Is there any historical basis for the alliance between certain Latin American nations and Islamic fundamentalist Iran? For Spain’s La Vanguardia, apparently exasperated columnist Pilar Rahola says that, “If Simon Bolívar were raise his head and see Ahmadinejad and Chávez in his noble land, he would die a second time of pure shame.” For La Vanguardia, Pilar Rahola writes in part: At what...

UPDATE: As expected, Former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah formally announced that he is ending his Republican presidential run “with a call for party unity, asking the five candidates he leaves on the field to end their negative ads and chastising President Obama for engaging in ‘class warfare.’” More from the New York Times: “This race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal...

Venezuelan columnist Jose Toro Hardy is upset. Why? Because, according to him, President Hugo Chavez’ embrace of Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not only puts Venezuelans at odds with almost the entire developed world, it goes against Venezuela’s historic strict adherence to neutrality when it comes to conflicts it has nothing to do with. For Venezuela’s El Universal, Jose Toro Hardy starts...

For some reason — some will say for good reason — election time in America does not seem to bring out the best in many Americans, including this one, when it comes to negative and gloomy opinion and commentary. Thus, when The Huffington Post announced the launch of a HuffPost Good News section “devoted to positive news, happy stories and uplifting opinion and commentary” and graciously invited...

Even as tension over the Strait of Hormuz escalates, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is touring Latin America as a way of showing Iran has friends in the U.S. ‘backyard.’ But this tongue-in-cheek welcome to the Iranian leader by columnist Luis A. Vivanco of Ecuador’s La Hora goes to show that not everyone is buying the story. For La Hora of Ecuador, Luis A. Vivanco starts out this...

Is it the United States – and not Iran or Venezuela – that the world’s people need to worry about? According to this news account by María Lilibeth Da Corte of Venezuela’s El Universal, the arrival of Iran President Ahmadinejad in Latin America has begun with a Venezuelan ‘love fest’ of sorts, with lots of spicy language about the United States. For Venezuela’s El...

The New York Times, The Washington Post and most major cable news organizations are projecting that Mitt Romney will win the New Hampshire Republican presidential primary — several say by double digits over number 2, Ron Paul. The New York Times: Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire Republican primary, projections show, achieving a sweep of the first two critical contests in the 2012 presidential race...

The size and scope of the American Embassy in Baghdad has been something of a major news story in the U.S. – but not so much in Iraq. Until now that is. For Iraq’s Al-Iraq News, Ibrahim Zaidan reports that with the U.S. supposedly ‘withdrawing’, Iraqi lawmakers and religious figures are demanding to know why Washington needs a $6.2 billion embassy staffed by 16,000 people that is bigger...

Is the United States a war-happy nation? With the situation surrounding the Strait of Hormuz escalating, columnist Abd Al Bari Atwan of Samidoon in the Palestinian Territories writes that American embargoes invariably lead to war, and with the U.S. economy in crisis, a war with Iran that would boost weapons sales may be precisely what Washington wants. For Samidoon, Abd Al Bari Atwan writes in part: There...

Like Saddam Hussein, are Iranian leaders boasting of their nuclear program and military prowess when in fact they are quite weak? Ahmed Al-Jarallah, the editor in chief of Kuwait’s Al-Seyassah, warns Iranian leaders to step back from the brink and retract their threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which 40 percent of the world’s oil flows – before it is too late. Al-Seyassah...

Four of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council will see political changes at the top this year – including the United States. According to Stefan Kornelius of Germany’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung, these decisions, out of the hands of most of the world’s people, could decide the type of civilization most of us end up living in: some form of democracy or as the Chinese call it, ‘benevolent...

We are all familiar with the separation of the sexes in Saudi Arabia and in other Islamic countries and with the many laws restricting and limiting the rights and activities of women. While many of the Sharia laws are ostensibly to protect women from the prying eyes and other inappropriate gestures or advances by men, curiously women shopping for panties, bras, negligees, etc. had to endure the embarrassment...

