105 QuickLinks

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sylwia Presley Future Global Great
I am very passionate about social media and the positive effect it can have in supporting work of individuals, as well as organisations. I am trying to feed as much information as possible to the GV community, but I also do not want to be monotonous:) so I am trying to feed the information which can be crucial for us. I am a strong supporter of Twitter in our work too

Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Honor Killing: Rana Husseini
(1 comments) Laws alone are not going to end the crime, or protect women, but we have to try to change them, for women's dignity. You can write a bad cheque in Jordan and get a longer sentence than for killing a woman in the name of honour. The laws haven't changed, but attitudes have, among lawyers, judges and the police. They care more now. They don't treat these crimes as just another woman who was killed.

Saturday, October 17, 2009
Thirty GOP Senators Say Yes to Gang Rape
(3 comments) Jon Stewart: "I guess it's an efficiency thing. You don't want to waste tax-payer money giving it to someone who advises fake prostitutes how to commit imaginary crimes, you want to give it to Halliburton because they're committing real gang rape." The Senate probes may be best presented on YouPorn.

Sunday, October 11, 2009
Jack Shafer: Ramparts Magazine Review
Ramparts very best pages appeared between 1966 and 1968: in that short span, it restored the lapsed institution of muckraking, put showmanship back into journalism, exposed Central Intelligence Agency excesses, helped turn Martin Luther King Jr. against the Vietnam War, gave radicalism a commercial megaphone.

Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Cost of Corporate Communism - Dylan Ratigan
Lately I have been using the phrase "Corporate Communism" on my television show. I think it is an especially fitting term when discussing the current landscape in both our banking and health care systems.

Sunday, October 4, 2009
Day of Atonement: Prayers and Practices
Would you pay $5 to be inscribed in the Book of Life for a whole year? A chicken is sacrificed in your stead. The chicken is donated to the poor for good eating. My family is so poor a kindly Rabbi gave us four. Happy New Year

Thursday, September 24, 2009
Honduras: Citizen Videos Taken Under Curfew
Zelaya's return has led to an escalation of the political tension and division in the streets of Honduras, leaving citizens frightened, and lacking food as a compulsory nationwide curfew was imposed by Roberto Micheletti's interim government.

Saturday, September 19, 2009
Rape Prevention Tips
To discourage an attacker my best advice is to bite or kick any soft part.

Monday, September 7, 2009
Obama's Last Chance
It's hard to know when Obama peaked. Was it at the convention in Denver? Or the election night rally in Chicago? Or his formal inauguration in January? But by the day of his election he had already signed up to Paulson's bail-out of the banks. By the hour Chief Justice Roberts swore him in, he'd chosen as his chief economic advisors the bankers' men.

Sunday, September 6, 2009
Wall Street Pursues Profits in Bundled Life Insurance
The newest Wall Street scheme is to purchase the policy from the insured. The investors pay the premiums and will collect the benefit when the insured dies. Executed with several policies in the bundle, it should lessen the risk. Increased longevity of the part of policyholders will decrease profits.The similar housing scheme failed when housing prices dropped all over the country

Saturday, August 8, 2009
Co-ops Help One to Regain Self Control and Respect
Every day I see the jobless at town hall meetings. They sob and wail. One year without a job has ruined their lives. They are crushed unable to function in their former successful modes. This is selfish. They have joined the malnourished half of the world. They also did nothing to deserve this fate. Many people combine with their neighbors everyone making a small improvement in his life.

Sunday, August 2, 2009
Reformist VP Jailed, Tortured and Tried in Iran
Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, a leading blogger and former reformist vice president, was among dozens to protest the 12th June presidential election's result. A trial of the protestors is now underway in a Tehran court. In the court Abtahi, who appeared wearing prisoner's pyjamas, looked weak and seemed to have lost weight. Abtahi had been jailed for several weeks and had no contact with the outside world.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Milestones: Sonia Sotomayor Time Line
This is a great NYTimes presentation on the life in progress of Sonia Sotomayor. The kindness and decency of the woman shines through. "Her family had the only encyclopaedia in the neighborhood." She is not an adversarial person. The Judge never short-changed the law to win cases or influential friends. In Washington she will be a standout.

