Iran economy facing perfect storm - BBC "The International Monetary Fund said in August that Iran would face unsustainable deficits should prices for its oil fall below $75 a barrel."
How we lost the war we won – Nir Rosen, RollinStone
Nir shows the dark humor and confusion in NATO's efforts to fight the Talibn:
As we drive away, Ibrahim laughs. The soldiers, he explains, thought I was a suicide bomber. Ibrahim did not bother to tell them that he and Shafiq are midlevel Taliban commanders, escorting me deep into Ghazni, a province largely controlled by the spreading insurgency that now dominates much of the country.
Why I blog - Andrew Sullivan, AtlanticAn excellent piece on blogging as a literary form and its relation with journalism.
Inside Egypt: Nostalgia for Colonia Rule – Angry Arab, As'ad Khalil
What an entertaining book review! Khalil tells it as it is.
Turkey's constitutional court ruled "that key members of the ruling AK Party, including Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, have been involved in anti-secular activities.". The court didn't ban the AK party as some have expected.Another famous Republican endorses Obama, and it seems they like him in Columbia (that country south of US and A).Speculation on Palin 2012 is rife and the Economist takes a dip.
'Toxic waste' behind Somalia piracy - Najad Abdullahi, Al Jazeera
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the tsunami had washed up rusting containers of toxic waste on the shores of Puntland.
Nick Nuttall, a UNEP spokesman, told Al Jazeera that when the barrels were smashed open by the force of the waves, the containers exposed a "frightening activity" that has been going on for more than decade.
"Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there," he said.
"European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are something like $1000 a tonne.
"And the waste is many different kinds. There is uranium radioactive waste. There is lead, and heavy metals like cadmium and mercury. There is also industrial waste, and there are hospital wastes, chemical wastes – you name it."
Nuttall also said that since the containers came ashore, hundreds of residents have fallen ill, suffering from mouth and abdominal bleeding, skin infections and other ailments.
Colin Powell asked a simple question that no one in US politics dared to ask, including Obama himself. He deliberately avoided asking it, and instead to state that he was a Christian, because he knew, like most Americans, that it was too risky when it came to Islam: anyone can run for president, Jewish, Mormon or Catholic but not a Muslim - and you shouldn't be linked to them. He also knew that most Americans have little idea about Islam, and that it was probably negative.
So Obama must be relieved that someone else has asked the question. Would anyone take a shot at answering it? Lets wait and see.
Colin Powell:"Those kind of images going out on Al-Jazeera are killing us around the
world. This business from the congresswoman from Minnesota saying, let's examine
all congressman to see who is pro-American or not pro-American." From
Atlantic
A referrence to Al Jazeera's report on racism in the US election, which has received over a million hits and wide coverage in the US media. Watch the report here.
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I'm back. For few months I was largely absent from this blog posting only few times though there was so much to discuss. Now, I'm back though. To start with, let me share with you some articles I've read recently:The can only go so far - by Francis Fukuyama Fukuyama is back to defend his "End of History" theory of nearly two decades ago. He makes an interesting point that "Democracy's only real competitor in the realm of ideas today is radical Islamism". Of course, he had to say "radical Islam" and not Islam because that's political correct but it's Islam that provides the alternative: both political and economic alternative. This point was also made in the "Clash of civilizations" by HuntingtonA shattering moment in America's fall from power - by John GrayAn interesting look at what the financial crisis means for US standing in the world. Hedge fund manager: So long, idiots! Smoke pot - a letter by a fund manager A fund manager's take on financial regulation, marijuana and government, and quits.
