Category Archives: Around the world

Numerous people have joked about how Saddam Hussein’s campaign song, which is apparently getting a lot of airplay in Baghdad these days, is Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”. However, so far no one has seen that this is … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Greg Morrow has some data about the relative value of the Marshall Plan versus what we are doing in Afghanistan. It’s another reason why so many of us are so suspicious about Iraq invasion plans: We don’t believe that Team … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Michael O’Hanlon gives Donald Rumsfeld a spanking for deliberately misleading the nation about the case for war against Iraq. It’s a short summary of Rummy’s misstatements that should come in handy when you need it. Continue reading →

Hurricane Lili has made landfall in Louisiana. The good news is that Lili has been weakened by some dry western winds and has been downgraded to a Category 2 storm. The bad news is that she’s still packing 100 MPH … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Geez, the folks in Louisiana haven’t even recovered from Isidore, and now they’ve got to worry about Hurricane Lili, which looks to be a lot worse. Batten down the hatches, y’all. Here’s a little advance warning for the serious student … Continue reading → Continue reading →

By now I’m sure you’ve heard that the 15 kg of weapons-grade uranium that was seized in Turkey has turned out to be 150 grams of inert metals such as zinc and zirconium. Oopsie. I took a quick peek through … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tropical Storm Isidore, which still packed a pretty big punch despite never working its way back up to Hurricane status – made landfall in Louisiana, dumping more than 10 inches of rain and knocking out power for thousands of people. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Looks like TS/Hurricane Isidore will be heading to Louisiana and not to the Houston area. Here’s hoping everyone stays safe and dry throughout. Continue reading →

Tropical Storm Isidore is heading towards the Texas Gulf Coast after battering the Yucatan Peninsula. It’s not clear when and where it will hit yet, but pretty much everyone’s nervous about it. Continue reading →

Hurricane Isidore, a Category 3 storm, is about to hit the Yucatan peninsula, which is being evacuated as a precaution. No one knows for sure which way this storm will go next, but it could come knocking on our door … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Those pinko liberals at the Cato Institute give ten reasons why invading Iraq is a bad idea. Does Jim Henley know about this? Via Tim Dunlop, who’s been all over the weapons inspections point/counterpoint. Continue reading →

Ted Barlow was the first blogger that I saw who pointed to this page, which is a memorial to Shiri Negari, a young woman killed by a suicide bomber in June. I confess I didn’t click the link at the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From In the National Interest, some analysis of how Russia, China, and France reacted to President Bush’s recent speech before the UN. Some good quotes: It remains unclear to us, however, whether the Bush Administration will be prepared to accept … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Interesting article in today’s Chron about investment by Spanish businesses in Mexico. Spain is the fourth-largest investor in Mexico at $3.6 billion, trailing Canada ($3.8 billion), the Netherlands ($8.9 billion), and of course the US ($66.7 billion, all numbers courtesy … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From MSNBC, Iran harboring al Qaeda deputies: Two figures who have assumed critical roles in the al Qaeda hierarchy in recent months, including one reported dead by the Pentagon, are being sheltered in Iran along with dozens of other al … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From today’s Chron: MARBELLA, Spain — It’s the hottest hour of the day at the Puente Romano beach club when a girl of 13 dashes out of the hotel gardens, throwing a black cloak over her flowing hair, T-shirt and … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m sure this will be a great comfort to their families: The militant Islamic group Hamas denied on Thursday it had deliberately targeted U.S. citizens in a deadly bomb blast at a cafeteria frequented by foreign students at Jerusalem’s Hebrew … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I see that the IRA has issued an apology for the deaths of “noncombatants” in the last 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland. You can read the text of the apology here. Not everyone is happy with this, of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is going to be grist for someone’s mill, I just know it: BRUSSELS killjoys want to wipe the smiles off drinkers’ faces by BANNING pub happy hours. Euro MPs will vote next month on outlawing the practice of cutting … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve read Owen and Josh’s defenses of the alliance between American Christians and the Organization of Islamic Conferences (OIC) on matters of abortion and gay rights. Owen points out that the OIC is made up of over 50 countries, mostly … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’ve gotten some flak in the comments on this post regarding US Christian conservatives and their newfound alliances with fundamentalist Muslim nations over questions of abortion and homosexuality. That probably means I didn’t do a good job of expressing why … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Conservative Christian organizations, with the support of the Bush administration, have hopped into the sack with theocratic and despotic Islamic countries like Iran and Iraq (two-thirds of the Axis of Evil, for those keeping score at home) to halt the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

why no one in blogdom has commented on the new visa rules, in which people from certain countries, but not Saudi Arabia, have to get fingerprinted and interrogated in order to enter the US. He wonders if it’s because Robert … Continue reading → Continue reading →

In case you slept in this morning, there was an interview with Kimeli Maiyomah, a member of the Maasai tribe of Western Kenya, about the Maasai’s gift of 14 cows to the American people as a gesture of consolation for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

It was humbling to pick up the Times at Central Market today and read this story about the Masai of Kenya, who were sufficiently moved by the tragedy of 9/11 to donate 14 cows to its victims. I’m grateful for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

So says Charles Dodgson about the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Yahoo! tells us of an “Afghan warlord with links to Iran and Pakistan’s powerful spy agency” who’s calling for (wait for it) a “holy war” against the US. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From Dane Carlson comes this article on Israeli security tactics and methods. The 9/11 attacks have led to closer ties between American and Israeli businesses and law enforcement. Israeli security experts don’t much care for our airport screening system either: … Continue reading → Continue reading →

From today’s Chron: Dalal Salamah, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was in Houston on Friday to issue a plea for aid as well as understanding for fellow Palestinians. “There is a need to talk about our situation,” Salamah … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Little Green Footballs notes that the Saudi PR campaign has been an abject failure. Way back on May 2, I wrote that “this misguided effort on the Saudis’ part would backfire on them”. So every once in awhile I do … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another fascinating magazine that we get is the Souther Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, a nice bit of light reading about hatred and extremism. This article goes into ties between neo-Nazi and Islamofascist organizations. Many people have written about some … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Just a reminder from today’s Chron that Christianity has had a rather prominent historical role in anti-Semitism. Continue reading →

I mean that as a compliment. From a news item forwarded to my inbox: Perth prostitutes were reeling from exhaustion following an influx of United States sailors stressed from a stint in a war zone, a well-known madam said today. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Virginia Postrel, who has a snappy new self portrait up (note to Max Power: Your demand has been met), points to this Happy Fun Pundit post which lauds the cable networks for turning down the Saudi advertising money. While I … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Great op-ed in the WSJ by John McCain, courtesy of Kyle Still. It is the unenlightened rule of Arab dictators, not the plight of the Palestinians, that condemns the Arab world to the civilizational crisis in which it finds itself. … Continue reading → Continue reading →