Monday, July 20, 2009
Thirteen States Have Expanded CHIP Program
In these hard times, good news on the health care front is difficult to find. Forty-nine states are suffering, but at least 13 of them have enrolled 250,000 children in the CHIP program.

Monday, July 6, 2009
Egyptian Woman Stabbed in German Court for Wearing Veil
(1 comments) It's been too long since Egyptian bloggers came together under the same opinion. But the new hate crime that took place in Germany against a Muslim Egyptian woman, Marwa El Sherbini, was one good reason for them to unite again, condemning international media for ignoring such incidents against Muslims in the West.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Iraq: Reflecting on Iran
Iraqi Mojo:As the the death toll in Iran reaches into the dozens and outrages American leaders, the "resistance" in Iraq and other jarab continue to mass murder Iraqis in the numbers we have become accustomed to seeing there, without the outrage expressed by the President. It's as if Iraqi lives are worth less than Iranian lives. It reminds me of the comment by Madeline Albright, about the sanctions being worth the price.

Sunday, June 21, 2009
China Mass Incident Sparked by a Dead Body
For those few of you who do not live in a Police State, a little information is necessary. The citizen should never believe the flimsy lies and disinformation put forth by officials. The concerned family of the victim should guard vital evidence jealously. The grassroots must organize support behind the dissident. The chances are the dissident is in the right. The Police rarely work for human rights and dignity.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Buying Brides with Credit Cards
Human beings should not be bought or sold, and they certainly shouldn't be part of a payment plan, a "blue light special", or a clearance sale. Mail order brides are not only extremely vulnerable to human trafficking, but also domestic violence, abuse, rape, and exploitation.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Brideless in Gaza: Hamas in Matchmaking Business
Despite its fearsome reputation elsewhere, in Gaza Hamas is known largely for its welfare programs for the poor. It is a cornerstone of its political support in Gaza, where poverty is deepening as Israel and Egypt maintain an almost two-year blockade of the Hamas-run territory. Now, the group is branching out into matters of the heart. "This is our vision of humanitarian work."

Saturday, June 6, 2009
Normandy Invasion: A French Woman's Account
Marie-Louise Osmont lived in a chateau overlooking the Normandy beaches with her husband, a physician. The occupying Germans appropriated the home for their own use after invading France in 1940 but allowed the Osmonts to stay in a few rooms. The house stood near the point on the Normandy coast designated for attack by the British forces - Sword Beach. Marie-Louis kept a diary of her experiences.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
Abbas's Waiting Game
On Wednesday afternoon, as he prepared for the White House meeting in a suite at the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City, Abbas insisted that his only role was to wait. He will wait for Hamas to capitulate to his demand that any Palestinian unity government recognize Israel and swear off violence. And he will wait for the Obama administration to force a recalcitrant Netanyahu to freeze Israeli settlement construction and publicly.

Sunday, May 31, 2009
Can you Differentiate a Palestinian from an Israeli?
The advertisement published in Haaretz in March read "Wanted: people who look alike," and promised NIS 8,000 to anyone that could locate someone who looked like one of the eight people featured in the advertisement. What the advertisement didn't say, was that the eight people pictured were Palestinians.

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Her State-Owned Bank Has Kept North Dakota Solvent
Banks actually create money when they lend it. Here's how it works: Most of a bank's loans are made to its own customers and are deposited in their checking accounts. Because the loan becomes a new deposit, just like a paycheck does, the bank...holds a small percentage of that new amount in reserve and again lends the remainder to someone else, repeating the money-creation process many times.

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Jihad Watch: Shukri Gets 65 Years for Aiding Hamas
It was during the first Holy Land Foundation trial last year that the Muslim Brotherhood memorandum about their "grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within" came to light. This verdict is a huge official recognition of the reality of that stealth jihad, and a huge setback for the likes of CAIR, which was named an unindicted co-conspirator in this case.

