5 more villages were drowned in Sindh on Monday, and more people were cut off from the outside world by waters splashing down from a full lake that could well overflow and wreak yet more damage on Sindh Province. Iran’s PressTV has video: Meanwhile, UNICEF is warning that 100,000 children made homeless by the floods […]
Witches, Exorcisms, and Billionaire Pickpockets
Because the main point of the Republican Party is to throw more money to the super-rich, the poor thing has to find something else to talk about that will take peoples’ minds off this central message, which can’t appeal to more than one percent of the population. It seems to me that this unpalatable campaign […]
50 Dead, 128 wounded in Iraq Attacks
As Iraq continues to muddle along with no new government all these months after the March 7 parliamentary elections, insurgents struck in the capital. The London pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Sunday witnessed a series of massive bombings in Baghdad that left 160 dead or wounded, the worst toll since 17 August. In […]
Davidson: Martin Peretz And The Dangers of Obsessive Love
Lawrence Davidson writes in a guest column for Informed Comment Martin Peretz is editor-in-chief of The New Republic. He acquired that position by simply buying the magazine in 1974. Although he resold it to a group of investors in 2002, they were, and apparently remain, his ideological soul mates for he continues to this day […]
Ahmadinejad as Cyrus the Great?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stopped off in Syria for consultations with his ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, this weekend, on his way to New York for the United Nations General Assembly session. Ahmadinejad will make an appearance on Larry King Live on Tuesday. Although his fate seemed up in the air only a little over […]
Light Turnout, Closed Polling Stations, Attacks Mar Afghanistan Elections
Turnout in the Afghanistan parliamentary elections was disappointingly light, some 40% below expectations, according to Euronews. Some 10 percent of polling stations that had been intended to be used simply did not open because of fears of Taliban attacks. Those closures were on top of the 10 percent or so that it had already been […]
Afghanistan Elections face Violence, Kidnappings, Fraud
As Afghans went to the polls Saturday morning, Taliban slammed a rocket into the area of the capital where the Radio and Television building stands. It caused no casualties. Pajhwok News Agency reports that 40 private hospitals in Kabul have made plans for extended hours because of the election, which they clearly expect to be […]
Dude, You Have no Quran
CNN reports on “Dude, you have no Quran!” And, of course: The Remix:
Fears of Election Fraud in Afghan Parliamentary Polls
Saturday’s parliamentary elections in Afghanistan could end up causing more harm than good. No political parties can run because they still are not allowed in Afghan law (so much for democracy). Some candidates are warlords, others of them known corrupt cronies of President Hamid Karzai. The Taliban have threatened violence against voters and candidates. Sometimes […]