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...

‘CLIMATE FAIR’ How should one judge the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen? While the event has another day to run, few believe a major overhaul of how humans conduct their affairs on this planet is in the offing, and almost no one is satisfied. Reflecting Europe’s general consensus that more and better global governance is inevitable, Le Figaro’s Pierre Rousselin writes, “That...

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...

Did you know that, not taking into account the recent announced troop increase in Afghanistan, some 220,000 women have engaged in combat operations* in Iraq and Afghanistan? I had no idea that so many of our women in uniform had actually seen combat. And while I knew that women in our military are still barred from performing certain duties or from certain assignments, I didn’t know that a whopping twenty-five...

UPDATE: FBI says the “US citizen and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) operative David Headley had allegedly discussed with Pakistan-based co-conspirators the logistics of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. “This has been stated in an affidavit submitted last week by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a Chicago court. Headley had talked of the ‘potential landing sites for a team...

Why is the USA not allowing India to interrogate American national David Headley, the Mumbai 26/11 terror attack suspect of Pakistani origin. Is it because Headley is also an American spy? This has become a hot news topic in the Indian media. Headley, and accomplice Tahawwur Hussain Rana, was arrested by FBI in October for conspiring to bomb public places in India. David Headley was born in Washington, D....

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...

Yes, Virginia, ’tis the season to celebrate with parades and glitter throughout cities and small towns in America. And with it comes the downside of no parking signs suddenly springing up like weeds and residential traffic blockaded from the parade routes. North Park, one of the oldest communities within the City of San Diego, is no different than any other small town although it’s quirkier than...

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...

I want to say here and now that in my opinion Rachel Maddow’s tireless and consistent coverage of this legislation helped produce this outcome. As far as I know, she is the only on-air news reporter to have covered this story and one of the few from any major media outlet, print or broadcast. I really think that she is largely responsible for making this as much of a public issue as it has become.

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...

For those who have been patiently waiting for some scientific, authoritative vindication of their theories that homosexuality is immoral, a perversion or deviancy, not natural, etc., rejoice: Uganda’s ethics minister, James Nsaba Buturo, has just pronounced that homosexuality is “not natural in Uganda.” No doubt the rest of the civilized world will soon follow suit. To put teeth into this...

If your political mind has been entirely consumed by issues like Afghanistan and health care reform, you may have missed the reports about the continuing unrest inside Iran. Today’s NYT has an update. In the course of the opposition’s evolution since this summer’s stolen election, it appears the most widely recognized of the losing presidential candidates, Mir Hussein Moussavi, has been...

How do you defeat your perceived “enemy”? Use bombs, grenades and drones? Substitute the bombs with books? Or, have a mix of both? Greg Mortenson, a humanitarian worker and author of two best-selling books, has demonstrated the power of books, and education, even in the highly violence-ridden worlds of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson is finding admirers in unlikely places. In the words of Admiral...

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...

‘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...

This is absolutely the most totally charming, delightful, heart-warming story I have read in ages. Here is the first paragraph:

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...