Al-Hayat writing in Arabic reports on Saturday’s successful parliamentary session in Baghdad, which was joined by the Iraqiya Party, for which most Sunni Arabs had voted. The parliament had elected Jalal Talabani of the Kurdistan Alliance as president and has put in Usama al-Nujayfi of Iraqiya as speaker of parliament. Apparently Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi […]
Ron Paul: We’ve Already Declared War on Iran
From last summer after the passage of the Comprehensive Iran sanctions or CISADA: Rep. Ron Paul argues that this measure is more or less a declaration of war on Iran, and that therefore we are effectively on a war footing with Tehran already. He also suggests that we do not need more than 700 bases […]
Some Attackers Escaped After Karachi Blast: Dawn
Dawn is breaking the news that some of the attackers behind the massive explosion on Thursday night at a Sindh Crime Investigation Department building in Karachi, which killed 18 and wounded 100, may have been able to escape. The southern Pakistani port city of Karachi (pop. 14 million) is a cauldron of ethnic and religious […]
Robot Actress in Tokyo Steals Show (Reuters): Video of the Day
Reuters reports on a Japanese stage play, Sayonara in which a robot caretaker of an ill woman is actually played by a robot (or more accurately by an android, since the machine is made to look human). Another, print, report is here. The android is named Gemini-F. The director, Oriza Hirata, says that the android […]
Cole in Tomdispatch: Asia Rising, American Hessians
My column is out in Tomdispatch on the troubling ways that President Obama’s Asian trip suggest America’s weakening position in the world, especially with regard to a rising Asia– given our debilitating wars and our hollowed out economy. Read the whole thing.
ACLU calls on Att’y General to investigate Bush for Torturing
The American Civil Liberties Union is calling upon the Attorney General to look into prosecuting George W. Bush now that the latter has admitted to authorizing torture (i.e. waterboarding) at Guantanamo. British officials have have denied Bush’s allegation that torture techniques yielded information that foiled terror plots in the UK. Aljazeera English has a video […]
Iran-backed al-Maliki Tapped to form Government in Iraq
Iraqi politicians have finally begun forming a government at long last, 8 months after the parliamentary elections of March 7. Parliament finally met Thursday and elected Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani president once again. By the constitution, the president then asks the leader of the bloc with the largest number of seats in parliament to attempt […]
Afghan Poll: We don’t Like Taliban but will Gladly Talk with Them
A summer, 2010, poll done in Afghanistan by the San Francisco-based Asian Foundation, the results of which have just been released, shows: More and more Afghans, now the vast majority, say they have no sympathy with the insurgent groups fighting NATO and the Karzai government; Most people support programs to lure Taliban and other fighters […]
Obama praises Indonesia, Slams Israeli Settlement-building; and, OSC: Indonesian Press Swoons over Obama
CNN has President Obama’s address in Indonesia. Obama stressed Indonesia’s pluralist and secular heritage. He referred to the 5 principles, ‘panca sila’ (Sanskrit, pronounced pancha sheela): belief in one supreme God; humanitarianism; nationalism expressed in the unity of Indonesia; consultative democracy; and social justice. These principles were put in the constitution by Suharto Sukarno in […]
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