This weekend what is being described as a “top-level delegation” from the European Union will be visiting Zimbabwe. After their visit the group will determine their future course of action with regard to providing economic aid and other support for the state and its coalition government. My plea to these visitors: Do not let the […]
Puns are the lowest form of humor. Which explains why you and I cannot get enough of them. England’s 5-1 thrashing of Croatia yesterday propelled them to the World Cup in South Africa. This caused the zany editors at The Guardian’s daily tea time email The Fiver to go on a rampage of South Africa-related […]
The Arctic Sea, officially carrying a cargo of timber worth $2m, disappeared en route from Finland to Algeria on July 24. The vessel vanished into thin air after sailing through the English Channel, a curious case that engaged the attention of Finnish police, Swedish investigators, Interpol, and the Russian Navy. Before people could really jump […]
A while ago I wrote a blog on how Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, one of the world’s most prominent game theorists, applied game theory to predict that Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons. Here is a presentation he made about his findings: [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ts5MKtXNpMQ” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]
With Afghanistan presidential election marred with claims of fraud that may force a another turn at the polls, or at least a recount, and with the long term American presence in the country facing a growing, and at times loud, critical audience back in the States the Obama administration could use some clarity and some […]
– The Philippines will begin a type of visa waiver program to attract Chinese nationals, enabling them to obtain visa’s upon arrival at the airport. These rules were adopted on the recommendation of the Filipino Tourism Department to increase revenue. The visas will allow Chinese nationals on vacation or business to stay in the Philippines for up […]
A number of stories piling up in the tabs on my Mac: United States envoy Scott Gratius is in Sudan to try to hold together the fragile peace that runs the risk of shattering in the country’s South. He will also visit Darfur. But unless he has a mandate to coerce, flatter, cajole, or otherwise […]
He didn’t go to the Gulf or any other Arab nation…. maybe. Reports surfaced yesterday of an alleged secret trip by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to an Arab country without direct ties to Israel. The reports indicated that Netanyahu attempted to forge a strategic partnership with an Arab country in order to thwart Iranian […]
When he first ran for office, Hugo Chávez declared that he wanted to reduce the size of government, and to make it more efficient. However, Venezuela’s National Institute of Statistics released figures showing that there are now 2,372,587 government workers, an increase of 70% during Chávez’s time in office. The percentage of all persons employed […]
The opposition government has rejected the cabinet lineup proposed by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri. Hariri presented his selections to President Suleiman, but it is probable that the president will not endorse it on the grounds that it does not have bipartisan support. The crux of the dispute (between the Hariri-led March 14 coalition and the […]
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu generally spends his time in Jerusalem running the government. He occasionally takes trips abroad to discuss the peace process or the Iranian threat with allied governments, such as the recent visit to the United States. Today, the Prime Minister’s Office’s official schedule placed on him on a tour of a […]
As school starts in the United States, American schools are faced with the dilemma of whether they should force kids to listen to Obama’s liberal elitist agenda, which encourages kids to “show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to (…) parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work […]
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President Hugo Chávez is on a weeklong trip overseas, to strengthen alliances in “the fight against imperialism”. His itinerary includes stops in Libya, Syria, Iran, Algeria, Belarus, and Russia. Freedom House, a US-based non-profit (and declaredly non-partisan) publishes “Freedom in the World, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties”. It ranked each […]
Bitterlemons has a great series on the feasibility of unilateral peace, a concept where only one side attempts to forge a climate for peace regardless of the other party’s actions. Israel arguably embarked on a unilateral peace process through the Ariel Sharon-ordered disengagement from the Gaza Stip that led to the Hamas coup of the […]