatred for America, and his elitism, and his arrogance, and his tearing down and bashing of his country and his predecessor’s foreign policies, by greeting Japan’s prime minister with a deep bow in a culturally appropriate way.

This article from the China Daily either indicates an opening up of China’s state-run media, or officials in Shanghai have done something serous to anger Beijing. Whatever the case, in this China Daily op-ed, columnist Hong Liang uses the imminent visit of Barack Obama to explain why young people in Shanghai love the president – and loath the ‘authoritarian excess’ that critics regard...

As a little boy, I used to crawl on the floor for hours setting up dozens of dominoes in various patterns, only to topple them down—and doing it over and over again. Well, the Dutch have taken this pastime to new levels. Today, “Domino Day,” they set a new world record—again—for the most consecutive dominoes to fall in succession, using over 4.5 million dominoes in a fantastic...

Breaking the Prenup Raging Moderate, by Will Durst For liberals, Election Day ‘08 was the marriage of hope and opportunity. Election Day ‘09: not so much. More like a summons from a partner’s divorce lawyer to give a deposition. After regaining statehouses in both Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans are fighting amongst themselves to see who can grab the megaphone and hail it as a sign from heaven above...

I have consistently supported publicly honoring our fallen heroes—with the consent of family members—when they touch American soil for the last time at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Much apprehension and controversy have surrounded this issue. Finally, this spring, the Obama administration implemented a similar policy as we have at Arlington National Cemetery which allows the family to decide...

Claude Lévi-Strauss, who died on October 30th (aged 100), made the study of anthropology as fashionable as philosophy and poetry. The Economist pays a tribute: “Before Claude Lévi-Strauss revolutionised the discipline, anthropology in France, and generally elsewhere, was a matter of ill-attended lectures in small, cold halls, and the collection of feathers and fish-hooks as evidence of the quaint divergences...

CAPTIONS SAYS: ‘DREAM OF THE ARABS’, AS A ‘ZIONIST’ ARM PUNCTURES THE BALLOON OF THE DREAM Continuing our coverage of the global reaction to the Fort Hood killings, this morning we posted this Arabic op-ed from the United Arab Emirates – a moderate Arab state considered friendly toward the United States. Writing for the Dar Al Khaleej, columnist Saad Mehyo suggests a common Arab...

Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd batted spiritedly during his recent India visit and delivered a googly to bypass ticklish issues and move on to substantive bilateral economic and strategic issues that would help strengthen ties between India and Australia. Rudd squarely faced the contentious issues of racial violence against Indian students in Australia, as also the continuing ban on the supply of uranium...

As the Venezuela article we posted yesterday headlined If War Breaks Out, Venezuela’s ‘Fifth Column’ Will Have to Be Confronted ably demonstrates, tensions – and paranoia – are increasing along the Venezuela-Colombia border. A few days ago during his weekly radio show Hello President, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez told his country to ‘prepare for war’ against Colombia...

As is part of a great American tradition, a lot was said and written in honor of our veterans this past Veterans Day. And, as it has become customary during the past few years, a lot has also been said and written about our newest veterans, the troops who have served so honorably and bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, as in past years, much has been said and written about “supporting the troops.” ...

Hold on to your hats! As if there wasn’t enough conflict occurring at the present time, the war of words between Colombia and Venezuela seems to be escalating – along with the paranoia. And just as Washington has won permission to open seven military bases in Colombia. This somewhat hair-raising article from Venezuela’s El Universal shows just how thorny such a war would be – and warns...

‘HOPE FOR THE OTHER WALLS’ Despite the mind-boggling number of issues he must attend to – was it a mistake for President Obama to refrain from traveling to Germany for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall? According to Le Figaro’s chief editorialist, Pierre Rousselin, President Obama not only missed a chance to demonstrate the strength of democracy, he showed how low Europe...