Thursday, May 28, 2009
UN watchdog demands access to Israel's secret prisons
In a report published on Friday, the Committee Against Torture requested that Israel identify the location of the camp, officially referred to as "Facility 1391," and allow access to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Findings from Israeli human rights groups show that the prison has in the past been used to hold Arab and Muslim prisoners, including Palestinians, and that routine torture and physical abuse occurred

Monday, May 25, 2009
Leftist Anti-Semitism More Dangerous Than European Type
(22 comments) "It's a threat that comes from profoundly undemocratic forces that don't have the same conception of human dignity or freedom, and which abuse Israel as a kind of representative of the broader West and Western liberal-democratic values," said Kenney. "I also very acutely understand the nature of the new anti-Semitism, and I think it's even more dangerous than the old European anti-Semitism."

Sunday, May 24, 2009
Arabs Like Obama but Remain Suspicious of USA
A survey by the University of Maryland/Zogby International poll - conducted in the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Morocco - showed that 45 percent of the 4,000 Arabs surveyed view Obama positively. If Egypt is removed from the survey - Egypt's population is larger and more neutral than other countries - Obama's positive rating soars to 60 percent.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Iran Puts Israel in Missile Range
(3 comments) "In the nuclear case, we send them a message: Today the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show," Ahmadinejad said in a speech at a soccer stadium that was broadcast live on Iranian television. "We say to the superpowers, who of you dare to threaten the Iranian nation? Raise your hand! But they all stand there with their hands behind their backs.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Slavery: Human Beings as Commodities
(4 comments) Today in the 21st Century, in an era of globalisation, development and technology, one would think that the human race is advancing in the areas of freedom, peace and human dignity. Unfortunately this is not so. ... there are more slaves TODAY than were seized from Africa in 4 centuries of trans-Atlantic slave trade. The horror is back. Buying a slave is cheaper than ever before.

Friday, May 8, 2009
Poland, Hitler and Abortion
"Hitler was first to introduce legal abortion in Poland. - The right to choose is not freedom, but extermination of the innocent. For feminists killed children are stats, for us a tragedy." There is also a photo of a fetus and another slogan, "Abortion is a murder," in red letters, with Falanga website URL at the bottom.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Pakistan Prepares to Invade the Swat Valley
People crammed into cars and buses and headed south after the local government told residents to leave Swat before a government military offensive. On Sunday, black-turbaned Taliban fighters seized control of Mingora, Swat's capital.

Sunday, April 26, 2009
Bat Ayin Axe Murderer Caught
The Shin Bet has apprehended a Palestinian who it believes killed a 13-year-old boy with an axe in the West Bank settlement of Bat Ayin at the beginning of April, the security service revealed Sunday. A 7-year-old boy was also moderately wounded in the attack, which ended when a local man fought the terrorist and managed to pry the axe away from him. The assailant, however, managed to escape the scene.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Holocaust Memorial Day
The Jewish Virtual Library is a fine resource on most topics of Jewish interest. Subjects such as Yom HaShoah are of universal import.

Friday, April 17, 2009
China: Dialogue with Anti-CNN
(2 comments) Communities of enthusiastic, patriotic young people like the Anti-CNN volunteers are part and parcel of the phenomenon I call cyber-tarianism. It will be very interesting to see how the Anti-CNN website continues to evolve. Rao Jin (founder of the website) has plans to develop an English-language platform - with a less provocative, more friendly name - through which his community can engage in dialogue and debate.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Culture UnPlugged Call for Writers
To you, is it a bliss to meditatively write and move spirit/consciousness of the audience? Do you love to focus on subjects such as films/media, consciousness, culture/society, identity? Do you write in the style where profundity meets simplicity of _expression? Our wish is to adopt a voice that is: Mature, Noble, Pragmatic, Frank, Fearless, Fresh; truth-seeking, expansive & inclusive, sharp- focused, thoughtful & sensitive

Sunday, April 5, 2009
Obama Calls for Elimination of Nuclear Arms in Prague
"As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it; we can start it," Obama said. "So today, I state, clearly and with conviction, America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."

Saturday, April 4, 2009
Spanish Court Weighs Torture Charges on Bush Officials
A Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation into allegations that six former high-level Bush administration officials violated international law by providing the legal framework to justify the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, an official close to the case said.

