Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar conditionally approved Shell Oil Company’s plan to drill three “exploratory, information-gathering” oil wells in the Chukchi Sea during the next open season, which will be from July-October 2010. There will be tough environmental restrictions on the exploratory drilling, yet these still aren’t enough to satisfy environmental watchdogs. The Anchorage […]
President Hugo Chávez may be known for his rhetoric, but at the same time he often makes good on his statements. He rails against imperialism and increasingly pushes the country’s political institutions, as well as its society, towards socialism. A Reuters article chronicles some of Chávez’s recent moves in the country’s economy. The government has […]
Many polls have now been released showing Americans’ feelings toward our presence in Afghanistan and President Obama’s new surge plan. As I mentioned the day of the President’s West Point speech, Obama’s Afghanistan policy approval rating had dropped all the way to 35%, an alarmingly low number. I blamed some of this on the long […]
It is nauseating to see people being slaughtered in Pakistan these days. Human life has no respect for barbaric animals responsible for these bombings and suicide attacks. And if the news of bombings and killing was not enough, I was horrified to learn that Lahore’s commissioner (incorrectly) blames India for these attacks while Punjab’s law […]
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), an observant Mormon, bid Jews a happy Hannukah this year in his own special way- by penning a song for the chosen people. While this is definitely not the biggest news of the day, it may be among the funniest. The video has gotten a lot, a lot, a lot, a […]
There has been a fairly energetic mixed reaction on Tarique Rahman’s elevation to second in command, within the BNP, next only to his mother, leader of the BNP and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. On the one hand within the BNP, senior party members claim that his name did not come up in discussions […]
Zainab Jeewanjee critiques “The Demons that Haunt Pakistan” a SABRINA TAVERNISE article in the New York Times (NYTIMES). Jeewanjee explains that current skepticism of U.S. involvement in the Af-Pak war is not a matter of irrational, conspiracy theories and a personal hatred for all things American, it comes after a prolonged and now daily struggle against extremist Islam, and terrorists who massacre Pakistani’s increasingly since 9/11.
New research by the invaluable South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) indicates that murder rates in South Africa are actually down 30% since 1994-1995. This news flies counter to the stubborn narrative of South African crime escalating out of control. It also should provide something of a palliative for those wringing their hands over […]
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has introduced a bill into the Senate Armed Forces Committee proposing to study the feasibility of creating a deep water sea port in the Arctic. The port, which as a deep water port would be able to receive Panamax ships, would “protect and advance strategic United States interests within the evolving […]
In April Sudan will hold elections, which will provide something of an interregnum between the the twin poles of state-sanctioned chaos in Darfur and the seemingly ceaseless conflict between Sudan’s north and south. Human rights groups still want to hold Sudan to account for its past perfidy, with an organization called the Enough Project calling […]
This morning Iraq’s presidency council voted to delay parliamentary elections until March 7th of 2010. The decision came after a meeting at President Jalal Talabani’s residency late Tuesday which included Talabani and two vice presidents, Adel Abdul Mahdi and Tariq al-Hashimi, along with Faraj al-Haidari, head of the IHEC. Although the elections were previously slated […]
Cement, mortar and stone are being pulled out and slowly erected to separate Israel, except instead of the Jewish state building a structure for alleged security purposes, the European Union is separating itself from the Middle East’s only democracy by propagating a policy while being ignorant of the facts. EU foreign ministers accepted a proposal today that calls for […]
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