(Clean Version.) To pass some time while we wait… “A response to national media coverage of our beloved home state.” You want NSFW? See Andrew.

America is far from being the only country currently obssessed with presidential politics and national elections. After a year of astounding despotic topplings and revolutions, is Vladimir Putin’s reign over the vast territories of the Russian Federation finally coming to an end? For Russia’s Yezhednevniy Zhurnal, journalist and opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza bravely explains why a Russian...

CODA: Doing some “Googling” on languages and dreams, I was amazed at how many entries there are on the subject, “What language do you dream in?” There’s even a book at Amazon.com titled — you guessed it — “What language do you dream in?” So, given the interest and since it has been more than three years since I wrote about it here, let me try it again,...

How sorry is the present state of Iraq – and how bitter do some Iraqis feel about the consequences of the U.S. invasion and withdrawal? For Iraq’s Azzaman, columnist Fateh Abdulsalam accuses President Obama of brazenly using the Iraq withdrawal to his political advantage and leaving the country ‘with a government reveling in the joys of its own corruption and the opportunistic use of the symbols...

Despite recent unrest over the rule of Vladimir Putin and the perception that the recent Duma elections were rigged in favor of his party, many Russians regard him as a hero that has protected the nation from Western interests seeking to undermine Russian influence. For the Komsomolskaya Pravda, columnist Dmitry Voskoboinikov writes that whatever warts Putin and Russia may have, at least they aren’t being...

Arranging smooth successions has been the bane of despots since the dawn of history – and today’s North Korea is a perfect example. Does the death of Kim Jong-il mean the beginning of the end of the Kim dynasty? Columnist Sohn Gwang-joo of South Korea’s Daily North Korea explains why contradictions in the system coupled with the inexperience of the country’s new despot make it highly...

As I wrote here: One of the most interesting and exciting assignments during my U.S. Air Force career was my tour of duty at the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) complex some 1,400 feet beneath granite Cheyenne Mountain, south of Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the height of the Cold War. The assignment was interesting and exciting not only because we were working to “protect North America from a space,...

Is the Internal Revenue Service suborning European Banks to keep tabs on their American customers? According to this editorial from Germany’s Financial Times Deutschland, a number of German Banks have ‘understandably’ decided to drop their U.S. customers due to the expense of complying with IRS data provisions and for fear of being on the wrong side of the American tax collector. The Financial...

Is Newt Gingrich suited to be president of the United States? Trending negative on this question along with much of the rest of the world is columnist Patrik Eschemeyer of Switerland’s News. Eschemeyer labels the entire Republican field with the exception of John Huntsman as ‘madcap’ – and he regards Newt Gingrich as a ‘pig.’ For the News, Patrik Eschemeyer starts out this...

With my best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season to our readers, especially our veterans and active duty military. Two Christmases ago, in a “Christmas wish for our troops serving in harm’s way,” I expressed my empathy and admiration for the tens of thousands of our brave men and women who were serving in hostile territory , away from their loved ones, attempting to, in some fashion,...

Egypt is caught in yet another round of violence as protesters refuse to leave Tahrir Square. This time around the revolution square is dominated by secular youth. Those same people that took to the streets in Egypt a year ago, demanding freedom and democracy, are now filled with all round despair. A year ago, the secular crowd demanded Mubarak step down from his 30 years rein. Using social media as their weapon,...

Breaking news that North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il has died at the age of 69. Early word is that he died of a heart attack aboard one of his luxury trains while on a ‘tour’. South Korean forces and US forces in South Korea are on high alert. Given that in the past North Korea has dealt with crisis situations by launching missiles and staging attacks on South Korean territory that is not unreasonable. At...

Now that U.S. forces are either out or about to leave, there is significant Iraqi hand-wringing over whether it was wise to force them to go now. For Sotal Iraq, columnist Amran Al-Obaidi writes that the decision-making process that has led to the American withdrawal was flawed, and that Iraqis who have demanded a complete U.S. pullout were more interested in scoring political points than the security and...