Thursday, April 2, 2009
China Seeks Leadership in Electric Cars
(2 comments) Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country into one of the leading producers of hybrid and all-electric vehicles within three years, and making it the world leader in electric cars and buses after that.

Friday, March 27, 2009
Stimulus? US to buy Chinese Condums, Ending Alabama Jobs
(6 comments) "Of course, we considered how many U.S. jobs would be affected by this move," said a USAID official who spoke on the condition that he would not be named. But he said the reasons for the change included lower prices (2 cents versus more than 5 cents for U.S.-made condoms) and the fact that Congress dropped "buy American language" in a recent appropriations bill.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Iran Death Penalty for Blogging
(4 comments) The Iranian Parliament is discussing the institution of the death penalty for blogging. Legislators admit they can't control 60,000 bloggers attuned to the full range of blogosphere topics not just politics. On a brighter note, President Ahmadinejad is a dedicated blogger who may also be put to death.

Sunday, March 22, 2009
Two US Journalists Detained by North Korea
While media focuses on their detention in North Korea, netizens are more keen on how domestic and international media portray this scandal and how it will affect other political and diplomatic matters between North Korea and other countries.

Friday, March 20, 2009
Maldives: Dissident and Anti-Islamic Sites Blocked
A week after President Anni announced his intention of turning the Maldives into a sanctuary for oppressed writers, his government has blocked a dissident website. The telecommunications authority has blocked the raajjeislam.com website on the order of the Islamic ministry. [..] The website was blocked a day after an audio clip by Foakaidhoo Imam Mohamed Shakeeb alleged that the state minister of Islamic affairs...

Thursday, March 19, 2009
Global Bubbles Bail Outs and Stimulus Plans
(2 comments) The four trillion yuan is going to be spent on 10 categories, among them welfare investment such as housing for low-income, health-care system and education, also infrastructure-building such as new railways, roads and airports. Specially, aid to post-earthquake reconstruction in Si-chuan is mentioned in the agenda. Equally notable is the subsidy for farmers and an explicit announcement to increase the price of state food...

Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Take Back the Economy March 19th Nationwide
(2 comments) On March 19, 2009 Americans in cities nationwide will hold demonstrations at the offices of major banks and other corporations to demand more responsible corporate behavior and call on Congress to enact the change that will make it happen ⎯ employee free choice and healthcare reform.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
How to Stop AIG's Bonuses
Firstly, the US trustees in charge of the firm must immediately instruct the corporate treasurer to make no payments of any bonuses. They also need to order him to issue stop payment orders on any checks that fly out the door at the last minute, as with Merrill Lynch. Then the trustees need to split off the derivatives unit from the rest of the firm and separately incorporate it. This step leaves AIG's other businesses free.

Monday, March 16, 2009
Iran: In Defense of the Bahai Minority
Is it really the end of the story of my education? Am I a young Bahá'í Iranian without opportunity to study like thousands other young Bahá'ís? ... Because my belief is different, does that means I cannot continue my studies in my own country?

Sunday, March 15, 2009
Prose and Poetry from Iraq
(2 comments) They say I've jinxed the place again. Iraqis are too superstitious and once they read this, they will collectively sign a petition to the PM asking him to send me away. Iraq was heaven on earth until my return. All those deadly explosions ripped through the quiet streets of Baghdad because of ... well make a wild guess!

Friday, March 13, 2009
Justice for Darfur Victims: Bashir Warrant
Justice for Darfur called on the international community to press Sudanese authorities to comply with their obligations to execute the warrant. The government of Sudan has failed to bring to justice any of those responsible for crimes under international law in Darfur.

Thursday, March 12, 2009
Not All of Our Fanatics Belong to Al Qaeda
The Real IRA are the real nutters, aren't they? Those who wouldn't accept that the armed struggle had been defeated; whereas Adams and McGuiness sought a genuine accommodation with the British state, while still holding on to the ideal of a united Ireland.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Give Me a Union; Not a Wheelchair; the Case for EFCA
Unions, as the president has stated, are at the heart of solving our economic crisis. As President Obama has stated, "When workers are prospering, they buy products that makes businesses prosper." Union members earn 30 percent more than non-union members, increasing the likelihood they can buy a house, a car, or afford to send a kid to college.

