The Chinese news service Xinhua boasts Dec. 10 of the opening of a new luxury tourist train across Tibet under the auspices of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation. Meanwhile, observing International Human Rights Day, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and… Read moreTibet commodified for tourism as repression escalates
Nir Rosen has a piece in the December Atlantic Monthly entitled “If America Left Iraq: The case for cutting and running.” Rosen poses the following questions and answers them all himself: Would the withdrawal of U.S. troops ignite a civil… Read moreIraq: “the case for cutting and running”
From Al-Jazeera TV in Doha, Qatar, Dec. 9: […] Meanwhile, appeals were made to release the four [members of the] Christian Peacemakers Team [CPT] held hostage by the Jama’at Saraya Suyuf al-Haq [Brigades of the Swords of Right Group]. [Shaykh… Read moreArabic media appeals for hostages’ release
On Dec. 4, a group of approximately 200 uniformed and armed men, identified as members of the Bloque Norte of the AUC paramilitary movement, under the command of “Jorge 40,” entered the hamlets (veredas) La Más Verde y Nuevo Horizonte,… Read moreColombia: new paramilitary massacre
The world is paying little note, but China may have a full-scale peasant revolt on its hands soon. The hideous irony is that the American idiot left, rather than loaning solidarity to the heroic Chinese peasants, will cheer on their… Read moreChina: army fires on peasant protesters
This analysis recognizes that the US military presence in Iraq is ultimately counter-productive to a recovery of the country’s oil industry. But it seems to assume that US leaders are capable of smelling the coffee and getting out. It fails… Read moreIraq: oil sector in crisis
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has responded the latest ant-Israel tirade by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad y saying that Israel must prepare solutions “other than diplomatic” in the face of Tehran’s nuclear program. “The right move would be to let… Read moreIsrael, Iran gird for war
A voice of unassailable moral credibility—we hope—is added to chorus demanding release of the four hostages from the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. LONDON (Reuters) – A former Guantanamo Bay detainee has pleaded for the release of peace worker Norman… Read moreEx-Gitmo detainee: free CPT hostages
In the spirit of laughing with tears in your eyes (or, as Wavy Gravy put it, demanding your right to bring a whoopie-cushion to Auschwitz), file this under “Leftist Conspiracy Theorists Vindicated Again.” From the BBC, Dec. 9: The US… Read moreSecret prisons: US admits it
The ugly face of petro-tyranny (or is the better term autocracy?). From AP, Dec. 6: Man Who Received Jaywalking Ticket Dies of Injuries Washington D.C. (AP) A 73-year-old man who received a $5 jaywalking ticket after he was hit by… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Here’s some good news for humanity, but a real no-win for the neo-Ustashe and neo-Chetniks who plague this blog. The neo-Ustashe will be aghast that the proud defender of an ethnically-pure Croatia has been subjected to this indignity—or, the more… Read moreGotovina busted; riots in Croatia
Noting the rise of Islamist Shi’ites to power in Iraq, we recently asked Is Iran the real winner? One who seems to think so is Michael Ledeen of the American Enterprise Institute. In the Nov. 30 National Review Online, he… Read moreMichael Ledeen: “regime change” for Iran, Syria