Monday, March 9, 2009
Gaza Reconstruction Fettered by Political Motives
"Reconstruction efforts are being exploited to further weaken Hamas and coerce it into changing its position vis-a-vis the Zionist occupation," Essam al-Arian, leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition movement, told IPS.

Saturday, March 7, 2009
Job Losses Hint at Vast Remaking of the Economy
For decades, the government has reacted to downturns by handing out temporary unemployment insurance checks, relying upon the resumption of economic growth to restore the jobs lost. This time, the government needs to place a greater emphasis on retraining workers for other careers, these economists say.

Friday, March 6, 2009
Iran Can Inspire Nuclear Arms Race Warns Brzezinski
This nuclear arms race could spread worldwide. But Scowcroft and another former U.S. national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, counseled against using military force to try to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Accommodating Modifications to Mortgage Loans
When the homeowner is under water, he can choose Chapter 7 to accept foreclosure. Or, he can go with Chapter 13, which may offer the chance to "cram down" the principle to allow repayment terms. The "cram down" may get banks lending again. The Congress is defining the extent to which a bankruptcy judge can modify the original contract.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Haiti Coup Remembered Five Years Later
In the early morning hours of Feb. 29, 2004, U.S. Special Forces took Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife Mildred from their home in Tabarre and loaded them onto an unmarked U.S. jet already waiting at the Port-au-Prince airport. The U.S. troops then flew Aristide into exile in Africa, where he remains to this day, five years later.

Sunday, March 1, 2009
Brazilian Carnival the Greatest Street Carnival on Earth
(1 comments) The Carnival I used to call Mardi Gras is the greatest fun fest available. This article features some of the best pictures I've seen of the event.

Friday, February 27, 2009
Israel Blocks 90-ton Pasta Shipment to Gaza
(2 comments) Israel stopped a shipment of pasta to Gaza. As an excuse, Jerusalem stated Hamas was taking credit for many imports of aid package items from foreign donors. The ludicrous antics of the Hamas is no excuse for Israeli cruelty. Aid should not be politicized.

Friday, February 27, 2009
Charles Krauthammer Respects Obama Proposals
Unlike most presidents, however, he doesn't covet popular support for its own sake. Some men become president to be someone, others to do something. This is what separates, say, a Bill Clinton from a Ronald Reagan. Obama, who once noted that Reagan altered the trajectory of America as Clinton had not, sees himself a Reagan.

Thursday, February 26, 2009
Electronic Intifada's Review of "Waltz with Bashir"
"Waltz with Bashir" has won praise from most critics worldwide. The Palestinian reviewer is no exception. Her perspective, however, is from the other side so to speak.In this, she offers many insights usually not available in the West.

Thursday, February 26, 2009
Prudes at Dinner, Gluttons in Bed
Put down that cheeseburger and listen up: If food has become what sex was a generation ago -- the intimidatingly intelligent Mary Eberstadt says it has -- then a cheeseburger is akin to adultery, or worse. As eating has become highly charged with moral judgments, sex has become notably less so.

Thursday, February 26, 2009
Egyptian Sexual Offenders in Profile
I believe we will see a whole lot more victims along with crimes of sharper intensity and greater frequency. In my humble opinion the problem is one of many layers. On the surface it would seem that sexual predators prey on women because they are sexually frustrated as with the Maadi case of sexual assaults. In reality however, sexual offenses are rarely about sex and more about power and dominance.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Hamas Claims Right to Weapons Import
(2 comments) The Arab World defines internationally acceptable legal terms with a twist. A cease fire means allowing a lull until the aggressor rearms for another try.

Monday, February 23, 2009
Winslet, 'Waltz,' the Jews in Hollywood
(6 comments) Against a well-deserved paean to eventual winner Kate Winslet, a giant screen showed hunted, gaunt, clearly doomed figures. "This is how Hollywood likes its Jews," my wife said. "Hunched over and dressed in rags."

Sunday, February 22, 2009
Libya: Bootleg Movie Review
Between September 2007 and January 2009 I bought many movies here the list of the ones I watched so far and what think about them. This would probably serve me as an aide memoire not to buy the same movie again ( I tend to do that with books as well)....

Saturday, February 21, 2009
Armenia: Remembering the Budapest Murder
Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of the murder of 26-year old Gurgen Margarian, an Armenian officer attending a NATO Partnership for Peace program in Budapest, Hungary. Killed in his sleep with an axe wielded by his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ramil Safarov, Margarian is commemorated by special posts made by some Armenian bloggers.

Friday, February 20, 2009
Recession's Hidden Virtues
During an economic crisis, Americans return to a language of morality. Perhaps excess and recklessness are vices that deserve social stigma. Perhaps frugality and prudence are personal virtues as well as practices that prevent economic collapse. Perhaps there is a distinction between securing our needs and being dominated by our wants.

Friday, February 20, 2009
Kenya: Much Ado About an Atlas
Kenyan bloggers are talking about UNEP. First, regarding news of an Atlas that shows Kenya's changing environment, and secondly, the hypocrisy of driving into a UNEP meeting in a gas guzzler.

Friday, February 20, 2009
Information War Between Russia and Georgia
A new report from the Committee to Protect Journalists is highly critical of the media freedom situation in both Georgia and Russia, accusing the governments of Mikheil Saakashvili and Vladimir Putin of establishing control over television broadcast networks to ensure that their messages drown out alternative viewpoints.

Friday, February 20, 2009
Girl Riding on Chairman Mao's Head
(2 comments) On Feb19，a set of pictures that shows a girl riding on the head of Chairman Mao was circulated around the internet. Of course, what she rides is just a statue erected on the plaza in Hunan, Mao's hometown. However, the story with the pictures immediately secured the headline position in various portal websites; in particular, over 50000 comments were left after the story in Netease.

Friday, February 20, 2009
The One Minute Case for Capitalism
(2 comments) US capitalism did not fail the citizens. We failed the system.

Thursday, February 19, 2009
Laissez Faire Capitalism Has Failed
Nouriel Roubini, a professor at the Stern Business School at New York University and chairman of Roubini Global Economics, is a weekly columnist for Forbes.com.

Thursday, February 19, 2009
Palestine: The Story of a Gazan Martyr
(6 comments) She found herself by his shrouded body, and started to run her hand over it until she came across his hand under the white flag. She felt his fingers and turned his hand, then smiled amidst her tears, as she inhaled the scent of the perfume that filled the air of the room, the house, the street.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Native Americans, "Yes We Can"
Every once in a while I encounter an inspirational web site. Bookmark this one about Native Americans who are taking part in the American Dream without abandoning their culture.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
More Republican Obstructions versus Whistle Blowers
Everybody wants to promote whistle blowing until it comes to a vote. Then, the Senator puppets of the security agencies fear that the public might get wind of torture, bank fraud and other sensitive issues. God forbid the public may become informed.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Jurists Decry the Loss of Human Rights
"Seven years after 9/11 it is time to take stock and to repeal abusive laws and policies enacted in recent years," said panel president Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland. "Human rights and international humanitarian law provide a strong and flexible framework to address terrorist threats."

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Egyptian Bloggers Take On Hebrew Counterparts
The Egyptian organizer of this effort promises to minimize racial epithets and appeals to violence a good start. It should provide lively and insightful debate.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Cold Heart Conservatives Attack Homeless and Poor
(4 comments) It is bad enough to steal homes from the unemployed without mocking them. Henrietta Hughes is a single mom who lives in her small car. She dared to inform the President she needs running water and electricity. She still lacks both. Limbaugh and Malkin continue their attacks on her.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Pakistan Makes Truce with Taliban, Creates Safe Haven
The concessions to the militants, who now control about 70 percent of the region just 100 miles from the capital, were criticized by Pakistani analysts as a capitulation by a government desperate to stop Taliban abuses and a military embarrassed at losing ground after more than a year of intermittent fighting.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Conservative Ideological Idiocy
As a result, the right wingers decided to pursue a strategy that appeals exclusively to their base and abandons independents and other swing voters. This could cripple the ability of conservatives to appeal to mainstream voters in 2010-if only those voters know what has happened. Progressives need to go on the offensive.

Monday, February 16, 2009
China: On the Privatization of Rural Land
During the week of hearty celebrations for the new year, millions of temporary workers return from the cities where they are employed in manual, low-level occupations to their hometown in the countryside, where their family still lives and owns usage rights over a piece of land.

Monday, February 16, 2009
Tel-Aviv Savior of the Universe has 32 Women and 89 Children
(2 comments) Goel Ratzon has sired 89 children with 32 unmarried women. After the Child Authority determined that every kid went to school and none of them had suffered abuse, Mr. Ratzon was free to continue his life style. His women supported him threatening to commit mass suicide if he was taken away from them. His name in English means Savior of the Universe.

Monday, February 16, 2009
Israel Should Forget About Bombing Iran
Gideon Levy writes in Haaretz that Israel should forget about bombing Iran. Not many Israelis would give Ahmadinejad the chance for a preemptive strike that would end the Jewish experiment. Gideon believes that the Iranian President is extreme, but not insane.

Monday, February 2, 2009
We Won, We Left, Now What?
Livni, the foreign minister, said if Hamas hasn't gotten the message yet Israel would strike it again. Regardless, she said Hamas could not be negotiated with and called on the people of Gaza to overthrow their regime. "I do not intend to reach any agreements with Hamas. Agreements I make with people who accept my existence," she said.

Monday, February 2, 2009
100 Best Blogs for Learning About Africa
(2 comments) While poverty and war are a part of Africa, so is technology, bustling cities, and unique culture found nowhere else on Earth. These blogs bring together the richness and diversity that is Africa with voices covering specific countries, experiences across the borders, news, technology, art, and culture.

Monday, February 2, 2009
Egyptian Bloggers and Journalists in the Hot Seat
Zeinobia asks: Can I as a person accuse someone else of espionage simply like that? Saad El-Din Ibrahim is facing new charges of espionage. The Mubarak regime wants him in jail by all possible ways. Lawyers and NDPians Hossam Mustafa Abd El-Rahman and Nabil Luka Babawy accused Saad El-Din Ibrahim of : Espionage and contacting Foreign president "G.W Bush" Transferring Information.

Monday, February 2, 2009
Israel Coping with Aftermath of War
(1 comments) How could you see these weekly launches and not think that one day we would say "enough"?! Did you ever consider that it is perhaps wrong to launch rockets at innocent civilians trying to lead a normal life, much like you? How long did you think we would sit back without reacting?

Sunday, February 1, 2009
Jesus and Buddha Share a Cheap Tokyo Apartment
(4 comments) Two young men share a cheap apartment in a western district of Tokyo. The casual reader might not see the comedic possibilities in such an arrangement.He might shed some of the religious baggage we carry around with us. The artist/writer was careful not to learn too much about the two major religions. It might have cramped the humor involved.

Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Biggest Slaves Think Falsely They are Free
Nobody is more enslaved than the man who falsely thinks he is free. The moment the column of approximately 50 to 80 "dissenters" with flags and banners started moving along Polyanka, a few cars drove up from behind and - with the words, "Why aren't you letting us relax, assholes?"

Sunday, February 1, 2009
Attacks on Press Freedom of Expression
According to local journalists on Tuesday, January 27th plainclothes policemen surrounded the offices of the newly launched satellite radio station Kalima and detained one of its journalists, Dhafer Ottey. On Wednesday, Kalima's journalists and reporters stayed in the building and continued to broadcast. The policemen also verbally and physically assaulted individuals associated with Kalima.

Saturday, January 31, 2009
Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pick Up the Tab
Bowker. The company attributed a significant proportion of that rise to an increase in the number of print-on-demand books. "Even if you're sitting at a dinner party, if you ask how many people want to write a book, everyone will say, 'I've got a book or two in me,'" said Kevin Weiss

Saturday, January 31, 2009
Saint Putin Builds Detention Camps for Dissenters
They permitted building filtration camps for "dangerous individuals" all over Russia, similar to those created in Chechnya after the war. These kinds of camps were built during the time of the pogrom in Blagoveshchenk in Bashkiria (where the police illegally arrested and beat up hundreds of innocent citizens in December 2004).

Saturday, January 31, 2009
Iran: Bloggers Mobilize for Animal Rights
Fortunately, a number of bloggers are supporting an initiative by Iran-based blogger Mino Saberi, to defend the rights of dogs, birds, cats, and other creatures of the Earth.

Saturday, January 31, 2009
Are Political Websites More Likely to Be Hacked?
Even though it is not clear yet who is behind these hacking attacks, North African opposition leaders and owners of the targeted websites all agree that their regimes are behind this new way of cracking down on oppositional activities online.

Friday, January 30, 2009
Senate Likely to Enact Medical Insurance for 11 Millions Kids SCHIP
SCHIP Senate Democrats, after easily defeating Republican attempts to narrow the bill yesterday, predicted they had the votes to renew and expand the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Friday, January 30, 2009
The Mask of Obama
The tradition surrounding the Carnival in Rio includes the wearing of face masks of famous people. Barack Obama is this year's favorite face. I'll bet this comes as a big surprise. The blog I chose to present this is stunnig.

Friday, January 30, 2009
Secret Israeli Database Reveals Full Extent of Illegal Settlements
(1 comments) The defense establishment, led by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, steadfastly refused to publicize the figures, arguing, for one thing, that publication could endanger state security or harm Israel's foreign relations. Someone who is liable to be particularly interested in the data collected by Spiegel is George Mitchell, President Barack Obama's special envoy to the Middle East.

Friday, January 30, 2009
Israeli Elections: A Night of Re-Runs
All of the things that we choked on the first time around were forced down our throats once more, like force-fed geese. I asked my editor whether I, too, could get away with a rerun - reprinting yesterday's column, word for word - and was rebuffed. He'll pay for that.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Obama versus Japanese PM Taro Aso
1 The popular one among the people (Obama) and the enemy of the people (Asō) 2 A politician [who works] for the people and a politician [who works] for one group of influential people 3 One who is respected everywhere in the world and one who is not even respected in his own country 4 A person who is capable of being sympathetic with the people and a person who mocks the people 5 A person who can communicate...

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Hong Kong Censorship Debate and Critique of Christian Right
This is a fascinating debate on Internet freedom and censorship. Entirely from Hong Kong views, the Christians have moved from the traditional human rights ventures to the perils of political activism in China. If you aspire to organize at the grassroots level, this is a must read. Leave your Western baggage at home. You won't need it.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Iceland's Way of Life Collapses with the Economy
The seas are full of fish, geothermal energy and natural gas are abundant. Oil prospecting is beginning. But there is a risk that Iceland will give its riches away in a fire sale to the same Vikings who have already half-sunk the nation once.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Protest Video Dancing Filipina Maids in Hong Kong
The maids say Arroyo must go. She is emblematic of the Charter that has exiled 10 millions of Filipinos to inferior jobs overseas. The government is exporting natural resources rather than encouraging industrial jobs at home.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Egypt Blogger Loses Suit and Money to a Polluting Corp
Blogger Erin Brockovich brought suit against a factory that had polluted an entire lake in Egypt. Contrary to reason, the Judge ruled in favor of the factory and levied a big fine against Brockovich. The blogger is now in hiding.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
Did Hamas Really Win in Gaza? No!
"The tahdiyeh had become 'a ceasefire [in exchange for another] ceasefire,' with no connection either to the crossings and [the goods] transported through them, or to the siege. Terminating it was [thus] a logical move." So Hamas gambled, escalated, and now finds itself, once again, in a "cease-fire for a cease-fire."

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Khavaran Cemetary Must Be Preserved
There are no gravestones or any other signs in the yard, except for a few put in place by people who claim to have received information regarding the burial places of their executed loved ones.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Egypt: Discourse on Geert Wilders Film Fitna
(2 comments) I'm a Muslim. I'm a female. I'm not veiled. I'm free to express my opinions and my choices. I'm free to live my life. I love my religion. I haven't been forced or brainwashed into loving my religion. I believe in it. I respect it. I believe that my religion has more to do with love than with hate. I believe that my religion is forgiving. I also believe that the problems lie with the misguided people not with the religion.